Tommy_1

Hi all,
I'm panicking a little bit and need some sound advice to keep me in Canada working and with my common-law wife. So the story is I moved to Canada to be with my girlfriend under the IEC program, after a month I landed a job with an engineering company which turns out they are in dire need of my skills. I've worked with them for almost 2 years, but was undecided about PR as it was a big decision for me to leave my family behind in England and start over with my girlfriend. So 2 months before my Visa expiry I decided I wanted to extend my stay, I looked on the CIC website and went round various loops of their questionnaire and came to the conclusion I had to get my company to sponsor me, so I discussed it with my Boss and he agreed. My Boss called up 'Service Canada' and they advised I apply on paper for an extension, and a letter of employment wasn't necessary as I was on an open work permit.
5 weeks later I receive an e-mail back:

Based on your application and accompanying documentation that you have provided, I have carefully considered all information and I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations. Your application as requested is therefore refused.
The maximum allowable employment under the Ireland International Experience Canada Program is 24 months for the category you are currently participating in. Since you have exhausted this period you are no longer eligible for a work permit extension under this program category from within Canada.
We also wish to advise you that your temporary resident status expired on June 15, 2018.
You may apply for restoration if, within 90 days from the expiry of your temporary resident status, you submit:
 a completed application form;
 applicable fees for restoration and for the immigration document(s). Payments should be made online at www cic.gc ca. When you are finished, you must print the receipt of payment and include it with your application.
 all required documents in support of your application.
Please consult the section “Restoration of status” in the application guide: “Applying to change conditions or extend your stay in Canada”. Restoration applies to each member who has lost his or her status. Please note that there is no guarantee your application will be accepted.
Should you choose not to apply for restoration of your status, you will remain a person without legal Temporary Resident Status and as such will be required to leave Canada immediately. If you do not leave Canada voluntarily, enforcement action may be taken against you.

Two things I don't get; 1, Why would they deny a desired engineer, paying taxes and contributing to society with no criminal record (And no explanation)? 2, Why would my temporary residence expire before the date printed on the work permit (July 6th 2018)? I arrived in Canada on July 7th 2016.

I'm really worried I'm going to have to leave my company, Canada and my girlfriend (Who can't afford rent on her own). Also worth mentioning, 2 senior engineers in my department left, and they can't fill the job because no Canadians are applying, so I'm now the most senior.
Please can someone help me figure out what I need to do?

Silverdragon102

spouse of scouse

Don't waste your time wondering 'why', you're in a foreign country and they make the rules. Sounds like you need to get onto the application for restoration of status asap.

Aviator

You applied to extend a work permit that cannot be extended, which is likely why it was refused.

This is irrelevant to your application and it seems they did explain 'The maximum allowable employment under the Ireland International Experience Canada Program is 24 months for the category you are currently participating in. Since you have exhausted this period you are no longer eligible for a work permit extension under this program category from within Canada'.

[QUOTE]worried I'm going to have to leave my company, Canada and my girlfriend (Who can't afford rent on her own). [/QUOTE

lso irrelevant to CIC. Your girlfriends living and financial affairs are no concern of theirs.

Again irrelevant to what you applied for, but something that may open an opportunity to apply for a LMIA to fill the position, although this is not going to happen in a couple of weeks.

If you can prove common law status, why does she not sponsor you?

Not applicable now, but you stated the reasons you did not apply for PR. Applying for PR does not force you to stay, you could have applied, got PR and stayed or left. Does not help you, but maybe a consideration for someone else in a similar position.

Siouxie

You have 3 choices.


1) Apply for Inland spousal sponsorship as a common law partner (presuming you have lived together for a period of a minimum of 12 months, apply for an open work permit at the same time - it takes around 4 months to be processed.


2) Apply for Permanent Residence under Express Entry or Provincial Nomination, if your company is willing to sponsor you and are prepared to offer you a full time permanent contract. Most Provinces have Skilled Worker streams.. you could probably obtain a TWP once you have been nominated by the Province.


3) Get your company to apply for an LMIA - particularly if you are working in an 'in demand' profession -

However, do please bear in mind that you MUST stop working immediately. You should apply for restoration of status ASAP.. Failure to do so could result in your being asked to leave... which you don't want if you hope to remain in Canada permanently.

As an aside, have you applied for licensing as an Engineer? It's a protected profession in Canada... https://newcomers.engineerscanada.ca/licensing-canada

It's a great shame that you didn't start your EE application as soon as you had sufficient points..

Best of luck.

rivingtonpike

looks like you'll have to stop work and go through the process for pr, sponsorship or temp work visa as already suggested. What changed your mind 2 months ago? Did you not realize the IEC is not extendable?

Tommy_1

Hi there,

Thanks for you reply and information. Hoping you may be able to help with some other questions..

Does this mean that I am unable to work as of June 15? I do not understand why CIC have given me a date of June 15, when my work permit expires on July 06?

I am guessing this means that no matter what avenue I go down, I cannot work until I am approved? Is there any way of 'bridging' the gap between my VISA expiring and gaining Inland Spousal Sponsorship (or other)?

Thanks again,
Tom

Siouxie

Unfortunately, as you have left it so late, I think there is little to no chance of you being able to continue working. In order to continue, I believe you would need for the company/yourself to have submitted an application and for you to have received Provincial Nomination - then applied for a work permit OR Been invited to submit your application for PR under Express Entry (ITA) prior to your current work permit (IEC) expiring - which just isn't possible with your time constraints - OR have your application for spousal sponsorship submitted with the application for an open work permit and waiting for it to arrive... OR .. the company having advertised your position across Canada for a period of some weeks, submitted an application for an LMIA .. and then waited for approval before applying for a work permit.

As to the expiry date, I'm not sure why they are stating the different date of expiry of your work permit. Have you triple checked you have the date right yourself?
Sorry I can't give you more positive news.. hopefully others will be along to offer their advice.
Best of luck - and do have a read over the wiki linked below:

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick...an_Immigration

Siouxie

Tommy - I'm really sorry, I have no idea why merging your posts put them on mine.. I've copied and pasted them below for you.
If ever you need to edit or add to a post, you can click the Edit (bottom right of your post) button and amend for about 10 minutes or so.