A few concerns about timelines, flagpoling and finances
I'm planning on undertaking a working holiday with my girlfriend in Vancouver in about a month. We've already booked our flights but I'm still waiting on my POE letter (she has hers) which is a little stressful, and I'm also concerned about finances.
Is C$4500 enough for me (she has her own money)? We will be splitting expenses 50/50 and I'm no stranger to living frugally. I plan to start working within the first two weeks as a dishwasher/kitchen hand while looking for additional work. I'm also a junior software engineer, so while I've heard the market is terrible right now, especially for juniors with temporary visas and no Canadian experience, I thought I might try my luck (I'm not counting on anything).
I submitted my application in early July and gave biometrics in mid July. The estimate for the country I applied from is 3 weeks (i.e. any day now), but the estimate for the country of my passport is 7 weeks (i.e. around the date of our flight). Am I correct in assuming the former estimate is the one I should be looking at? That's what the wording seems to suggest but I can't find any official source that puts my doubts completely to rest. And yes, I know I'm stupid for getting myself into this situation.
My backup plan if I don't get my POE letter in time is to arrive in Canada visa-free (no problem with my passport with eTA), and flagpole via a return flight to Mexico City (we'd both go and stay a couple of nights; it's on the bucket list anyway). Is this viable after the recent ban on flagpoling? I'm more worried about finances in this case, but that's a separate issue.
My backup backup plan if my application is rejected for some reason is to return to my own country after my funds run out and give a LDR a go until my girlfriend can join me.
Thanks in advance for any replies. Not trusting an LLM with this shit.