I was born in the US to a Canadian mother and just accepted a summer internship in Vancouver. Canada Border Services will not give me a work visa because they say I am automatically Canadian and don't need one. The problem is, I need to start work in a few days and I can't get an SIN (which I need for work) without a Canadian Citizenship certificate - and they take 5 months to process. If I was able to get a Work Visa from Border Services, I could use it to get an SIN right away. Any ideas? Your help is appreciated!
Canada Intern in Limbo
- Thread starter cancamamo
- Start date
Unfortunately CBSA is 100% right. You can't obtain a work permit (it's literally impossible) - work permits can only be granted to those who are NOT Canadian citizens or permanent residents. You need to obtain the citizenship certificate as a first step - then you'll qualify for a SIN. There's really no other option. You're out of luck - sorry.
Thanks for your reply! So - if I understand this correctly - I was assigned Canadian citizenship (without my knowledge) and I now can't work in Canada for 6 months while my Citizenship is being verified? However, if I wasn't assigned Canadian citizenship, I could get a work visa and an SIN and start work right away? This seems very odd. Are there any other ways for me (and thousands of other unaware "first generation" citizens like me) to get some sort of temporary status so we can work in Canada sooner?
Yes - that's right. You don't qualify for any temporary status unfortunately. Again, you need to apply for proof of citizenship. Use the urgent process and maybe you can still salvage part of your summer: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/urgent-proof.asp
If a US contractor is coming to Canada to work for a few months - they typically require a work permit. So this may not give you the out you're looking for...cancamamo said:Thanks, I'll give that a try - along with seeing if my employer can hire me as a US contractor instead of an Intern/Employee. That way, at least I can get paid