Jmboot

Hello,

I am in the process of securing a secondment in BC which will be for a period of 18-24 months and have a few questions as detailed below. I will try to be concise and not leave a daunting first message to the board 

Firstly some information, my employer (offices in the UK and Canada) have tried to apply for a visa for me, but it was declined because my position is not one of managerial station. I will be training to be a systems analyst/accountant so I don’t currently possess the special skills that would differentiate me from a local accountant that would want to learn the job. I will be renting a home for the period and living in BC for 49 weeks of the year (or there abouts).

My first worry is landing in Vancouver and passing through immigration. As I won’t have a visa and my return ticket will be in 3-4 months, will I have problems if I’m passing through the airport on business?

Secondly, I will be employed by the UK and seconded to Canada and as such I will be paid a UK salary. If I have this paid into a Canadian bank account (or split it say 80/20 CAD/UK) I know I will be paying tax, but will this be UK or Canadian tax? Remembering that I’m employed in the UK and don’t have a work visa.

Finally, I’d like to thank anyone that reads and responds to my message. My managers are trying to work out how this all works and I thought I’d do some digging myself, this is all supposed to be happening in the next 4 weeks so I’m a little anxious that there are uncertainties!

Jason

ExKiwilass

Frankly, what you are doing sounds illegal. I'm really surprised at your company and managers for trying to get around immigration that way. Why can't you train in the UK? Why does it have to be Vancouver?

Jmboot

The problem is that the company needs somebody to be trained up in the systems that the company uses and the only way that seems to be possible is by sending me over to train. They have been trying to recruit locally for this role for 7+ months and haven’t found a viable candidate. The CIC still won’t accept that this is a role that would meet the LMO (Labour market opinion?) and have declined the visa. You also have to understand that this isn’t in Vancouver and the community locally just doesn’t provide accountants well enough. I’m aware of around 5 positions that they can’t fill within finance.

I have suggested that I apply for a visa through the independent route and go through the process as I have before (I worked in BC during 2008) which I was told wasn’t favourable.

ExKiwilass

I find it really hard to believe they can't find an accountant locally - sorry.

Jmboot

So essentially this route is not a good one for me.

I think I will push for this to be done through a visa which I apply for myself as I did expect that this sounded questionable, hence my posting here to find out more.

Thank you ExKiwilass

Former Lancastrian

What steps have the Canadian company taken to hire locally and what is the job and salary scale? Where is it located if not in Vancouver?
Im thinking that your company has not satisfied HRSDC that there are no suitable citizens or PRs able to do this job or are not willing to hire a local.
Without that LMO and because you dont qualify as an Intra Co Transferee I would be very careful in how you proceed because at my Port of Entry Im pretty certain you would be refused entry and asked to voluntarily withdraw your application to enter Canada.

Jmboot

Jobs have been posted on Monster.ca and locally, presumably in local newspapers. Location-wise it's Vernon BC. Salary-wise it's $50k.

I've looked at the Intra-company transfer and the only specialized knowledge I have is to know the business itself, I will be working in Canada to gain the specialized knowledge which I then need to take back to the UK.

Former Lancastrian

But you dont have the knowledge at the moment and thats why you dont qualify under the ICT route as a senior/executive manager or specialized knowledge.
Why can't you be trained in the UK?

Jmboot

The problem is that there isn't anyone in the UK to provide the training and it involves not only learning the new systems, but also how to provide developer level skills which can't just be taught over a few weeks. Hence the length of the secondment.

Also, there isn't the manpower from the Canadian business to provide someone to do the training anyway. Again, hence the position in the first place.

Former Lancastrian

Where is this companies HQ is it a Canadian business with a UK office or vice versa? What is the size of the company i.e number of employees in each office?
Is it a small, medium or large business and what services does it provide i.e. name of the company?
Based on what you have posted so far Id say your prospects are pretty slim.

Jmboot

Where abouts on the scale is traveling as a business visitor (up to 6 months) and then using the specialist knowledge I've acquired to enter as an I-C Transfer under the specialist criteria?