spas

Is there any particular procedure to withdraw an application? How can I know if I will get any money back? I can't find anything on the CIC website.

Thanks

S.

jimmy99

Call CIC directly and speak to an agent. Are you referring to PR application or citizenship.

spas

I am referring to PR application as a skilled worker sent to Buffalo and it's before the initial assessment.

Thanks for your reply

S.

Madhuba

Spas,

I think you're panicking and jumping the gun. From a previous post, you said that you had applied in September 2003. Therefore, you should be getting your initial assessment soon.

I wouldn't worry about too much about your work experience not being done in consecutive periods. I have several friends who fulfilled the work experience requirement based on their co-op work terms. These were 4 month work terms with 8 months of school inbetween. They ALL got their PR and some are even citizens now.

The CIC only requires the work experience to demonstrate that you are employable (in the types of jobs stated in the NOC list) and can successfully establish yourself in Canada.

So as long as you can show (and document) that in the last 10 years you've worked for a period of at least 1 year (whether full time or the part time equivalent) it doesn't matter if you did this in successive periods or in separate time periods.

So if I were you, I would just leave the application as is and wait for your initial assessment. A lot could change in a year. If you pull it out now, the regulations could change (e.g. raised points) leaving you in a position where find that you don't qualify. Or there might be some delay in the process making it drag even longer than the current 16-24 months.

Calm down and sit tight. As long as you documented everything as asked, you'll be fine.

Madhuba

Andrew Miller

If they are citizens now then they applied under the old law. Their experience is now irrelevant.

Please read here again:

http://www.canlii.org/ca/regu/sor2-227/sec75.html

You'll see that law requires at least 12 months of continuous work experience.

Madhuba

Yes that's true, some of them (about 4 or so) did apply under the old rules. However, there's three of them who applied between Jan 03 and Mar 03 (during their last semester in school). All three had intermitent jobs (as did I as we were all in school at the time) and all three got positive initial assessments earlier this year with interviews waived.

I'll admit, I'm not an immigration consultant or lawyer, I'm just saying what I've seen from my friends experiences.

Madhuba

Madhuba

Mr. Miller, I have taken a look at the link that you gave in your post. The regulation does indeed mention the word “continuous�. However, I think we just have different interpretations of what the word means as it is used in that section.

Specifically, the section says:

"A foreign national is a skilled worker if within the 10 years preceding the date of their application for a permanent resident visa, they have at least one year of continuous full-time employment experience, as described in subsection 80(7), or the equivalent in part-time employment in one or more occupations…�

The key part to note in the above is "OR the EQUIVALENT in part-time employment."

Subsection 80(7), which is mentioned therein, says:

“For the purposes of this section, full-time work is equivalent to at least 37.5 hours of work per week.�

Therefore, the word “continuous� as it is used here does not imply that the work done must be completed uninterrupted. It is simply used to say that a full year of work experience amounts to 37.5 hours per week completed continously for the period of one year (i.e. 52 weeks), which when calculated is 1950 hours (37.5 X 52).

The section can thus be read as follows:

“A foreign national is a skilled worker if within the 10 years preceding the date of their application for a permanent resident visa, they have at least one year of continuous full-time employment experience [which is equal to 1950 hours as described in subsection 80(7)] OR the equivalent (again 1950 hours) in part-time employment in one or more occupations.

So what I read from all this is that CIC doesn’t care whether the employment is full time or part time or whether it is in more than one job or that it was completed with breaks in between just as long as in the end the total amount of time spent in that job (or those jobs) all add up to at least 1950 hours of work (in an NOC job in Skill type A or Skill level A or B)

My two cents.

Madhuba

spas

Thanks Madhuba for replying to my message. Today is a bad day to make decisions as I got a letter yesterday. The initial assessment is not completed. They ask me for a lot of documents and one of them is letters from my employers since May 03. I started working in September so I won't complete a year. I haven't made any decision yet. I only want to know how the process will be in case I want to withdraw the application.

What you said about your friends is very encouraging. Did they apply in Buffalo? Did they have more work experience apart from the co-op jobs? How may points did they considered they had.

I would like to know more about your friend's cases because if I can't work in Canada which will only be possible if I can get my PR I would like to go for a master's degree and a refusal can jeopardize my application for a student visa.

E-mail me privately if you prefer

Thanks

S.

Andrew Miller

Word "continuous" has nothing to do with part or full time - continuous means uninterrupted employment without any periods of unemployment within those 12 months of full time or part time equivalent.

I have no idea why are you confusing part/full time employment with continuous employment.

Madhuba

I'm not confusing part/full-time employment with continuous employment. All I'm saying is that we are both are reading the same sentence but deriving different meanings from it.

The section defines a skilled worker as one that has at least one year of continous full-time work experience OR the equivalent in part-time work experience.

One year of continous full time work experience is equal to 1950 hours of work. Therefore, the equivalent in part-time experience is simply 1950 hours of work. It doesn't matter whether it is continous or not. It only matters that it adds up to one year's worth of continous work experience.

Madhuba

Madhuba

Spas,

Yes all three who applied last year sent their applications to Buffalo. One had two co-op work terms of 4 months duration each and with a break in between them. The rest of the work experience came from part time jobs and summer jobs on campus.

The other two simply had part time jobs during their time at school. However, all the jobs qualified as work experience as they gave the NOC codes for each one as well as employment letters.

I don't know how many points they assessesed themsevels at. The guy with the co-op jobs had about 73 points and got his initial assessment while in the middle of his MBA. None of them worked for 1 full year uninterrupted.


Questions for you Spas:

1. What documents were requested?
2. How many years of work experience do you have in an approved job (from the NOC list)?
3. For which of these jobs do you have employment letters and/or contracts?
4. In your application, what did you say you were doing between the time you finished school and the time you started working i.e. between May and September 03?
5. If your work permit expires on July 31, 2004, I'm assuming you started working on July 31, 2003 or within a week or two around that. Is this right?
6. How much time did they give you to send the documents?

Madhuba

spas

Questions for you Spas:

1. What documents were requested?
Letters of current employer and any other employer since may03.
Proof of funds (last 4 months bank statements)
Update information about french (I didn't take the TEF)
Transcripts from Canadian University (which I had submitted already)

2. How many years of work experience do you have in an approved job (from the NOC list)?
When I applied I had 18 months. Now I have 26 months

3. For which of these jobs do you have employment letters and/or contracts?
For all of them except for one. But I only worked there for a month

4. In your application, what did you say you were doing between the time you finished school and the time you started working i.e. between May and September 03?
I said I was looking for a job and later waiting for my work permit

5. If your work permit expires on July 31, 2004, I'm assuming you started working on July 31, 2003 or within a week or two around that. Is this right?
No, my work permit took 2 months to be approved. It was approved mid-August so I started working September 1st.

6. How much time did they give you to send the documents?
60 days since the date of the letter I guess which is May 13.

sanrup

Hi,

I understand that, you applied for PR application under the Skilled Worker category and have not paid ROLF.

You can claim the refund only for ROLF. So, at this stage you are not entitled for any refunds.

To withdraw, mail a written intimation to the CIC.

Before withdrawing, take a legal advice and discuss your reasons with the consultant. Don't be in a rush.

Just my opinion.

Madhuba

I still think you'll be fine. Just send the documents they are asking for as soon as possible and wait.

They haven't rejected your application. They are just asking you for a few missing pieces in your supporting documentation before they begin or complete the assessment. From what you've said, you have all this information. Maybe the transcripts you sent weren't in "university sealed envelopes" as required and that's why they want to see it again.

How many points had you assessed yourself at?

Madhuba

Andrew Miller

Unfortunately your interpretation is not correct - "or" applies to part time as the equivalent of full time employment, it doesn't void the "continuous" requirement. Unfortunately many applicants try to interpret the law the way they want to read it, not the way it is written.

So, it may be a part time with 20 hours per week for example - you will need 2 years of such part time employment, but it still must be continuous.

Please read Sept 27, 2003 amendment to Regulations here:

http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2003/20030927/html/regle-e.html

Just do the search on above page for word "continuous" and read all relevant to the matter sections.

They clarify that the one-year continuous employment requirement in the federal skilled worker class applies to both full- and part-time employment.

The minimum requirement that in the preceding ten years an applicant has had at least one year of continuous full-time employment experience (or the equivalent in part-time employment) has been amended to clarify that the employment experience, whether full- or part-time, must be continuous. Short periods of part-time employment experience dispersed throughout the preceding ten years cannot be added up to meet the one-year employment experience requirement.

Amendment was issued because many like you misinterpreted the rule.

Here is exact wording of amended rule is as follows:

------------------------------
27. Paragraph 75(2)(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
(a) within the 10 years preceding the date of their application for a permanent resident visa, they have at least one year of continuous full-time employment experience, as described in subsection 80(7), or the equivalent in continuous part-time employment in one or more occupations, other than a restricted occupation, that are listed in Skill Type 0 Management Occupations or Skill Level A or B of the National Occupational Classification matrix;
-----------------------------

I hope that it is clear to you and others that my interpretation was correct.




BTW, Regulations nor Manual don't use 1,950 hours per year as full time - immigration law defines full time as 37.5 hours per week.