PGWP holders can apply for a new open work permit
The Canadian government has published guidelines for anyone who hold a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) and wish to apply for a new open work permit or extend their current one. Initially announced in April, the extraordinary step was the brainchild of Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. The minister explained the delay in new directives was due to a technical problem last week. If your PGWP ends between September 20, 2021 and December 31, 2022, these instructions will be useful to you. PGWPs are typically a one-time thing. Foreign students who have completed a full-time programme at an approved educational institution may apply for a three-year work permit. New legislation, however, will let PGWP holders request for an 18-month extension on their current work permit or a brand-new open work permit altogether.
To apply for this work permit at a port of entry is prohibited, according to IRCC. This governmental policy requires all applications for work permits to be submitted electronically by December 31, 2022. Contact Cohen Law Offices, P.C., an Immigration Law Firm, Today for a Free Consultation! Those already in Canada will be permitted to work for the time it takes to renew or replace their work visa. Each potential applicant will react differently to these changes. Here are some examples provided by Canada’s Department of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship (IRCC): Your Passport is good till April 2024 and your PGWP is valid between October 2, 2022 and December 31, 2022.
There is absolutely no action required on your part. In the event that IRCC contacts you through email asking for confirmation of your mailing address, ignore the letter. By the middle of October, you should have received the mail with your updated work permit. In addition to updating your address and/or passport validity, you must renew your PGWP between October 2, 2022 and December 31, 2022. If you provide IRCC with your email address, they will send you an email asking you to verify your address before sending any mail to you. To notify IRCC of your new mailing address, please proceed as directed in the email.
If IRCC is unable to renew your work permit by 18 months due to the expiration date of your passport, you will not receive this initial e-mail, but you will receive a separate e-mail in September. In September, you’ll receive an email with instructions on how to modify your online profile to reflect a change in your mailing address or passport information, if necessary. You’ll have two weeks to do this. You should expect to get your new work permit in the mail somewhere around the middle of November after you have updated your details here. To make sure you can take advantage of it, check the expiration date of your passport and submit an application for an extension if it will run out before April 2, 2024. You must connect your paper PGWP application to your online account.
Third, you can’t change your address or passport before your PGWP expires between October 2, 2022 and December 31, 2022. To renew your employment authorization, you must submit an online application. You can either apply for a work permit extension before your passport expires or wait until you have renewed it. Your PGWP is set to expire between October 2, 2022 and December 31, 2022, but IRCC has made no effort to get in touch with you before then. If you haven’t heard from IRCC by the middle of September, it’s likely that you won’t be able to get your work permit extended through this special process for some other reason, such as new information added to your file about your admissibility to Canada. The online application for a work permit extension is still open. Your PGWP ended on or before September 20th, 2021 and begins on October 1st, 2022.
In order to obtain a work permit, IRCC advises you to do it electronically. On August 2, 2022, applications will be available. If your visit to Canada was short-lived and your temporary resident status has also expired, you must petition to have both of these lapses rectified simultaneously. If your status expired more than 90 days ago, you can renew it under these exceptional circumstances. If you have already left Canada but hope to apply from there, you can do so if you plan to return after being granted. If your PGWP documentation has expired or will expire between September 20, 2021 and December 31, 2022, you will receive an email from IRCC reminding you to renew it. They will receive an email stating that they are temporarily authorised to work in Canada.
The recipient of the email can now provide proof to their employer that they are authorised to work in Canada by adding a copy of the email to their PGWP. This temporary measure is designed to allow persons who are eligible for the extended work period to keep working or re-enter the workforce during the application process for a new work permit. According to IRCC, this transitional employment period will last through May 31, 2023. In a statement, IRCC said that the employee may only work after receiving this email. Those whose temporary residence status has expired will not have it reinstated by this. Its purpose is to make sure that those whose PGWPs have expired or are about to expire can still work until they get an open work permit. When applying for a new work permit, those who are out of status must also submit an application to rectify their immigration status. If your status has lapsed for more than 90 days, but you still meet the requirements, you can request to have it restored.
In the event that you are currently not in Canada but have a valid temporary residence visa, you may return to the country and immediately resume your legal right to work in Canada. Nonetheless, returning to Canada solely on the basis of the email notice of interim work authorization is not permitted. Employment authorization for those seeking to transition from temporary to permanent resident status. Additionally, applicants who are in the process of applying for permanent residence through the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident (TR2PR) pathways but whose applications have not yet been approved are eligible to apply for an open work visa. By taking this action, we can make sure that TR2PR candidates don’t have to worry about losing their jobs while they wait for a verdict on their application for permanent residency.
According to IRCC, “recognising that the processing of TR to PR applications will continue for some time,” open work permits are now being issued with an expiry date of December 31, 2024, provided the applicant’s passport is valid through that date. More than 2,500 people who applied to change their status from TR to PR have already been granted open work permits thanks to this policy change, the immigration authorities said. These work licences expire on December 31, 2022, but their holders will shortly get an email informing them that they may be able to extend the validity of their permission. There is no need for these employees to take any action so long as they are still in Canada and have provided a current mailing address. They can apply to have a new work permit mailed to them that is valid through December 31, 2024. According to IRCC, they should get it by the middle of October.
Anyone applying for a work permit who has a passport that expires before December 31, 2024 will not receive this email and will not be able to extend their permission under the emergency solution. A person may apply for a work permit that expires on the same date as their passport, or they may apply for a new work permit after renewing their passport. A person’s eligibility for the special treatment will end if they change their address or decide they no longer want to receive a mailing through this method. They need to submit their application on the internet. This action is primarily aimed at assisting candidates under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) who have been unable to use Express Entry since September 2021. Draws for these applicants, who are typically PGWP holders, were put on hold after the last CEC-only draw on September 21 so that Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) could resolve the backlog in immigration petitions. Due to an increase in the number of applicants, IRCC will be unable to meet its six-month target for completing all applications. As of July 6th, the Express Entry draw process is back to normal for all applicants. In the month of July, IRCC welcomed a total of 1,164 potential CEC candidates after performing a second all-program draw on the 20th.
In the event that a PGWP holder’s current work permit expires before IRCC issues a final decision on their file, they may be eligible for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP) if they respond to an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. After their PGWP or other temporary work permit expires, immigration applicants who are waiting for their PR application to be processed can extend their stay in Canada under the BOWP. Maintaining legal status is possible even if the PGWP lapses while the BOWP is being processed. Bear in mind that the only time maintained status is relevant is when a temporary resident is asking for yet another temporary residence status. As a result, the BOWP was created to address the situation in which a person is transitioning from temporary to permanent residency status, for which it does not apply. The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is currently formulating a strategy to increase the number of permanent residency options available to temporary residents. Immigrants having prior work experience in Canada have been found to fare better in the Canadian job market.
Fraser has been given a deadline to come up with a solution because not only is it in the minister’s mandate letter, but because of a resolution put forward by Randeep Sarai, the member of parliament for Surrey Centre, British Columbia. The minister has 120 days from May 11 to release a plan to help more temporary residents become permanent residents. In an interview with CIC News from June 21st, Fraser said, “Over the coming number of months we should be able to offer some clarity as to what these routes may look like and I’m really hoping for that because I believe it’s a big opportunity for Canada.”