amyg339

Hi there, Ive spent a long time covering the threads and Wiki and can't seem to find the answer to my questions so I apologize if this is a repeat.

so basically, I am living in the UK and my wife is Canadian (living in Canada).

We are set to send our permanent Resistance Application off but have hit a brick wall. I was intending on applying for an open work permit but am now under the impression that because I am living in the UK I can not apply for an OWP.

My wife is sending the application to become a sponsor and my application to be sponsored off as one package from inland Canada. Am I still correct in thinking that despite sending the whole package off from inside Canada I still cant apply for an open work permit?

And lastly, If we where to apply for my PR and then I moved to Canada as a visitor, would I then be able to apply for an OWP?

Many Thanks,
Amy

Vulcanoid

You are correct. You can only get an Open Work Permit as part of an inland application. If you are living outside of Canada, you must file an Outland application (so are not eligible for a work permit).

Your wife can file Outland from inside Canada, but she must file an Outland application, and you do not qualify for the inland permit (as you are not, and cannot, apply inland).

If you visit Canada, and file an inland application while there, you would be able to include a spousal open work permit. But there's a good chance your entire outland PR application would be done in less time than waiting for the inland work permit to come through.

SchnookoLoly

Vulcanoid pretty much covered it. You either apply inland or outland, and your whole application is sent as one application - you send both the sponsored person's application AND the sponsored person's application together as one application.

But as has been said, if you live in the UK you cannot apply inland and thus do not qualify for an OWP.

You can risk going to Canada as a visitor and hoping you are let in and then applying from there, but a recent case (it's linked in a stickied thread) makes it much more difficult t be let into Canada as a dual intent inland applicant BEFORE having applied for PR...

Sooooo yeah. You either have to get yourself to Canada (and hope not to be turned away at the border), or apply outland and forego the OWP.

If you apply outland, your expected processing time depends on which office gets your application. If it goes to London, apps are processed in an average if 8ish months. If it goes to Ottawa, then you're looking at about 4-5 months. No, you can't pick Ottawa.

Best of luck, let us know what you decide to do! (And sorry it's not the news you were looking for!)

amyg339

Thank you both for your responses. I think deep down I knew the answer so just needed someone to put it in plain black and white for me. 😩

We've finished our application for Outland so just going to go ahead and send this off. We've already done 6 months apart saving for Residancy and filling the forms so whats another 8 months 🙄 I know mine Will be a London case so won't even get my hopes up for Ottawa 😂