Diesel1982

Hi. We are thinking of using a consultant/representative to help with our visa application. We reside in the U.K. and would prefer to use a U.K. company if possible. Is there any recommendations of who to use and things to be aware of? Along with ideas of costs.
Many thanks

Aviator

If you need one at all, they have to be registered with ICCRC.

iccrc-crcic

Three come up in the UK. Why do you want one in the UK?

christmasoompa

I'm confused - aren't you moving on a TWP? If so, there's no paperwork for you to do anyway (the employer has to do the LMIA app, and then you just get your work permits at the airport). So not sure why you'd need a consultant?

scilly

Why use a consultant???

The usual advice seems to be to not do that!

They charge a large amount of money, you do the work of collecting all the documentation required and give it to them, and then you pay all the immigration fees on top of what you pay them.

A consultant cannot guarantee you getting a visa, no matter what they may say or imply ........ your acceptance is dependent only on YOU. If YOU do meet the requirements, a consultant cannot make it better.


Save your money!

Hurlabrick

Can I suggest that before anyone can give you any meaningful advice, you share on here your actual visa position.

You say you 'have a job offer', but was this a obtained by the employer with an LMIA (where they forked out $1000 and 'proved' they could not fill the job with a Canadian applicant).

OR, has the employer said something like 'you have a job if you can land in Canada and get a visa'?

Which scenario is it?

In the former, you have no worries as the employer will have sorted all of this out already.

In the latter, this is not a proper job offer with a visa and carries no real weight as regards visas and immigration (i.e. it does not in itself gain you a visa or immigration status). You will have to find your own immigration / visa route.

An immigration consultant will be able to advise you of the best (or any route) you may have. But do bear in mind that they have a vested interest is being positive and making sure you apply, as they will charge you for the time they spend, definitely NOT on a 'no visa no fee' basis.

Guesstimate £GBP more than 'hundreds' and likely to be 'low thousands' in total.

You can easily do it all yourself with a bit if reading and questions here. For reading, have you discovered the excellent wiki section of this forum yet? If not, I suggest start reading here and follow the links.

Quick Guide to Canadian Immigration : British Expat Wiki

Shakyuk

From what I have read the costs seem to be £5000+ for using an immigration lawyer.


Unless you have a complex case, I'd just read the CIC website and do it yourself. All the information is there, it just takes some time investment to read around.

Diesel1982

Thanks for your comments. Our situation is that we have been offered an opportunity to live temporarily for two years in B.C. Due to work commitments the owner of the house ideally want us there for Feb/march next year if possible. My partner is a carpenter/joiner and the house owners have spoken with a local building company who have guaranteed work on arrival however I don't think they have an LMIA. I'm assuming this is what is going to cause the problem? I also plan to get a job once we arrive but don't have any required qualifications. There seems so many visa options but just unsure which one to use as it looks like if you start the wrong one it will be delayed, we have read so much from the CIC website and others but now very confused and don't want to miss out on this amazing opportunity. The only reason we thought of using a consultant was to point is in the right direction. We then can do all the paperwork and apply ourselves.

Shakyuk

I'm no expert on the visa's by a long shot. But from my understanding to be there by Feb/March you'd need to be going over on a temporary working visa as other routes would take too long.


For a carpenter I'd expect the employer would need an LMIA as there's only a few exceptions for LMIA's and I can't see carpenter being one of them. Having had a quick look at this:


International Mobility Program: Labour Market Impact Assessment exemption codes


It looks like carpenter isn't exempt.


This website seems like it may offer some information:


Find out if you need a Labour Market Impact Assessment

Hurlabrick

You don't need a consultant to do that, the good people here will point you towards the most likely avenue / visa routes.

I would start the ball rolling by probably ruling out a couple of the 'easier' routes, then to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes 'if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains is what you should look at'!

I assume that neither of you are Canadian, were born in Canada or have parents that were born in Canada?
If you have none of these, then you can rule out the 'Family Class Sponsorship / Spousal Sponsorship' route.

Are either of you British and aged under 30, or Irish and aged under 35?
If neither (and I am guessing you are 35 or older based on your user id), then that rules out the 2 year temporary International Experience Class (IEC) route.

More visa / immigration routes to go and I am sure others will be along to point you in the right directions.

christmasoompa

Fab.

OK, so unless you qualify for an IEC visa (as Hurla has said, if your username is an indication then you're probably not young enough, but let us know both your ages and we can help), then it's going to have to be a Temp Work Permit.

You can't get a work permit without either a LMIA, or a PNP nomination. Both will require the potential employer to do quite a bit of paperwork and/or pay money. Are they happy to do that and are they aware that you can't just work for them without them helping with the visa side of things?

Actually, there really aren't that many visa options if you need to be out there by February time. Your only options are IEC (if you're young enough), or a TWP as above - anything else will take quite a bit longer. Plus anything else will be a Permanent Residency application, and if you're only going for 2 years and not planning on staying beyond that, it's probably not worth spending several thousands on a PR app just for that.

So the two main questions to help you narrow down visa options are - how old are you both, and is the employer aware that they will have to do some paperwork to help you get the visa (and are happy to do so)?

Your partner will also need to get his provincial certification to be able to work as a carpenter in Canada I think, as it's a regulated trade in Canada, search the forum for 'Red Seal' to find out more info.

HTH, best of luck.

Aviator

Carpenter is a Red Seal endorsed trade, but not regulated.

Diesel1982

Thank you. I am 35 and my partner 39 so it seems age is against us. The employer is happy to do what is required but I doubt we will have the lmia in time. However I've not heard about the PNP nomination so I'll look into this. We do plan on PR after the two years but will deal with that once we are out there.

Shirtback

Does the putative employer realize what exactly is involved/required?? And how much it might cost/how long it might take??

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-...n-workers.html

Also, if I were you, I’d look at the PR requirements *now*, not “once out there”.

The PNP program is Not relevant if you’re only planning to go temporarily. It could be useful if you wish to immigrate permanently (PR).

Aviator

They have tried to hire Canadians or PR already and not been able to find any suitable? This is their first hurdle, they cannot just offer the job to a foreigner without looking within Canada. They then have to demonstrate to ESDC why they were unsuccessful hiring domestically. ESDC then consider the application, approval is by no means a forgone conclusion, it can be refused. Moving over without PR or a LMIA in place is a very risky move in my view. What is plan B if it is not approved?
The application costs are around $1000.