A spouse in India was hesitating to apply for an open work permit because friends and relatives warned that 'spouse visas are being stopped.' Her husband had been working in Nova Scotia since October 2023 on an LMIA-based closed work permit.
What members clarified (this reflects the early-2024 policy landscape — treat the specifics as historical and re-verify current rules on IRCC's site):
- The restriction being discussed applied to spouses of international students, not workers. IRCC's announced changes at the time limited spousal open work permits for partners of international students. A spouse of someone on an employer-specific (LMIA-backed) work permit was not the target of those changes.
- Get facts from IRCC, not from acquaintances. The strongest recurring advice: friends-and-relatives rumor is the worst possible basis for a visa decision. Read the actual IRCC updates and news before deciding not to apply.
- Apply rather than self-reject. Members were unanimous: with the husband on a closed work permit, she should apply. Estimated processing floated in the thread was 2–3 months (historical).
Practical takeaway: when a rule change makes headlines, check
whose applications it actually covers before abandoning your plan. Spousal work-permit eligibility differs sharply depending on whether the sponsor-spouse is a student or a worker, and rumor routinely blurs that line.