triskel

I have had conflicting advice on the time it takes for PR when applying through provincial nomination or federal permanent residency. I am working in Nova Scotia and intend on being in Nova Scotia for at least the next 1-3 years or longer although I would prefer to have my options as wide as possible.

I have been told that through Provincial nomination, I could have landed immigrant status within 6-9 months compared to 2-3 years for federal landed immigrant status.

Other sources have told me that as I am already living and working in Nova Scotia that it would take a similar time for either process.

My situation is that I have been working in my current job for 1 year, my work permit is valid until March 2013 and I should be able to renew it for another 2 years. I am on the board of directors of our professional governing body in Nova Scotia and have around 100 points on the immigration test.

Which would be the best way to apply, Provincial or Federal?

BTJ

Just want to make one point here: Permanent Residency is a federal status and is not tied to any one province. As such even those who obtain PR status through a Provincial Nomination can live wherever they wish in Canada. The only obligation that exists is that you intend to live in the province that has nominated you, else you would be fraudulently obtaining your status. Best way to demonstrate this intent is of course to live and work in the province for a while, but you can change your mind whenever you like - it is your right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 6:

Doesn't really answer your question, but all I'm basically saying that if it is faster to go through provincial nomination then do it, because PR status is PR status regardless of how it is obtained.

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

I'm not sure who has told you that it would be 2-3 years for PR via the Federal route, but they're not correct (assuming you'd be doing a FSW application of course?). Takes about a year going on current timescales, and that time is expected to decrease when the backlog of 300,000 applications is got rid of, so it may get even quicker.

NS PNP does seem particularly fast at the moment, but of course that could change if they also get a backlog, and about a year is the norm for PNP applications as well.

Sorry, I know that was a really vague answer, but it's probably going to be around the same amount of time for either route. There are advantages and disadvantages to both (i.e. you don't need IELTS for PNP at the moment, etc), so it's really your call.

Best of luck.

jamiebh

I've heard great things about the PNP schemes. I do believe that it is at their discretion as to whether they think it is worth sponsoring you, whereas federal programme is literally a case of satisfying requirements. The provincial programme isn't expensive and you find out very quickly whether or not you have been accepted, and can also get a temporary work permit easily while waiting for a fast track PR. So it's worth giving it a shot for the case of a few weeks waiting, if you're denied, then apply via the federal route.

Good luck all.

jamiebh

Interesting information, I didn't realise there was a backlog being cleared. If I remember rightly, the immigration information for Canada states that the federal scheme takes 18-24 months and most of the individual province schemes state around a year or less.

christmasoompa

Hi Jamie, and welcome to BE. I don't want you to think I'm jumping on your post, but just for the sake of anybody reading I do have to clarify a couple of things in it.

Nope, same thing as for the PNP - they also have minimum requirements i.e. you have to have a certain standard of education, proof of funds, a job offer or enough points under certain streams, etc, etc. So it's really no different to the Federal routes in that respect, although obviously each stream has different eligibility criteria.

It's the same price as the Federal routes (you pay CIC for your PR, same as any other route i.e. you'd still have to pay your $490 RPRF), and there's no such thing as 'fast track PR' any longer. The work permit bit is correct though, although you don't find out at that stage that you've been 'accepted' - again, that's the same as the Federal routes and you wouldn't find that out until the end of the process when you've had your medical etc.

christmasoompa

Yep, the 300,000 or so that applied prior to the new rules for FSW cat 1 being introduced in Feb 2008. Unfortunately for them, they're being got rid of, although that will speed up processing for everybody else.

The application times on the CIC website are historical, so notoriously inaccurate, and of course it depends on the visa route - there are numerous 'federal schemes' which vary wildly, from a year or less for FSW, to 4 years or more for the Self-employed route.

heading-west

Hi, welcome to the forum ;-)
I am in NS on the South Shore.
We applied for Federal PR through FSW route 2 years ago now, we are still waiting!
We are here now on Work Permits until Jan 2013 and hope that in that time we will have been processed and received our PR.

I have recently spoken to 2 families who are just applying for PNP through Lunenburg/Queens RDA, they have both been quoted 18 months processing time.

Our own timescale could be infinite for FSW and we would have applied through PNP with hind sight ;-)

hope that helps.

Sharon J

christmasoompa

Although for the sake of the OP, it's worth noting that you applied under the old Ministerial Instructions, and it's much quicker for those that are applying under the current MI (some of whom have had PR in 10 months or so as FSW).

jamiebh

Hi there, thanks for your message.

To clarify, I am aware they have minimum requirements (although in many cases these are less than the equivelant points required for federal scheme), what I meant was that even if the requirements are met, one can still be denied on the basis that the person is not worth sponsoring. Maybe you could give me some information here; Sasketewan and BC both have 'unskilled' PNP options, within certain occupations, such as hospitality. A great way to get PR, it seems, but for some reason I imagine that someone doing a job such as a housekeeper would struggle to actually get nominated for the province, correct me if this is not the case, since I may myself choose to go down that route!

Also, as a general rule, and advice for anyone interested in PR, there are multiple, unique ways, to be nominated for PR by a province, and many opportunities for people who are no way near close enough to having enough points to qualify for the federal route.

.

I'll re-check my sources, thanks for this. Sorry, by fast track I meant that it seems that PNP would be faster, not literally a scheme in itself. So how do to know the current waiting times for the different immigration schemes, if you don't mind my asking?

At the province stage, which I have read can take only a few months before being passed to the main processing, as far as I'm aware this is when you find out whether or not the province will sponsor you - putting you in the same situation as the federal route, which seems to be background checks etc, and out of the 'discretionary' position as I'd mentioned that the province holds you in. Please correct me on this if I'm getting the wrong idea.

Thanks for the information. Best,

Jamie.

christmasoompa

If the requirements are met, then that person is eligible for PR under the PNP stream, and a province could not turn them down without good reason (i.e. criminal record etc). There is leeway with certain streams of the PNP such as the NS CIS, but there also is with Federal programs i.e. FSW where an immigration officer can use 'substituted evaluation' if the points score isn't met.

I don't know why you think they'd struggle to get nominated? Thousands of people use the semi-skilled streams to get PR every year, whether they're hotel cleaners or restaurant workers. If they qualify, they can apply and get nominated regardless of their occupation (as long as it's one of those under the semi-skilled stream of course!). And they obviously need to meet the other requirements of the program as well as being in a job that is listed under it.

Absolutely. Such as the NS CIS, which is very popular on this forum as there is no points requirement, no job offer needed etc.

Websites such as Trackitt (or the timeline threads on this forum) will give you 'real time' info on those who are currently applying.

No, that's absolutely right. I was just pointing out that it's not 'approval' as you'd mentioned above, and somebody could still be refused PR after that point.

jamiebh

Hi there,

So, I am totally wrong about the province having discretion? For some reason I thought it worked like an LMO, which seems like you have to be a really special person to be nominated, where the job position has not been filled for a long time and they are desperate.

I don't suppose you have any more information on 'substituted evaluation'? I have never heard of this.

I don't know if I should be starting a new thread for this, but it'd be great if you could give me some advise on my current position:

I am currently living in Toronto and putting my true career goals on hold for the next couple of years so I can establish myself in Canada and gain permanent residency. Of course, to do this I need to do specific things that go against my plan, like work in a permanent, full time job, and not travel, work in a certain job category. I am waiting for my LOI for IEC, if I am accepted it should be here within a few weeks. I will try to find a skilled job and apply through the skilled category of ON PNP, or FSW with job offer, since you say that they are the same processing time now, which would you advise? If I apply through the federal points route I'll need to practise my French to speak to an intermediate standard, to get the extra couple points I need. Working in Canada for a year before applying and then getting a new WHV would also get me the points. So this 'substituted evaluation' is of great interest to me.

I hope you're being paid to deliver this text book of knowledge! Many thanks!

Jamie.

JGK

When I started work in Saskatchewan in 2009 my LMO document recommended application to the SINP program after working 6 months. As I only got a 1 year TWP to start the job, my employer preferred to help me with the SINP application rather than have to re-advertise the job/reapply for the LMO and hope I got it again for a TWP renewal.

The SINP went through in less than a month, a new TWP was obtained on the strength of the nomination and I applied for PR which took about 13 months.

If you plan to be in NS for the next few years, getting provincial nomination is worth it. Given the ever changing job market, getting new LMOs is like playing the lottery. So having the nomination and access to a further TWP is definitely worth it. Look at IT professionals, they went from being LMO exempt to a "not in-demand" occupation in a very short time.