Sponsorship of parents, children, spouses (common-law, conjugal, same sex), refugees.
Working while Waiting for Sponsorship
|
blairhacche Posts: 1
Posted On: 9/16/2014
|
With the current backlog in inland spousal sponsorship applications is there any way to get a work permit without a labour market impact assessment before getting first stage approval?
I will explain my situation briefly to clarify why I am asking:
I have been in Canada since Feb 2013, first on a tourist visa, then with a 12 month working holiday permit. In November 2013 my fiancé and I had a son together and after we had been together over 12 months I applied for residence under the spousal sponsorship. In July my temporary and non-extendible work permit expired. I was working for a company through a recruiter and the recruiter would not or were not able to obtain a labour market impact assessment for me so I was forced to apply for a work permit without one which was subsequently refused. I am still in Canada with an estimated 9 – 10 months left until I might get first stage approval on my residence application with no way to be able to support myself or my family. We are going bankrupt because as a family we can’t get by on my fiancés salary, so I may have no choice but to leave my fiancé and my 9 month old son to return to NZ to work for the 9 – 10 months until I get the first stage approval on my residence. I am a computer programmer with a 4 year bachelors degree from a reputable university, I had a job that I had 6 months experience in, but CIC needs a labour market impact assessment to know that someone who already has 6 months experience in that exact position (using a language that very few programmers know) can’t be replaced. My fiancé has a son from a previous marriage so she can’t leave Canada otherwise we would be going to New Zealand as a family to wait for the next 9 or 10 months.
I just read an article on the CIC newsletter that talks about family unification, but I really feel like CIC is leaving me no choice but to return to New Zealand for 10 months to work while leaving my family behind in Canada. It is a far cry from CIC helping with unifying my family and in fact I feel that the backlog of inland applications has made a huge crack in the process that is making our lives miserable and unbearably stressful and is more than likely going to split my family apart for a significant period of time. I explained all of this in my work permit application so it really doesn't sound to me like the government of Canada are as committed to unifying families as they say they are.
Does anyone know if there are any options for someone in my position?
|
|
|
link
|
|
MelM Posts: 226
Posted On: 9/17/2014
|
Your options are limited. If you qualify to apply for another working holiday visa - this would be one option. Otherwise you do need an approved LMIA (new version of the LMO) in order to qualify for a work permit. You can try to find a new employer who is willing to go through the LMO process - espeically if you have skills that are highly sought-after and difficult to find in Canada. Failing that, you will have to wait until first stage approval is received for your inland application before you will be eligible for an open work permit. Note that if you leave Canada while your inland application is in progress, you'll end up abandoning/canceling the application since you're expected to remain in Canada while the application is being processed. If the application is canceled since you've left Canada you'll have to apply again from scratch using the outland process.
If I were in your shoes I would withdraw the inland application and apply outland immediately. This will give you the flexibility to leave Canada if you have to without abandoning your application. The outland application process comes with no open work permit but it will be much faster overall.
|
|
|
link
|