Tourist visa while sponsorship application is underways?

[Etesan]

Another one of those goodies I cannot find a clear answer to:
We will send all the sponsorship papers AND residency papers in one go just before my Work and Travel Visa expires.
- Do i have to cross the border and re-enter in order to get a tourist visa or can I just stay because it is implied that I am allowed to stay?
- Do I have to cross the border even if i have not heard from immigration that they received our application (online)?

Just want to be sure not to be turned away at the border.

Hope anyone has any experience with that.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Need more information to give you an answer.

Are you applying inland or outland?
Are you visa-exempt?

 

[Etesan]

I am from Germany, thus visa excempt. I will be applying from inland.
My workpermit expires end of November and we will send everything off end of October. Unfortunately my job now is seasonal and they want me back next year, but cannot offer me work from November-March, so I will be unemployed from November-March.

 

[bethfaint]

Apply for an Open work permit (OWP) along with your inland permanent residency application. Because you were previously on a work permit and are applying for a new one (the OWP) this gives you "implied status" so you can work until your Open work permit comes through. You will not have health care in your provence until then however. You are not meant to leave the country if you are applying inland until the entire PR process is done. That runs the risk of not being allowed back into the country (no return flight, no work permit, no letting you in!), also it states on the CIC website that you shouldn't leave also.

 

[Etesan]

Wow, 3 applications at once.
So OWP doesn't mean "take any job I like" but "continue to work with your current employer"?!
You think they will allow an OWP even if the season starts in March and I apply in November?

 

[bethfaint]

I applied for an open work permit even though I was staying with same employer. It means you get implied status, otherwise, if you dont apply for the this open work permit you are not meant to work until you get first stage approval and then apply for a work permit. First stage approval is taking 11 months right now.

 

[bethfaint]

If you just want to be a tourist and are gtting hired back through an LMO whilst your PR is in process then by all means cross the border. Or apply to extend your status as a visitor. I think it cost $75. I havent had to do this before so someone might know better than me.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Wow, 3 applications at once.
So OWP doesn't mean "take any job I like" but "continue to work with your current employer"?!
You think they will allow an OWP even if the season starts in March and I apply in November?

An Open Work Permit allows a person to work any job but Implied Status doesn't.

If someone is here on a work permit and they apply for another work permit, they will be on Implied Status between expiry of the first permit and a decision on the new app. While on Implied Status, they must continue working under the same conditions of their previous work permit; however, the allowance to continue working only applies if the previous permit was extendable.

If you are here on an IEC visa, then you will not be allowed to work on Implied Status, as the IEC isn't an extendable visa.

Is there any particular reason you are applying inland instead of outland? At the moment, first stage for inland is taking 11 months. If you applied outland through Vienna, your app would most likely be done before then. As well, you can leave Canada without jeopardizing your app.

 

[Leon]

Have you used up both years of the German working holiday visa? There is one year of open work permit allowed and another that is tied to employer. If you have only used one, you could apply for the other for 2014.

Otherwise, everything has already been said. You could apply outland through Vienna and go home over xmas and even get a job there for a while if you are short on cash, apply for the 2nd year of working holiday for 2014 and go back in March to your job.

Or you could stay in Canada, apply for the open work permit, get implied status to live in Canada but not work as explained, implied status for work permit is not for IEC.

Currently it's taking around 11 months to get first stage approval and open work permit through inland, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp However, PR through Vienna taking up to 12 months right now. That's for 80% of cases so likely yours is a little faster. If you apply outland, you could still stay in Canada if you wanted to but then you would have to apply to change your status to visitor or you hop over to the states when your IEC visa expires and come back as a tourist.

 

[Etesan]

Yes, I have used both my IEC visas. Not short on cash luckily and have no real ties, or for that matter, worked in Germany for the last 18 years , so no going back there .
Ok will just apply for the open work permit and see what happens.

Thanks

 

[Rob_TO]

Yes, I have used both my IEC visas. Not short on cash luckily and have no real ties, or for that matter, worked in Germany for the last 18 years , so no going back there .
Ok will just apply for the open work permit and see what happens.

Why are you applying inland? Since you are coming off an IEC work visa which is non-extendable, you will not be able to work during the entire stage 1 processing time. Stage 1 these days is taking 11 months so if you apply in October, basically you can't work until your OWP is granted in around September 2014. Then stage 2 will take another 8 months so you should get full PR sometime around May 2015.

The worst part about inland, is that during the entire processing (so until May 2015) you need to stay in Canada and shouldn't leave for any reason whatsoever.

Meanwhile if you apply outland through Vienna visa office, the posted time on the CIC site is 12 months, but many visa-exempt applications are done quicker. So you could have your full PR, in around the same time it takes for just stage 1 of inland. Also with outland you can come and go from Canada as you wish during processing. You just need to make sure you keep visitor status here since there is no implied status with outland.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Agree with Rob_TO.

You are better off applying outland through Vienna and changing your status to visitor in Canada while you wait. Have a look at the Vienna thread and spreadsheet

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/vienna-office-t74361.3240.html