Voyager970

Hi there.

Just to let you know I put this on the immigration forum, had one reply !!!!
So here goes for hopefully some more positive feedback

Some of you may know me, most will not, been here since Feb 2004, applied for PR and received my AOR July 2005.

Anyway I need some serious advice regarding work permit issues, yes again work permit questions !!!!
I have just spent 5 hours trawling the archives and need some more answers
My dilema is,
I may have the chance to come to Canada 2 years earlier than expected on the magical temp work permit, with my wife having an open permit.
I want to head for the London area of Ontario, but this area can be changed so we shall say Ontario somewhere !!!

Arriving in Canada on a temp work permit, what does this entitle the person to.
Can I apply for a mortgage, after qualifying period, big issue here as the wife does not want to rent forever.
Is it difficult to get rented accomodation on a temp work permit
What will happen to my kids with regards schools, I have read alot about them needing study visas, will they need them.
Can they go to school on Ontario, and will I be charged for sending them, read somehere that it could cost up to $10k per term as I do not have my PR yet.
Will I be treated like a PR, even though on temp work permit as my application is pending through London UK
Do you get your SIN and are you entiltled to medical care ( OHIP ) or do you need to pay for this, as again your PR is still in process.
Does your application get processed quicker, job offer will hopefully be HRDC validated.
What is the usual time your work permit is valid for, 2 years or 3, what determines the length of time.
Does anyone know roughly the processing times for temp work permits going through London UK
The work permit option has only materialised within the last few days, will need to decide soon if this is the route I want to take.

If I do decide on this route I may be, could be, will be in Canada by next summer YES summer 2006 EEK !!!!
Now thats a scary scenario !!!
Yes very very scary !!!! :scared:

Anyway sorry for such a barrage of questions, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Eddie from a rather coldish Glasgow

PS There will be more questions
Thanx

Posidrive

I'm in Calgary on a work permit, so hopefully some of this is valid. At least it should give you some idea.

Main downside is that although you can remain in Canada until the end of the permit, even if you loose your job, you can only work for the employer named on the permit. So, you would need to get another employer to get HRSDC approval and apply for another permit

I applied for a mortgage two days after landing. It was approved there and then. I did have a very large deposit though. HSBC premier account may have helped.

Renters mainly want proof that you are employed and for you to sign up for at least 6 months, if not 12 months. Dogs are more of a problem that residential status.

You get a SIN card beginning with the number 9, so it is obvious that you are on a work permit. In Alberta you get health care from the moment you land, elsewhere a 3 month delay before cover may be the norm.

They need to know that you are on a work permit with full time job at time of PR application to process ot faster. I got my company to to a PNP application after I landed.

My permit is for 3 years. This can be extended.

6 weeks or so processing time appears typical.

Posidrive

Oops, forgot about school.

Immigration in Calgary stated that since I was resident, a study permit was not required for my 10 year old.

School fee policy appears variable. But, you must emphasise that you are on a work permit you are classified as residient. So you children are not classified as overseass students. You are paying Canadian tax, so you should be entitled to schooling

iaink

Hi Eddie,
Yes, same as all the other non PRs who buy, but you will probably need 30% down to get anyones attention, and your interest rate might be a little higher than normal. Use a mortgage specialist, not a regular bank though, banks will enter that SIN starting 9xx and red flags and alarms will go off. No No, as far as I know. They should be fine without. Sure they can, the $$$ sounds like bullshit, where did you read that? Your SIN will start with a 9, which flags credit systems to your temporary status and makes things like credit cards hard to get, although a freindly bank manager and a security deposit might make that possible. Shop card credit (places like Leons etc) should be easy to get though. You will be entitled to OPIP after the three month wait like everyone else. You will not get a PR card, big deal. Some say yes, some say no. Rumour has it you get fasttracked, but I doubt it. Doesnt realy matter anyway, as long as you dont lose the job, and even then if you can afford to stay, you can stay till the permit expires anyway, regardless of the job expiring long before. Gives you the option of transfering the file to Buffallo if you think that will be faster than London It varies, mine were two years, but its at the whim of the Immigration officer as far as I can tell, and probably depends to some extent on how your contract is worded regarding employement duration. Typically its no biggie to renew when the time comes anyway. After getting the HRDC approval (month or so?)its usually just a couple of weeks for the permit itself Good Luck mate! Cold, yeah right! You aint seen nothing yet

agibson6

I can only reply to some of your points based on my own experience.

I am getting a 3 year work permit as an inter company transfer so I did not need the HRDC approval which I understand can take a month. On advice from the immigration lawyer used by the company I applied to Montreal as they are the only area that will pre-screen the application and they do this in 48 hours. After this you can fly in to Montreal and obtain the work permit on arrival, still down to the guy on the desk to finally approve and issue but once pre-screened this is normally a formality as your details are already logged in the system. My wife can also obatin an open work permit once I collect mine (which is hopefully this weekend)

You can get a work permit for 3 years but this is tied to a specific company. At the end of 3 years you either need to apply under another category or have obtained your PR.

Getting a mortgage on a work permit, providing you have a sensible deposit, does not seem to be an issue, I had offers within days from a mortgage broker and the bank I opened an account with in Canada. Getting a credit card with a reasonable limit is also possible through the bank once the mortgage is with them. Getting other finance for say a car purchase is harder but some banks will issue a line of credit as part of the mortgage facility facility and you only get charged if you use it.

Schooling is not an issue for me so cannot help you there. You can get medical cover but I understand you have to wait 3 months for this. We will not move until March so I plan to apply before this so it's in place when we arrive.

If there is anything else you need on the above them PM me, we are moving to the Waterloo area which is n't that far from London.

iaink

Technically this will not work, as its not based on your landing date, its based on when you actually take up residency.

Safer, and technically more legitimate to just get your new employer who was keen enough to hire you despite the paperwork requirements, to pay for three months private coverage through one of the many programs designed to cover the three month wait. You dont really want to start your new life in Canada by cheating the system do you?

skigordi

Our own experience has been that we are here on a 3 year WP.
Our kids do have study permits and have been accepted easily into school.
Health care kicks in 3 months after you land, so it is definitely advisable to get a temporary policy in place.
We have a credit card and have just taken out a mortgage with less than 20% deposit. All that was required was evidence that we 'intended' to apply for PR. I disagree on the attitude of the banks. If you open an account, get a minimal credit card and bank sensibly...then after 6-9 months you'll find them very agreeable and helpful, and in our case beat the interest rates of all others.

Good luck

Gordon

iaink

To be fair, the attitude of the banks is probably related entirely to how much "security" you are able to put down.

I came on a work permit with nothing to put down, and was roundly messed about by all of them until I was a PR, which also coincided with having saved up 10% down to get a mortgage without too much of a CMHC insurance contribution.

I am suprised you needed study permits, I guess that just shows how variable the application of these things is across Canada.

skigordi

On the Study Permits....London CHC believes you need them and recommend you have them....immigration at the airport don't believe you need them and the school board here didn't seem to need them. Since we paid for them in the UK we got them anyway, and it does make the process easy when we cross the border.

Voyager970

Fantastic replies guys

Looks like we are 99.9% going to go for it

I have few more lines of enquiry to chase up, then it will be decision time for us jocks !!!

Anymore info will be greatly appreciated

THANX

Eddie

themadstans

Not much use on the info I am afraid, all been covered by the comments above, but we are just waiting for a reply from HRDC (some time this week, hopefully!!!!), and then we can get our work permit, so technically we are in the same boat. Will keep you posted if you like.

Tangram

Best of luck Ed mate

djchighlander

Will be applying for work permit next week will let you know timings and any info i receive, going to buy thermals as going in February / March

Voyager970

Thanks

Any info will be greatly appreciated

I am looking at booking a flight to come over myself some time late Feb / early March to sit my welding exam and tests, getting the work permit all hinges on me passing welding tests, I will not forsee any probs with regards the tests, done loads of them in the past and they are generally the same tests wherever you go.

Anybody know anyone who has sat the CWB and the TSSA welding tests.
Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB),
Technical Safety Standards Authority (TSSA)

Keep it coming guys

Eddie