+1. So much easier and quicker! Unless of course your TWP is being issued under a program where you can't do that i.e. AIPP.

Hi, thanks for the response. Problem is we are also waiting for my partners work visa. If it was just myself then I would just do it at POE but unfortunately we come as a pair plus dog

Just going to have to play the waiting game and hope it comes through before deadlines. Will be a shame if it does not happen as we were looking forward to a couple of years in Canada.

Thanks for help, I've been lurking around alot of threads for while and everyone is super helpful. Great place to get opinions form people who have already been through this experience.

Siouxie wasn't responding to you (you can't get a study permit at POE). If you look at her post, you can see who she's 'quoted', that means she's responding to that specific person.

HTH, good luck with yours.

Hi Christmasoompa & Siouxie,

Thanks for the pointer, I looked at that originally since it would certainly be quicker, but as I went through a PNP nomination under a strategic recruitment initiative I don't have an LMIA I kind of thought I wouldn't be eligible. Also felt a bit weird the idea of just turning up at a POE and going hey... Here's me and my family I want a work visa.. sure we'll leave once it expires. Seemed like the sort of thing you would want to get sorted up front if I'm honest. Currently I am on week 7 + 2 days out of a stated processing time for 80% of 8 weeks. So I'm hoping either to hear something back by the end of the 8 weeks or be able to submit a case enquiry to get some more info about what is happening.

Teal2019 massive apologies for hijacking your thread... my original comment was meant to give an empathetic PoV, but there are so many helpful people on this forum

Luke

Hi Luke,

That's fine you don't need to apologise! I'm glad you were able to get some helpful info and hope that you get your permit soon.

We are still waiting and it's been 9 weeks almost at this point. We sent a case specific enquiry last week and have not had a response. When we did get a response a few weeks back. We just got a generic copy and pasted response and the info received was nothing to do with our specific case. It is frustrating when the processing time is still at 1 week for London.

We are just waiting in hope 😂

Hi Teal2019,

Ok so I am still waiting an update on my Temp Work Permit application (currently 9 weeks processing time now), however I did hear back from the case specific enquiry I submitted on 31st May (4 working days response). They mentioned that the application was passed on to the VAC centre in London, which is run by VFS Global. I don't have much hope that they will process it in a timely manner since they are a private company with a shady track record according to trust-pilot and less than impressive customer service. It does however at least let me know where in the world my application is, it's the first time anybody has said to me where the application is, so that's something I guess. Also I have noticed that the processing times on the CIC website haven't been updated since 21st May, I'm starting to think that these processing times are just made up! While I know they are not hard and fast times, they do say that they expect to process 80% of work permits within 8 weeks so that means that I am one of those lucky 20% that is taking longer. We did have some movement on our PR application, which is being processed by an office in Canada and provided our biometrics on Tuesday this week and have an estimated processing time of 4 months remaining. At this rate the PR will be done before the TWP

The never ending visa saga continues...

Hi Christmasoompa & Siouxie,

I know I was a little dismissive of your advice given on the 28th of May about just turning up at a POE and applying, but I am seriously considering giving this a try now, since it looks like my TWP application in London is likely to take a lot longer than anticipated.

I have read the information on the link you sent through about TWP; Where to Apply Canada and would appreciate some clarity on the following points if possible.

1) Can I apply at POE if I don't have an LMIA? I do however have an offer of employment number according to Can I apply for a work permit when I enter Canada?
2) Because I already have an TWP application open at the moment, will this affect the ability to apply at the POE?
3) Will I have to withdraw the current online TWP application if I apply at POE?
4) Are all international airports a POE or only specific ones?

Thanks in advance.

Luke

Hi Teal2019,

Did you manage to get your study permit at all? I hope you did or have at least heard something by now.

For our part we decided not to wait for the work permit through London as mentioned earlier in the thread it was taking ages and didn't feel like we were progressing at all. So we decided to turn up at Toronto Pearson International airport and apply for a work permit at the POE instead. It is a bit more of a risk turning up and asking for a work permit at the POE as they can always refuse entry.

We had as much documentation as we could think of including photocopies of all documents and passport photo's etc... After about 2 hours in secondary processing we cleared immigration with a 2 year work permit, my wife also managed to get an open work permit and my two children got visitor visa's for the same amount of time.

The CBSA officer didn't ask for a lot of the documents that we had with us and there was some confusion on my part when I mentioned that we had dual intent as we also have a PR application going through at the moment. I thought for a moment that we weren't going to be allowed in as the PR is still in progress, but the CBSA officer was just being explicit that we were dealing with ONLY a work permit at this time NOT a PR landing, which was fine with me since that is why we were there.

We arrived after business hours so my contact at the company I will be working for was unavailable and the offer of employment letter that I had was "not in order" as the CBSA officer put it due to the fact that I only had the original one (starting 1st April) at that time not the one with the updated start date. The CBSA office managed to verify details via other channels as she put it, which I can only assume means she contacted the Manitoba Government official who issued the support letter for details.

Any way we are here now and hopefully the PR is approved but if not at least we have 2 years working and experiencing life in Canada.

Hope this helps somebody.