Hi all,
I am an Australian, currently in Canada on a working IEC holiday visa which runs out September 2017. I am married to a Canadian and have been for a year, also living together for a year.
I am applying for a spousal sponsorship permanent residence from inside Canada. I will also need to apply for another work permit because my IEC Working holiday visa will expire before the permanent residency is issued.
I know that I am eligible to obtain an open work permit as an inland applicant for spousal permanent residence, but I don't know how exactly to go about this.
To be clear, here are my questions listed:
Question (1)
Will me being on the IEC working holiday visa affect anything while I am trying apply for an open work permit that is granted for people who have applied for spousal sponsored inland permanent residence?
I don't know if I can just apply for an open work permit while I am still on my IEC work permit. Does it matter? First I thought I would need to try and extend my IEC working holiday permit but I don't think you can extend those.
Question (2)
Is there anything that I need to do special because I am on IEC working holiday?
Do I need to provide health insurance proof? Do I need to provide any of the IEC qualifying documents, such as proof I can support myself (bank accounts). Do I need to provide duplicate copies of documents that are required for the work permit that are already in my permanent residence application?
I am currently going to apply for the permanent residence and the work permit under Guide 5553 - Applying to Change Conditions or Extend Your Stay in Canada - Worker.
The CIC website says that you should submit both applications at once in the mail. The confusing thing for me are the references for to IEC Working Holiday program in this 'Applying to Change Conditions or Extend Your Stay in Canada' application.
There is a question at the start of the form:
"Check the appropriate box or boxes to indicate if you are applying for:
* A work permit with the same employer
* An initial work permit or a work permit with a new employer
* Restoration of your status as a worker
* An initial or an extension of a temporary resident permit"
I am not sure what to fill out but I am guessing... "an initial work permit or work permit with new employer"? Is this the correct box to check for my circumstances?
I'm a little confused because this technically isn't an "initial work permit", as I am currently on the IEC Canadian Experience work permit for a working holiday.
Also, it mentions in the document checklist (IMM5556E) that people on the IEC Canadian Experience must provide proof of health insurance. Is this only for people trying to extend their IEC student or working visa?
Do I need to do this? I have insurance through my work, but I figure I don't want to provide documents that they don't need. On one hand I don't mind submitting health insurance information but I don't want them to then think that I am trying to extend my IEC working holiday visa, as I have read that it cannot be extended.
Question (3)
My Spouse:
My spouse in self-employed and need to know what types of forms she has to provide in relation to tax. She is currently going to submit a years worth of bank statements showing income deposits, her notice of assessment for 2015, and she can give them her entire tax return.
Question (4)
How many pictures is good to submit? Five or twenty? The more the merrier or just a select few from each trip/event attended?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you so much in advance, very much appreciated!