CEC Rejected and Advice on moving forward

[swknight]

Hi All,

I've been lurking as a guest for a long while but I am at a point where I would like to learn from advices and opinions you have. Below is my events in chronological order;

- May 2010 - Graduated and obtained 3 year post-grad work permit
- Jan 2011 - started working full time at a Cat 1 job; Market researcher
- March 2012 - Applied for landed status under CEC. Everything was prepared by my own which was a big mistake on hind sight.
- Nov 2012 - My application was rejected because the officer felt that I had not met the 1 year experience requirement. (basically my employer letter was very badly done so or I was told by immigration consultants/lawyers i went to see)

I have not re-applied for the landed status and my work permit is expiring August 2013.

I got a promotion in July 2012 and my plan is to apply for the CEC again under the promoted position. So waiting till July of 2013 to apply.

My question is, should I apply for my extension on my work permit since I need a positive LMO and so on or should I apply for my PR earlier than July and try to extend my work permit under the bridging program?

Please feel free to comment and ask questions. I will answer them as well as I can to explain my situation better.

 

[jes_ON]

- Nov 2012 - My application was rejected because the officer felt that I had not met the 1 year experience requirement. (basically my employer letter was very badly done so or I was told by immigration consultants/lawyers i went to see)

Sorry to hear that. I think that we need some more info before we can offer useful suggestions - can you be more specific about the issue of the letter? Were the dates wrong? Lacking information, lacking detailed duties/responsibilities? Did the VO think the work was not "skilled" (e.g. wrong NOC)?

Basically, what is the specific reason given by the VO?

 

[swknight]

The exact word of the officer.

"I am not satisfied that you meet the skilled work experience requirement because you have not demonstrated that you have acquired at least 12 months of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work experience, in one or more occupations that are listed in Skill Type O Management Occupations or Skill Level A or B of the National Occupational Classification matrix. The lead statement for NOC 4163"

Basically my employer not only listed what was under the NOC 4163, but also listed "Your employment letter states that your duties are to market research and assist in business development, collect market data for business expansion, clerical duties, and assist in hiring and recruiting"

It is a small company, so I pretty much do a lot of other stuff including clearing and receiving shipments in addition to what was listed above. Now with the "promotion" I am more business development oriented and maintain relation with customers and so on. It is still a hybrid position with multiple unrelated responsibilities. But this time, I am going to just write it so that only what is under the NOC is included and nothing extra.

My plan is to basically nullify that bad employer letter and use the new promotion to apply.

 

[jes_ON]

Well, I'd say the lawyer/consultant was right, in this case. The letter made you sound like an office clerk, which is classified as an unskilled position.

If you reapplied now, you would have to convince CIC that the old position, for which you have already been refused, really is skilled. Not a good prospect.

On the other hand, if you wait until July, you will have to get an LMO to apply for a new work permit and continue working. You didn't say whether your employer would do that.

Alternatives - apply after July - it's ok to leave and go home and apply, or go home after you apply.

Look into the PNP programs for your province. This usually requires the support of your employer. But in some provinces, you can get a work permit while it's processing.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/provincial/apply-who.asp

 

[jes_ON]

It is a small company, so I pretty much do a lot of other stuff including clearing and receiving shipments in addition to what was listed above. Now with the "promotion" I am more business development oriented and maintain relation with customers and so on. It is still a hybrid position with multiple unrelated responsibilities. But this time, I am going to just write it so that only what is under the NOC is included and nothing extra.

The only caution I would have for you is, "customer service" type jobs are also usually classified as "unskilled." so ...

 

[swknight]

Yes, the company is willing to do an LMO and will support in getting my work permit extended. So i guess the plan is to just wait till july to apply. Like you have stated, my worry is that, being in the same company might result in a harder case of trying to convince the officer that what I am doing is really under skilled work category. To that end, I have tried searching for new jobs; lots of interviews but more often than not, seeing a work permit closes a lot of doors for me.

To sum it up, my course of action;

1 - Extend work permit (how long do I have to prepare in advance for an LMO + work permit?) Would it be better to do it with an immigration lawyer/consultant?
2 - Once the new work permit comes in, apply for Landed status.

An entirely option was to apply under Skilled Worker Program or go back and do my masters and apply under PNP. Both of which will take a long long time and the latter is going to cost me a lot.

 

[sabidhawan]

I saw on CIC that FSW program will start again in May . They have not disclosed the conditions yet but you can try for FSW . If your skill level is not high enough you might get rejected again and will waste another 9 10 months.