Working while waiting for permanent residency

[Dilligent]

Hello all I have just sent the documents for permanent residency and noticed it is going to be a very long time until I hear weather I am approved or not. It is a family P.R I have applied for and I am married to a canadian who has also applied for sponsorship of me. I am currently living in Canada but not working as I am married to a Canadian I am allowed to stop here until a decision has been made regarding permanent residency. I want to know how or if I can apply for a work permit as it is going to be so long as I am going out of my mind not working as you can probably imagine. There is not a form to apply for a work permit from within Canada but I wish to work and help my wife and also give me a bit of independence. We have filled out and sent off all the documents for permanent residency and also the sponsorship as my wife will be sponsoring me here. Is there any way I can work without it interfering with my application please any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hello all I have just sent the documents for permanent residency and noticed it is going to be a very long time until I hear weather I am approved or not. It is a family P.R I have applied for and I am married to a canadian who has also applied for sponsorship of me. I am currently living in Canada but not working as I am married to a Canadian I am allowed to stop here until a decision has been made regarding permanent residency. I want to know how or if I can apply for a work permit as it is going to be so long as I am going out of my mind not working as you can probably imagine. There is not a form to apply for a work permit from within Canada but I wish to work and help my wife and also give me a bit of independence. We have filled out and sent off all the documents for permanent residency and also the sponsorship as my wife will be sponsoring me here. Is there any way I can work without it interfering with my application please any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Did you apply inland or outland?

If you applied inland, then you should have attached an application for open work permit along with your application. This would give you the OWP after stage 1 approval (currently around 11 months wait).

If you applied inland or outland, you are free to persue any other work permit on your own, separate from the PR app. You could investigate your home country's working holiday, IEC or other such work permit program for Canada. Or you would need to find a company willing to go through the LMO process to get you a closed work permit.

 

[Dilligent]

I applied inland but didn't know I was supposed to send a work permit application as well as I am being sponsored. So I am allowed to apply for a work permit while waiting for a decision? I can not seem to locate the work permit from within Canada application and are you sure this will not have an affect on my P.R application?

 

[Rob_TO]

I applied inland but didn't know I was supposed to send a work permit application as well as I am being sponsored. So I am allowed to apply for a work permit while waiting for a decision? I can not seem to locate the work permit from within Canada application and are you sure this will not have an affect on my P.R application?

Inland applicants are expected to submit the OWP app along with their inland application. I believe this is also what gives "implied" status to stay in Canada legally. OWP would be processed after stage 1 (sponsor) approval.
Best to post this in the Inland dedicated threads here, to get link to the OWP application, and see if you can do it even though you've already submitted the app. Keep in mind it's still a long 11 months wait though until stage 1 approval.

 

[screech339]

Inland applicants are expected to submit the OWP app along with their inland application. I believe this is also what gives "implied" status to stay in Canada legally. OWP would be processed after stage 1 (sponsor) approval.
Best to post this in the Inland dedicated threads here, to get link to the OWP application, and see if you can do it even though you've already submitted the app. Keep in mind it's still a long 11 months wait though until stage 1 approval.

Rob_TO,

You seem to be telling everyone that you GOT to submit OWP application with PR papers in order to get "implied status". That is not entirely true. You need to be more specific. You can be on "implied status" even if you didn't submit OWP. You would be on "visitor implied status". Same goes for those on study visas. They will be on "implied study status" if they didn't submit OWP either. Same does for work visas on LMOs, they are "implied work status". It just means that they don't have to keep extending their current visa status while PR inland application in process. All OWP does is give you the ability to work for any employer once OWP is granted.

Screech339

 

[Rob_TO]

Rob_TO,

You seem to be telling everyone that you GOT to submit OWP application with PR papers in order to get "implied status". That is not entirely true. You need to be more specific. You can be on "implied status" even if you didn't submit OWP. You would be on "visitor implied status". Same goes for those on study visas. They will be on "implied study status" if they didn't submit OWP either. Same does for work visas on LMOs, they are "implied work status". It just means that they don't have to keep extending their current visa status while PR inland application in process. All OWP does is give you the ability to work for any employer once OWP is granted.

Screech339

I was under the impression if you were here under an existing work/study permit, the only way to get implied status to continue working or studying was to submit the OWP app. With inland application on it's own and no OWP app, I thought you would just have implied visitor status but couldn't continue studying or working after the old permits expire.
Thanks for correction though.

 

[screech339]

I was under the impression if you were here under an existing work/study permit, the only way to get implied status to continue working or studying was to submit the OWP app. With inland application on it's own and no OWP app, I thought you would just have implied visitor status but couldn't continue studying or working after the old permits expire.
Thanks for correction though.

No problem! It just that your logic of having to submit OWP with application would "screw up" those on study visas. What if they don't want to work but have to continue their studies. If they got OWP approved, does this mean their study visas are no longer valid and now on OWP status? I may be wrong here but don't think OWP gives you permission to study. If it doesn't, it would really screw up their study status and school plans badly.

Screech339

 

[Rob_TO]

If they got OWP approved, does this mean their study visas are no longer valid and now on OWP status?

Good question, i really have no idea on what would happen in this situation!

 

[Dilligent]

SO I am still confused am I allowed to apply for an Open work permit or not. We have applied for me to be sponsored by my wife with the P.R but I want to know am I allowed to apply for an open work permit or not. I live here in Canada as in 2012 i think december I am allowed to stop here while waiting for a P.R decision as I am married to a Canadian and it changed in 2012. I am a british Citizen. How can I work? can I work? what permit am I allowed to apply for and will this harm my P.R application?
Please help I am at a loss and just want to help my wife and contribute to my family and its driving me insane seeing as I have work for the last 17 years. Please help

 

[Hnhkrk]

If you work without a permit and you get caught, your application is going to be thrown in the trash and your will be kicked out of Canada. So, unless you're past stage 1 in the application and able to apply for an open work permit, you shouldn't work.

 

[Rob_TO]

SO I am still confused am I allowed to apply for an Open work permit or not. We have applied for me to be sponsored by my wife with the P.R but I want to know am I allowed to apply for an open work permit or not. I live here in Canada as in 2012 i think december I am allowed to stop here while waiting for a P.R decision as I am married to a Canadian and it changed in 2012. I am a british Citizen. How can I work? can I work? what permit am I allowed to apply for and will this harm my P.R application?
Please help I am at a loss and just want to help my wife and contribute to my family and its driving me insane seeing as I have work for the last 17 years. Please help

As I said, you can apply for an OWP with your inland application, and this is what most people do. After stage 1 approval, your OWP would be granted and you can then work. The wait for stage 1 is around 11 months from when you submitted the inland app.

Until then, you can ONLY work if you apply for some other kind of work status allowed to UK citizens, or find a company willing to go through the LMO process to hire you. This should not affect your PR application.

 

[Dilligent]

Oh right so I have to wait until stage one is over then apply for a work permit full stop? Don't submit one now or should I? so when stage one is done I will receive the work permit if I apply now or wait for stage one to be over first?

Also what do you mean open to uk citizens? If I live in Canada surely I would have to wait until I am eligible to apply for a work permit. Thanks

 

[hockeyfan]

I was under the impression if you were here under an existing work/study permit, the only way to get implied status to continue working or studying was to submit the OWP app. With inland application on it's own and no OWP app, I thought you would just have implied visitor status but couldn't continue studying or working after the old permits expire.
Thanks for correction though.

Rob_TO,

You seem to be telling everyone that you GOT to submit OWP application with PR papers in order to get "implied status". That is not entirely true. You need to be more specific. You can be on "implied status" even if you didn't submit OWP. You would be on "visitor implied status". Same goes for those on study visas. They will be on "implied study status" if they didn't submit OWP either. Same does for work visas on LMOs, they are "implied work status". It just means that they don't have to keep extending their current visa status while PR inland application in process. All OWP does is give you the ability to work for any employer once OWP is granted.

Screech339

You are both kind of correct. Let me clarify. I think RobTo means is that if you don't want to continue extending your visitor visa then you should apply for an OWP as this gives you implied status. If you don't apply for an OWP you will need to keep applying to extend your visitor visas.

A study visa is different than a work visa, but if your student status is about to expire you would need to renew your study permit and while you wait you get implied status. Same goes for a work permit. But you must submit a new permit before your current one expires. You do not automatically get implied status just because you applied for PR which looks like Screech is saying. That is incorrect. You must apply for a new work permit / study permit / visitor permit / application to get implied status. If you are on a visitor's visa you can apply for an OWP and get implied status because you need to check the box to extend / remain in Canada under the same conditions.

Please correct me if you think I am wrong.

Best regards,

 

[hockeyfan]

No problem! It just that your logic of having to submit OWP with application would "screw up" those on study visas. What if they don't want to work but have to continue their studies. If they got OWP approved, does this mean their study visas are no longer valid and now on OWP status? I may be wrong here but don't think OWP gives you permission to study. If it doesn't, it would really screw up their study status and school plans badly.

Screech339

They would need to apply for a new student visa then. If they get a OWP approved but their student visa is no longer valid then they can work in Canada and remain in Canada, but can no longer study. Yeah, Screech is right in this regard.

 

[hockeyfan]

I was under the impression if you were here under an existing work/study permit, the only way to get implied status to continue working or studying was to submit the OWP app. With inland application on it's own and no OWP app, I thought you would just have implied visitor status but couldn't continue studying or working after the old permits expire.
Thanks for correction though.

You would need to extend your student visa, then you would be on implied status. If you are applying for the same permit that you currently have, then this will give you implied status. However, if it is a totally new permit, ie changing from a work permit to a student visa, you cannot keep working, you must stop at the expiry date. Application / Renewal of the same visa gives you implied status.