URGENT - Bizarre issue with friends open work permit.

[jblinco86]

My best friend (who is Australian) applied for her first and only 24 month IEC Open Work Permit last year and was accepted, no issues.

When she arrived in Canada to process the visa at Immigration - the Immigration officer advised she was only entitled to 12 months, and could not explain why.

She was then given a 12 month visa, but was then emailed a few days later advising she was entitled to another 12 months (like she should have been given at Immigration) and was sent another POE letter.

She just went to flagpole at the border to get her second year of her visa as her first twelve months are up in two days - and was told at the border she isn't entitled to the second year of her visa. The Immigration officer could not tell her why.

Can anyone give me some advice on what she could or should do? Obviously this is very frustrating and quite appalling on Canadian Immigrations part. Someone elses incompetence shouldn't affect a life this drastically.

I've told her to go to CIC in Downtown Vancouver first thing in the morning to speak with someone directly. Her first work visa expires in two days and she will then be here illegally through no fault of her own.

Any advice at all would be great! Thanks so much.

 

[pultyn]

Can't help with your issue but what she can do is applying online for visitor visa. It'll give her at least 4 months of time to figure things out. She has to do it before her current status expires.

I though IEC has 3 cattegories and each is 1 year long. Maybe things has changed since I had it.

 

[Bs65]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and doesnt help but why leave it until 2 days before IEC expires when the original issue should have been sorted on landing at the airport when would have been a lot easier to resolve or at least when the email came in which should have raised a few alarms.

It is not unknown for 12 instead of 24 months to be given in error as CBSA are only human and they can only action what is in front of them yet many people who persist at the airport get a correction before they leave. Unfortunately leaving so late getting a visitor visa extension may take some time past the original permit expiry date and doesnt fix the IEC permit. I assume she did land with 2 years travel insurance as without that at the original landing an IEC permit would be shortened. Not sure can suggest anything but if can actually get to speak to someone from CIC that would be a start.