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Hello Future Neighbour,

We have received several mails asking this question; Can I get work permit in Canada with a visitor’s visa? The answer is YES! From now till February 28, 2025, visitor visa holders in Canada can apply for work permit if they meet the requirements to prove their eligibility status.

Now let’s not get it mixed up, you cannot just submit an application to IRCC for a work permit rather the individual needs to meet the work permit criteria below, including a supporting Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or a valid job offer by the Canadian employer.

On getting the job offer, visitor visa holders do not need to go back to their country and apply for a work visa as they would receive it in Canada. This policy is temporary as it was first initiated by the former Minister of Immigration, Sean Fraser for visitors present in Canada before August 24, 2020 who had a job offer and other requirements. It was later amended allowing all visitor visa holders that are eligible benefit from the policy.

Eligibility Criteria To Apply

An applicant looking forward to benefiting from this temporary public policy must:

• have a valid visitor status in Canada on the day they apply
• have a job offer backed by a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment
• submit an application for an employer-specific work permit before February 28, 2025, and
• satisfy all other standard admissibility requirements

Candidates with visitor status who have already held a work permit in the last 12 months under this temporary policy are also eligible if they meet the below-listed criteria:

• When you apply, you must be physically present in Canada.
• You must remain in the country while your application is being processed.
• You will not be eligible for this public policy if you depart while your application is being processed.
• While applying for a work permit, you must be a visitor with valid status.
• If your visitor status has expired, you must restore it before applying for a work permit.
• applied for an employer-specific work permit between August 24, 2020, and February 28, 2025
• had a valid work permit in the 12 months before to applying for a new work permit

Also visitors inside Canada who have held a valid work permit in the last 12 months can follow particular steps to obtain interim work permit.

Need further assistance in creating a work permit profile, getting a visitor’s visa, preparing your application after receiving an invitation to apply or even just reviewing an application you prepared yourself? Send us an email on info@eseumohimmigration.com

 

Exciting news for Colombians, Haitians and Venezuelans currently living in South or Central America, Mexico or the Carribeans who have family members in Canada that’s a permanent residency holder or Canadian citizen; as the application for Canadian permanent residency is now open for a total of 11,000 of the above nationals.

The family members in Canada include a spouse, common-law partner, child (of any age), grandchild, parent, grandparent, or sibling.

These Canadian family members must agree to support them and their family members as an anchor for one year.

In an announcement by the Immigration Minister, Marc Miller on Friday, November 17, 2023. He said:

The pathway to support migrants from the Americas is now open for applications. We’re determined to uphold our humanitarian tradition and support those in need, particularly in light of the current global migration crisis.

With this new pathway, hopefully there would be a decline in illegal migration, insecurity and other crimes recorded so far.

Special Support for Eligible Applicants

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will support the eligible applicants by:

• waiving the Right to Permanent Residency Fee, all application costs, and biometric fees
• offering pre-departure medical care to help preserve your health and ensure safe travel to Canada
• provide you the equivalent of three months of financial aid once you arrive in Canada, to assist you in settling
• give you free settlement services before and after you come to assist you in assimilating into Canadian society and the labour force

Application for this PR pathway is done online through the IRCC portal, a statutory declaration must be signed by the Canadian family member indicating their willingness to support the applicant in Canada.

Need help with gaining admission into a Canadian college/university, visa application, creating a provincial nomination or an express entry profile, preparing your application after receiving an invitation to apply or even just reviewing an application you prepared yourself? Send us an email on info@eseumohimmigration.com

 

In a bid to make application process stress free and reduce the effort that comes with filling up paper applications, Canada has added the use of IRCC Permanent Residence Portal to private refugee sponsor groups. This development will go a long way in helping sponsors submit their applications and referrals in a more secured way.

IRCC intends to collaborate with the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP) and other partners in order to efficiently achieve this development.

The deadline for refugee sponsor groups to switch over to the Permanent Residence Portal is December 31, 2023.

From January 1, 2024, IRCC will only receive applications sent via mail or through the portal

This is a step in the right direction considering the fact that only those with completed applications will be able to submit online, this will enable uncompleted applications not to pass the online check thereby giving IRCC the opportunity to only review completed applications without time being wasted on unfinished ones.

See below list of Canadian Immigration Programs eligible to use the IRCC Permanent Residence Portal

1. Agri-Food Pilot
2. Adopting a child through the immigration process
3. Atlantic Immigration Program
4. Community Sponsors to privately sponsor refugees
5. Home Child Care Provider Pilot
6. Home Support Worker Pilot
7. Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot
8. Groups of Five to privately sponsor refugees
9. Humanitarian and compassionate considerations within Canada
10. Permanent residence in Canada Ukrainian nationals with family members in Canada
11. Permanent residence pathways for Hong Kong residents
12. Protected persons and Convention refugees in Canada
13. Provincial nominee program (non-Express Entry)
14. Quebec entrepreneurs and investors
15. Quebec-selected skilled workers
16. Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot
17. Self-employed people
18. Sponsoring a spouse, partner, dependent child or other family
19. Sponsoring a parent or grandparent
20. Sponsorship Agreement Holders to privately sponsor refugees
21. Start-up visa
22. Temporary resident permit holders applying for permanent residence

Individuals can also check their permanent residence status online using the permanent residence portal.

Need help creating an express entry or provincial nomination profile, preparing your application after receiving an invitation to apply or even just reviewing an application you prepared yourself? Send us an email on info@eseumohimmigration.com