marie 22

Ok, so long story short....
My husband is a pr of Canada, i came here on a Bunac work visa (we were not comman law partners at the time) and he is now wanting to sponsor me.

My bunac work visa expires mid september but our application for sponsorship is not yet in (for various reasons) After speaking to immigration a number of times and reading the cic website on sponsorship/work permits we have come to accept that i will have to leave the country mid september and re-enter as a visitor until the cic have agreed the pr in principle (which is taking approx 7 months now) Of course this would mean i cant work in the meantime.
I have been told to send the paperwork for a 'temp work visa' at the same time as the pr application and once the pr has been agreed in principle i will be sent a new work permit and will be eligable to work on that until the full pr comes through.

We have called again re some other matters and now been told that as soon as the paperwork for the pr application is into vergerville i can carry on working as i will have whats knows an 'implied status'. The only draw backs with this is that i wont be able to leave Canada until pr is issued. And from my knowledge my social insurance number is only valid until september?

We dont know anything about 'implied status' and after speaking to so many people in the past and what ive read on cic i dont know how trustworthy this info is.

Does anyone else have any info on 'implied status' or what my solution could be?

Lethe

Hi there,
Is there any reason why you are applying inland? At the moment it's much faster to apply outland (which you can still do whilst living in Canada). The other benefit of applying outland is that you can go home whilst your application is being processed.
You don't have to leave the country to get a visitor's visa, you can apply to extend your stay as a visitor online or by sending the application and details to Vegreville.
It takes 6 months before you will be able to work on your inland application. You will have implied status (I think, you don't have to apply for a visitor's visa if you apply inland as far as I'm aware and you don't have to leave either) but you won't be able to work until you get your open work permit.
I'm like you in that I came out on BUNAC and applied for PR through my spouse,
My advice would be to apply for an extension of your visitor's visa, details here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp, they like you to do it a month before you're due to leave. Due to some confusion I didn't apply until 13 days before my permit expired (the online application was down at the time) , as long as they get it before you're BUNAC permit expires you're fine.
Start filling out your outland forms now and get them sent off asap. This should minimize the amount of time you're out of work. I sent mine off at the end of April, my BUNAC permit expired mid june. We already had our sponsorship approval when my permit expired and London started processing June 16th. You don't have to have lived together for 12 months if you're married.
If you have anymore questions just ask.

marie 22

Thanks so much for the information, at least im not the only one in this crazy situation. My head is about to explode with it all... but i have to admit, im a little confused still...

So the latest information i have been given is that i will have 'implied status' as soon as they revieve my paperwork if i do it inland which basically means i dont have to give up work at all? (as i said in the original message - im not sure if this is correct) I will have 'implied status' until the decision is agreed in principle - 7 months and then they will issue me with a TWP until the PR actually comes through?

If i applied outland as you say do i still have to give up work in september? Do i have to remain on a visitor visa for the length of the full application process or will they issue me with a TWP once its been agreed in principle?
Did you just send your paperwork back to the UK in the regular mail direct from Canada or did you sent it to family and have them mail it from the UK for you?
So in your case, the decision in principle was given after only 6 weeks? What are you doing now? Are you able to work?


I wish we had the funds to speak to an immigration solicitior regarding all of this but the process is so expensive already! lol

:-)

Lethe

There really is no need to speak to an immigration solicitor, many of us did the entire application alone. You should read the wiki on the first page of the forum as you seem to be confused about the process in general. Also carefully read the application guide on the cic website for both outland and inland applications.
Try here: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spousa...Where_to_apply for more details

marie 22

Ahh thats great thanks, makes much more sense now!! Seems Immigration are a little misleading as the way it was interpreted to me was that implied status means you can carry on working!
I will speak with my husband but i think certainly after what you have said the outland application is certainly the way to go... at this stage, either way i am going to be out of work for sometime and at least if its all done and dusted within 8 months until i get pr is better than 7 months visitor then god knows how much more time on a TWP!!!

Thanks again, you have been a great help!! I hope the remainder of your application process goes well and i would love to hear more about your experience as and when it moves on further!!

Marie

Lethe

Good luck Marie! If there is anything on the forms which you need help with just give me a shout. I also think it's cheaper to do it outland if that helps (though I could be wrong).
Thea

amrskipro

In theory you could have implied status to keep working if you were on a specific work permit but you are not.

Eg if you had been sponsored for a position/ job by your company and you sent of an extension application you would have implied status to keep working until they rejected your extension application. They are generally rejected by CIC unless your company has obtained another LMO in which case it is actually easier and faster to flag pole to trip the new work permit (unless you live somewhere far away from the US border of course).

As a BUNAC visa holder you are not in that position as your visa is definitely linked to a period of time rather than linked to filling a proven shortfall in the Canadian workforce/ labour market.

There are some IT exceptions to this (ie non LMO positions/ skills - but I do not know about these in any detail).

Decide whether you want to stay as a visitor and if you do send of a change of conditions application - you will have implied status to stay here legally as a visitor until you receive a reply with a decision.

Last time I asked it was taking CIC about 90 days to get around to opening these applications so you would prob have three months where you are legal anyway before you get an answer back. But you are not allowed to work and your SIN will have expired so you will need to make sure your travel insurance is covering you. Make sure you keep a copy of your aplication and your postage receipt (send it tracked/ registered) so that if you had to leave and re-enter for some reason you could prove to the IO that you had not overstayed your BUNAC visa (they can get upset about overstays).

marie 22

Hi, thanks for the info... so from your knowledge, if i apply for an extention, this can only be an extention to 'visitor status' not an extention of 'working permit' as i had already been told by cic. They were told that i could still get the 'implied status' even though i was on a bunac visa currently.

I have decided that the outland application is the quickest route to go down but in an ideal world i would still like to carry on working for as long as possible but from the responses im getting i think i will have to resort back to the idea of not being able to work for at least a few months.

At least i dont have to leave in september though, i can just extend, but my other concern is, if i extend (to visitor status) do i need to prove a return flight out of canada still (as i would if i left canada and re-entered)?

Marie

Lethe

Nope, you just have to prove you could finance going back to England if they reject you. Make it very clear you're happy to leave if they do reject you but tell them you are applying for PR.

amrskipro

There is nothing stopping you applying for an extension to your BUNAC visa other than the fact that there is enough information out there (speak to BUNAC) that says unless you are an Australian (who seem to get unlimited extensions until they turn 31) it will not be extended.

The implied status relies upon the premise that you think you are doing the right thing ie they really are going to approve it. I have not heard of any case of a work permit being extended without another LMO and I personally went through this last year. I have successfully change status from worker to visitor two years in a row now (I work remotely through the UK so I do not have to enter the Canadian work force - I also pay my Canadian tax before all the accountant qualified forum lurkers chime in about being honest etc blah blah blah).

Read more here: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=512438

BUNAC's Canada rule summary: http://www.bunac.org/uk/workcanada/eligibility.aspx

So if you are still a UK student somehow then you can apply for another BUNAC visa it appears.

There is a very good checklist on the CIC website regarding changing conditions:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

Good luck - as you have a long term aim of remaining here (Canada) and it looks as if you will get a permanent status in the not too distant future you really should do the right thing and apply to change to a visitor, requesting the full six months and not work so that you are obeying the law and meeting all the conditions of your reasons to be in Canada.

Lethe

I don't think she is trying to get around leaving work, just finding out her options. It is not possible to extend BUNAC at all, it says on the visa 'this permit cannot be extended in any circumstance' or some such wording and she is 6 months too late to apply for this year's intake. Australians can reapply every year, it's different to extending the existing permit.

Marie, sometimes they may even give you a year on the visitor's visa. I sent a copy of my bank statement, a copy of my husbands, a cover letter telling them my details and the required form. You can now do it all online without having to send anything away.

amrskipro

I took it that way too - I was just clearly stating my position about doing things the right way as there are a few forum lurkers out there who are happy to chine in about life if they think one is encouraging people to 'bend' the rules. There are also quite a few forum users out there who have tried to cut corners and made their immigration status more complicated than it needed to get.

If Marie has the right skills she may be able to get sponsored anyway and be back in the work force before she knows it.

As I stated previously good luck - the extension/ change of status is really easy to do just remember to keep copies, send it registered and keep a copy of proof of postage. That package of paper is your defacto 'passport stamp' until you get a response. That will keep you all happy and legal.

marie 22

Thats great thanks... i just now need to speak to immigartion again myself as my husband is adamant that the person at immigation told him that 'implied status' means that i can carry on working until the application is sorted?
He says that he expalined i was on bunac to them and they have said i can carry on working.

You have all been a great help though!!

Lethe

You can apply to 'extend' your permit (rather than change status to visitor) and you would be on implied status, people do it but you will absolutely be rejected as you do not have an LMO, it takes them around 3 months to process it so in theory you could work for those three months. I don't know that I would recommend it though as you would then have a rejection on your record. It has nothing to do with your inland application for PR.
I haven't heard anyone recommending bending the rules on the forum, people (including myself) tend to get a bit cross with people suggesting it.
You could call CIC several different times and ask them the same question and get different answers from all of them!

amrskipro

If you get advised that - fantastic for you but ask for the IO's number (ie badge number they normally do not give names) or name so that you can reference the conversation in your application.

We asked this when they told my wife she did not need a work permit to run her own UK company when she was in Canada (even though she was working and earning money) we just asked him to record that note (in the immigration computer) and we kept a record of his badge number as a reference. Saved us $150 so we were happy.

If you make the application genuinely believing that you have an entitlment to continue working , based on references you have either read (CIC website not forums and others) or recieved from a CIC officer, then you legally have 'implied status'.

That would rock for you. Good luck.