LonelyCloud

So I have a call with the in-house recruit lead this week (yes, they called me to tell me they had the clearance to make the offer and then went on holiday for a week)
Hopefully, the internal immigration lawyers have cleared the offer as well and have a time scale

Anyway, As we do, I've done some more digging and I'm a little clearer on the process and more confused. I agree with PMM's assessment, but then I started reading the FAQ's for OINP.

Information for Employers
1) What is the application process for employers?

The Employer Job Offer streams are a one stage application process and no longer requires a pre-screen of the employer or position.
Instead, as part of their application, an applicant must submit a completed and
signed Employer Form from their Ontario employer. Through this form, the
employer attests to meeting the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)
criteria.
Please note that, although this is a one stage application process, both the
applicant and the employer must meet stream criteria. The OINP will still assess
both. The Employer Form is the main information source for OINP assessment of employer and position criteria.

I appreciate that most of us are not Immigration Trained, but that reads to me (Ass u me ) as long as they meet the company criteria (they will) and attest that I also meet the criteria, then this form supersedes the LMIA requirement. This now makes the partners comments during the final interview "it takes 4 weeks" accurate (Current job offer turn around is 30 - 60 days)

Any other views on this? I finally find out this week whats going on, but it's been 3 weeks since the 'offer' and I can't sit on my hands.

http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/pro...n_oinp_faq.pdf

In case anyone is interested.

christmasoompa

You're quite correct, no LMIA is needed for work permits under PNP schemes. It's one or the other, not both.

HTH.

LonelyCloud

Well at least I know I'm not going mad. Thanks for the confirmation. Probably explains why it's only a 30 min call as well.

christmasoompa

You might find the employer will prefer to do a LMIA & TWP though, it's much cheaper and generally easier for them. I guess all you can do is wait and see which visa route they want to go down.

LonelyCloud

Yep, that's possible too and although they want someone sooner rather than later, it might not be the same view as the lawyers.

LonelyCloud

And you were right lol

TWP, with PR sponsorship after 6 months, which I appreciate is quite normal. So that adjusts the timelines slightly, especially as OH is due to give birth around the same time, anyway...

So the immigration lawyers are taking care of things, my question skips forwards 6 months.

I'm pretty sure I won't qualify under FSWP (age & education are against me) it's a maybe under EE as long as I can include my wife, so is the Provincial Nominee Program (Ontario) still open to me if I am in the country? I can't see anything which says it isn't

Before anyone asks how I get a job without education, it's in a role where experience is more important and the certificates I do have are industry-specific and don't count towards educational evals

christmasoompa

Erm....no it's not. If you've got a TWP then you wouldn't normally need any kind of 'sponsorship' for PR, and would just apply yourself independently of your company. But that does assume you're eligible under FSW/EE (see below!).

I'm confused by this statement - you say it's a 'maybe' under EE, but that is FSW or PNP (or CEC, but that's even further down the line, you'd need to have worked in Canada for a year for that). So if you're not eligible as a FSW (do check that, it would be unusual if you weren't given you'll have 10 extra points for the job offer), then PNP will be your only option under EE if you don't want to wait to be eligible for CEC. If you can just clarify then we can try and help.

Yes, you can apply for PNP once in Canada, but you'll need your employers support for that.

So you've got two options essentially - FSW if eligible, and apply yourself as soon as you like, under EE.

Or PNP if not eligible under FSW, which will usually also be an EE app, but will be reliant on your employer helping you, so looks like it will involve a longer wait (although I'd negotiate that, why are they making you wait 6 months?!).

What do you score as a FSW with the job offer, and on the CRS without PNP?

LonelyCloud

Sorry, to clarify:

6 months probation for a new job is quite normal, not the immigration side of things. I have read through the contract, and there is nothing preventing us from starting the PR process as soon as we land, but obviously, the company won't pay for any costs associated unless it is after the probation and we use the company lawyer.

Best guess for FSW, 70 points with the job offer and allowing for average language and actually finding at least one year out of the three in total at college (1 year course then 2 year course) so it might be slightly higher, but I accept its above the 67 required.
I'm 42 next summer, so that would drop it further.

CRS was 397 with the job offer

Yes the company will pay for and sponsor PNP, but obviously, the risk from my pov is that I screw up in the first 6 months and they don't want me anymore, however, if I start the FSW process, then I lose the ability to reclaim the costs.

Fortunately, now that I have signed the contract I now have free (to me) use of the Immigration lawyer, so I will be discussing the best way forward with them as well, but I'm still erring towards PNP as age and education are not a factor.

LonelyCloud

Just to update:

Here we go, LMIA went in yesterday. They requested expedited, but we all know how much that is worth in the real world.

Apparently, they relisted the ad (in all the required places) for 6 weeks and had 53 responses. None of them even hit the basic requirement (Years experience)

Fingers Crossed

christmasoompa

Fab, fingers crossed for a quick approval. I'm sorry, I missed your post above, but looks like you're not going to get an ITA without the extra 600 points for PNP. So do make sure your company are happy with that as the PNP app is quite onerous on them. Sounds like they will be, but if you can get it in writing as part of your job contract I would recommend you do.

Good luck!

LonelyCloud

It's in the contract. It states that I can apply for PR at any point under my own steam, however, if I wish to go the PNP route. I have to use their lawyers (same firm who complete the LMIA) and they will contribute up a max of xxxx to cover costs. Obvious caveat being I have to wait 6 months before they will start the PNP process.

It's a risk, but since I'm borderline on the other routes, it's the better option (at this moment in time) and nothing will change before the 6 months is up (Age, Quals etc) So I can use the company at any time for Immigration advice and if they advise different then great!

christmasoompa

That sounds perfect.

LonelyCloud

LMIA Wait week 6...

When it was submitted it said 7 weeks to process, wait time is now down to 5 weeks according to CIC.

(Accepting that this is Government) If it's now 5 weeks to process an application, surely that means they have caught up with previous submissions? You'd think after waiting for a Visa to work in the US, I'd be more patient with Government timelines lol

christmasoompa

Where are you looking at the processing times?

LonelyCloud

CIC website - Check application processing times – Immigration and citizenship

Currently says 5 weeks from submission (if submitted today). So there has either been a drop in applications, which is possible, and we will still probably be around the original 7 week mark or someone can't count.