Exclusion order 1-year, caught working illegally.

[t_wen]

Hello all,
I need some advice on my difficult situation..
I am a 26 year old and have been on two Canadian student permits trying to become a resident in Canada for years now.

I have been residing in Canada for a while now, now and then taking trips to and from the states. More recently around November last month I was rejected a PNP application because I did not have 2 years of work experience since then I have been trying to apply for a work permit (while still in Canada) through a consultant to be sure but due to family issues was not able to have the consultant start on the application.

I am currently on a visitor visa to enter Canada, I returned from a short trip to the states recently and asking for 6 months duration of stay and with the reason that I am here to hire a consultant to assist in the application of my work permit. I also had a reference letter from my employer describing the job except it was dated in May (when I found the consultant, this letter was for him to review my case, I could not get a new one because my employer was on a 2 month leave for marriage).

A search was conducted on me and they checked my phone, reading my emails I have exchanged with the employer. Previously during my stay after being rejected by PNP, I have helping my employer as a family friend voluntarily to help with design projects whenever he needed - no payroll or pay, just helping as a friend. The officer considered this as working illegally and also that I overstayed my duration of 6 months from May to December 2016.

I admitted that I did not know that not being on a payroll and only helping my employer on-call (not full time or part-time) via email was considered as working illegally, and that if I did not leave to my home country that the 6 month allowed period would reset. (I am a citizen of Malaysia, but I have been leaving to the states to reset the 6 months whenever)

I have showed them intention that my employer is willing to sponsor me and have been doing so for years now, first attempt was with the PNP application but due to misinformation I did not have 2 years of work experience for it and was rejected.

Regardless, I was issued an Exclusion Order and must not return to Canada for 1-year and I have to leave in a week's time. Was told I could try to appeal with an ARC/appeal or a work permit application after 6 months. My employer has heard the news and said he will do everything he can to try to get me back to work in Canada legally once the ban is lifted..

Just want to know if there is any advice or suggestions or warnings I should be aware of and what steps do you recommend I take and how would this affect me in trying to get my residency in the future....

 

[CaroM8]

I am no expert in this, but it sounds like the officer was right to issue the ban.

You say you've been "residing in Canada for a while now"... On a visitor visa? You can't live in Canada on a TRV. It's meant to visit only.

Who is your employer that you keep referring to? Where are they based? You obviously know that you cannot work in Canada on a TRV, so how do you support yourself?

 

[scylla]

I honestly wouldn't bother with the ARC process. Unfortunately based on what we've seen on this forum, CIC takes their sweet time processing ARCs for one year exclusion orders. By the time the ARC is approved, the exclusion order will be over.

Appealing may be possible but is something you shouldn't do without the help of a good immigration lawyer. Not sure what the chances of success are - expect it to cost several $K.

I would personally just wait out the exclusion order outside of Canada and plan to return to Canada once your exclusion order has expired.

 

[t_wen]

I am no expert in this, but it sounds like the officer was right to issue the ban.

You say you've been "residing in Canada for a while now"... On a visitor visa? You can't live in Canada on a TRV. It's meant to visit only.

Who is your employer that you keep referring to? Where are they based? You obviously know that you cannot work in Canada on a TRV, so how do you support yourself?

Yes, I might have made that mistake by the wrong choice of words to the officer saying that "i've been in canada for a while now." because that triggered more questions.

My employer is a CEO of a company based in Vancouver BC. They have never tried to hire a foreigner before, so hence why we wanted a consultant after attempting the PNP by ourselves and was rejected. He mentioned after this case he will do his best to put more attention into knowing more about work immigration because he hasn't been giving it his all

 

[t_wen]

I honestly wouldn't bother with the ARC process. Unfortunately based on what we've seen on this forum, CIC takes their sweet time processing ARCs for one year exclusion orders. By the time the ARC is approved, the exclusion order will be over.

Appealing may be possible but is something you shouldn't do without the help of a good immigration lawyer. Not sure what the chances of success are - expect it to cost several $K.

I would personally just wait out the exclusion order outside of Canada and plan to return to Canada once your exclusion order has expired.

What is the difference between an appeal and the ARC? I was told I could send a work permit application after 6 months while in Malaysia as long as my employer was still willing to help, how much would that help?

 

[scylla]

What is the difference between an appeal and the ARC? I was told I could send a work permit application after 6 months while in Malaysia as long as my employer was still willing to help, how much would that help?

An ARC is a request for CIC to allow you to re-enter Canada before the end of your exclusion order.

An appeal is effectively an argument that the exclusion order was incorrectly applied.

You can sent a work permit application after six months, but this won't allow you to re-enter Canada before the exclusion order expires.

 

[Buletruck]

My employer is a CEO of a company based in Vancouver BC. They have never tried to hire a foreigner before, so hence why we wanted a consultant after attempting the PNP by ourselves and was rejected. He mentioned after this case he will do his best to put more attention into knowing more about work immigration because he hasn't been giving it his all

Your employer would, if he hasn't already. probably have to go through the LMIA process as well before offering you a job.

 

[t_wen]

An ARC is a request for CIC to allow you to re-enter Canada before the end of your exclusion order.

An appeal is effectively an argument that the exclusion order was incorrectly applied.

You can sent a work permit application after six months, but this won't allow you to re-enter Canada before the exclusion order expires.

I was told if the LMIA and Work permit is approved before the 1-year ban, I could apply for a ARC and return before the end of the 1-year..?

 

[scylla]

I was told if the LMIA and Work permit is approved before the 1-year ban, I could apply for a ARC and return before the end of the 1-year..?

You certainly could. However ARCs take months to process. And as mentioned before, CIC won't rush the processing of yours. It will likely be done around the same time as your exclusion order expires.

 

[t_wen]

You certainly could. However ARCs take months to process. And as mentioned before, CIC won't rush the processing of yours. It will likely be done around the same time as your exclusion order expires.

My guess is ARCs were made for those who received more than a 1-year ban then...

 

[t_wen]

Does anyone know if CBSA will conduct another search on me when I return to the airport to retrieve my confiscated Passport and leave Canada?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I was told if the LMIA and Work permit is approved before the 1-year ban, I could apply for a ARC and return before the end of the 1-year..?

Given that you were found to be working illegally in Canada, it is unlikely that any work permit would be approved even after the Exclusion Order is up.

 

[t_wen]

Given that you were found to be working illegally in Canada, it is unlikely that any work permit would be approved even after the Exclusion Order is up.

Is this true?? This would be really devastating news for me. This is my first offense in my entire life and I did not know that helping a family friend would have caused this.
I did not know it would be this bad, please tell me a lawyer could help me or something, there must be another way I would be able to return to Canada to work legally, I have been trying for years to try to become a resident. I have done Study visas twice and completed two courses, I even applied for PNP but lacked 2-years work experience and it was rejected..

My goal was to get a work permit to gain bout 8 more months of Canadian work experience (I've had 4 out of the required 12 months working while on student permit.) so I could apply for Express Entry's requirement of 1-year Canadian work experience...

My family is willing to hire an immigration lawyer to help me. Please advice...

 

[Ponga]

Is this true?? This would be really devastating news for me. This is my first offense in my entire life and I did not know that helping a family friend would have caused this.
I did not know it would be this bad, please tell me a lawyer could help me or something, there must be another way I would be able to return to Canada to work legally.

Unfortunately, I think canuck_in_uk is right.

You were working without authorization, even though you may not have realized what you were doing at the time. CIC doesn't have much, if any, compassion for those that they deem to be ignorant when it comes to things like this.

When you think about is logically...it really does make sense. You were performing tasks that a Canadian citizen, or permanent resident, would have been paid to do, right?

Good luck!

 

[scylla]

Is this true?? This would be really devastating news for me. This is my first offense in my entire life and I did not know that helping a family friend would have caused this.
I did not know it would be this bad, please tell me a lawyer could help me or something, there must be another way I would be able to return to Canada to work legally, I have been trying for years to try to become a resident. I have done Study visas twice and completed two courses, I even applied for PNP but lacked 2-years work experience and it was rejected..

My goal was to get a work permit to gain bout 8 more months of Canadian work experience (I've had 4 out of the required 12 months working while on student permit.) so I could apply for Express Entry's requirement of 1-year Canadian work experience...

My family is willing to hire an immigration lawyer to help me. Please advice...

Do you qualify to apply to immigrate now without the additional work experience in Canada? If so, your best option would be to apply to immigrate from outside of Canada and wait for PR to be approved before you return to Canada. Provided you are 100% honest about your immigration history in your application, you shouldn't have any issues being approved.

Getting back to Canada before your exclusion order is completed has very little chance of being feasible. Even once the exclusion order has expired, there's no guarantee a work permit will be approved even with a job offer and approved LMIA (i.e. it's possible your past immigration history will be held against you).

Again, applying to immigrate is your best option if you qualify.