Caregiver on visit visa wishes to obtain a work permit

[sharedknowledge]

Dear Experts,

Your opinion/advice are needed. Thank you in advance.

A British citizen has been in Canada on visit visa intermittently for over a year now and has been working as caregiver for several families in Canada on cash basis.

Now, she wants to pursue a PR status. For this purpose, she thought that she would need a work permit to start with. So, a Canadian family arranged an LMIA for her, that was approved by the government. But then that family traveled abroad, and she lost connections with it. So, the LMIA might have invalidated or expired.

Questions:

• Is the LMIA attached to the applying employer so a fresh LMIA shall be required for her with a new employer?
• What is the validity of an LMIA and is it renewable?
• If the old LMIA is usable and transferable to another employer, then can it be traced in the government system? And what will be the process and estimated time and cost?
• Will her experience, as caregiver on visit visa, be credited if she applies for work permit and then eventually, PR?
• Is there any other option than the work permit path to obtain a PR? What is the process, timeline, and cost?
• For a work permit as caregiver, is any Canadian citizen/PR family eligible to issue a work permit for her? If not, what are the requirements?

 

[Naturgrl]

Dear Experts,

Your opinion/advice are needed. Thank you in advance.

A British citizen has been in Canada on visit visa intermittently for over a year now and has been working as caregiver for several families in Canada on cash basis.

Now, she wants to pursue a PR status. For this purpose, she thought that she would need a work permit to start with. So, a Canadian family arranged an LMIA for her, that was approved by the government. But then that family traveled abroad, and she lost connections with it. So, the LMIA might have invalidated or expired.

Questions:

• Is the LMIA attached to the applying employer so a fresh LMIA shall be required for her with a new employer?
• What is the validity of an LMIA and is it renewable?
• If the old LMIA is usable and transferable to another employer, then can it be traced in the government system? And what will be the process and estimated time and cost?
• Will her experience, as caregiver on visit visa, be credited if she applies for work permit and then eventually, PR?
• Is there any other option than the work permit path to obtain a PR? What is the process, timeline, and cost?
• For a work permit as caregiver, is any Canadian citizen/PR family eligible to issue a work permit for her? If not, what are the requirements?

So she has been working illegally in Canada on a cash basis as a visitor. She cannot count that experience. Iff IRCC finds out that she is working she can be deported. She is in deep trouble. She actually can only apply through the HCCP program unless her employer is living in Quebec. The program opens up once a year on January 1 and closes within a couple of days. So her employer needs to set up a business registration number and meet requirements, and give her a job offer. She needs to meet requirements - ECA, IELTS. Read through HCCP requirements. Takes about 36 months to process.

Her LMIA would have been tied to the employer and is no longer valid.

 

[canuck78]

Dear Experts,

Your opinion/advice are needed. Thank you in advance.

A British citizen has been in Canada on visit visa intermittently for over a year now and has been working as caregiver for several families in Canada on cash basis.

Now, she wants to pursue a PR status. For this purpose, she thought that she would need a work permit to start with. So, a Canadian family arranged an LMIA for her, that was approved by the government. But then that family traveled abroad, and she lost connections with it. So, the LMIA might have invalidated or expired.

Questions:

• Is the LMIA attached to the applying employer so a fresh LMIA shall be required for her with a new employer?
• What is the validity of an LMIA and is it renewable?
• If the old LMIA is usable and transferable to another employer, then can it be traced in the government system? And what will be the process and estimated time and cost?
• Will her experience, as caregiver on visit visa, be credited if she applies for work permit and then eventually, PR?
• Is there any other option than the work permit path to obtain a PR? What is the process, timeline, and cost?
• For a work permit as caregiver, is any Canadian citizen/PR family eligible to issue a work permit for her? If not, what are the requirements?

If she wants to move to Canada permanently she should stop working illegally in Canada. When IRCC looks back at her financials when applying for a WP or PR and looks at where she has been living it will be pretty clear that she is working illegally in Canada unless she had significant savings that she has been depleting. How old is she?

 

[sharedknowledge]

If she wants to move to Canada permanently she should stop working illegally in Canada. When IRCC looks back at her financials when applying for a WP or PR and looks at where she has been living it will be pretty clear that she is working illegally in Canada unless she had significant savings that she has been depleting. How old is she?

She is in her 50s

 

[Naturgrl]

She is in her 50s

As mentioned she needs to get a job offer and apply for through the HCCP program. She will need ECA and IELTS. Program opens on January 1 and closes within a couple of days with processing of 36 months.

She has been working illegally in Canada so if found out, she is in a lot of trouble. She should return home and wait for approval as it may be difficult for her to show she can support herself with no income for the next 4 years.

 

[canuck78]

She is in her 50s

it is extremely risky working illegally and she has no health coverage unless she has taken out private insurance to cover emergencies. It may be difficult to get approval again especially in her mid to late 50s because there are concerns about her ability to support herself during retirement in Canada. She should also be concerned about looking at her longterm future in Quebec. Unless she works full-time into her 70s she will not max out her retirement pension in Canada which is a limitted amount of money to begin with. Does she have family in Canada or theUK? She needs to consider what will happen if she ever gets sick, what are her plans for retirement, does she have any current medical issues, etc. What savings she has and support she has needs to be considered even if she gets a WP.

 

[sharedknowledge]

it is extremely risky working illegally and she has no health coverage unless she has taken out private insurance to cover emergencies. It may be difficult to get approval again especially in her mid to late 50s because there are concerns about her ability to support herself during retirement in Canada. She should also be concerned about looking at her longterm future in Quebec. Unless she works full-time into her 70s she will not max out her retirement pension in Canada which is a limitted amount of money to begin with. Does she have family in Canada or theUK? She needs to consider what will happen if she ever gets sick, what are her plans for retirement, does she have any current medical issues, etc. What savings she has and support she has needs to be considered even if she gets a WP.

At this time, she is medically fit and is able to work and support herself. One of her close relatives is in Canada. Her plan is to find an employer who would employ her on regular basis. Once done, then she would like to apply for the WP through that employer.

 

[sharedknowledge]

Dear Experts,

Your insights and comments above are really helpful.
So, what is best course of action (i.e., legal, fastest, and easiest) she can take to immigrate to Canada? She couldn't score high on Express Entry and IELTS...

 

[YVR123]

At this time, she is medically fit and is able to work and support herself. One of her close relatives is in Canada. Her plan is to find an employer who would employ her on regular basis. Once done, then she would like to apply for the WP through that employer.

Do you mean she is planning NOT to buy emergency health insurance and try to visit (or work)?
It's gambling on her health. If she needs any immediate medical attention, she could end up with a very large medical bill.

Also at the age of 50+, the chance of getting PR is not very high. (May be it's different with Caregive route.. not sure)

 

[scylla]

Dear Experts,

Your insights and comments above are really helpful.
So, what is best course of action (i.e., legal, fastest, and easiest) she can take to immigrate to Canada? She couldn't score high on Express Entry and IELTS...

She needs to start by stopping all illegal work in Canada immediately. The fact she did this is already very problematic for her application and could lead to a six month work permit ban and create issues in returning to Canada if she leaves. She has violated the terms of her visitor status.

She needs to secure a new job offer and new LMIA from a family in Canada willing to employ her. The old LMIA is useless and cannot be transferred.

No, her illegal work while here as a visitor won't be credited in any way or help her in any way. Quite the opposite. This harms future applications.

Families need to meet income requirements in order to get an LMIA approved and also other criteria. This information is all on the IRCC web site.

 

[Naturgrl]

She needs to start by stopping all illegal work in Canada immediately. The fact she did this is already very problematic for her application and could lead to a six month work permit ban and create issues in returning to Canada if she leaves. She has violated the terms of her visitor status.

She needs to secure a new job offer and new LMIA from a family in Canada willing to employ her. The old LMIA is useless and cannot be transferred.

No, her illegal work while here as a visitor won't be credited in any way or help her in any way. Quite the opposite. This harms future applications.

Families need to meet income requirements in order to get an LMIA approved and also other criteria. This information is all on the IRCC web site.

With changes to caregiver/HCCP program, believe only option unless employer has LMIA and is in Quebec is HCCP program. OP there is no fast way. The program opens up on January 1 of each year. She must apply immediately and processing is 36 months.

 

[Naturgrl]

Dear Experts,

Your insights and comments above are really helpful.
So, what is best course of action (i.e., legal, fastest, and easiest) she can take to immigrate to Canada? She couldn't score high on Express Entry and IELTS...

She would not be eligible for EE at her age. Research the HCCP program. She needs IELTS and ECA to submit a profile with the job offer. Get an employer and apply January 1. Processing is around 36 months. So if she gets her application in by 2024 she should be able to work and have PR by 2027. Age may factor in IRCC’s decision.

 

[Hummingbird89]

Dear Experts,

Your opinion/advice are needed. Thank you in advance.

A British citizen has been in Canada on visit visa intermittently for over a year now and has been working as caregiver for several families in Canada on cash basis.

Now, she wants to pursue a PR status. For this purpose, she thought that she would need a work permit to start with. So, a Canadian family arranged an LMIA for her, that was approved by the government. But then that family traveled abroad, and she lost connections with it. So, the LMIA might have invalidated or expired.

Questions:

• Is the LMIA attached to the applying employer so a fresh LMIA shall be required for her with a new employer?
• What is the validity of an LMIA and is it renewable?
• If the old LMIA is usable and transferable to another employer, then can it be traced in the government system? And what will be the process and estimated time and cost?
• Will her experience, as caregiver on visit visa, be credited if she applies for work permit and then eventually, PR?
• Is there any other option than the work permit path to obtain a PR? What is the process, timeline, and cost?
• For a work permit as caregiver, is any Canadian citizen/PR family eligible to issue a work permit for her? If not, what are the requirements?

Try IEC: International Experience Canada

 

[Naturgrl]

Try IEC: International Experience Canada

The person is in her 50s, and working illegally as a nanny for cash.

 

[Hummingbird89]

With changes to caregiver/HCCP program, believe only option unless employer has LMIA and is in Quebec is HCCP program. OP there is no fast way. The program opens up on January 1 of each year. She must apply immediately and processing is 36 months.

Applications submitted from 2021 and 2022 are seeing processing times for the OROWP of 10-14 months.