Highlander79

Hello,
I am new to this site, and it has been very useful so thanks for that.
My situation is that I was offered a transfer from the Canadian branch of my company. They have written me a very good letter showing why I should be put under specialist category, with documents showing the connection between both branches of the company (Canadian and UK),proof of experience etc.
My question is as I have read on the forums, the TWP at POE there doesn't seem to be a case where it was refused and I was going to try it as my start date on my new contract was the 4/01/10. If it is going to take 8 - 10 weeks to proccess and I applied at the CIC at mid December is it worth trying as I am being asked when I am coming.

Thanks

redarmy990

do you have an official labour market opinon and a letter of job offer.if you havent a labour market opinion then as far as i know you wont get a work permit

sharkus

Sounds to me like you would be using the Intra-company transferee route, which is how I originally came into Canada.

From what I recall, I had a letter from an immigration lawyer that my company provided to me. This stated why I was wishing to working Canada, listed some of our Canadian clients and such like.

I also had a letter from my employer stating what my current position, length of time at the company and salary was, along with what it would be whilst in Canada.

I think the key thing was the NOC that I had, as it was at a skilled management level, and the job was one of the 38 that are on "the list" (occupations that don't require LMO's), and thus exempt from any LMO (Labor Market Offers).

I also provided a copy of my CV.

When I arrived at Pearson Airport I stated that I wished to apply for a work permit and was directed to the immigration office, at which point they checked my paperwork, took payment and issued me a 1 year work permit on the spot, so it can be done at POE if you have the correct information and documents. The process took about 45 minutes in total.

I recall my work permit mentioning GATS, which you can find some into on here. If you look at this you see mention of Intra-Company Transferee's and it makes mention of "Senior Managers & specialized knowledge workers" and I'm pretty sure that is the class I entered under, and you'll see that under "HRSD Confirmation" it states "exempt" thus meaning no LMO is required if you qualify under that class.

I'd have thought if your company is offering you the position then they would be able to provide you all of the paperwork to apply for a work permit at POE.

You can renew/extend your work permit under this class, but I believe there is a maximum time limit, as you are a temporary worker, and I think it's five years, but I could be wrong. If you like it here and stay for at least two years then you can use the CEC (Canadian Experience Class) application to apply for permanent residence which would remove the requirement for work permits. This is one of the main reasons I think CEC exists, as if you're a temp worker, prior to CEC there were really two choices, FSW (Federal Skilled Worker) and Spousal / Common Law sponsorship to obtain PR, and if you aren't planning on getting into a relationship with a Canadian citizen then you only have the FSW route, which I think does take quite some time and might well require an LMO (not sure how it works if you were in Canada due to ICT and thus exempt from LMO and you'd be trying for FSW for the same occupation).

Highlander79

Thanks very much for the replies,
They are trying to get me in as a intra company transfer under the the specilized route. The letter they sent to me to use for my application covered the type of company it was and what my background was to prove I could be a specalist and all that, with extra document with more information about the company. The contract they sent me was only for 3 years but they want me to stay on after the work permit expires, it seems they can't offer me a permanent without going through FSW which takes too long. The contract was written in a way to make sure I stay for at least 2 years.
I am worried because they wanted me to start 4 Jan even though I told them it would that longer to process it in London. The thing is the POE route would have made sense with the 4/01/10 start date, were they worried that I would get refused ?
One slightly different question, how do you find life there because I wasn't too sure about Canada, I didn't even know there was such a high demand to go there. I am supposed to go to a place called Whitby near Toronto. Is it as cold as they say like -30. What is that about, how can people survive that, did it take you long to adapt. Sorry for all these questions but I am slightly scared. I am told its a beautiful country with very nice people but is that true and above all can you get real ale there ?
Thanks very much again for your help.

Highlander79

I got my TWP, thanks again for your advice