Hi David,

I recently graduated from a Canadian university and have been working in Shell Canada for about 2 months now. I was on a study permit for about 5 years and now I am working on a Post graduate work permit which is valid for more than 6 months. I am in the NOC 2133 'Electrical Engineer' I believe. I have a employment verification letter and job description from my employer stating that the job is permanent and I am needed here.

I got married last year in August and my spouse is in Pakistan studying. I am going to apply for my Alberta provincial immigration in about 4/5 months and I am going to put my wife as 'spouse' in the application form, so that will start her immigration process as well. The problem is the processing time for Pakistan immigration is about 22 months and I want to bring my wife here in December 2012. She will be finishing her degree in Electrical Engineering in June 2012.

My question is, can I apply for her dependant visa or open work permit while our immigration is being processed?

What do you suggest, visitor dependant visa or open work permit? Which one is easier to obtain? We don't care about her working right now.

Do you suggest otherwise? As in, we should apply for her visa before I apply for immigration? This would, though, will delay our immigration.

Please provide as much information as you can. Your help will be much appreciated.

Thanks
Salman

You may seek her temporary resident admission while a permanent resident application is pending (either open work permit or visitor). The decision to approve such a case will be based on its merit, the most significant component of which (in either case) will likely be the official's satisfaction that she is likely to depart Canada if any status granted was to expire.