Help! CEC, NOA might reveal unauthorized work before PGWP

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Hi folks,

I have a question that have been pounding me over the weekend. I was about to submit my application when I suddenly realized that I have potentially worked unauthorized for about a month. Now I'm worried that it will affect my CEC application. Eagerly looking for suggestions and experiences from you folks who have been in similar situation.

My timeline is:
Program completion May 15
Received PGWP through flagpole May 31
But right after my defense (early May), I continued to take care of the research projects in my advisor's lab. It just seemed too natural and I didn't realize that it's unauthorized work.
My advisor wanted to pay me for the amount of work I do from May to mid June. When we sit down to do the paperwork after I got my PGWP, we found there's a problem.
I still got paid for the work, but instead of getting paid from 5.1 to 6.15, my paychecks were for 6.1 to 7.15, written after my PGWP.

Then came the legitimate work, let's call it Job X. It started 6.15 and with another corporation. I'm planning to claim that experience in my CEC application.

So the problem is, for the employment record of Job X, I need to submit employment letter + T4 + NOA + paystubs. But if I submit NOA, they will find that my income is higher than what shows on T4, because NOA income = Job X + the unauthorized work.


So my question becomes, to submit NOA or not...

If I don't submit it, and just upload employment letter + T4 + paystubs to prove my experience in Job X, would IRCC ask me for NOA later on?

If I submit my NOA, would IRCC ask me about that extra income there? Should I include that work in "personal history" and write an LOE to apologize/explain now, or just submit NOA and see what happens?

Which way is less risky?
Really appreciate your answer! Suggestions, experiences, opinions, all super valuable to me

 

[ForUs2020]

NOA is not required as proof of employment. Pay stubs, T4, employment letter letter and reference letter will suffice. IRCC will not ask you for NOA. You can write in your LOE an explanation for the work you did few weeks before your PGWP. Thousands of people have gotten PR without submitting NOA

 

[Placeboeffect]

NOA is not required as proof of employment. Pay stubs, T4, employment letter letter and reference letter will suffice. IRCC will not ask you for NOA. You can write in your LOE an explanation for the work you did few weeks before your PGWP. Thousands of people have gotten PR without submitting NOA

Thank you for your suggestions! Can I follow up a question? Would you suggest me to include the unauthorized work when filling my "personal history"? And in that case, add an LOE to explain it?

And would it be misrepresentation if I don't include this information anywhere in my application?

 

[ForUs2020]

Yes you can mention it in personal history but the more important thing is the explanation in your LOE. I had similar experience. I worked full time for 2 months during my last semester in school. I just explained that in my LOE. I have passed Eligibility check btw. In my GCMS, it was not noted by the officer also so no issues with that

 

[Placeboeffect]

Yes you can mention it in personal history but the more important thing is the explanation in your LOE. I had similar experience. I worked full time for 2 months during my last semester in school. I just explained that in my LOE. I have passed Eligibility check btw. In my GCMS, it was not noted by the officer also so no issues with that

So glad to hear that! Thank you so much for sharing your experience! Now I can breath a little bit. So based on your experience, the best option is to be honest with everything & sincerely explain/apologize for the short period of unauthorized work, and that was truly unintentional.

Did you seek help in writing the LOE? And did you attach other documents like paystubs/T4/letter from employer for the 2 months you worked?

 

[ForUs2020]

Yes. Being upfront and truthful is best. I did not seem any help with my LOE. I did not attach the paystubs for the 2 months since I was still working in same organization and so could attach my later pay stubs. You do not need 1 year worth of pay stubs of course. I figured my employment letter and ref letter will show anyway when I started working for the organization so my LOE is enough explanation.

 

[ForUs2020]

*seek

 

[Placeboeffect]

Yes. Being upfront and truthful is best. I did not seem any help with my LOE. I did not attach the paystubs for the 2 months since I was still working in same organization and so could attach my later pay stubs. You do not need 1 year worth of pay stubs of course. I figured my employment letter and ref letter will show anyway when I started working for the organization so my LOE is enough explanation.

Thank you for sharing! Do you happen to have a template when you write your LOE? If there’s no sensitive info, would you mind sharing the template? It’s absolutely okay if if you don’t feel like sharing it too.

Thanks again for your help & wish you a good night