Work permit for outland PR applicant

[ItsComplicated]

Hi, I have tried to research this myself but am unsure so hoping to find some help here. I applied for PR while in the UK but came over my Canadian wife, who sponsored me, 4 weeks ago and am allowed to stay 6 months plus possible visitor record. I was under the assumption that only if I would have done an inland PR application would I have been allowed to apply for a open work permit. But a border agent said I should be allowed to change my status from visitor to worker. Because of that advice I started to look into this.

I haven't found anything that shows that I can apply for an open work permit. Does anyone disagree?

For a job specific work permit, it says you need a job offer. Am I allowed to just apply for a job? and assuming I can get an offer and convince an employer to sort of sponsor me that I then could then get a work permit?

Best regards,
Jan

 

[scylla]

Hi, I have tried to research this myself but am unsure so hoping to find some help here. I applied for PR while in the UK but came over my Canadian wife, who sponsored me, 4 weeks ago and am allowed to stay 6 months plus possible visitor record. I was under the assumption that only if I would have done an inland PR application would I have been allowed to apply for a open work permit. But a border agent said I should be allowed to change my status from visitor to worker. Because of that advice I started to look into this.

I haven't found anything that shows that I can apply for an open work permit. Does anyone disagree?

For a job specific work permit, it says you need a job offer. Am I allowed to just apply for a job? and assuming I can get an offer and convince an employer to sort of sponsor me that I then could then get a work permit?

Best regards,
Jan

You are correct. You are unfortunately not eligible for an open work permit since you applied outland. Sadly CBSA agents aren't always that familiar with these types of immigration rules.

You can certainly apply for a job while in Canada as a visitor. In order to be able to actually work, your employer will need to give you a job offer and also obtain an approved LMIA (typically a 4-6 month process). Once you have a job offer and approved LMIA, you can then apply for a closed work permit tied to that specific employer.

 

[ItsComplicated]

You are correct. You are unfortunately not eligible for an open work permit since you applied outland. Sadly CBSA agents aren't always that familiar with these types of immigration rules.

You can certainly apply for a job while in Canada as a visitor. In order to be able to actually work, your employer will need to give you a job offer and also obtain an approved LMIA (typically a 4-6 month process). Once you have a job offer and approved LMIA, you can then apply for a closed work permit tied to that specific employer.

Thank you very much for your reply!