markan

My 2 year TWP runs out in June. Does my employer need to apply for a new LMO, or do I just apply for an extension. My PR application is at the Received by Visa Office stage, so I'm thinking my TWP will of expired before a decision is made on PR. Any answers or advice much appreciated.

Jim Humphries

Your employer will need to obtain a new LMO before you can apply for an extension of the WP.

Thomasst

My Work Permit was about to run out also and my PR details at the Visa stage. The wait time through Vegreville (?) last year was 70+ days so i hopped across the border and renewed this end. Border control not too happy about issuing however they did and extended for 3 years ( usual 1 year ) . Annoying thing was 2 weeks later the PR come through. Oh well the days of stressing over forms etc will soon be behind you .

Mermaid3011

I suggest that you have your employer apply for a Labour Market Opinion and at the same time apply for an extension of your work permit. This is called "concurrent processing" and even though your work permit expires in June you will be able to keep working legally in Canada as long as
a) you don't leave the country
b) CIC hasnt decided about your work permit
c) CIC receives your work permit application 30 days before your current WP expires.

Once CIC decides about the work permit application your PR application might have moved further along in the process as well...

The whole thing is a little tricky. My employer used a law firm to do this whole process, but you can certainly go through the process without the help of an expensive lawyer.

If your employer is not willing to help you in any way you can try this:

Apply exactly 30 days before your WP expires for a WP renewal in Vegreville. The current processing takes about 6-8 weeks. Until Vegreville decides on your application you can legally stay in Canada and keep working. No problem! But you must not leave the country. Not even for a shopping trip!

This can buy you up to 2 months longer...

Leaving the country with your work permit expiring is risky. If the CIC people at the border don't let you in you are screwed. I did the same thing last year and stayed in Toronto. Didnt move... until the LMO and WP came through. I was on this kind of "grey" status for about 8 weeks.

Good luck!!!

Mermaid3011

You could have probably gotten a refund. A friend of mine was in the same situation. She was called for an interview on April 24th last year but her work permit expired March 31st. She applied for a new work permit and the day she received her PR (at the interview in Toronto) she also got a refund of the work permit fees.

PMM

Hi

Hate to put one "fly in the ointment" is that if Vegreville refuses the application, which they will without an LMO, the OP will get a letter stating that s/he must leave Canada immediately.

dunniflat

we have just extended our work permit and received yesterday.
we had both a valid lmo and an ainp sponsorship so we knew we would get it but it still seemed to take a while.
our wp expired on march 16th but because we sent it off in plenty of time we would have been classed as being on "implied staus"......but obviously it is much nicer to have the wp!

the annoyingly weird thing is that this time our wp was for 2yrs..all our other ones were only for 1year......we shouldnt need the full 2 years right enough if we get pr.....i supppose its better to be safe than sorry with these things though..you never know!

jamesmc

hi, having just gone through having to extend twp while awaiting pr.......
employer applies for lmo.you send lmo,copy of new contract of employment,copy of passport,to vegreville..plus $150 ..
our pr came through 2wks later ..never got a refund..