csangel99

Hi

Just wondering if someone could advise on my situation.

My husband and I are in Canada on non-student BUNAC visas (arrived April 07).
My husband was lucky enough to get a temporary job with the PEI Provincial Government.
Over the last couple of days, they have told my husband that they want to keep him and are making the temporary position permanent. Which is great, except for the fact that the visa runs out March 08.

Come March 08 the Government (current employer) is willing to sponsor him.
The problem is, all of the documentation they have to prove that there was no suitable Canadian for the job will then be 1 year old (from April 07).

Obviously my husband is not going to quit the job in March 08 so they can advertise it and go through all the carry on again, he worked too hard to get the job in the first place. Employer is definitely not wanting to do this either.

Will CIC accept proof of job advertisement and no Canadian found that is 1 year old?

We are here while waiting for our PR application which SHOULD only be another 3 years.
We don't want to apply for the job sponsorship now as we would then "lose" the 8 months left on our BUNAC visas and we need as much time here as possible. It would be stupid to throw away 8 months on an open work permit when they are so hard to get!

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Willeme

Hi not sure if this will be of any help to you but have you thought about looking into PEI's Provincial nomination programme?, this may just be what you need and your application for PR would be considerably shorter than 3 years. You could look at previous posts on this subject and get some helpful info from this link:
http://www.gov.pe.ca/immigration/ind...1014385&lang=E

it's the PEI government webpage on PNP, I hope this helps we will probably be in your shoes this time next year. All the best

Eme

csangel99

Hi Eme

Thank you for your message. It was something we have looked into; however it puts us in the same situation. The fact that the proof that no Canadian was available is not recent. We are not sure if CIC will accept proof that is not recent and for a job you already have.

Thanks

Paul Wildy

I think there is an important difference though - if you go through the PEI PNP program then the onus is on PEI Immigration Office to satisfy themselves that reasonable efforts were made to fill the position. In other words the PEI Govt should be able to pull a few strings with their Immigration department. The actual decision on verything except security and medical issues for PNPs gets made by the Province, not CIC. Under the skilled worker program, it would be CIC (or rather HRDC) making the confirmation that the recruitment efforts were reasonable. In other words, you may find it a lot easier (not to mention quicker - a few months instead of several years) with the PNP method.

csangel99

Thank you also for the reply. I think if both you and Eme have suggested the PNP, I will certainly look into it further.
Am I correct in thinking that to apply for PNP I would have to cancel our PR application?

Willeme

From what I understand there is no need to cancel your application for PR as once your PNP application goes through and you are succesful, your application for PR is then reviewed and the processing time reduced considerably (around 1 year).

Paul Wildy

Don't know about that one as I never did the standard PR app. Ask the PEI immigration office? They are usually pretty helpful (a lot for than CIC) for people considering PNPs. I think I heard another poster saying they were applying for NS PNP and when they got the Nomination (from the province) they could send it off to CIC and their existing app would get fast-tracked at that stage. You need to check on that one though.

Also, if you are successful in getting the provincial nomination you can apply for a work permit without needing the HRDC confirmation (the fact that you got nominated by a province is enough to exempt you from it) so if you need to you can get a WP to fill-in the gap while you wait for your PR.

csangel99

I didn't know that about work permits and positive PNP, that's really helpful, thank you.

I re-read through the link that Eme sent me and it does state:
"if an immigrant has an open application under review with the Canadian Government or another Provincial Nominee Program, the Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program will not accept an application from this immigrant"

I have contacted an officer with my questions regarding the PEI PNP, I will post the answers when I hear back.

Thanks again Paul and Eme

Paul Wildy

From what little I know about PNPs I think the underlying issue here is that the PNPs are not allowed to "compete" with the standard federal immigration program. When each province signed a treaty with the Federal government to set-up a PNP they have to show how it will address their own individual needs and special requirements in that Province and not just simply "steal" applicants from the federal program. For example, if an applicant doesn't meet the traditional points score for federal skilled worker program but does have skills/experience that are needed in that province (which is usually why they need a job offer to "prove" their skills are needed by local employers) then they can nominate them and short-cut the federal process.

That is probably why they are saying that if you have already submitted an application then you aren't suitable for provincial nomination. I don't know how much flexibility there would be on that rule - it seems kind of dumb - it could just be that the PNP didn't exist or you didn't know about it when you applied. Certainly if you applied through another province's PNP you would have no chance. You really have to convince them that you want to settle in their province and you aren't just using it to get in to canada and then move elsewhere. Applying for 2 PNPs would scupper your chances with both I would imagine.