Thank you scylla. That is helpful .. albeit not very encouraging. I keep on hearing that an outland spousal application is so much quicker and I heard from another immigration specialist while in Canada that assured me that it would definitely not take as long as 18 months for an outland spousal application no matter where I was from .. but that's what the cic website says for my nearest visa office in Pretoria. Are the processing times as shown by the website realistic?scylla said:That's correct. You only qualify for an open work permit if you apply inland (once the first stage of processing has been successfully completed - currently 9/10 months). There is no OWP when you apply outland. Instead (as rjessome explained), you qualify to work in Canada once you have been approved as a PR and have landed.
Hope this helps.
If so we might consider doing the application inland .. does this stop me from being hired as a foreign worker via the normal process (positive LMO etc) after making the application, and if so would there be a way to work it subsequently to get implied status as a worker eg by withdrawing the application and reapplying?
Thank you for your help
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