Obitim

Hi there,

My wife applied for a study permit, which she has been approved for and that's all good and in order to support her I have requested a spousal work permit as well, but my OWP is still showing as processing (and has been since July when we applied)

I am aware that you can also request an OWP on POE, however, I do have a question, if I already have an application in the system which is showing as processing will this have an impact on my options coming into the country?

Can I still request an OWP on arrival or will I need to advise that I have an application processing?

We fly out on Christmas day and had applied with plenty of time for it to be processed but I'm now a bit concerned and am wondering if I should just cancel my OWP request and instead request it on POE...

Former Lancastrian

Are you a UK citizen holding a UK passport or from a visa exempt country i.e France, Germany etc etc?

Obitim

Hi there!

I'm from the UK and hold a passport as does my wife

Obitim

Just realised that is almost a pastiche of Monty Python...

Former Lancastrian

You should be getting a form letter from IRCC stating this is your work permit invitation letter with your UCI # and a work permit number U then 9 digits. It will tell you to present this letter on arrival in Canada.

You could apply at the POE if letter not received. You will still have to pay the $100 OWP processing fee unless its already been paid.

Check your spam mail folders as your wife gets the same letter but for her study permit as well.

Obitim

Cheers Lancastrian,

We went through the online portal to apply and hers has the status approved while mine has the status processing, that;s why we're gettign a bit worried.

Obitim

If I had an online application still processing would it hold things up at POE though?

Former Lancastrian

If the officer is satisfied that the work permit should be issued and IRCC have entered the work permit details into the system and fees have been paid then it can be issued.
Has your wife got her invitation letter for the study permit? If so yours would be similar except its for a work permit.

Obitim

She did, which was great news!

But we've not had anything like that for me, we've been checking the portal as well as our emails every day!

It's definitely on the system as we've had the the notification through the portal to state it was submitted and there is a letter attached to it stating as such.

So as long as I have my UCI and Request number the official should be able to approve/deny my application on the spot even though it was submitted online then?

Snowy560

What can happen (and FL may confirm) is that the officer at the border may decline to issue the spouse WP if it's still processing on the basis that it's IRCC's decision. In that case hopefully you'll enter as a visitor while you wait for IRCC to process. Not saying that will happen only that it can. You'll need an eTA to travel.

Former Lancastrian

Well the OP is entitled to receive a OWP based on his wives study permit as long as admissible to Canada. Now the fact that an application has been made but not yet finalized could pose a problem to the officer if not used to the Immigration side of things.

Much easier to apply for SOWP at POE's for those eligible rather than the visa office but as we have seen many times people do stuff then ask questions after doing it rather than before.

Obitim

Well, that was us...we wanted to have an approval in place before we moved over for a couple of years...

In that case, would it look bad if I withdrew my application at all?

Obitim

Also, just for clarification, we do have an eta from when we travelled over in 2016, so I'm pretty sure that;s still valid (but I'm going to double check now!)

Former Lancastrian

From an experience side and for others.
Only your wife needed approval as she could not apply for a Study Permit at the POE. Spouses/common law partners accompanying who are visa exempt (not to be confused with eTA) don't need approval they can apply at the POE. No forms to fill out just pay the fees. Usually done in 15 minutes.

Give it another couple of weeks and no need to withdraw the application at the moment.

Obitim

Nice one, cheers FL, that puts my mind at rest somewhat!

We'll see how it goes for another few weeks and go from there!

Thank you very much for the help!