Sponsor spouse to get open work permit only (no PR required)

[gus]

Hi everyone,

Hope one of you can help us.

About me: I'm a Canadian Permanent Resident (PR), now live and work in Canada for more than 1 year.

About my common law: work in Canada, received her LMO, received her new work permit (valid until 2016), not happy with current employer, in her job field it is difficult to find new employer who want to provide new LMO. Our common law is more than 1 year.

My question: Actually I can sponsor my spouse for PR, but since the waiting process is too long, I'm planning to sponsor her just to get Open Work Permit (not PR). Is it possible?

My problem: when I check website, Open Work Permit is for someone (me = sponsor) who is:

- allowed to work in Canada for at least six months,
- doing work in Canada that meets a minimum skill level (usually work that requires at least a college diploma) and
- doing a job listed in Skill Level 0, A or B in the National Occupational Classification, or
OR:
- allowed to work in Canada and
- doing work in Canada that is on a list of eligible occupations in participating provinces.

I am "over-qualified" for this, since I already get my PR. So again, is it possible? What is her chance to get the Open Work Permit?

I really appreciate your advices because I already checked in several other forums, but cannot find similar case like mine.

Cheers,
Gus

 

[zardoz]

You are a PR, so you are ineligible for any form of work or study permit.
Because, you can't hold a permit, she can't get one as your dependent.
She will have to stick with the LMO / closed work permit system or you will have to apply for PR sponsorship.
I don't see any other alternatives that would work for you under these circumstances.

 

[gus]

Yes, I understand.
At the beginning I was thinking to try to reverse the process: Apply OWP then PR, but I guess that's not possible.
Worst case is we will need to go through all the painful process to apply PR or gamble $150 to try apply OWP anyway and will probably get rejected.
Because she already got her work permit, so it won't hurt to try.

Thanks again Zardoz,
Gus