International Mobility Program: Employer Compliance System and New Fees

[ragluf]

New notice -
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/notices/2015-02-09.asp

For those who have been nominated, this will impact those:
- applying for employer-specific WPs (so-called "closed" WPs) and are LMIA-exempt (those applying with a nomination certificate/and or letter of support, in lieu of an LMIA)
- those with an a PR application already underway and applying for open work permits to allow them to wait the completion of their application

...another hurdle for those applying for WPs/OWPs after getting nominations.

 

[liisa227]

This sounds pretty shocking to me. For all of those thinking of renewing their permits - based on what's said in this bulletin I would STRONGLY recommend applying for extensions/new WPs right now, before February 21!

 

[Phil89]

Wow, what else?? Like seriously I have no time working full time and keeping myself un to date with all these changes. Ridiculous.

 

[ragluf]

This sounds pretty shocking to me. For all of those thinking of renewing their permits - based on what's said in this bulletin I would STRONGLY recommend applying for extensions/new WPs right now, before February 21!

Agree.
My reading of the bulletin:

Applicant now needs to pay: (after 21 Feb)
- Application for Work Permit (Including extensions) = $155
- New fee for open work permit = $100
TOTAL = $255

For the employer who wants to retain the worker - either:
- shell out $1000 for the LMIA
- or nominate the worker and after 21 Feb - shell out $230 for "employer compliance" for the worker to get an employer-restricted (so-called "closed") work permit

And this does not cover those who are caught in waiting for either a nomination approval or LMIA approval and have their WP lapse, because they can't apply for an extension yet - they go through restoration of status - and there are other fees for that.

The honest employers are now screwed both ways (LMIA route and nomination route) in retaining workers; temp residents are screwed with the application of new fees + the long application times for either a nomination approval or an LMIA.

.... :-\ :-\ :-\

 

[Mbgirlfriend]

This could cost me my bf's MPNP nomination. His nomination says he was approved because he is currently working and because of where he is working. If has to quit his job we are worried they will withdraw his nomination. If this happens it means we have to start the process a whole new way. We could go the sponsorship rout or he could apply under CEC through the EE. I think when I calculated his score without a PNP or LMIA it was in the high 400's so hopefully that would put him in the top of the profiles without PNP or LMIA.

This really suck because we were just getting things ready to go to the boarder. He got his LOE from his employer today. Tomorrow we are going to bring the letter to PNP office and hope they can get him the Letter of Recommendation before the end of next week.

The thing is that I called again and a girl said that before they give the letter of recommendation they need an Employment Standards number. Apparently this is some number that an employer is suppose to get when they register a foreign worker. So if his employer did this at the start of his employment then MPNP can get that number right away but if not then his employer has to send something to Employment Standards and then wait to get this number back from them.

If his employers didn't do it when he started then I don't think there is much chance of getting all this done before the end of next week. Even if they did do it I think it will still be close.

Anyway we are going to try to go to the MPNP office tomorrow to see what the worst case would be if he does have to quit his job soon. He has enough funds to support himself for two years if he has to just stay as a visitor until he gets PR.

 

[Raj2014]

This could cost me my bf's MPNP nomination. His nomination says he was approved because he is currently working and because of where he is working. If has to quit his job we are worried they will withdraw his nomination. If this happens it means we have to start the process a whole new way. We could go the sponsorship rout or he could apply under CEC through the EE. I think when I calculated his score without a PNP or LMIA it was in the high 400's so hopefully that would put him in the top of the profiles without PNP or LMIA.

This really suck because we were just getting things ready to go to the boarder. He got his LOE from his employer today. Tomorrow we are going to bring the letter to PNP office and hope they can get him the Letter of Recommendation before the end of next week.

The thing is that I called again and a girl said that before they give the letter of recommendation they need an Employment Standards number. Apparently this is some number that an employer is suppose to get when they register a foreign worker. So if his employer did this at the start of his employment then MPNP can get that number right away but if not then his employer has to send something to Employment Standards and then wait to get this number back from them.

If his employers didn't do it when he started then I don't think there is much chance of getting all this done before the end of next week. Even if they did do it I think it will still be close.

Anyway we are going to try to go to the MPNP office tomorrow to see what the worst case would be if he does have to quit his job soon. He has enough funds to support himself for two years if he has to just stay as a visitor until he gets PR.

Y he wants to quit his job ?

 

[Mbgirlfriend]

Y he wants to quit his job ?

He doesn't want to quit but he can't work in canada without a WP. He isn't worried about loosing the job because he has enough savings to carry him until he gets PR (although he would rather be working and making money than living off his savings) and is confident he could get another job after getting PR (he likes his job but isn't were he wants to be 10 years from now). However he could loose his PNP nomination if he has to quit his job and that would mean he would have to reapply to CIC under a different stream and he wouldn't be able to work while waiting for PR.

 

[liisa227]

He doesn't want to quit but he can't work in canada without a WP. He isn't worried about loosing the job because he has enough savings to carry him until he gets PR (although he would rather be working and making money than living off his savings) and is confident he could get another job after getting PR (he likes his job but isn't were he wants to be 10 years from now). However he could loose his PNP nomination if he has to quit his job and that would mean he would have to reapply to CIC under a different stream and he wouldn't be able to work while waiting for PR.

Your boyfriend shouldn't be in danger of not getting a WP. If the employer wishes to keep him, and he continues to meet the requirements of his nomination, everything should be fine. The main hurdle that the new regulations would be throwing at him, is that his employer would need to submit the required paperwork and fee before he's able to apply for a new WP (the one that he can get with the nomination certificate and support letter). I know a few companies here in metro Vancouver that would not agree to pay the fee, but if your boyfriend is a trusted worker and is contributing to the company (which he obviously is since he's already being supported for the nomination), then it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If his current WP expires before he gets the new one due to the delays that the new regulations are causing (which I think is what you're worried about), he should still be fine. His nomination process won't be jeopardized as far as I know, he's just not able to work for the short time that it takes to get the Employment Standards number and apply for the WP. And obviously he needs to make sure that he has some kind of legal status in Canada during that time, visitor being the obvious choice. It would become a problem, though, if the employer said that they're unable to continue to support his nomination due to the delay, i.e. that his job will be terminated if he's unable to work for a week or two.

When I was waiting for my BCPNP processing to go through, my WP expired and I had to stay in Canada as a visitor for 2.5 months without working. But this is perfectly OK on nomination level. The nomination won't be invalidated or anything even if the nominee has a short gap in his employment history, as long as the company is still committed to keeping them employed once the new WP comes through. My employer was thankfully OK with waiting for me until the nomination came through. In your case, getting the required documents shouldn't take an enormous amount of time, and since I understand that you guys are able to drive down to the border eventually to get the WP issued, you're already saving a lot of time there.

So let me know if I completely misunderstood something here and I can try to help more. But to me it seems like you guys shouldn't be in trouble because of this. Also, since the CIC bulletin was released in a very hasty schedule, I'm fully assuming that they're going to come out with some more practical information regarding this soon.

 

[Mbgirlfriend]

Your boyfriend shouldn't be in danger of not getting a WP. If the employer wishes to keep him, and he continues to meet the requirements of his nomination, everything should be fine. The main hurdle that the new regulations would be throwing at him, is that his employer would need to submit the required paperwork and fee before he's able to apply for a new WP (the one that he can get with the nomination certificate and support letter). I know a few companies here in metro Vancouver that would not agree to pay the fee, but if your boyfriend is a trusted worker and is contributing to the company (which he obviously is since he's already being supported for the nomination), then it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

If his current WP expires before he gets the new one due to the delays that the new regulations are causing (which I think is what you're worried about), he should still be fine. His nomination process won't be jeopardized as far as I know, he's just not able to work for the short time that it takes to get the Employment Standards number and apply for the WP. And obviously he needs to make sure that he has some kind of legal status in Canada during that time, visitor being the obvious choice. It would become a problem, though, if the employer said that they're unable to continue to support his nomination due to the delay, i.e. that his job will be terminated if he's unable to work for a week or two.

When I was waiting for my BCPNP processing to go through, my WP expired and I had to stay in Canada as a visitor for 2.5 months without working. But this is perfectly OK on nomination level. The nomination won't be invalidated or anything even if the nominee has a short gap in his employment history, as long as the company is still committed to keeping them employed once the new WP comes through. My employer was thankfully OK with waiting for me until the nomination came through. In your case, getting the required documents shouldn't take an enormous amount of time, and since I understand that you guys are able to drive down to the border eventually to get the WP issued, you're already saving a lot of time there.

So let me know if I completely misunderstood something here and I can try to help more. But to me it seems like you guys shouldn't be in trouble because of this. Also, since the CIC bulletin was released in a very hasty schedule, I'm fully assuming that they're going to come out with some more practical information regarding this soon.

He didn't get his PNP nomination or current WP through any kind of support by his employer. He is working on a EIC visa and applied to MPNP based on the fact that he was working in Manitoba for over 6 months and has a full time job offer in a feild were there is demand in Manitoba.


He works for a very big organization (a government job) that has so many policies and procedures to follow before they do anything. His boss already told him today that they wouldn't pay the fee because its not part of any policy they have. Its not about not wanting him, its that the higher ups that make the desisions (his bosses boss boss) wont care how this impacts one department out of likely 50 or more. They don't care if that department will have to spend time and money to replace him. They employ a lot of foreign workers and i am sure they will come up with a policy on this once they see the cost of replacing on employee is more than that fee but by the time they do he will be long gone. Bottom line is he is one employee out of likely thousands in this branch of government and the people who make desisions on things like this wont care about the big picture if there is no guidelines for this yet to approve the fee then nobody will.

If he does not get his new WP before this change he won't be able to keep working. We have basically accepted that we most likely won't ger the recommendation letter from MPNP office before next Friday because we are depending on so many other people and government offices to do their jobs very fast and this is a long weekend coming.

Now we need to start thinking of how to start all over again under a different stream. We are still hopeful that maybe his nomination won't get pulled but it will depend on what policies MPNP have for situations like this. He will quality under CEC or I could sponsor him but he won't be able to work until he gets PR. As i said he can afford to not work and is confident he can get another job in his feild but like most people he would rather be working.

 

[Phil89]

He didn't get his PNP nomination or current WP through any kind of support by his employer. He is working on a EIC visa and applied to MPNP based on the fact that he was working in Manitoba for over 6 months and has a full time job offer in a feild were there is demand in Manitoba.


He works for a very big organization (a government job) that has so many policies and procedures to follow before they do anything. His boss already told him today that they wouldn't pay the fee because its not part of any policy they have. Its not about not wanting him, its that the higher ups that make the desisions (his bosses boss boss) wont care how this impacts one department out of likely 50 or more. They don't care if that department will have to spend time and money to replace him. They employ a lot of foreign workers and i am sure they will come up with a policy on this once they see the cost of replacing on employee is more than that fee but by the time they do he will be long gone. Bottom line is he is one employee out of likely thousands in this branch of government and the people who make desisions on things like this wont care about the big picture if there is no guidelines for this yet to approve the fee then nobody will.

If he does not get his new WP before this change he won't be able to keep working. We have basically accepted that we most likely won't ger the recommendation letter from MPNP office before next Friday because we are depending on so many other people and government offices to do their jobs very fast and this is a long weekend coming.

Now we need to start thinking of how to start all over again under a different stream. We are still hopeful that maybe his nomination won't get pulled but it will depend on what policies MPNP have for situations like this. He will quality under CEC or I could sponsor him but he won't be able to work until he gets PR. As i said he can afford to not work and is confident he can get another job in his feild but like most people he would rather be working.

I think you should not give up your bf's nomination cause the the cut off point for EE was 818 which mean no chances if you don't have LMIA or nomination certificate. There is simply no other route

 

[Mbgirlfriend]

I think you should not give up your bf's nomination cause the the cut off point for EE was 818 which mean no chances if you don't have LMIA or nomination certificate. There is simply no other route

Well i think those number will come down. It may not be for a while but there are only a limitted amount of PNPs and LMIA so once those run out the best of the best without those will get ITAs. He would have to get a ECA (that coukd take a while) So hopefully in that time the average ITA is high 300 or low 400. He has top marks for his age and english. If he can get extra points for my education and Canadian work experience as well as having family in Canada then i think he could be looking at getting ITA in about a year.

If that doesn't work our last option is that i sponsor him as common law. We just didn't want to go that way because of all the stipulations on PR after.

And very last option is that i get a visa to go back to England with him. There are options open to us there.

 

[greenlemon]

I called the ainp 2 different times just to make sure i got a r of recommendation for the extension of my work permit. They said that i dont need the LOR. They will just issue one if you are refused in your application and they are requesting the said document.

I am wondering if it is a good idea to just cross the border n apply for the extension of my wp.... so that i can get an answer if they will extend me or not ... im really stressed with this twist n turns in the immigration process...

 

[greenlemon]

*make sure i got a letter of recommendation

 

[fistillarte]

I mentioned that before on another post. AINP nominations don't require a support letter (for work permit extension purposes). I would recommend MBgirlfriend boyfriend to go this weekend just with the manitoba nomination and the other paperwork and try to get the extension on the border. I really don't see officers saying " oh this not an alberta one, so show me the support letter". I think they'll issue it anyway.

Worst case scenario? They say you need it, and you get it. But you don't lose anything trying this weekend.

I'll go on sunday with my wife, we'll see (I'm AINP).

By the way, is it ok if I cross the border on monday? (holiday in alberta). I want to go on Sunday, stay for a day and the go back on Monday, but I'm not sure if there will be a problem being a holiday day.

 

[ragluf]

He didn't get his PNP nomination or current WP through any kind of support by his employer. He is working on a EIC visa and applied to MPNP based on the fact that he was working in Manitoba for over 6 months and has a full time job offer in a feild were there is demand in Manitoba.

@MBgirlfriend, to clarify:
1. Does your BF have a letter of nomination/letter of approval?
2. If he has, has he filed a PR application to CIO?
3. Does he have an offer of employment/job offer letter/contract?

.../atb