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Second IEC Working Holiday - expiring/renewing passport question

sezzabearz

Newbie
May 25, 2016
6
1
Hi all,

Any light you could shed on this would be great. I'll try and be concise as possible!

I'm an Australian and arrived in Vancouver in August 2014 on a working holiday. Permit is in my current passport and the permit expires on August 21st 2016.
I decided I wanted to do a final two years (which I am eligible for) so last month I became a candidate in the IEC Working Holiday pool, got my invitation, did my application and received my Letter of Introduction about 2 weeks ago. I was planning on going to the border and getting the new permit during the first week of August.

So that's all good but my issue here is: my current passport expires in October 2017 which means I would not get two years for this permit. So, I am in the process of looking into renewing my Australian passport but does anyone know if I go ahead now and renew will it mean my current permit that expires in August 2016 will become void?
I know that after you get your LOI, if you get a new passport you can just bring it with you to the border and tell them you have a new one and they change the details so in terms of getting the new permit I am not worried about that. I am just concerned that if I cancel my current passport now, get the new one and then wait a couple of months until I go to the border in August to process my work permit that the work I have been doing in that period will be considered illegal work? Even though the permit is valid until August 21st 2016 is it directly tied to your passport?

Sorry if I sound a bit paranoid, I just want to keep any drama or confusion at the border to a minimum and not make any assumptions!
If you have any ideas/advice/first hand experience that would be awesome.

Thanks so much :)