Express Entry - Work History obtained on a Tourist Visa. HELP!

[fuz_dnz]

Hello all! I am new to the forum but have read lots of useful information here. I am a mechanical engineer and work in the construction industry.

I applied for express entry with 480 points and I am currently waiting for an ITA. I am very worried about one point however. I have worked for approximetly 1 year in Costa Rica on a tourist visa (I am French). For now I have not included this work experience in my application but I am not too sure if this is a smart move.

Should I include this work experience even though it was illegally obtained. The only supporting documents I have is a Work Certificate, Bank account statements, and passport stamps.

Please help!

 

[JoacRy]

My suggestion is to exclude the Work Experience. The reason is that IRCC (the immigration arm of the Canadian government) would have a database of passport stamps (both Working Permit, Tourist, and Permanent Resident) of other countries.

When performing their analysis if they detect your work experience was obtained whilst on a tourist visa they may have some difficult questions for you to answer. Failure to provide a truthful explanation and answer questions to their satisfaction may result in a charge of 'misrepresentation' and one of the strictest penalties that they can hand out (i.e. a 5 year ban from entering Canada).

Don't take the risk. Tell the full truth all the time.

I appreciate that this reply to your post may not be what you want to read but its an honest answer.

 

[fuz_dnz]

My suggestion is to exclude the Work Experience. The reason is that IRCC (the immigration arm of the Canadian government) would have a database of passport stamps (both Working Permit, Tourist, and Permanent Resident) of other countries.

When performing their analysis if they detect your work experience was obtained whilst on a tourist visa they may have some difficult questions for you to answer. Failure to provide a truthful explanation and answer questions to their satisfaction may result in a charge of 'misrepresentation' and one of the strictest penalties that they can hand out (i.e. a 5 year ban from entering Canada).

Don't take the risk. Tell the full truth all the time.

I appreciate that this reply to your post may not be what you want to read but its an honest answer.

I appreciate you taking the time to read and answer my question! So if I understand correctly your suggestion is to exclude it and if asked about what I was doing for that year I could explain my case in person at the interview? Thanks again!

 

[JoacRy]

I appreciate you taking the time to read and answer my question! So if I understand correctly your suggestion is to exclude it and if asked about what I was doing for that year I could explain my case in person at the interview? Thanks again!

No my suggestion is to exclude the Work Experience from your profile. That way you will never get questioned about it, and the possible consequences I have outlined will never happen.

Unfortunately in this case you do not have the option to include the work experience in your profile and hope they don't investigate. Remember even if they process and end up rejecting your profile without imposing a strict penalty, the next time you submit a profile you can expect them to scrutinize every aspect of a potential re-submitted profile.

Avoid this problem. Be 100% honest from the start to finish in the immigration process. The rewards will.be invaluable.

 

[Pippin]

At some point in the Personal History you will have to account for what you did during that period of time. I agree completely that honesty is the point here. Somewhere along the line you will be altering the truth.

 

[aneelkanth]

OP you put yourself in a vulnerable position.

If you mention this experience anywhere it will mean you violated the immigration laws of another country and worked while you were not allowed to.
That would have a severe negative effect on your file.

If you do not mention the experience chances are you will be clear.
People here can only make recommendations and cannot conclude what the end result will be.

Do not include the experience as it directly violates the rules of a tourist visa.

 

[fuz_dnz]

OP you put yourself in a vulnerable position.

If you mention this experience anywhere it will mean you violated the immigration laws of another country and worked while you were not allowed to.
That would have a severe negative effect on your file.

If you do not mention the experience chances are you will be clear.
People here can only make recommendations and cannot conclude what the end result will be.

Do not include the experience as it directly violates the rules of a tourist visa.

Completly agree! Working under a tourist visa is illegal. And i agree that honesty is a must. I will not include the work experience and I hope I am not asked about what I did during that year when the time comes as I would not like to have to make up a story up to hide this experience. Thanks to all for your suggestions.

 

[Tocanadawego]

Completly agree! Working under a tourist visa is illegal. And i agree that honesty is a must. I will not include the work experience and I hope I am not asked about what I did during that year when the time comes as I would not like to have to make up a story up to hide this experience. Thanks to all for your suggestions.

As mentioned to you earlier, you will have to declare this experience in your personal history. Hiding it would bring you more trouble than your illegal work. You can exclude it from your work experience, i.e. You will be getting no points for it nor will you have to show any proof of employment. However, I advise you not to lie in your personal history and disclose you were in Costa Rica for that year. I highly doubt they would spend time investigating whether you had a work permit in a third country or not, especially since you're not claiming points for this work experience. That's the job of Costa Rica, not Canada.

 

[bellaluna]

At some point in the Personal History you will have to account for what you did during that period of time. I agree completely that honesty is the point here. Somewhere along the line you will be altering the truth.

As mentioned to you earlier, you will have to declare this experience in your personal history. Hiding it would bring you more trouble than your illegal work. You can exclude it from your work experience, i.e. You will be getting no points for it nor will you have to show any proof of employment. However, I advise you not to lie in your personal history and disclose you were in Costa Rica for that year. I highly doubt they would spend time investigating whether you had a work permit in a third country or not, especially since you're not claiming points for this work experience. That's the job of Costa Rica, not Canada.

+1, I agree with this course, rather than what the others have said previously.

 

[fuz_dnz]

As mentioned to you earlier, you will have to declare this experience in your personal history. Hiding it would bring you more trouble than your illegal work. You can exclude it from your work experience, i.e. You will be getting no points for it nor will you have to show any proof of employment. However, I advise you not to lie in your personal history and disclose you were in Costa Rica for that year. I highly doubt they would spend time investigating whether you had a work permit in a third country or not, especially since you're not claiming points for this work experience. That's the job of Costa Rica, not Canada.

Thank you very much for your insight! That clears up a lot for me. I will follow this plan. Thanks a lot!