IEC - WHV application from different country than the one on my passport

[blackbear88]

Hi everyone!

I'm pretty sure someone will be able to help me with my question

I have recently applied for the IEC - Working Holiday category and my application has been refused because I do not "meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations." As a citizen of Belgium, apparently I'm not eligible to apply to the IEC program unless actively residing in my country of citizenship at the time my application is submitted. A refund has been requested on my behalf.

I have been away from Belgium for nearly a year now as I traveled to New Zealand on a Working Holiday visa in June 2015. I recently received my Work Visa in NZ but I planned on staying here for another 10 months at most. Before turning 30 I would love to go to Canada under the IEC program. Thus, being in NZ still, I entered the IEC pool at the end of February 2016 got an ITA end of April. I filled out my New Zealand address as my current address, however, still being a Belgian citizen. I'm not sure whether I am a permanent resident in NZ or in Belgium though.

The CIC Canadian Immigration website says the following:
*country of residence: where you live now (I would say NZ?)
*country of permanent residence: where you live permanently (I would say Belgium?)

From the start (Expression of interest and being accepted into the pool of candidates), I have said nothing differently than the above so I don't understand why they even sent me an Invitation to Apply. I could've avoided paying the fee and going through the whole procedure of uploading all the documents necessary in order to submit the application...

Obviously I would love to try and apply for the IEC again, which is definitely possible but should I just fill out Belgium for all the countries? Or do I really need to go back to Belgium in order to first get into the pool of candidates and then (8 weeks later) hope for an invitation to apply? That seems a bit odd to me as even people residing in Belgium throughout the whole year might be traveling throughout the IEC application process... I guess what I really need to know is: what does actively residing really mean?

Thanks for helping me out

 

[Bs65]

This must be something specific to Belgium as doing a random search say for France/Germany/UK/Netherlands none of those specifically mention perm address in the eligibility criteria for WHV. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/iec/eligibility.asp .

Heard of other people from these countries who are in NZ on WHV and they have not had same issue applying despite saying living in NZ but perm address is home country. For sure on a WHV you are a temporary resident not perm resident hence the 'holiday' part in WHV.

Why Belgium should be different who knows but be careful about misrepresentation maybe there are similar restrictions in any reciprocal agreements between Canada and Belgium that are not in place for the other countries.

When you completed the questionaire for the actual application post ITA are you positive to did not enter as though you are a perm resident of NZ which you are not so you did not enter your living address as your perm resident address or check some box that said resident address same as living address.

From what others have said since they moved to this new process for WHVs the CIC site has been full of problems and inconsistencies.

The number of ITAs issued versus the quota for Belgium looks oversubscribed unfortunately no worse than other countries due to fallout/refusals but good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[scylla]

Yes - since you are from Belgium, you must be living in Belgium in order to qualify for an IEC. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/opinion/experience/bilat.asp

You would need to actually return to Belgium and become a resident again in order to qualify to apply for an IEC for Canada. Since CIC has already refused you once for being a non-resident, I suspect you would have to return to Belgium and live there for a few months before submitting a new IEC application for Canada.

Actively residing means physically live in the country.

 

[blackbear88]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your answers, this is the first time I see this document but at least it’s clear now that I am required to physically live in my country in order to apply for the IEC. Are you sure I need to be living in Belgium for a few months before I can subscribe to the pool of candidates?

Also, how would CIC actually know that I’m in Belgium?

Going back to Belgium to actually submit the application from there, would it at least be possible to go through step 1, accessing the pool of candidates, in NZ? Or do I also have to be in Belgium for the first step? Becoming a candidate in the pool already requires you to fill out your country of (permanent) residency… It’s just that becoming a candidate in the pool does not guarantee an invitation to apply. The plan would be to subscribe to the pool of candidates while still being in NZ and in the weeks after (the process to maybe get an ITA can take up to 8 weeks) travel home and complete the actual ITA from Belgium including uploading documents e.g. visa, police certificates, resume and picture.

Thanks heaps!

PS: How did you find the document? It would be helpful should it be more easy to find

 

[simzbd]

Hi blackbear88,

I was wondering if you figured out the answer to your last question / figured out what to do? I am considering applying for the IEC as well, and will have a similar situation. In my case, my passport is French (so I am a french citizen), my permanent residence is Jordanian (I have a dual citizenship with France + Jordan and I grew up in Jordan), and I am currently not residing in France. However, I completed the questionnaire showing this information (passport issued by France, current residence Jordan, and permanent residence Jordan) and I found that I am eligible for the IEC. I don't want to run with the same problem you had, so I am wondering if I have to go to France and fill out the questionnaire from there, or if I can do the first two steps from Jordan, and then go to France after getting the invitation to apply, and actually applying from there.

Thank you and I would really appreciate your input!

 

[Bs65]

Hi blackbear88,

I was wondering if you figured out the answer to your last question / figured out what to do? I am considering applying for the IEC as well, and will have a similar situation. In my case, my passport is French (so I am a french citizen), my permanent residence is Jordanian (I have a dual citizenship with France + Jordan and I grew up in Jordan), and I am currently not residing in France. However, I completed the questionnaire showing this information (passport issued by France, current residence Jordan, and permanent residence Jordan) and I found that I am eligible for the IEC. I don't want to run with the same problem you had, so I am wondering if I have to go to France and fill out the questionnaire from there, or if I can do the first two steps from Jordan, and then go to France after getting the invitation to apply, and actually applying from there.

Thank you and I would really appreciate your input!

If you look here you will find that Belgium applicants for some reason have a residency requirement whereas French applicants do not http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/opinion/experience/bilat.asp

Although it does say need a mailing address in country of citizenship if not currently resident, what for not sure given everything is completed online but other than that I do not read that you need to be resident in France.