Work in Canada while waiting: The SOWP allows its applicants to stay in the country while waiting for a decision. It can take Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada about twelve months to process an application.

• You can Apply If you are a spouse or common-law partner is a international student
• You can apply Canada Student and Spouse Visa Together
• Processing Time of SOWP | Spousal Open Work Permit can generally take between 3-5 months but are subject to change. Process time also vary depends on country of applying and complexity of each file
• Processing fee for open work permit : CAD 100 open permit holder fee and CAD 155 work permit fee. CAD 85 for biometric
• Spouse open work permit medical is mandatory, you can take upfront or after receiving the medical instruction letter.
• Spouse open work permit proof of fund not mandatory but we strongly recommend to keep approx CAD- 20,000 in the applicant account .
• Police clearnce certificate ( PCC ) not mandatory for spouse open work permit but as your wish you can include PCC in your application.
• You can take your kids with your spouse open work permit application, kids below 4 years old need to apply for a visitor visa and kids above 4 years need to apply study permit.
• Validity of spouse open work permit ( SOWP ) same as your spouse visa validity ( Inviter )
• SOWP holders can travel any time to canada til their visa validity , no deadline for first port of entry
• SOWP holders can work under any employer in Canada as full time

You may be eligible for an open work permit if you

In each of these situations, you should meet additional criteria to be eligible.

Spousal Open Work Permit – Work permit holders .

If you are a Spouse or common law partner of skilled worker, may be eligible if the skilled worker:

• holds a work permit valid for a period of minimum six (6) months;
• is employed in a job corresponding to Skill Level 0, A or B of the National Occupational Classification (NOC); and
• actually, resides or expects to reside in Canada while employed.

If you are a Spouse or common-law partner of an international student cannot themselves be full-time students and the international student should:

• have a valid study permit and be a full-time student at one of schools as follows:
  • a public post-secondary school, such as a college or university, or CEGEP in Quebec
  • a private college-level school in Quebec
  • a Canadian private school that can legally award degrees under provincial law (for example, Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate degree); or
• if the foreign student has graduated and is the holder of a valid post-graduation work permit for a job related to their field of studies.
  • To be eligible for an open work permit, graduating international students should meet the requirements under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program.

For spouses and common-law partners, open work permits are usually granted with a validity date that coincides with the period of time that their spouse is permitted to work or study in Canada, as the case may be.