Hi Guys,
I have a question and was wondering if any one has had a similar situation with their LMIA process.
Our employer called us re; the LMIA application. They requested that we submit a handwritten letter detailing my boyfriends intent to become a permanent resident.
Has anyone had to do this? We are wondering if this is a new request put through from service canada or if our employer is actually only just now applying for the LMIA (even though we were under the impression it was submitted mid-july)...
any thoughts, or feedback is appreciated.
Thanks!
Jessica

Just checking, but are they saying ESDC have requested this, or is it something the employer wants? It's just odd, as for a TWP you're not supposed to have a permanent job offer, it's supposed to be for a set duration, so it's odd if ESDC have asked for it?

Hi christmasoompa,
Thanks for the quick reply.
We are both very confused as to why they would be asking for this.
We were under the impression after speaking with the employer that it had been requested by ESDC.
It is making me wonder if they are trying to go the route of hiring him as a FSW as he is a high skilled trade, rather than as a TFW through LMIA as we were thinking.
All-in-all we are pretty lost as to what this is all about lol
In the job offer that was given to us, it was not stated if the job was temporary or permanent. Im leaning now towards the possibility that the company wants him permanently and so they are interested in making sure he intends to become a PR.

My only other thought as to why they might be asking this is as part of the employee transition section where the employer has to detail how the company is going to support the employee etc... maybe its just a letter to support how the company is going to offer transition/support??
no idea ultimately!

we are planning on contacting the company later on today, but we are currently visiting family in the UK so its expensive to call back + time difference.
Thanks for any help!

That's what it sounded like to me, but it is only a guess. I've certainly never heard of ESDC asking for a letter like that anyway.

Do post back when you've found out the reason behind it and who's asked for it, I'm intrigued now!

Good luck.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is and ESDC request. My employer was contacted in August and asked to complete a new form in August as a box had changed on the form. My employer was also advised that the LMIA is for tempoary employment and if I intended to apply for PR then I could either apply for PR or have my employer apply for PR but I couldn't do both.

Hi all.

I have a question relating to the above title that I hope some one can help me out on. I was offered a position in Calgary at the end of June and the LMIA I assume was sent in from this date. Currently they have still no news for me. The frustrating part is that practically all communication has been led by myself which makes me nervous. I have now been told that they still have no news but are completing a gov. Audit which should throw some light on the situation. Does anyone know anything about the gov audits on companies that complete LMIAs?

Thanks.

The LMIA does not start till your company receives the authorization number which could be a few weeks after your company has sent the relative paper work( you may want to check when it was sent).In total you could be waiting up to 12 weeks for some feed back, believe me the whole process has changed, I have not heard of this audit though.

If the company has never applied for an LMIA before or they have and ESDC feel there are issues they can audit the company to confirm the company is adhering to the TFW standards.

Thanks Happy Hammer

I have now been waiting about 12 weeks now and the company hasn't been great at communicating updates. I'm worried that I have put all my eggs on one basket as I had stopped looking at other options once I was offered the place. I am wondering if there are other factors such as waiting for potential orders to come in. The audit has confused me though.

12 weeks is perfectly normal, so don't worry about that. Even before the changes, the average processing time was 12-16 weeks, and it seems to have slowed down recently, so you're well within that time.

But if your company hasn't been communicating well then that must be worrying, can you not ask them exactly what stage you're at and what is going on?

Thanks that makes me feel better.

It's difficult getting hold of the relevant people and I am not the sort of person who just sits back. I'd rather speak to them via telephone than emails but again struggle getting hold of them. I have composed a list of questions that I will send over to them and see what happens!!! I know Canadians are meant to be laid back but grrrrrrr

Hi Chrismasoompa,
As promised- I got ahold of our application representative that the company hired to complete my boyfriends application for the LMIA.
They had asked us to write a letter detailing why my boyfriend wanted to come to canada to work and his intention to become a PR etc.
Anyways, the guy said that our LMIA was submitted weeks ago and ESDC recently contacted them and put in a request (an observance?) for my boyfriends trade qualifications to be Assesed to alberta standards. This takes 2-3 mths they believe as there is a new online system in place. Once the equivalency paper is in the LMIA will be issued and then he can get his work permit right away at the border into canada.
I guess this letter is supplementary to this assessment form and makes for a complete application as to his intention to work in canada under his skilled trade.
Hope this helps others who might be in the same situation!
Anyways looks like we have 2-3 more months of waiting, but this time it's not for the LMIA lol

I'm in calgary Alberta, NOC 0631, Above median wage for the province.

September 19th forms submitted after a month of job advertisement.

Monday the 6th the cashed the money and on the same day i got my file number.

Hoping for a quick turnaround.

Iam afraid file number just means they have opened the application, you could be waiting up to 12 weeks or longer to get a decision

I've seen a 9 day turnaround here in alberta after payment and file number.

Food service supervisor.

Also a month for a cook (chef)

Seems Alberta has a quicker turnaround for applications.