chrisrymer

hi
Well I seem to be going round in circles here. The crux of the problem is that without my prospective employer going to HRDC first and me getting an official offer I may as well forget aboot it!

They put me on to a immigration consultant who said:
'Please also note that you are able to apply for a work permit after I have obtained the approval from the BC PNP this eliminates the need for a LMO altogether and your partner can also work on an open work permit. The processing time is roughly between 6 to 10 weeks.

Assuming that you qualify, I will be able to assist you and your partner with the PNP process - Temp work visas- PR applications and full assistance and case management until you receive your PR status.'

Now I have looked at the forms and as I understand it. If an employer wants a Foreign national to work for them they have two options.

Option 1: Apply for a LMO and get the employee over and working, then said employee applies for PNP.

Option 2: Apply to HRDC for Arranged Employment for skilled workers, then on approval the employee applies for PNP and they have to wait until it is processed before work can commence.

That is very roughly how I see it, so how do you skip stage 1 and still get to work in your chosen province??

Also, I won't be using the immigration assistant, sounds like a lot of money for a paper pusher (No Offence) and I am not mentioning numbers, least to say $$$$ :curse:

SO!

What does anyone think to that?

Thanks
Chris

Judy in Calgary

You've actually got some of the details wrong, but you understand the spirit of the system. Basically -- unless you start a business, enter as an investor or come in via the Nova Scotia Community Identified Stream -- you have to find a job that no qualified Canadian resident wants. There is no skipping that fact.

chrisrymer

Sorry I should have explained myself a bit more.
I posted before about having a job offer in BC but it is not official.

i.e. gone through the HRDC and been deemed a suitable post for a foreign national.


I may have got some details incorrect thats the bones of it.

please feel free to point out my mistake/s

Chris

Judy in Calgary

As far as I understand it, the work options are as follows:

Straightforward temporary work permit - In most cases you need a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) for this. The employer recruits across Canada for the position for X number of weeks and is unsuccessful in attracting a suitable Canadian resident to the position. The employer applies to HRSDC for an LMO. The LMO enables the prospective employee to apply for a temporary work permit (TWP). Let's say the employee comes to Canada and starts working here according to the terms of the TWP. Let's say the employer wants to offer the employee a permanent job, subject to the employee's getting permanent residence (PR) status. The employee submits a PR application, along with a letter from the employer and some other evidence to demonstrate that the job is real. The offer of employment adds 10 points to the applicant's PR application. In all likelihood, the applicant's PR application will be fast-tracked. This, in essence, was your Option 1. However, where you went wrong was in thinking that LMO / TWP would lead to PNP. If a permanent job offer is added to LMO / TWP, it just leads to straightforward PR.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) - An employer sponsors a prospective employee for PNP. The application package is sent to the provincial government for rubber stamping. This process is different from the skilled worker route to permanent residence, because the provinces don't use a points-based system. Each province uses its own criteria, depending on what the needs of that province are. If the provincial government approves the application, the provincial government forwards it to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which is a department of the federal government. In most cases, the provincial government also will forward to CIC a letter requesting a temporary work permit for the applicant. This letter is in lieu of an LMO application. Usually CIC issues a temporary work permit at this point. This means that the applicant can enter Canada and start working in the country while he/she waits for CIC to process his/her PR application. There are a few instances in which applicants are not allowed to start working until they have PR. For example, the British police officers who are coming to Alberta via this province's PNP are not allowed to be sworn into the Calgary Police Service or the Edmonton Police Service until they have PR. But most PNP applicants who have cleared the provincial phase of the process are allowed to start working in Canada. In summary, PNP is a two-step process. First there is the provincial element, and then there is the federal element.

Arranged Employment Opinion (AEO) - This is a situation in which someone has applied to CIC for PR, but has backed up his/her application with an AEO from HRSDC. I gather from Andrew Miller's posts that CIC does not take an AEO as seriously as it takes an employment offer that's been made to someone who already is working in the country on a TWP.

Just before I clicked on the Submit Reply button, I clicked on the Preview Post button, and saw that you'd posted another message while I'd been typing this one. Sorry, I still don't know what you're saying. I don't know what the prospective employer has or has not done. I gather he/she has given you an informal job offer. I don't know whether or not he/she has obtained an LMO from HRSDC. Anyway, regardless of that, I hope my descriptions of the different ways into the country have clarified things for you.

wbexpat

Hi Chris
This is the way I understand it.
FYI I am currently in NS-PNP (Community Identified) and I also have a NS employer working with me towards a work permit.
Here is the sequence as I understand it.

1. Employer advertises
2. You (and presumably others) apply
3. Usual selection procedures, interviews etc.
4. You come out on top
5. You get _provisional_ job offer - provisional on HRSDC approval
6. You accept
7. Employer writes to HRSDC and has to demonstrate you won the gig fair and square given:
(a). A certain level of pubilicity for the job ad
(b). A certain number of weeks advertising
(c). A certain minimum standard for the selection process
(d). A certain minimum standard for the interviews
(e). Demonstrable proof that no Canadian was better qualified/experienced
(f). The remuneration is more or less the going rate for such a post
8. HRSDC Hums and Hars - issues LMO
9. Now you're in business*
10. Get WP at port of entry by flashing the job offer, acceptance and LMO
11. Start work

MEANWHILE
12. Copy of LMO goes to Province who sponsor you via PNP-Skilled Worker
13. You send PNP-Skilled Worker sponsorship pack to CIC
14. CIC start PR procedure
15. You get PR

*Not 100% sure here but I think you can ask for a TWP if the job urgently needs to begin. Then it becomes a full-on WP later. This gets round the delay in issuing a PNP-SW which can be a couple of months.

FWIW, the immigration consultant is a great development. I've been assigned one and he works for the NS government - he's right there in the middle of the system and knows the process inside out. Lean on yours if you are having a tough time getting your head around the process!

Judy in Calgary

I guess the original poster has to clarify the specific PNP to which he would be applying.

In the case of the skilled worker category within Alberta's PNP, the employer has to pre-register with the PNP. Once the employer has made his/her case to the PNP authorities, he/she receives permission to hire X number of individuals with specific qualifications and experience. Each individual whom the employer wants to hire then has to be approved by the PNP. But, as I understand the program (from reading the government's website and reading previous posters' reports here), the employer does not have to apply to HRSDC for an LMO. The endorsement that the province sends to CIC is considered enough for CIC to issue a temporary work permit so that the applicant can enter Alberta and start working while his/her PR application is being processed.

The Alberta PNP website states that, notwithstanding what I've just said, chefs, early childhood educators and daycare workers do need work permits before they can apply to the PNP.

I'm just using the Alberta PNP as an example. Each province designs its PNP to meet its own needs.

chrisrymer

I see it the same way as wbexpat.

I would be classed a skilled worker PNP (graphic design)

I don't know how much clearer I can explain my situation.

I reside in the UK
I have an informal job offer in Vancouver
I need and official job offer requiring forms to be approved (HRDC/PROVINCE/ or who ever) before PNP can be initiated.

The way I see it I can not apply for anything without an official offer, which can only be achieved by the province agreeing that canadian citizens have been given a fair crack of the whip to get the job, and that I am the most suited person for the job.

Then my application process can begin. Without this I can't even complete the checklist to submit my application.

I am trying to establish that the employer should be doing something towards getting me an official offer.

Also the most effective manner in which to progress after as PNP may be a quick route to PR but not in terms of how the the employer needs an employee.

christmasoompa

I don't know if it helps at all but you can apply for a TWP at the same time as your potential employer applies for the LMO apparently so that might speed things up if you do it that way? Then you don't need to wait for the LMO to come back before you apply yourself, it can at least be in progress. Not sure if that's an option or if it *has* to be via the PNP route but just thought I'd mention it.

Judy in Calgary

I have just read the skilled worker section of the BC PNP website, and my understanding of it is different from yours.

My reading of it is as follows:

1. The employer gives you a formal job offer.
   
   
2. You and the employer then prepare a joint package of documents that you submit to the BC PNP.
   
   
3. The BC PNP examines your application and either approves it or rejects it.
   
   
4. If BC PNP rejects your application, it informs you.
   
   
5. If BC PNP approves your application, it informs you, your prospective employer and CIC that it has nominated you (endorsed you as an applicant for PR).
   
   
6. If the employer and the employee want the work arrangement to start as soon as possible, BC PNP sends a letter to CIC supporting the nominee's work permit application.
   
   
7. This allows the nominee to work for the designated BC employer while the nominee's application for PR is being processed.
   
   
8. Note that there is no need for an LMO, because the letter from BC PNP is enough.
   
   
9. Within 180 days of receiving a Nomination Certificate from BC PNP, the nominee must lodge a PR application with CIC.
   
   
10. CIC has the final say in whether or not the nominee receives a PR visa.
    
    
11. CIC does not always approve of provincial nominees.
    
    
12. However, CIC usually is inclined to accept someone whom a province has nominated, provided that medical, background, security and other assessments work out okay.

From what I've read on this forum, applicants have been able to get on the ground and start working more quickly via the BC PNP than has been the case if they've applied for an LMO / TWP.

lof

i know that i shouldn't get into pnp discussions again but it might help the op to state that i for one (and several others) went exactly the way judy describes here.

and... this is not proven, it's just an inconclusive observation of mine: if you work in a field where labour shortage is aknowledged the recruitment requirements for bcpnp might be a bit more flexible than hrdsc...

good luck!

chrisrymer

Hello,
This is exactly what I was trying to find out, and that sound spot on to how I imagined it to work. The thing is I don't have the crucial job offer in an official format. Which I beleive come in the 'Guarateed Job offer form' on that very same site.

From what I understand this still needs to be sent off and signed off but I am finding it hard top actually get a definative 'THIS IS WHAT YOU MUST DO' guide.

Thanks

Rob_999

I think you're getting confused between the different routes....

1) PNP - Gets PR, and temp work permit in interim. Employer driven, must have job approved by province.
2) Skilled Worker - Gets PR. Individually driven on points based system
3) Temp work permit - Temporary only. Employer driven, LMO (or exemption) required

Combining 2 & 3 may result in fast tracking of Skilled worker PR visa, if apply to London and employer offers permanent position.

Sounds like you want to go down PNP route, which has nothing to do with getting a LMO.

lof

it's all here:
http://www.ecdev.gov.bc.ca/ProgramsA...appprocess.htm
and if you follow the links you and your employer find the forms needed.

chrisrymer

Thanks I have looked at this, I think where I am encountering confusion is at the point where you get a temp work permit whilst waiting for your PNP application to go through.

'If required, send a letter to CIC supporting a work permit application by the nominee. This will allow the nominee to work legally for his or her employer in BC prior to finalization of the nominee’s application for permanent residence.'

This is the chunk of info I was looking for. Can't see the wood for the trees. I think my grasp of terminology probably let me down.

ayel

hi guys,
just want to ask..... im having a dual intent right now, want to know if it will take longer time processing the working permit than usual? as i read it in the website..... dual intent application will add to longer processing? how true is this? because until now, i didnt hear anything from them. I passed my working permit application with my daughter's study permit application last jan 28 and until now no news from them....BTW, im under BC PNP skilled worker. I passed my PR application last jan 24 and they already encashed the check i issued.

thanks to all who will give some inputs on this matter