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Have you applied for a Spousal Sponsorship and your spouse is in Canada without a job? Would you like to work and be able to support your family? You can now apply for an Open Spousal Work Permit and support yourself and your family while you wait for the results of your spousal sponsorship application.
Spousal Sponsorship is an application submitted by individuals who would like to invite their spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partners to Canada for permanent residency. The person applying for their spouse must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and must be 18 years of age or older. In some cases the applicant lives in Canada with their spouse and while they are waiting for the processing of their spousal application, they might be able to work and support themselves in Canada.
In most cases, your Spouse or Common-Law Partner can work in Canada but they will need to apply for an Open Work Permit and in some cases just a work permit which will require an employer to apply for labour market impact assessment. For the purposes of this blog let's focus on open work permits.
An Open Work Permit is a work permit issued in Canada which is not job specific. This means that the Canadian government does not put restrictions on where you can work. Another benefit of this work permit is that you do not need to apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment before applying for the work permit itself. However, you must qualify for the permit first. Remember there are fees associated with this application.
You will qualify for this type of work permit if you fall under any of the following categories:
Spouses or common law partners of workers and international students
Individuals waiting for their spousal sponsorship applications
Refugee claimants
Some temporary resident permit holder
Family members of foreign representatives and military personnel
Spouses of skilled workers
You have already applied under the spouse or common-law class and have received positive feedback but have not yet undergone security and medical clearances
There are more grounds based on which you can qualify for an open work permit, these are only a few of them. Qualifying to apply for an open work permit does not guarantee a permit; you will still have to go through rigorous assessment by Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada.
Furthermore, to qualify for an Open Work Permit you must have a temporary status in Canada such as a visitor, student or worker and live with your spouse or common-law partner at the same address. A major difference between an open work permit and a work permit is that you can apply for a work permit while you are applying for a spousal sponsorship, however, you can apply for an open work permit once your application for spousal sponsorship has been given approval in principle from IRCC.
There are two kinds of open work permits available, unrestricted open work permits and restricted open work permits. Under restricted open work permits, the applicant may be eligible to work for any employer however the job will be specific. An unrestricted open work permit, the applicant can work in any job, any location and for any employer. This depends on whether applicants have passed their medical examinations or not.
Remember, in order to apply for an open work permit you must physically be in Canada. If you receive this work permit, there are restrictions upon you such as duration of permit.
Have your spousal sponsorship processed while you apply for an open work permit does not guarantee a work permit as mentioned before. Apart from specific eligibility requirements you also have to meet general eligibility requirements for work permits such as:
Proof that you will leave Canada when your permit expires
Have sufficient funds to support yourself
Must not have criminal record
Must be able to conduct medical examination if requested by IRCC
These are some of the things that your application will be assessed based on. Given your application, Immigration Canada may ask for less or more documents to prove eligibility for a work permit. A work permit is assessed by Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees Canada. Keep in mind that there are fees associated with an open work permit that you must pay. Depending on individual cases, some people might be exempt from paying this fee.
Akrami & Associates has assisted many clients with different immigration matters from temporary to permanent applications. If you're looking to work in Canada while you await the immigration results of your spousal application than contact Akrami & Associates for more details at 416-477-2545. Our immigration experts have submitted many successful immigration applications and we can help you achieve your immigration goals as well. Contact us today!
With Akrami & Associates there is always a way!!
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