I worked after graduation but before applying for PGWP, help!

[pawiks101]

Hi guys, I really need your insights on this matter, I have worked full time right after my college ends and before I applied for PGWP, will this be an issue with my PR application? How can I rectify this problem, if anyone has experience, please share.

April 17, 2020 - college ends
April 18, 2020 - started working full time
May 10, 2020 - received college credentials
June 3, 2020 - applied for PGWP

 

[Mococok]

I have the same experience. I am applying for PR, and I am super worried about this.

At that time, I really didn't know and I believed that I can work full-time with the co-up visa until the expiration date in the permit even after the graduation.

I was confused about the co-up visa. I knew that I mistook it when I applied PGWP.

I have about 1 month and 1-week full-time work experience after graduation.

I am super worried about it.

Anyone hads this experience ?

Give any advice for us.

Thank you.

 

[Placeboeffect]

Hi guys, I was on the same boat, worked for about 2 weeks between finishing school & applying PGWP. I was really nervous when I was preparing documents too. I recently got my COPR and hope my experience can help.

First and the most important info is: it's not uncommon for international student to make this mistake. If you search in this forum, you will find plenty people in similar situation. So you are not alone, don't panic.

And the second most important info is: because it's theoretically "unauthorized", the work experience before applying for PGWP doesn't count towards the 12-month work experience. For the purpose of ITA, start counting from the day you submit PGWP application/flagpoled.

Based on what I saw in this forum, people have dealt with it in a wide range of ways. Some didn't even realized it and just submitted their application. Some were completely honest and wrote an LOE explaining the situation, that it was truly unintentional and hope the officers will understand. I've seen successes in different strategies. So you can decide on a strategy that will work best for you. (https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/unauthorized-work-before-pgwp-will-it-affect-pr-application-under-cec.657266/#post-8957070)

The following is my situation & just wanna share it as ONE of the cases.

Right after graduation, I worked as a summer student in the college until I found an "actual" job a month later. So when creating EE profile, I didn't include that month in college as work experience. It was right before submitting the documents when I realized the unauthorized work. After a lot of thought, my strategy was:

After ITA, the portal gives you two places to fill the experiences, they are:

Work experience--- things listed here count towards the CRS scores, and you will need to provide supporting documents to prove them.

Personal experience--- all the schooling, gaps, employment and everything. The system won't ask you for supporting documents for anything listed here.

I listed the 1-month of work under "Personal experience", but not under "Work experience". My thought was, in this case, I'm not intentionally hiding it, and at the same time don't have to reveal every detail unless asked to later. They didn't ask me for any additional information & I'm lucky things went smoothly

 

[Mococok]

Hi guys, I was on the same boat, worked for about 2 weeks between finishing school & applying PGWP. I was really nervous when I was preparing documents too. I recently got my COPR and hope my experience can help.

First and the most important info is: it's not uncommon for international student to make this mistake. If you search in this forum, you will find plenty people in similar situation. So you are not alone, don't panic.

And the second most important info is: because it's theoretically "unauthorized", the work experience before applying for PGWP doesn't count towards the 12-month work experience. For the purpose of ITA, start counting from the day you submit PGWP application/flagpoled.

Based on what I saw in this forum, people have dealt with it in a wide range of ways. Some didn't even realized it and just submitted their application. Some were completely honest and wrote an LOE explaining the situation, that it was truly unintentional and hope the officers will understand. I've seen successes in different strategies. So you can decide on a strategy that will work best for you. (https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/unauthorized-work-before-pgwp-will-it-affect-pr-application-under-cec.657266/#post-8957070)

The following is my situation & just wanna share it as ONE of the cases.

Right after graduation, I worked as a summer student in the college until I found an "actual" job a month later. So when creating EE profile, I didn't include that month in college as work experience. It was right before submitting the documents when I realized the unauthorized work. After a lot of thought, my strategy was:

After ITA, the portal gives you two places to fill the experiences, they are:

Work experience--- things listed here count towards the CRS scores, and you will need to provide supporting documents to prove them.

Personal experience--- all the schooling, gaps, employment and everything. The system won't ask you for supporting documents for anything listed here.

I listed the 1-month of work under "Personal experience", but not under "Work experience". My thought was, in this case, I'm not intentionally hiding it, and at the same time don't have to reveal every detail unless asked to later. They didn't ask me for any additional information & I'm lucky things went smoothly

I plan to be honest, so I included all the invoices and T4A and NOA even the period of unauthorized work experience although the work experience

doesn't affect my score. I also wrote an LOE and attached on Records of employment and wrote that I really didn't know and apologize.

I hope It works and I have a PR.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[Placeboeffect]

I plan to be honest, so I included all the invoices and T4A and NOA even the period of unauthorized work experience although the work experience

doesn't affect my score. I also wrote an LOE and attached on Records of employment and wrote that I really didn't know and apologize.

I hope It works and I have a PR.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Best luck to you!

 

[pawiks101]

Hi guys, I was on the same boat, worked for about 2 weeks between finishing school & applying PGWP. I was really nervous when I was preparing documents too. I recently got my COPR and hope my experience can help.

First and the most important info is: it's not uncommon for international student to make this mistake. If you search in this forum, you will find plenty people in similar situation. So you are not alone, don't panic.

And the second most important info is: because it's theoretically "unauthorized", the work experience before applying for PGWP doesn't count towards the 12-month work experience. For the purpose of ITA, start counting from the day you submit PGWP application/flagpoled.

Based on what I saw in this forum, people have dealt with it in a wide range of ways. Some didn't even realized it and just submitted their application. Some were completely honest and wrote an LOE explaining the situation, that it was truly unintentional and hope the officers will understand. I've seen successes in different strategies. So you can decide on a strategy that will work best for you. (https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/unauthorized-work-before-pgwp-will-it-affect-pr-application-under-cec.657266/#post-8957070)

The following is my situation & just wanna share it as ONE of the cases.

Right after graduation, I worked as a summer student in the college until I found an "actual" job a month later. So when creating EE profile, I didn't include that month in college as work experience. It was right before submitting the documents when I realized the unauthorized work. After a lot of thought, my strategy was:

After ITA, the portal gives you two places to fill the experiences, they are:

Work experience--- things listed here count towards the CRS scores, and you will need to provide supporting documents to prove them.

Personal experience--- all the schooling, gaps, employment and everything. The system won't ask you for supporting documents for anything listed here.

I listed the 1-month of work under "Personal experience", but not under "Work experience". My thought was, in this case, I'm not intentionally hiding it, and at the same time don't have to reveal every detail unless asked to later. They didn't ask me for any additional information & I'm lucky things went smoothly

Thank you for the information. Have you wrote a letter of explanation for the unauthorized work you did?

 

[Placeboeffect]

Thank you for the information. Have you wrote a letter of explanation for the unauthorized work you did?

I was really close to writing it, but then decided not to as it's separate from my actual jobs. But feel free to make your own decision if you have a different situation (like if it's the same job you will use to apply CEC).

 

[pawiks101]

I was really close to writing it, but then decided not to as it's separate from my actual jobs. But feel free to make your own decision if you have a different situation (like if it's the same job you will use to apply CEC).

My job from April 2020 up until now is still the same but from April 2020 to June 2, 2020 it is unauthorized work for me since I applied by June 3, 2020. Did you apply your PR application with the help of an Immigration lawyer?

 

[Placeboeffect]

My job from April 2020 up until now is still the same but from April 2020 to June 2, 2020 it is unauthorized work for me since I applied by June 3, 2020. Did you apply your PR application with the help of an Immigration lawyer?

I've also seen people working on the same job as you do. I would suggest searching similar topics in the forum and look for people with similar cases like you. Look for successful ones & how they dealt with it; also pay attention to the very few rejection cases & learn what potentially to avoid.

I didn't get help from immigration lawyer. I asked around a few immigration representatives and consultants, just short conversations, and they thought my case is too small to work on... then I DIY it. But if you are really worried, definitely ask professionals for help

 

[pawiks101]

I've also seen people working on the same job as you do. I would suggest searching similar topics in the forum and look for people with similar cases like you. Look for successful ones & how they dealt with it; also pay attention to the very few rejection cases & learn what potentially to avoid.

I didn't get help from immigration lawyer. I asked around a few immigration representatives and consultants, just short conversations, and they thought my case is too small to work on... then I DIY it. But if you are really worried, definitely ask professionals for help

I actually seek an advise from an IL and suggested me to be honest upfront about what happened and same as yours not to include the date from which the unauthorized work started and start counting on the day which PGWP has been applied.

In you case, since we have at least similar case, did you successfully got a PR? If so, what year did you received it?

 

[Placeboeffect]

I actually seek an advise from an IL and suggested me to be honest upfront about what happened and same as yours not to include the date from which the unauthorized work started and start counting on the day which PGWP has been applied.

In you case, since we have at least similar case, did you successfully got a PR? If so, what year did you received it?

Glad you got some help! I just received my COPR letter recently. Wish you good luck!

 

[Mococok]

Glad you got some help! I just received my COPR letter recently. Wish you good luck!

Hi, I plan to include all the work experience before applying PGWP, including invoices and T4a, maybe even bank statement and NOA with

LOE in Record of employment section, because I wrote the work history in ee profile and I didn't change in review stage and I am in submiting documents.

Do you think it works?

What were the cases which were rejected?

Because you wrote your work experience after applying PGWP and included the other documents which are payslips and letter of employment from when

you applied PGWP.

I already got the letter which is describing my work experience from before I applied PGWP as well as other documents such as invoices and so on

as well as filling out a profile based on this information.

If my way works in previous, I can do it in this way, but if the rejected case is like me, I will think about my way.


will it work if I remove the work experience from work history and just fill out in personal history and add LOE in optional section for this work experience?

even if I wrote this experience from ee profile and review stage?

Do you think I should change my work period even if all documents mentioned about the work experience before applying for PGWP?

Thank you.

 

[Placeboeffect]

Hi, I plan to include all the work experience before applying PGWP, including invoices and T4a, maybe even bank statement and NOA with

LOE in Record of employment section, because I wrote the work history in ee profile and I didn't change in review stage and I am in submiting documents.

Do you think it works?

What were the cases which were rejected?

Because you wrote your work experience after applying PGWP and included the other documents which are payslips and letter of employment from when

you applied PGWP.

I already got the letter which is describing my work experience from before I applied PGWP as well as other documents such as invoices and so on

as well as filling out a profile based on this information.

If my way works in previous, I can do it in this way, but if the rejected case is like me, I will think about my way.


Do you think I should change my work period even if all documents mentioned about the work experience before applying for PGWP?

Thank you.

Hi are you working in the same job before & after your PGWP? If that's the case, your paystub will reveal that you worked before applying for PGWP. In this case, it might be a good idea to write an LOE (a separate document, attached as "optional documents") explaining your situation. If I remembered correctly, there are people using this strategy in this forum. Don't remember their results but if you want to find some reference you can definitely dig them out.

I can't say for sure if it's better for you to change your work experience period as I'm just an ordinary applicant too. But whether you change it or not, to be safe, make sure you have 12 months of work experience from applying for PGWP to ITA.

Just searched around using key words like "work before PGWP" "unauthorized work" etc., found a couple of discussions & hope they help
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/anyone-worked-while-waiting-for-their-pgwp-postgraduate-work-permit-to-be-approved.677640/#post-8484093

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/search/8956040/?q=work+before+PGWP&o=relevance

If you are really concerned, you can try to reach out to immigration consultants or lawyers for help. Make sure they are reliable and have a good reputation.

 

[pawiks101]

Hi, I plan to include all the work experience before applying PGWP, including invoices and T4a, maybe even bank statement and NOA with

LOE in Record of employment section, because I wrote the work history in ee profile and I didn't change in review stage and I am in submiting documents.

Do you think it works?

What were the cases which were rejected?

Because you wrote your work experience after applying PGWP and included the other documents which are payslips and letter of employment from when

you applied PGWP.

I already got the letter which is describing my work experience from before I applied PGWP as well as other documents such as invoices and so on

as well as filling out a profile based on this information.

If my way works in previous, I can do it in this way, but if the rejected case is like me, I will think about my way.


will it work if I remove the work experience from work history and just fill out in personal history and add LOE in optional section for this work experience?

even if I wrote this experience from ee profile and review stage?

Do you think I should change my work period even if all documents mentioned about the work experience before applying for PGWP?

Thank you.

This is base on the response of the immigration lawyer that I have consulted, since I also have worked right after classes are done which should have been not. The immigration lawyer suggested to start counting the work hours when the pgwp has been lodged but still place in personal history the start date of the unauthorized work.

As per my immigration lawyer, those that has been rejected with the same case as ours are those that has not been honest with the fault that has been made.

 

[Mococok]

Hi are you working in the same job before & after your PGWP? If that's the case, your paystub will reveal that you worked before applying for PGWP. In this case, it might be a good idea to write an LOE (a separate document, attached as "optional documents") explaining your situation. If I remembered correctly, there are people using this strategy in this forum. Don't remember their results but if you want to find some reference you can definitely dig them out.

I can't say for sure if it's better for you to change your work experience period as I'm just an ordinary applicant too. But whether you change it or not, to be safe, make sure you have 12 months of work experience from applying for PGWP to ITA.

Just searched around using key words like "work before PGWP" "unauthorized work" etc., found a couple of discussions & hope they help
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/anyone-worked-while-waiting-for-their-pgwp-postgraduate-work-permit-to-be-approved.677640/#post-8484093

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/search/8956040/?q=work+before+PGWP&o=relevance

If you are really concerned, you can try to reach out to immigration consultants or lawyers for help. Make sure they are reliable and have a good reputation.

Thank you for giving me the advice.

Yes, I worked at the same job before and after I applied for PGWP. It was a self-employed work experience, I am applying to EE Canadian work experience

class. Yes, all the documents including invoices and letter of employment show the work experience before I applied for PGWP.

I have about 2 + @ work experience total and the work experience having issue will be @, so for me, it doesn't matter whether it is included or not. I am

worried about hiding something that can cause the rejection, so I was not sure about how I should show the work experience.

As you said, I think I should include this in the work history section and write LOE in the optional section. and I should say that I include this to show my

honesty not for score, and I don't claim the score for pre-PGWP work experience like this.

Thank you for giving me the advice.