For those looking to find work and settling down in Canada, the Canadian authorities have brought out new guidelines on open work permits for essential workers and international student graduates.
From 26th July 2021 onwards, all those essential workers and international student graduates who are eligible will be granted an open work permit in Canada.Previously, those who had applied for an express entry visa could not apply for an open work permit.
With the introduction of the new visa guidelines, it is expected that over 90,000 applicants would be granted open work permits and thereby given a fresh opportunity to start a life and settle in Canada.Who are all eligible for this category of visa?The new Canadian open work permit programs allow candidates whose work permits are about to expire within four months, to apply for a new open work permit and continue working while their permanent residence is being processed.
In order to eligible for the new open work permit, the candidates must meet the following requirements:They are in Canada at the time of applying for open work permitThey have a valid residence/work permit that would expire in the next 4 monthsThose who have submitted immigration application under any of the new streams international graduates and essential workersThey have a short term allowance to live in CanadaThose who meet the language criteria of the immigration stream they applied underThey have applied for one of the newly launched PR routesThey were employed at the time the visa was applied forThis open work permit is extremely beneficial to people who have applied for temporary visas, awaiting confirmation, as they will not have to be concerned about their visa expiring.
The work permits issued under this scheme will be valid till 31st December 2022.This open work permit has been touted as a welcome move by the international community at large as it largely benefits the essential workers who played a pivotal role during the time of the pandemic as well as international student graduates who wish to start their career path in Canada.What are the benefits of the open work permit?Before this change in process, immigration applications were not supposed or eligible to apply for an Open Work Permit that only Express Entry applicants were authorised to do.
If you get the open work permit under the new guidelines, you will get the following benefits:Your spouse or child above 18 years of age will also be permitted under the open work permit schemeIf you have applied for an extension of your work permit before it is set to expire, you will have the benefit of residence allowance even after the work permit expires.You will have unrestricted freedom of movement.This new Canada open work permit program is open to the applicant's common-law partner or spouse, and also to any dependent children above 18 years old, as long as they are in Canada.