I am in Canada on a work permit, which will expire on August 30, 2016. My employer will assist me to apply for a new work permit, however, I plan to return to HK for a month in the summer, and am worried that I will not be in Canada to receive the permit. Will this create a problem for me when I re-enter Canada?
You can certainly apply early to ensure that your permit is granted before you leave Canada. This way, there will be no problem in re-entering Canada in the summer. If, for some reason, the permit has not yet been granted, then there are some legal consequences for leaving the country. First, if you leave Canada during processing, and the date of expiry passes, you will not be considered to have “implied status” in Canada. This means that if for any reason your application is denied, you will be deemed to have lost status on the date of expiry. Furthermore, while you should generally gain entry to Canada fairly easily with a Hong Kong travel document, if your application is still pending when you return, there could be an issue at the port of entry. As you will no longer have implied status and you will be seeking admission as a visitor.