Hello everyone,
I have a problem and I'm just trying to figure out what I should do. First, I'll give background on the situation... I will warn you first, there is a lot of information.
My girlfriend is from the US, I live in Canada. We have been together for over a year, and early in the relationship she decided she wanted to move to Canada, so started applying to jobs up here. We went on a trip together in September of 2010, during which time she went to an interview with a company. The company was interested in hiring her, however, they needed to know more about the visa process. This is where everything became complicated. They could not offer her a position unless she had a visa. We thought getting the job would be the hard part, but apparently things are a bit backwards up here for some reason. Anyway, the company told her to keep in touch and let them know how the process was coming along so that they would be able to offer her a job when she received her visa.
We started looking into the application process, and were completely confused by it all. We were able to determine she falls into the Skilled Worker category, but everything beyond that just seemed confusing, and we didn't want to submit an application only to have it rejected. We decided we should go with a lawyer. We chose a lawyer, and were really hoping he would be able to help us out, to get the application prepared and submitted in a timely manner. At first, everything seemed great. He told her what the process was, and was excellent to talk to. He seemed to really know what he was doing. We made an initial payment, and he gave her a list of things she needed to do. She got what he asked for, then he gave her a further list of things to do. She would then do what he asked for next, and again, he would ask for even more. The process had started to drag on by then, and it seemed this was the trend. Every month, she'd get more that he wanted her to do. I was concerned about this, and rightfully so. Why didn't he give her a full list of things to do from the beginning? Why make it drag on? We just want to start our life together.
During this time, she remained in contact with the company, and went for a few more interviews. The company was really interested in her, but again, she needed to be a Canadian citizen before they could extend an offer. We first contacted the lawyer in December of 2010, hired him later that month, and he dragged everything out. Then came July, and the government made changes. She had completed everything he said, finally, and we thought things were good... finally, he has everything, and he can submit an application for her. Then came the dreaded email about the changes, and she needed to do even more before he could submit the application. We went through the list of things, she was able to do most of it, but hit one snag. She needs to have $11,000 in her bank account. Neither of us are wealthy, so this was a big snag. The lawyer advised us that if the company that was interested in hiring her could say they would hire her when she got her visa, that we wouldn't have to worry about the money. Ok, no problem, they are interested in her, so this should be fine, right?
Nope. Sadly, they cannot make such an offer for legal reasons. The company is unionized, and they are not allowed to make such an offer to someone who is not currently a Canadian citizen, when there are Canadian citizens that could be hired for the position. While they were very interested in her and she was more qualified than most Canadian citizens, they could not legally help us out in this way. So, now she's back to square one, except now we need $11,000 on top of everything because of the changes.
So, to the questions I guess. Is this the normal process? Do lawyers drag this stuff out like this all the time, or did we get a bad lawyer? It just seems to me that if he had given her a full list of everything she needed at the beginning, she could have acquired everything she needed within the first month, given it to him, and he could have put it all together and sent the application off before things changed in July. It seems like he kinda screwed us over.
We have talked about firing him and getting another lawyer, but it's hard to justify doing so when we've already put so much into this. Besides, he would probably keep the money we already gave him and ask for more for the work he did do, meaning it'll cost us more to fire him than if he actually did his job right in the first place.
Forgive me if this is the proper way to do things. I am just frustrated and I don't think this is right. What should we do? Is this the way things are supposed to work? Thanks for any suggestions...
I have a problem and I'm just trying to figure out what I should do. First, I'll give background on the situation... I will warn you first, there is a lot of information.
My girlfriend is from the US, I live in Canada. We have been together for over a year, and early in the relationship she decided she wanted to move to Canada, so started applying to jobs up here. We went on a trip together in September of 2010, during which time she went to an interview with a company. The company was interested in hiring her, however, they needed to know more about the visa process. This is where everything became complicated. They could not offer her a position unless she had a visa. We thought getting the job would be the hard part, but apparently things are a bit backwards up here for some reason. Anyway, the company told her to keep in touch and let them know how the process was coming along so that they would be able to offer her a job when she received her visa.
We started looking into the application process, and were completely confused by it all. We were able to determine she falls into the Skilled Worker category, but everything beyond that just seemed confusing, and we didn't want to submit an application only to have it rejected. We decided we should go with a lawyer. We chose a lawyer, and were really hoping he would be able to help us out, to get the application prepared and submitted in a timely manner. At first, everything seemed great. He told her what the process was, and was excellent to talk to. He seemed to really know what he was doing. We made an initial payment, and he gave her a list of things she needed to do. She got what he asked for, then he gave her a further list of things to do. She would then do what he asked for next, and again, he would ask for even more. The process had started to drag on by then, and it seemed this was the trend. Every month, she'd get more that he wanted her to do. I was concerned about this, and rightfully so. Why didn't he give her a full list of things to do from the beginning? Why make it drag on? We just want to start our life together.
During this time, she remained in contact with the company, and went for a few more interviews. The company was really interested in her, but again, she needed to be a Canadian citizen before they could extend an offer. We first contacted the lawyer in December of 2010, hired him later that month, and he dragged everything out. Then came July, and the government made changes. She had completed everything he said, finally, and we thought things were good... finally, he has everything, and he can submit an application for her. Then came the dreaded email about the changes, and she needed to do even more before he could submit the application. We went through the list of things, she was able to do most of it, but hit one snag. She needs to have $11,000 in her bank account. Neither of us are wealthy, so this was a big snag. The lawyer advised us that if the company that was interested in hiring her could say they would hire her when she got her visa, that we wouldn't have to worry about the money. Ok, no problem, they are interested in her, so this should be fine, right?
Nope. Sadly, they cannot make such an offer for legal reasons. The company is unionized, and they are not allowed to make such an offer to someone who is not currently a Canadian citizen, when there are Canadian citizens that could be hired for the position. While they were very interested in her and she was more qualified than most Canadian citizens, they could not legally help us out in this way. So, now she's back to square one, except now we need $11,000 on top of everything because of the changes.
So, to the questions I guess. Is this the normal process? Do lawyers drag this stuff out like this all the time, or did we get a bad lawyer? It just seems to me that if he had given her a full list of everything she needed at the beginning, she could have acquired everything she needed within the first month, given it to him, and he could have put it all together and sent the application off before things changed in July. It seems like he kinda screwed us over.
We have talked about firing him and getting another lawyer, but it's hard to justify doing so when we've already put so much into this. Besides, he would probably keep the money we already gave him and ask for more for the work he did do, meaning it'll cost us more to fire him than if he actually did his job right in the first place.
Forgive me if this is the proper way to do things. I am just frustrated and I don't think this is right. What should we do? Is this the way things are supposed to work? Thanks for any suggestions...
