Is getting a 2 year provisional teaching licence (PTL)only possible if you have already a Work Permit? or can a PTL be applied for without a work permit?

It's a kind of chicken before the egg type of thing.

I found out today that if you don't have the PTL then you can't get the WP.

Also how soon before your TL expires can the school apply for a new one?

Many thanks for any input.

You need the provisional teaching permit (a.k.a. 2 year waiver) in order to get a work permit to work in a K-12 school.

If you qualify for the 5 year teacher's licence, you can also use that to get a work permit but you need a work permit in order to apply for the teacher's licence.

This is true even for international school teachers. They need a first waiver in order to get a work permit in order to apply for the licence. This also gives them time to do the culture course, for which you also need a work permit.

Clear?

The above post is pretty much on the button.

In addition to that:

You can apply for a new teacher's licence waiver* whenever you want, however you are only allowed a maximum of 2 (Or 3 if you stay at the same school), before they expect you to have a full licence. It's possible that they may allow additional waivers in the future as a short term fix to compensate for removing the existing path towards full licences for foreign teachers without a BEdu, but I doubt that'll happen.

Also if you change schools, you'll need a new waiver, so your 2 year waiver might only last for 1 year (Or less).

* The 2 year provisional teaching licences & temporary teachers licences are often referred to as waivers.