madura_g

Hi All,
I am currently holding an H1B and residing in the USA. Recently, one Canadian company offered me a Job in Canada. However, they are not willing to do any VISA processing but would like to offer me the job. So I am kind of wondering whether is it feasible to convert my H1B to a Canadian Work permit or to obtain a new work permit from Canadian immigrations without any complications. If it's possible how long would it take and would it affect my H1B VISA status or INS would revoke my H1B at all. Thanks in advance,

Best regards
Mint

SarahBC

Hi,

The Canadian employer is not going to get away from getting involved in your application for a Work Permit.

If they wish to employ a foreign worker (you) they will contact CIC and apply for a Labour Market Opinion. A positive LMO gives them the ability to recruit a foreign worker to a particular job. They have to demonstrate that they have been unable to recruit a suitably qualified Canadian within a certain timescale.

Once the LMO is in place, you can start the process of applying for your Work Permit for that employer specifically.

Your status of having a H1B in the US has absolutely no bearing on this. Depending on the type of work, you may need a medical.

You will have to research your status of your H1B visa to find out when it becomes revoked after you move to another country. Canadian and US immigration are totally separate entities.

There's lots of information on this site regarding temporary work permits. The usual timescale is 3-6 months processing time.

Hope this helps,

Sarah

madura_g

Hi Sarah,

Your response is greatly appreciated. We will look for any other related articles in the site. However, I spoke to one of the immigration lawyers and he said that he can start the process right away. Is it possible for some lawyer to do it on behalf me without the involvement of the sponsoring company? I am on IT field is there any leaverage if it regarding an IT position. I saw somewhere that Alberta is offering work visas in fast track for H1B holders. The job I am looking for is in Toronto. Thanks in advance.

best regards
Mint

SarahBC

Hi,

There's a lot of IT workers here, so someone will be along with more detailed knowledge on the policies regarding IT employment.

Andrew Miller (a frequent contributor on here) is an immigration consultant, and I think he would be able to give you a good idea if an immigration lawyer could process your work permit without the involvement of the sponsoring company.

All the best,

Sarah

YYZlover

Red is incorrect. They have to contact HRSDC (also known as Service Canada) and apply for LMO (Labour Market Opinion). CIC have nothing to do with LMO.

YYZlover

An immigration lawyer can not process any visa applications. An immigration lawyer can not speed up a process. Government work the way they work and no lawyer can change that. The only thing an immigration lawyer can do is make sure that your paperwork is in order. If your paperwork is not in order that could delay the governmental processing.

You can use an immigration consultant but they MUST BE registered and approved by the board of immigration consultants in Canada.

Neither a lawyer nor a consultant will exclude the employing company's participation in the process. They HAVE to be involved as THEY have to apply for the LMO. There is no way around that.

Good luck.

Andrew Miller

"IT field" is a too vague description - within IT there are jobs employers have no chance to get LMO for, there are 7 specific jobs that don't even require LMO and there are dozens in between.

If anyone is advertising that they "convert H1B to Canadian work permit" they are simply liers trying to rip naive people off.

Canada and USA are two completely separate and sovereign countries - you can't convert any visa or permit from one country to another.

Andrew Miller

Not always - there are 7 very specific software professionals occupations that are already covered by blanket national LMO and individual LMO is not required. All employer has to do is to provide detailed offer in writing for one of those occupations, with salary within acceptable range and then foreign worker who meets education and experience criteria for such job simply applies for work permit. No LMO application to HRSDC needed.

YYZlover

Sweet! Thanks for that info. That has completely bypassed me. I'm not a software person so have not looked at that. I presume it is for software developers?

Is there a list of these 7 specific software skills? I may know others who would want to look at that.

Andrew Miller

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/special-tech.asp

dudewheresmycar

Wow Looking at the list i would say 95% of IT ppl are already approved for LMO..

raymasa

Link to Alberta's program for H1B is at:

http://albertacanada.com/immigration/campaigns/h1b.html

Ray

Biiiiink

Thanks for the link, I've not heard of that before - interesting reading.

Andrew Miller

Great find. Looks like Alberta just stepped up their effort to recruit workers they need. It is a brand new program - not even listed yet on main AINP page here:

http://www.albertacanada.com/immigra...rate/ainp.html

madura_g

Hi Folks,

Thanks a lot for all of your responses. I am a Software Engineer (Software Developer) and I believe I don't have to do a LMO based on your comments. Do you guys have any idea how long would this process take to complete as my new employer is in a hurry to recruit.

Also I have one more question regarding my wife. She is a doctor and currently in the process of completing her USMLE. Does anybody know whether Canada accepts USMLE as a qualification and would offer her a residency in Canada?

Thanks and best regards
Mint