jordanleanne

Hi! I'm looking for any expert knowledge and input into our situation and the options we have, and possibly any insight and guesswork into how immigration applications are currently getting processed.

As the title suggests, my husband has been invited to apply for an IEC work permit (working holiday visa). We have 3 weeks to submit the application for this. We are also stuck somewhere in the process of our EE/PR/FSW being reviewed (submitted feb-2021). The PR application was actually recently updated (23/03/22) that they had reviewed our medical checks, which had finally reignited some belief that that was being processed!

Our questions now are:
Do we go through getting all of the documentation for the IEC for one of us, with the hope it will get us both out to Canada sooner?
Will it interfere with our PR application at all?
Does our medical checks being reviewed suggest the rest of the PR will soon be completed?
What supporting documents are needed for IEC- will some of it be duplicates that we've already submitted once for PR eg. police checks?
What is the estimated cost of acquiring the IEC visa? We have to figure out if this is work the extra costs given that we could be granted COPR at any point.
How do we get the second person to join out in Canada with one person holding an IEC visa?

Any info or advice is welcome!

PMM

Hi

1. Only your spouse was invited to apply for IEC, you could accompany as a visitor.
2, Whole separate application, if the police checks are still valid you could still use them, otherwise follow instructions for apply for IEC.
3. The fees are listed.

christmasoompa

And get an open work permit for the same duration if the IEC holder finds a skilled job.

OP - no, it won't interfere with your PR app at all. Personally I'd be inclined to decline the IEC and let somebody else who really wants it and doesn't have another option have it. It sounds like it won't be too long until you get PR anyway.

Good luck.

Stumpylegs

Personal choice, I'd be inclined to say yes, although depends how much of a rush you are in - its also a partial safeguard if Covid causes tighter controls etc.

No, you may even find once you get to Canada and change your address the application is approved quicker, was almost certainly the case for me the back end of last year.
In theory it means your case is moving forward, however have you had to redo your medical since submitting in Feb 2021, if not and your status has recently changed to "you currently do not need a medical exam" you may find you've just had a temporary extension on your medical or the like, only true way of knowing where you are is GCMS notes (immitracker is also a reasonable tool to see timeline s for others in a similar situation)

you need a police cert but it needs to be dated within the last 6 months, other than that from memory it was just filling in things like travel history, work history etc. you need proof of funds and proof of insurance when you land.

Cheap, I believe its about £80-90 for the visa, there's also the charge for biometrics(£50ish) - however you've already submitted these for PR.

So you can fly out with them on an ETA and stay for 6 months without working (at which point you can apply for a visitor record to extend your stay/flagpole etc if you haven't sorted PR/OWP by then.If they find a skilled job before you fly out and land with supporting documentation for this job(job offer letter etc), you can get an open work permit at time of entry, otherwise once they are in skilled employment you can apply for it from within the country.