Staying in Canada after PGWP Expires

[Carina.rsm]

Hi all,

My boyfriend is currently a holder of a post-graduate work permit (PGWP) that will expire in November 2015. He is currently employed on a contract that will expire in December 2015 and the likely-hood that he will receive a new contract upon its expiry is high.
Our understanding is that this is a one-time deal and it cannot be extended unless an LMIA is completed by his employer and approved (which won't happen).

He has applied for the Canadian Experience Class and has opened a profile and currently has 406 points - way below the threshold of 480 to receive an invitation and not a likely option that will allow him to stay past November 2015.

It seems like we have hit a dead end and can't seem to find a viable option for him to be able to extend his stay in Canada past November.

Does any one know if we have any other options available to us that we have not yet explored? I would greatly appreciate your advice and guidance.

 

[akil_f1]

Hi all,

My boyfriend is currently a holder of a post-graduate work permit (PGWP) that will expire in November 2015. He is currently employed on a contract that will expire in December 2015 and the likely-hood that he will receive a new contract upon its expiry is high.
Our understanding is that this is a one-time deal and it cannot be extended unless an LMIA is completed by his employer and approved (which won't happen).

He has applied for the Canadian Experience Class and has opened a profile and currently has 406 points - way below the threshold of 480 to receive an invitation and not a likely option that will allow him to stay past November 2015.

It seems like we have hit a dead end and can't seem to find a viable option for him to be able to extend his stay in Canada past November.

Does any one know if we have any other options available to us that we have not yet explored? I would greatly appreciate your advice and guidance.

Try looking for any pnp ?

 

[RJJG]

Hi, in summary and generally speaking, PGWP last for 3 years in which time the permit holder is to obtain full time employment, 40hr per week etc. I am not sure why he requires a LMO with a PGWP., never heard of this before. Any experience he gains working full time will go towards applying under the experience class. During the experience class application process time he can apply to extend his PGWP. He will need to apply for an extension BEFORE it expires but he can apply 90 days within also. If he applies post expiration date he cannot work. So, apply for an extension before it expires.

Also to note.....make sure his passport is valid and will not expire any time soon, ie in the next 18months or so otherwise a PGWP extension maybe refused.

Good luck......

 

[PMM]

Hi

Hi, in summary and generally speaking, PGWP last for 3 years in which time the permit holder is to obtain full time employment, 40hr per week etc. I am not sure why he requires a LMO with a PGWP., never heard of this before. Any experience he gains working full time will go towards applying under the experience class. During the experience class application process time he can apply to extend his PGWP. He will need to apply for an extension BEFORE it expires but he can apply 90 days within also. If he applies post expiration date he cannot work. So, apply for an extension before it expires.

Also to note.....make sure his passport is valid and will not expire any time soon, ie in the next 18months or so otherwise a PGWP extension maybe refused.

Good luck......

1 You might wish to do a little reading at www.cic.gc.ca to get the actual rules.
2. PGWP are issued for the length of studies, you have attend for 2 years to get a 3 year PGWP,
3 Because his PGWP will expire and it can't be extended, so he requires a LMIA to continue working

 

[Carina.rsm]

Hi

1 You might wish to do a little reading at CIC to get the actual rules.
2. PGWP are issued for the length of studies, you have attend for 2 years to get a 3 year PGWP,
3 Because his PGWP will expire and it can't be extended, so he requires a LMIA to continue working

Thank you for confirming this. So I understand that my information is accurate. He is only eligible for a 1 year PGWP as his PG program was 1 year long.

Are you able to provide any options for how he can remain in the country? So far I am hitting a dead end.. Your guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[c2h5oh]

As far as I know LMIA is the only option. Sorry.

 

[CEC2013RAY]

Thank you for confirming this. So I understand that my information is accurate. He is only eligible for a 1 year PGWP as his PG program was 1 year long.

Are you able to provide any options for how he can remain in the country? So far I am hitting a dead end.. Your guidance would be greatly appreciated.

he can also apply for visitor record extension if I remember correctly. But this is not a good option. He can also apply for a new study permit to remain stay in Canada.

 

[jes_ON]

He has applied for the Canadian Experience Class

When? Last year? Does he have an Acknowledgement of receipt (AOR)?

and has opened a profile and currently has 406 points - way below the threshold of 480 to receive an invitation and not a likely option that will allow him to stay past November 2015.

- When did he submit the Expression of Interest (EOI) for the Express Entry process?
- In which province did he study, is he currently working... ?

Does any one know if we have any other options available to us that we have not yet explored? I would greatly appreciate your advice and guidance.

Depends on your responses to the above questions.

Another (possible) option - if you are a Canadian citizen or PR, you may be able to sponsor your partner under family class - Not presuming anything, but if you have been living together for at least 1 year, CIC would consider you common-law partners... Sponsorship in itself is a major commitment, however, that you may not be ready for...
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

 

[Carina.rsm]

Hi Jess, thank you so much for your response. I appreciate you taking the time.

He has applied for the Canadian Experience Class

When? Last year? Does he have an Acknowledgement of receipt (AOR)? - He just opened his profile in June of this year. I do not believe he has received an AOR but I am also unsure of what this document would look like or how long once applied does it take to receive it.

and has opened a profile and currently has 406 points - way below the threshold of 480 to receive an invitation and not a likely option that will allow him to stay past November 2015.

- When did he submit the Expression of Interest (EOI) for the Express Entry process? Is this different than opening a profile for the CEC program? If so, this is not something that he did. Should he do this and what is the benefit?
- In which province did he study, is he currently working... ? He studied in Ontario and currently employed full time in a professional position. He is on a one year contract expiring in December 2015 but the likely hood that is will be renewed is quite high.

Does any one know if we have any other options available to us that we have not yet explored? I would greatly appreciate your advice and guidance.

Depends on your responses to the above questions.

Another (possible) option - if you are a Canadian citizen or PR, you may be able to sponsor your partner under family class - Not presuming anything, but if you have been living together for at least 1 year, CIC would consider you common-law partners... Sponsorship in itself is a major commitment, however, that you may not be ready for... - We are not common law. Yes indeed, I have read the process and it is quite the commitment for both of us.

 

[jes_ON]

Hi Jess, thank you so much for your response. I appreciate you taking the time.

He has applied for the Canadian Experience Class

When? Last year? Does he have an Acknowledgement of receipt (AOR)? - He just opened his profile in June of this year. I do not believe he has received an AOR but I am also unsure of what this document would look like or how long once applied does it take to receive it.

OK, so he has not yet applied for CEC, he has only submitted the profile (expression of interest). If he receives an invitation to apply, only then will he submit an application.

and has opened a profile and currently has 406 points - way below the threshold of 480 to receive an invitation and not a likely option that will allow him to stay past November 2015.

Since he studied and is working in Ontario, there are 2 other options, through the PNP program, Opportunities Ontario.

First, the Ontario Express Entry program (Ontario Human Capital Priorities Program) has a points threshold of 400, so it is possible that he receives an invitation to apply through that channel.

http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/pnp/OI_PNP_EE.html

Second, Opportunities Ontario continues to offer their traditional PNP programs (non-Express entry) - they take a bit of time to process, but you can get a work permit if you receive a PNP nomination. Since you said he only got a 1 yr PGWP, I'll assume he did not complete a 2 year program, so he would not be eligible under any of the student streams, but he could be eligible under the Foreign Workers Stream. The Employer would have to submit an application (no fee) and be approved before he could submit his application, and there is a cap on the # of applications processed every year (likely to be filled soon), but it would be worth a shot...

http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/pnp/OI_PNPWORKERS.html

http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/pnp/

Other than that, if his employer is unwilling to apply for the LMIA, he could use his remaining time to look for an employer who is...

 

[Carina.rsm]

Hi Jes, thank you again for your response and for providing an option that we were not aware of. I have spent some time researching the OOPNP option and at the beginning of the guide, it indicates "How does the Stream work?
Note:
You may not apply directly to the Human Capital Priorities Stream. You must
have received a Notification of Interest from Ontario through your MyCIC account
before you can apply to OOPNP under this stream."

Am I to understand that he cannot apply to this program because he has not received a Notification of Interest from Ontario through his CIC account? Or does this mean he can still apply since he has applied for and qualifies for the CEC program, and thus if he applied to the OOPNP he will then receive the notification of interest through his CIC? I am a little confused about this. Can you help clarify?

Thanks so much!

 

[RJJG]

Hi PMM

Apologies. I couldn't see any reference to the length of time he was studying but even so, i've learned something new so thank you. Based on my own experience (2yr course) I was issued a 3 yr PGWP. When my PGWP expired after 3 yrs I applied for an extension, received approval and worked for a further year. I had at the same time submitted my application for PR through the experience class.