Extension of OWP

[JRDavis]

Hello all,

We submitted our application for Inland Spousal Sponsorship for my wife last week. It was confirmed “delivered” last Thursday (April 30.2015) by Canada Post Courier. We live in Calgary,Alberta.

My wife’s OWP expires tomorrow (Tuesday May 05, 2015). From varies recent posts and articles written on-line http://bcimmigrationnewsletter.com/work-permits-and-implied-status-spousal-inland/ from various sources we understand that because we submitted both the Inland Spousal Sponsorship and the Application to Change Conditions or Extend your Stay as a Worker before her OWP expired that my wife can continue working while theapplications are processed? Is this true?

The sponsorship and Change Conditions, Extend your stay as a worker were both submitted in the same package as the new rules dictate.

Any help is appreciated,

Regards,

John

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello John,

Thank you for sharing your wife’s situation and question with us. We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

You can find some detailed information on the the CIC Website in the CIC Help Centre on implied status section.

Here is an excerpt,

R186(u) allows for persons to continue working under the conditions of an expired work permit, as long as they applied for a new work permit before the original work permit expired and have remained in Canada. Once the decision has been made, the client will either have to leave Canada or will continue as a worker who holds a valid work permit.

and

If your work permit expires after you have submitted your application for an extension but before you receive a decision on your application, you can stay in Canada under what is called implied status. That means the law implies you are a temporary resident. That status lasts until Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) decides on your new permit application. However, you must respect the following requirements:

If you applied for another work permit:

You must stay in Canada and meet the conditions of your original work permit. If you applied for a work permit extension before your work permit expired, you can keep working under the same conditions as your existing permit until CIC decides on your application, even if you have applied to extend your stay under another category of temporary resident.

If you applied for a different kind of permit:

You cannot do any of the activities allowed by the original work permit. For example, you may have come to Canada as a worker and then applied for a study permit. If so, you must stop working once your work permit expires. After that, you cannot work or study until you get a new permit.

You may want to contact the the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Call Centre directly for some definitive information regarding your wife’s situation.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

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Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org