Hello!

I’m a British citizen currently living in the US (I’ve been here for two years) with my Irish husband. My husband has been offered a job with a new company in Toronto on a Young Professionals visa which means he cannot take me as a dependent with him. However, because his job is in the correct NOC category, I can apply for the Spouse Open Work Permit which I intend to do.

My question is whether it is best to apply before we go (his job starts in August), at the border, or from within Canada (I can enter on a Visitor visa for six months, I think?). The concern I have with flagpoling is that we have lived in two other countries besides the US (Japan and Singapore for two years respectively) and I cannot get police records from them without a specific request from the Canadian government. My husband has been asked for these records for his visa so I want to be sure I have all the documents in place before attempting to flagpole as my US visa will no longer be valid once we leave the country and I would have to return to the UK.

Any advice would be extremely welcome!

Thank you in advance!