# Open Work permits



## carlostridge (Jan 3, 2011)

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are planning to move to Canada in the next few months. I will be transferring within my current company, whereas my partner will be quitting her job in the UK and looking for work when we arrive. 

My visa is being taken care of by my current company's lawyers - they tell me I will be eligible for an intra-company transfer. However, my partner's visa and work permit will need to also be sorted out.

Having done some research, it seems that she will be eligible for an Open Work Permit (my job falls in Skill Level A), however I can't find any detailed information or links to the necessary forms on the Immigration Canada website. All I've found is

Can anyone fill me in on the process of applying for an Open Work Permit? Will my partner automatically be eligible or does she have to fill out her own work permit application? I can't see anywhere on the work permit forms to specify what type of work permit you are applying for...

To make matters more complicated, the lawyers my company have enlisted to process my application are asking for quite a lot of money for the privilege of having them sort it all out for us. My company will only cover the costs associated with my visa, so I'm keen to find out how much work is actually involved in getting an open work permit to see if their proposed cost is justified.

One further complication is, as far as I can tell, that both our visa applications should be processed together. However, if we don't want to pay the lawyer's fees for my partner's visa this could be complicated, as my application will be processed by the lawyers and my partner's will be done by us. Does anyone know how vital it is that both applications are processed simultaneously?

Any info anyone might have on the above would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Carl


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

carlostridge said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> My partner and I are planning to move to Canada in the next few months. I will be transferring within my current company, whereas my partner will be quitting her job in the UK and looking for work when we arrive.
> 
> ...


Assuming you have been in a common-law relationship for one year minimum you may sponsor your partner and she will probably be eligible for a Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP). Her application can be submitted separately and you do not need to pay lawyers/Immigration consultants to do this for you. You should read:
Sponsoring your family: Spouses and dependent children


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## carlostridge (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks for the quick response.

I think i wasn't clear about our circumstances - we will be moving to Canada temporarily, and i will have a temporary work permit based on an intra-company transfer. I think the SOWP, or at least the sponsorship route, seems to be for immigrants with permanent resident status?

Any further information on temporary open work permits would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Carl


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## Lindavid6 (Nov 7, 2010)

I work here on a temporary work permit and my wife gets an open permit, it just means that you are not tied to one company, and can move around jobs if you want to. There are restrictions on an open permit though i.e. no working with children, no work in healthcare, no education classes etc.


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## lbmiller (Aug 4, 2010)

I have the same question as Carl. Where is the application for the open work permit? Is it combined with the principal temporary worker application or is it completely separate? I haven't been able to find any application that states you are applying for a spouse/common law partner open work permit. If anyone can help with this process, I'd greatly appreciate it! My husband and I are waiting to submit his application until we can figure this out. 

Thanks, Carl! I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is confused by the process!


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## carlostridge (Jan 3, 2011)

Lindavid6 said:


> I work here on a temporary work permit and my wife gets an open permit, it just means that you are not tied to one company, and can move around jobs if you want to. There are restrictions on an open permit though i.e. no working with children, no work in healthcare, no education classes etc.


Thanks for the information Lindavid6.

Do you remember the process you went through to obtain your wife's open work permit? Did you apply at the same time and with the same forms as your temporary work permit?

As lbmiller says, it's not clear exactly how one goes about applying for an open work permit to supplement my temporary work permit. If anyone could provide some guidance on either how to fill in the forms available on the CIC web site or where to find any separate forms required, that would be great!

Thanks!


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## Lindavid6 (Nov 7, 2010)

carlostridge said:


> Thanks for the information Lindavid6.
> 
> Do you remember the process you went through to obtain your wife's open work permit? Did you apply at the same time and with the same forms as your temporary work permit?
> 
> ...


The work permit is issued at the Point of entry i.e. Pearson Airport Toronto. I arrived two months earlier than my wife, but her work permit is back to back with mine so it expires at the same time. If you are moving to Ontario you are not eligible for OHIP until you have been here for 3 months so you will need temporary health insurance coverage.


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## carlostridge (Jan 3, 2011)

Lindavid6 said:


> The work permit is issued at the Point of entry i.e. Pearson Airport Toronto. I arrived two months earlier than my wife, but her work permit is back to back with mine so it expires at the same time. If you are moving to Ontario you are not eligible for OHIP until you have been here for 3 months so you will need temporary health insurance coverage.


Thanks for the response again, Lindavid.

Just to set my mind at ease, do you know of anywhere (for example on the CIC website) where i can confirm the ability to apply for my partner's OWP at our point of entry? In our case we'll be flying in to Vancouver Airport.

Cheers

Carl


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## Lindavid6 (Nov 7, 2010)

Sorry I can't help you with an official piece of paper, everyone I know has taken this route though. We have had two permits issued this way our first and the renewal.


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