Hi all

So my fiancée and I tied the knot on 6th March in Cambridge, Ontario. This was a bit of a crazy week of first finding out we have a boy arriving in July , having my immigration medical and then marrying on the Friday with a few of her friends and family attending before me setting off back to the UK and her staying over there (not exactly how I pictured my wedding night but needs must!)

The immigration forms for family class sponsorship are now off with her in Canada to sign off and add her Option C (which is taking a while because they seem to be updating their systems just at the wrong time!) but really hope this can be off by April.

So... I plan to arrive in Canada in mid May and still hope that I can work with my present employer for a little while via VPN/internet. This is probably only going to last for a couple of months max and I want to make sure that there isn't a huge gap in time between leaving them and starting a job in Canada.

My question is, am I able to apply for jobs now for starting in August and expect them to be able to give me a work permit if my PR doesn't come until say November? I don't actually think that I will have the first stage sponsorship approval by the time I go over but i understand that I can extend my stay up to 12 months after arriving and its given the all clear.

I basically want a couple of months to settle in a rented place and get to know my surroundings before the little one comes out. I guess this also can give employers the chance to apply for work permits for me if they can do that (can they?!). So I'm looking about and applying now and I'm finding a lot of 'Are you legally eligible to work in Canada' questions that I know if I say no to will tell me to go away, but I know its only temporary that I'm not legally entitled to there (all being well). Will companies risk me having a 'no you cant come over??' on that type of PR application and ignore me?

Any experiences?

Thanks very much

Hi


1. You can apply for jobs, but if you find an employer, s/he will have to apply for a LMIA, after advertising the position for 4 weeks in the Job Bank and 2 other locations. Then after that pay $1000 to submit the LMIA to ESDC and demonstrate that there were no Canadians/PRs qualified for the position., The approval/refusal from ESDC takes anywhere from 8-16 weeks depending on the province. Only then could you apply for a work permit at a POE and start working.
2. Be honest with the employers, if you say your are legally entitled to work and then spring the "well you will have to apply for a LMIA" on them, you will be burning bridges with them in the future when you are legally entitled to work.

Thanks PMM. I have just read that computer systems analysts are classed as professionals in NAFTA and I may be able to bypass the LMIA? That's basically the type of role I'm applying for anyway with my experience. Wonder if that makes life a lot easier for them. I certainly don't want to burn bridges but I don't also want to be ignored by answering a killer question wrongly if there is some potential to get something arranged!

Are you a US, Mexican or Puerto Rican citizen?

They might be, however in previous posts you stated that you are British living in the UK, so NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) is of no benefit to you.

Yes that's right, wasn't 100% sure if that applied to me or not. Looks like a bit of a waiting game then. In terms of working for a UK company via VPN, am I right in thinking I can just bank transfer that money to a Canadian account without any issues from their inland revenue?

You can probably work remotely without a work permit provided that the company you are working for in the UK does not have any Canadian business interests and you are paid into a UK account. Any income you earn may be liable to Canadian taxes if you are classed as a resident for tax purposes (which you likely will be) and once you become PR regardless you will be taxed on your worldwide income.

Determining your residency status

There are several posts on the subject, explaining the ins and outs of it.



Congratulations on your marriage and impending fatherhood!

Thanks sioux, just don't want to do anything to p anyone off and get into any sort of issue. Looks to me like I'll be OK. Would it make sense to just get a flexible ticket of say 2 weeks and push that return back to avoid too many questions at the airport. I just want a 6 month stamp and not many questions to deal with when going through but with no intentions of just staying in the country longer than legally allowed?

I too got married in Canada and returned to the UK to sell up etc.

When I entered, I had a return ticket for a few months later and at the initial immigration point said I was coming to visit my wife.

That got me sent to a second officer. I told him I'd be applying for PR (out of Canada) while visiting and none of this was a problem. He couldn't understand why I'd been sent over and just did the usual 6 month stamp.

As long as they don't ever give anything less than a 6 month stamp I think I'll be OK with just saying visiting friends then? Feels like lying but the end result will be the same? I have quite a few previous stamps, I just want to get out of the airport without wasting my time and theirs really!

Just be truthful. Say you are visiting your wife, you have a return ticket, you understand you can't work, and you are applying for sponsorship. You shouldn't have any issues.