LMIA application processing time?

[MumbaiMetro]

He's fake for sure!

 

[Funbox]

Hi, I am from India. A consultant here is arranging for LMIA visas under unskilled category to Canada and accepting applications based on candidates qualification. 10th class and inter-passed would be hired as Shelfer, loader etc and graduate as cashier in malls and super market and paid between 2000 - 2500 CAD. He says the LMIA takes 120 days for the approval and the entire process of getting medicals and visa stamped would take anywhere between 5-6 months. He has taken hefty amount from the aspirants, don't know whether this is genuine. Is there a way to find about LMIA in process?? please help.

In my opinion, it sounds suspicious. The LMIA has to be applied by a company (or a consultant hired by a company), which will support a foreign worker.
Before applying for the LMIA, many requirements have to be met such as job advertising for at least 1 month, meet the prevailing wage for the position, and finally the company will have to provide a job offer to the candidate (in this case, you). This job offer has to be signed by the employer and the prospective employee (you) as a proof of agreement between parties. So, unless you have a real employer supporting you, there is no way you will get a LMIA.

You can find more information about the LMIA and its requirements on the ESDC website, which is the government agency responsible for this.
http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/foreign_workers/higher_skilled/permanent/index.shtml

 

[Funbox]

19 weeks waiting...
No interview call so far.

 

[LinaD]

19 weeks waiting...
No interview call so far.

Did your boss contact them or your counsalten? I am waiting for 8 weeks I know is too early now form me to say to my employer to contact them.
Maybe a phone call can remind them that someone is waiting for too long.

 

[AlanKju]

Did your boss contact them or your counsalten? I am waiting for 8 weeks I know is too early now form me to say to my employer to contact them.
Maybe a phone call can remind them that someone is waiting for too long.

The problem with Service Canada, differently from CIC is that there is no easy follow up. I mean, there's no expected deadline nor a website you can just put on your reference number and check your status. My immigration lawyer calls SC frequently, but you cannot push them so hard. If they tell you to wait, then you just wait.

I think there's been a 2-weeks gap because of the end-year break and that might slow things down a bit. But I'm confident we'll hear something on the next days.
I'm completing 17 weeks from application.

 

[Funbox]

The problem with Service Canada, differently from CIC is that there is no easy follow up. I mean, there's no expected deadline nor a website you can just put on your reference number and check your status. My immigration lawyer calls SC frequently, but you cannot push them so hard. If they tell you to wait, then you just wait.

I think there's been a 2-weeks gap because of the end-year break and that might slow things down a bit. But I'm confident we'll hear something on the next days.
I'm completing 17 weeks from application.

The last time my employer called was on Nov 19, 2015. The ESDC said we should wait and we could try to call again in 10 days. They also said that once the additional documents are sent, it might take weeks until someone analyze it again (the problem is that it's already been weeks).
I agree that these two last weeks were lost due to the holiday season... Hopefully we will get something soon.

 

[BritishBulldog]

Morning all,

First time user here but long time struggler with the Canadian Immigration system. Hoping to find some clarity around LMIA processing.

I'm a British citizen, had been working in the NWT for 2 years under working holiday (IEC) Visas. My employer applied for an LMIA in September and was told 8 weeks processing time. It was sent to Atlantic provinces processing office since their processing time was shorter.

it's now been 4 months and still no LMIA. Service Canada can't give us any ETA since there is a 'backlog'. Since the rule change on December 1st (no more concurrent processing of LMIA and Work Permit) i can no longer work until this LMIA comes through. Yes, the employer has left it incredibly late to apply for this, they should have done it in 2013 when i started, but let's not go there.

My question is, has anyone had an LMIA issused recently and if so what processing office and how long did it take ?

i'm an IT Tech on NOC 2282 , not eligible for the top 10% expedited process.

Look forward to hearing from you all !

 

[Funbox]

Morning all,

First time user here but long time struggler with the Canadian Immigration system. Hoping to find some clarity around LMIA processing.

I'm a British citizen, had been working in the NWT for 2 years under working holiday (IEC) Visas. My employer applied for an LMIA in September and was told 8 weeks processing time. It was sent to Atlantic provinces processing office since their processing time was shorter.

it's now been 4 months and still no LMIA. Service Canada can't give us any ETA since there is a 'backlog'. Since the rule change on December 1st (no more concurrent processing of LMIA and Work Permit) i can no longer work until this LMIA comes through. Yes, the employer has left it incredibly late to apply for this, they should have done it in 2013 when i started, but let's not go there.

My question is, has anyone had an LMIA issused recently and if so what processing office and how long did it take ?

i'm an IT Tech on NOC 2282 , not eligible for the top 10% expedited process.

Look forward to hearing from you all !

From what I've read on this blog:
- Two or three guys got an approved LMIA recently. I took around 16-20 weeks for them.
- There were another one that got it in less than 2 weeks (I'm not sure but I think it's because his profession is eligible for the top 10%)

It's my 19th week waiting. There is another guy that is also waiting (17 weeks).
The last updated we had is that they requested additional documents. They are supposed to make a interview call after that.

 

[August 2014 ainp]

Morning all,

First time user here but long time struggler with the Canadian Immigration system. Hoping to find some clarity around LMIA processing.

I'm a British citizen, had been working in the NWT for 2 years under working holiday (IEC) Visas. My employer applied for an LMIA in September and was told 8 weeks processing time. It was sent to Atlantic provinces processing office since their processing time was shorter.

it's now been 4 months and still no LMIA. Service Canada can't give us any ETA since there is a 'backlog'. Since the rule change on December 1st (no more concurrent processing of LMIA and Work Permit) i can no longer work until this LMIA comes through. Yes, the employer has left it incredibly late to apply for this, they should have done it in 2013 when i started, but let's not go there.

My question is, has anyone had an LMIA issused recently and if so what processing office and how long did it take ?

i'm an IT Tech on NOC 2282 , not eligible for the top 10% expedited process.

Look forward to hearing from you all !

don,t worry you will hear soon.been waiting from 17 weeks.

 

[LinaD]

Morning all,

First time user here but long time struggler with the Canadian Immigration system. Hoping to find some clarity around LMIA processing.

I'm a British citizen, had been working in the NWT for 2 years under working holiday (IEC) Visas. My employer applied for an LMIA in September and was told 8 weeks processing time. It was sent to Atlantic provinces processing office since their processing time was shorter.

it's now been 4 months and still no LMIA. Service Canada can't give us any ETA since there is a 'backlog'. Since the rule change on December 1st (no more concurrent processing of LMIA and Work Permit) i can no longer work until this LMIA comes through. Yes, the employer has left it incredibly late to apply for this, they should have done it in 2013 when i started, but let's not go there.

My question is, has anyone had an LMIA issused recently and if so what processing office and how long did it take ?

i'm an IT Tech on NOC 2282 , not eligible for the top 10% expedited process.

Look forward to hearing from you all !

Can you explain to me what you mean ? (no more concurrent processing of LMIA and Work Permit)

 

[BritishBulldog]

thanks for the responses guys, much appreciated. good to know i'm not alone in this waiting game. i'm into week 17 also.

in response LinaD's question :

In the past Work permit applications and LMIA applications were allowed to be processed concurrently. So you could apoly for both at the same time and CIC would not render a decision on your permit until SC had decided on your LMIA application. This is what i had done (WP submitted August 10th, LMIA Sept 8th).

On December 1st the rules changed. Now you must have an LMIA in place before you apply for the permit. The rule change was applied retroactively (grossly un-fair practice IMHO) so on December 10th my WP was declined on the basis that i did not have an LMIA in place. LMIA processing was allowed to continue so since then i cannot work until it is issued. Upon issuance i'll need to leave Canada and re-enter (flagpole run to the border) to obtain a new permit.

Incidentally the LMIA issuance will give me the required points to be scooped in the express entry draw for PR. Fingers crossed that now in this new year SC can pull their fingers' out and issue some LMIAs ! Canada is crying out for skilled immigrants, especially in the far north where i am. Good luck to all !

 

[LinaD]

thanks for the responses guys, much appreciated. good to know i'm not alone in this waiting game. i'm into week 17 also.

in response LinaD's question :

In the past Work permit applications and LMIA applications were allowed to be processed concurrently. So you could apoly for both at the same time and CIC would not render a decision on your permit until SC had decided on your LMIA application. This is what i had done (WP submitted August 10th, LMIA Sept 8th).

On December 1st the rules changed. Now you must have an LMIA in place before you apply for the permit. The rule change was applied retroactively (grossly un-fair practice IMHO) so on December 10th my WP was declined on the basis that i did not have an LMIA in place. LMIA processing was allowed to continue so since then i cannot work until it is issued. Upon issuance i'll need to leave Canada and re-enter (flagpole run to the border) to obtain a new permit.

Incidentally the LMIA issuance will give me the required points to be scooped in the express entry draw for PR. Fingers crossed that now in this new year SC can pull their fingers' out and issue some LMIAs ! Canada is crying out for skilled immigrants, especially in the far north where i am. Good luck to all !

Thank you for responding, my counsalten told me tha we need to wait for Lmia approval first than apply, and so they did, I am hopping too that we get Lmia and apply for express entry too. Like you said Canada is crying out for skilled immigrants.

 

[johnny123]

Since the rule change on December 1st (no more concurrent processing of LMIA and Work Permit) i can no longer work until this LMIA comes through.

Any official link about that?
From what I've read concurrent processing is stin on:

For in-Canada processing, the concurrent processing option will be allowed only for foreign nationals whose work permits will be expiring within two weeks and whose employers have previously submitted an application for an LMIA. The foreign national must provide CIC with proof of a valid job offer as well as proof that the employer has submitted a request to Service Canada for a new LMIA. The application will be initialized and the processing fee will be applied. Applications will be held by CIC for 60 days, after which a determination regarding the work permit will be made.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/opinion/duration.asp

Btw why didn't you just apply for provincial nomination?

 

[caprisj]

Morning all,

First time user here but long time struggler with the Canadian Immigration system. Hoping to find some clarity around LMIA processing.

I'm a British citizen, had been working in the NWT for 2 years under working holiday (IEC) Visas. My employer applied for an LMIA in September and was told 8 weeks processing time. It was sent to Atlantic provinces processing office since their processing time was shorter.

it's now been 4 months and still no LMIA. Service Canada can't give us any ETA since there is a 'backlog'. Since the rule change on December 1st (no more concurrent processing of LMIA and Work Permit) i can no longer work until this LMIA comes through. Yes, the employer has left it incredibly late to apply for this, they should have done it in 2013 when i started, but let's not go there.

My question is, has anyone had an LMIA issused recently and if so what processing office and how long did it take ?

i'm an IT Tech on NOC 2282 , not eligible for the top 10% expedited process.

Look forward to hearing from you all !

Hi There, I am also waiting for my LMIA and been more than 19 weeks. Not heard anything yet from my employer. It's getting hard to hold on to patience and hope but I guess we all are waiting in the same boat and it's taking ridiculous amount of time for LMIA processing.
Let's all keep this updated
Best wishes to all the people waiting!!

 

[Funbox]

Hi There, I am also waiting for my LMIA and been more than 19 weeks. Not heard anything yet from my employer. It's getting hard to hold on to patience and hope but I guess we all are waiting in the same boat and it's taking ridiculous amount of time for LMIA processing.
Let's all keep this updated
Best wishes to all the people waiting!!

So, it seems that there are 4 of us waiting for more than 17-19 weeks approximately.