Are you an H-1B holder? Apply for Canadian PR Visa with an Open Work Permit

Canada has created a new Open Work Permit for H-1B Visa holders in USA. The H-1B holders can apply for the OWP starting from July 16, 2023. However, do you know that you can apply for the Canadian PR (Permanent Resident) Visa as well along with the recently announced work permit.

Open Work Permit (OWP) for H-1B Holders

As part of its New Tech Talent Strategy, Canada is planning to offer foreign tech talent the opportunity to live and work in North America. This new Open Work Permit will allow present H-1B visa holders with speciality occupations to:

• work for almost any company in Canada for 3 years
• bring their immediate family with them

However, this provisional program will last for 1 year, or until Canada receive 10,000 applications. However, with the newly announced OWP, you can also apply for Canadian PR visa.

Canadian PR pathway for H-1B Holders

If you are eligible, you can apply for PR visa through federal Express Entry System. You can apply for PR (Permanent Residence) through one of the three categories of EE system, i.e.

• FSW (Federal Skilled Worker)
• FST (Federal Skilled Trades).
• CEC (Canadian Experience Class)

The selection factors of the EE system include, age, education, language skills, work experience, adaptability and arranged employment. The IRCC (Immigration Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) rank the applicants based on a point-system, i.e. Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Express Entry has the processing time of six months. If you have not previously lived or worked in the maple leaf country, the FSW (Federal Skilled Worker) will be the relevant option for you.

However, if you apply for the Canadian work permit first, and then for PR (Permanent Residence), you can also become eligible for the CEC (Canadian Experience Class) after obtaining the one year of work experience in Canada through OWP.

As part of its Tech Talent Strategy, the IRCC (Immigration Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) is also making category-based selections for other categories. The categories selected for category-based selection this year are as follows:

• Healthcare
• Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions
• Trades, such as carpenters, plumbers, and contractors
• Transport
• Agriculture and agri-food
• Strong French-language proficiency

The Canada is also conducting category-based EE draws for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) occupation and healthcare workers. As H-1B Visa holder, you can be eligible for the category-based selection under the above-mentioned categories as well. The other steps taken by Canadian government under tech Talent strategy are:

• An Innovation Stream for International Mobility Program (IMP) later this year
• Open work permit for start-up visa
• Two-week processing for Global Skills Strategy
• Promoting Canada to digital nomads

Hence, if you wish to live, work and settle in Canada, this is the high time to apply for the same choosing the OWP and Express Entry pathway.

To check your eligibility for the Canada PR visa and apply for the same this year, you may contact qualified and trusted Canada migration expert at Visas Avenue on Toll-Free-Number- 78-18-000-777. Alternatively, you can drop us an e-mail at info@visasavenue.com.