Open Work Permit Pilot program for sponsored partners and spouses in Canada extended by IRCC

The Canadian government has decided to extend the Open work permit pilot program for partners and spouses who are applying for the immigration to Canada. This initiative that was started in 2014 is applicable to partners and spouses of citizens and permanent residents in Canada. If they are being sponsored for the permanent residency in Canada through the Spouse or partner in Canada they are permitted to work while their application is being processed.

This initiative has now been extended till 21 December 2017. It was originally scheduled to conclude in December 2016. This popular pilot initiative by the government of Canada has helped several partners and families in Canada are being extended for the second time now, as quoted by the CIC News.

With the extension of the pilot, initiative assures that the partners and spouses who are at present being funded from within Canada can go ahead with their jobs until the time their applications are decided upon.

The applications to fund the spouses can be made either from within Canada or from outside Canada. From the sponsorship within Canada, the partners or spouses are eligible to secure an open work authorization and be employed in any job through any employer in Canada.

The persons who intend to be funded through the sponsorship within Canada need to have a legitimate status in Canada either as a student, temporary worker or a visitor at the time of submitting the application for permanent residency.

The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has announced in its statement that the family merger program is an important precedence for the Canadian government. This decision to extend the program was announced parallel to the proposal made by the Immigration Minister John McCallum to reduce the processing time for family visas by half the current time. This also included the SCLPC category.

The Immigration Minister has recommended that the applications for family visas must be processed within one year. He also defined the new initiatives that will be launched by the IRCC to make sure that the time frame of processing the applications within one year could be met.

The initiatives include submitting online applications and easy documentation process. The new online application forms are being made available from 15 December 2016.

The sponsored spouses or partners who intend to secure the open work authorization in Canada through this pilot initiative must have a legal status as provisional resident either as a worker, student or as a visitor. They must also stay at the same destination in Canada as the funder.

The applicants who intend t obtain the open work authorization are advised to submit their applications for the work authorization and permanent residency at the same time. The applicants who have not received the open work authorization and have already submitted their application for permanent residency can submit the separate application for work authorization.

The individuals who already have open work authorization can apply for the renewal of their work authorization prior to the expiry of their open work permit.