Hi All,
I worked aborad for a Canadian Company. I thought it would count but IRCC came back to me and said they would not count it...Here is my response to be sent to them, which has all the details:
Note: 2013-2014 in Canada. 2014-2015 abroad working for this Canadain Agency. 2015 - 2016 in Canda. Now, back in CountyX. Total Days in canada with the assgingment counted = more than 730. Without = 505.
I would apprecaite if you could read through and let me know if it makes sense...
Thanks a lot!
---------------------
Dear Immigration Officer,
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to respond to your inquiries sent to my Gmail account on October 21, 2016. I hope my response will clarify any remaining uncertainties.
I am indeed surprised that the 1-year consultancy contract with XXXX, which I strongly believed would count towards my PR Residency Obligations (PR-RO), is not interpreted as such by CIC. If I knew this before, I would NEVER ever put my PR status in Canada at risk. Before applying for this job, and up until receiving your inquiries, I had a 100% confidence that it would be counted towards my PR-RO and I had very strong reasons/rationale for such conclusion.
To be fully certain of its eligibility, I spend many days analyzing IRCC requirements in contrast to the job opportunity specifications. I used the following resources:
1. Called IRCC Call Centre Services (1-888-242-2100) early in April 2014. Their response was positive. Unfortunately, I did not record the calls.
2. Analyzed IRCC manuals and government regulations early in April 2014, such as:
a. OP 10: Permanent Residency Status Determination
b. Applying for a Permanent Resident Travel Document (IMM 5529)
c. Applying for a Permanent Resident Card (PR Card) - First application, replacement, renewal or to change sex designation (IMM 5445)
d. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27)
e. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (SOR/2002-227)
3. Obtained a legal advice from VisaPlace.com, via one-hour Skype-based consultation with Sushma Smaddar, Client Relations Coordinator and a Licensed Paralegal, regarding my contract with XXXX; The call took place on August 21, 2014. She confirmed that the contract would count towards my PR Residency Obligations. The email correspondence is attached.
After a detailed analysis and reasoning, I was fully convinced that the contract will count towards my PR-RO. Below is my rationale for concluding that the contract would count towards my PR RO. The analysis is linked to your letter, i.e. underneath your statements (directly quoted). Specifically, to the following section of your letter:
From your letter:
“You stated that you were outside Canada employed by a Canadian business (XXXX) during 365 days from 01 July 2014 to 30 June 2015”.
• Correct.
“You signed a consultancy contract on 06 August 2014 when you were outside Canada”.
• Please note I applied for the job on April 8, 2014, while physically being in Canada. After the recruitment process, I signed the contract on June 8, 2014, as per enclosed contract. The 2014.08.06 in the contract is June 8, 2014 (NOT August 6, 2014). I could not have started the assignment, which started on July 1st, 2014, without formally accepting the offer beforehand. Evidence of the date the contract was signed by me is enclosed.
“You were hired as a consultant to XXXX with AgencyX in CountryX. Your total consultant fees were calculated based on 264/365 days, or 22 days per month”.
• I was assigned (based on a consultancy contract) by XXXX (further XXXX) on a full-time basis to serve their sister agency AgencyX (further AGENCYX), which is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. My mission was to serve AGENCYX globally, specifically its priority country offices in CountryX, County-B, County-A, and County-C, operating primarily out of AGENCYX Office in CountryX (Captital City, CountryX). Since the task that I was assigned to – had a global significance, I visited and conducted activities under the contract in all these four AGENCYX offices: CountryX – 10 moths, County-B – 1 month, County-C – 2 weeks, County-A – 2 weeks. My main base was the CountryX office.
• IMPORTANT: Please take time to read the enclosed explanation letter from the AGENCYX Global Coordinator, who is responsible for overseeing AGENCYX operations globally. It fully describes the nature of the XXXX assignment and how it is linked with AGENCYX. The letter is pivotal to understanding the context the assignment was created in.
“However, you failed to provide any evidence of XXXX being incorporated under Canadian laws or otherwise meeting the requirements as per R61(1)”
• XXXX is a non-profit company governing under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act - 6 October 2014 (Monday). It was incorporated on 3 July 1980 (Thursday) in Canada and as of October 28, 2016, is an active company. Its corporation Number is ABCD. Its business number is 000000000. This information publicly available, including at: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada website: website link
• Based on IRCC’s Operational Bulletin 243, of October 1, 2010 – “Assessing Compliance with the Residency Obligation for Employment outside Canada”, under the Processing Guidelines it states that:
1. This is to clarify that a corporation under subsection 61(1) of the IRPR (Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations) includes non-profit organizations.
“I also noted that you were unemployed immediately before and after you signed the contract with XXXX and that you worked for different employers shortly before and after having worked for XXXX, i.e. you were not an XXXX employee but you were hired by XXXX specifically for the purposes of this consultancy contract”
• I applied for this consultancy job on April 6, 2014, while physically being in Canada. Soon, after my contract with CIBC Trust Corporation came to an end, and on April 14, 2014, I travelled to CountryX to visit my wife and son. While being in CountryX, I was informed by XXXX that I was selected for an interview. My interviews by XXXX and AGENCYX took place via Skype and soon after, on May 28th, 2014, I was informed by XXXX that I am the finalist, i.e. received an offer for the job.
• XXXX sent me the contract on June 6, 2014 for counter-signing and I signed it on June 8, 2014 and sent back.
• IMPORTANT: The assignment originally required the consultant to work with the Global Office in Ottawa for at least a month on several global level M&E activities, and then go to the field (i.e. to Central Asia). However, due to a pure coincidence, I happened to be in CountryX at the time of receiving the offer. We mutually decided that I will work with the Global Office (Canada) remotely in order to save the costs associated with possible travel to Canada. With today’s remote communication tools, we agreed that it would be a waste of time and money to travel back to Canada and then come back again. As a non-profit agency, AGENCYX tries to minimize unnecessary costs to the extent possible.
- Please note that I was NOT AWARE of the sensitivity of not starting the assignment first in Canada and then coming to Central Asia. The existing IRCC manuals and call-center assistance did/do not mention this condition in specific.
- Section 6.5: Employment outside of Canada of the IRCC “OP 10: Permanent Residency Status Determination” does state that:
o “The Regulations enable permanent residents to comply with the residency obligations while working abroad, provided that: “they are assigned on a temporary basis to the work assignment”. However, in my interpretation, since my assignment with XXXX/AGENCYX had a temporary nature (1-year) and involved work abroad (about 95% of the assignment), and that there was a very strong possibility of extension, I concluded that this requirement would be met.
• As for AFTER the assignment being employed by the same company in Canada, in the interview I informed AGENCYX that in order to comply with his residency requirements, I would need to continue to work with them in Canada after the contract ends. At the time, they had enough reasons to believe that they will be able to extend his contract, either through XXXX or directly. Unfortunately, towards the end of the assignment they faced funding shortages, and informed me that they will not be able to extend my contract immediately after the assignment. They gave me an option to work with them on a voluntary basis while they were exploring other funding options. I agreed. I went back to Canada on August 20th, 2015, and continued to work for them on a voluntary basis till the end of 2015, operating out of AGENCYX Office in Toronto. I am still volunteering for them although much less extensively.
• Moreover, they are still exploring funding options and might hire me soon. Refer to the letter from the AGENCYX Global Coordinator in this regard.
• Also, in an effort to continue working for the same Canadian business, I also applied to XXXX for a Program Office position in September 2015, and was invited for an interview on Monday, Oct 26, 2015 to their headquarters in Ottawa. However, on January 20, 2016, I was informed that they chose another candidate that better met their needs. Evidence of this attempt to work for XXXX is attached.
“Therefore, it appears that you were not an employee of a Canadian company who was assigned for a temporary contract outside Canada. Thus, based on the information on your file, I am not satisfied that you comply with the requirements described under R61(3)”.
• Yes, I was not a permanent employee of XXXX, but Section 6.5: Employment outside of Canada of the “OP 10: Permanent Residency Status Determination” states that:
“The Regulations enable permanent residents to comply with the residency obligations while working abroad, provided that:
- they are under contract to OR are full-time employees of a Canadian business or in the public service, where the assignment is controlled from the head office of a Canadian business or public institution in Canada;”
• I was assigned by XXXX, on a basis of a full-time consultancy contract, to serve their sister agency AGENCYX (Global Office, Canada), operating partly (95%) from AGENCYX’s office in CityXYZ, CountryX, but engaging in a regional assignment covering CountryX, County-B, County-A and County-C. The assignment was controlled from Canada by XXXX and AGENCYX. I was providing monthly reports to them along with an invoice. My payroll was Canadian. I paid taxed (income tax and HST) to the Canadian government for this assignment. XXXX deposited my consultancy fees into my Canadian bank account with PC Financial every month, based on the narrative reports and invoice. Evidence of this is enclosed.
• Again, kindly refer to the letter from AGENCYX Global Coordinator that fully described the nature of the assignment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCLUSIONs
• In conclusion I would like to stress out that I had a subjective basis, reasonable in my personal circumstances, to believe that the XXXX contract abroad would be counted towards my PR-RO and will directly lead to a position in Canada after the temporary work in Central Asia. There is still such an opportunity, as confirmed in the support letter from AGENCYX Global Coordinator.
• I admit that I have made a mistake by misinterpreting the “they are assigned on a temporary basis to the work assignment” part of the IRCC requirements for the credit; because – neither my personal research, nor the calls with IRCC and VISAPLACE (Immigration Lawyers) resulted in highlighting the absolute importance of this specific requirement in my case.
• However, I must also admit that neither the regulations nor the description of this credit in IRCC manuals explicitly states that the PR must be first work for the Canadian company in Canada and then later get transferred to an assignment abroad. In my case, I actually had to work in Canada for the first four weeks of the assignment (as confirmed by the AGENCYX Global Coordinator) but since – by a virtue of a pure coincidence – I was in CountryX already at the time I received the offer, AGENCYX/XXXX decided to save on cost and let me work on the Global Office tasks remotely. If I would be aware of the pivotal nature of the term “assigned” at that time, I would NEVER agree to undertake the assignment. My PR status has an immense importance to me and to my wife and kids and I would have never jeopardized it, having known the true interpretation of this requirement. As I mentioned, all my attempts (research and seeking advice from IRCC and Immigration lawyers) to correctly interpret it appear to have resulted in an incorrect interpretation.
• It is important to note that the XXXX/AGENCYX contract did, after all, contribute to my ability to succeed in Canada economically/professionally. After returning to Canada, while volunteering for AGENCYX, I landed in many interviews with prominent employers such as Prosper Canada, Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, XXXX, and SAS Institute (Canada). I also landed in respectable jobs with ScotiaBank (Strategic Sourcing) and Bank of Montreal Capital Markets downtown Toronto. Evidence of the interviews is enclosed.
• Overall, since gaining PR status in 2011, I made a clear choice to permanently settle in Canada. After completing my contractual obligations in CountryX, starting from September 2013, I made a full effort to move to Canada. As you can see from my records, apart from the XXXX/AGENCYX contract, I have worked only in Canada and nowhere else. Having my wife and children apart from me (in CountryX) did force me to visit CountryX once in a while but overall, as you can see from the patterns, I indeed want to permanently settle in Canada. For us, as family of four, this is a dream come true. As provided in my application earlier, IRCC confirmed my eligibility for sponsorship of my wife and two sons (1-year old and a 5-year old) and their applications are currently with the Visa Office in Warsaw. We are determined to move to Canada as soon as possible.
- I came back to CountryX on June 11, 2016, only because my father died on May 24, 2016. After closing my contract with BMO Capital Markets, I came back to honor our traditional values/rituals. Otherwise, I would have not come here and wait for my wife and kids to join me in Canada.
I hope you will find my explanations useful in understanding the nature of the assignment and why I concluded that it would count towards my PR Residency Obligations. Your judgment will have the power to singlehandedly shape my future and the future of my wife and kids. Therefore, I hope you have analyzed the information provided to you with due diligence and rationality.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Most sincerely,
Mister X
I worked aborad for a Canadian Company. I thought it would count but IRCC came back to me and said they would not count it...Here is my response to be sent to them, which has all the details:
Note: 2013-2014 in Canada. 2014-2015 abroad working for this Canadain Agency. 2015 - 2016 in Canda. Now, back in CountyX. Total Days in canada with the assgingment counted = more than 730. Without = 505.
I would apprecaite if you could read through and let me know if it makes sense...
Thanks a lot!
---------------------
Dear Immigration Officer,
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to respond to your inquiries sent to my Gmail account on October 21, 2016. I hope my response will clarify any remaining uncertainties.
I am indeed surprised that the 1-year consultancy contract with XXXX, which I strongly believed would count towards my PR Residency Obligations (PR-RO), is not interpreted as such by CIC. If I knew this before, I would NEVER ever put my PR status in Canada at risk. Before applying for this job, and up until receiving your inquiries, I had a 100% confidence that it would be counted towards my PR-RO and I had very strong reasons/rationale for such conclusion.
To be fully certain of its eligibility, I spend many days analyzing IRCC requirements in contrast to the job opportunity specifications. I used the following resources:
1. Called IRCC Call Centre Services (1-888-242-2100) early in April 2014. Their response was positive. Unfortunately, I did not record the calls.
2. Analyzed IRCC manuals and government regulations early in April 2014, such as:
a. OP 10: Permanent Residency Status Determination
b. Applying for a Permanent Resident Travel Document (IMM 5529)
c. Applying for a Permanent Resident Card (PR Card) - First application, replacement, renewal or to change sex designation (IMM 5445)
d. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27)
e. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (SOR/2002-227)
3. Obtained a legal advice from VisaPlace.com, via one-hour Skype-based consultation with Sushma Smaddar, Client Relations Coordinator and a Licensed Paralegal, regarding my contract with XXXX; The call took place on August 21, 2014. She confirmed that the contract would count towards my PR Residency Obligations. The email correspondence is attached.
After a detailed analysis and reasoning, I was fully convinced that the contract will count towards my PR-RO. Below is my rationale for concluding that the contract would count towards my PR RO. The analysis is linked to your letter, i.e. underneath your statements (directly quoted). Specifically, to the following section of your letter:
From your letter:
“You stated that you were outside Canada employed by a Canadian business (XXXX) during 365 days from 01 July 2014 to 30 June 2015”.
• Correct.
“You signed a consultancy contract on 06 August 2014 when you were outside Canada”.
• Please note I applied for the job on April 8, 2014, while physically being in Canada. After the recruitment process, I signed the contract on June 8, 2014, as per enclosed contract. The 2014.08.06 in the contract is June 8, 2014 (NOT August 6, 2014). I could not have started the assignment, which started on July 1st, 2014, without formally accepting the offer beforehand. Evidence of the date the contract was signed by me is enclosed.
“You were hired as a consultant to XXXX with AgencyX in CountryX. Your total consultant fees were calculated based on 264/365 days, or 22 days per month”.
• I was assigned (based on a consultancy contract) by XXXX (further XXXX) on a full-time basis to serve their sister agency AgencyX (further AGENCYX), which is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. My mission was to serve AGENCYX globally, specifically its priority country offices in CountryX, County-B, County-A, and County-C, operating primarily out of AGENCYX Office in CountryX (Captital City, CountryX). Since the task that I was assigned to – had a global significance, I visited and conducted activities under the contract in all these four AGENCYX offices: CountryX – 10 moths, County-B – 1 month, County-C – 2 weeks, County-A – 2 weeks. My main base was the CountryX office.
• IMPORTANT: Please take time to read the enclosed explanation letter from the AGENCYX Global Coordinator, who is responsible for overseeing AGENCYX operations globally. It fully describes the nature of the XXXX assignment and how it is linked with AGENCYX. The letter is pivotal to understanding the context the assignment was created in.
“However, you failed to provide any evidence of XXXX being incorporated under Canadian laws or otherwise meeting the requirements as per R61(1)”
• XXXX is a non-profit company governing under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act - 6 October 2014 (Monday). It was incorporated on 3 July 1980 (Thursday) in Canada and as of October 28, 2016, is an active company. Its corporation Number is ABCD. Its business number is 000000000. This information publicly available, including at: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada website: website link
• Based on IRCC’s Operational Bulletin 243, of October 1, 2010 – “Assessing Compliance with the Residency Obligation for Employment outside Canada”, under the Processing Guidelines it states that:
1. This is to clarify that a corporation under subsection 61(1) of the IRPR (Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations) includes non-profit organizations.
“I also noted that you were unemployed immediately before and after you signed the contract with XXXX and that you worked for different employers shortly before and after having worked for XXXX, i.e. you were not an XXXX employee but you were hired by XXXX specifically for the purposes of this consultancy contract”
• I applied for this consultancy job on April 6, 2014, while physically being in Canada. Soon, after my contract with CIBC Trust Corporation came to an end, and on April 14, 2014, I travelled to CountryX to visit my wife and son. While being in CountryX, I was informed by XXXX that I was selected for an interview. My interviews by XXXX and AGENCYX took place via Skype and soon after, on May 28th, 2014, I was informed by XXXX that I am the finalist, i.e. received an offer for the job.
• XXXX sent me the contract on June 6, 2014 for counter-signing and I signed it on June 8, 2014 and sent back.
• IMPORTANT: The assignment originally required the consultant to work with the Global Office in Ottawa for at least a month on several global level M&E activities, and then go to the field (i.e. to Central Asia). However, due to a pure coincidence, I happened to be in CountryX at the time of receiving the offer. We mutually decided that I will work with the Global Office (Canada) remotely in order to save the costs associated with possible travel to Canada. With today’s remote communication tools, we agreed that it would be a waste of time and money to travel back to Canada and then come back again. As a non-profit agency, AGENCYX tries to minimize unnecessary costs to the extent possible.
- Please note that I was NOT AWARE of the sensitivity of not starting the assignment first in Canada and then coming to Central Asia. The existing IRCC manuals and call-center assistance did/do not mention this condition in specific.
- Section 6.5: Employment outside of Canada of the IRCC “OP 10: Permanent Residency Status Determination” does state that:
o “The Regulations enable permanent residents to comply with the residency obligations while working abroad, provided that: “they are assigned on a temporary basis to the work assignment”. However, in my interpretation, since my assignment with XXXX/AGENCYX had a temporary nature (1-year) and involved work abroad (about 95% of the assignment), and that there was a very strong possibility of extension, I concluded that this requirement would be met.
• As for AFTER the assignment being employed by the same company in Canada, in the interview I informed AGENCYX that in order to comply with his residency requirements, I would need to continue to work with them in Canada after the contract ends. At the time, they had enough reasons to believe that they will be able to extend his contract, either through XXXX or directly. Unfortunately, towards the end of the assignment they faced funding shortages, and informed me that they will not be able to extend my contract immediately after the assignment. They gave me an option to work with them on a voluntary basis while they were exploring other funding options. I agreed. I went back to Canada on August 20th, 2015, and continued to work for them on a voluntary basis till the end of 2015, operating out of AGENCYX Office in Toronto. I am still volunteering for them although much less extensively.
• Moreover, they are still exploring funding options and might hire me soon. Refer to the letter from the AGENCYX Global Coordinator in this regard.
• Also, in an effort to continue working for the same Canadian business, I also applied to XXXX for a Program Office position in September 2015, and was invited for an interview on Monday, Oct 26, 2015 to their headquarters in Ottawa. However, on January 20, 2016, I was informed that they chose another candidate that better met their needs. Evidence of this attempt to work for XXXX is attached.
“Therefore, it appears that you were not an employee of a Canadian company who was assigned for a temporary contract outside Canada. Thus, based on the information on your file, I am not satisfied that you comply with the requirements described under R61(3)”.
• Yes, I was not a permanent employee of XXXX, but Section 6.5: Employment outside of Canada of the “OP 10: Permanent Residency Status Determination” states that:
“The Regulations enable permanent residents to comply with the residency obligations while working abroad, provided that:
- they are under contract to OR are full-time employees of a Canadian business or in the public service, where the assignment is controlled from the head office of a Canadian business or public institution in Canada;”
• I was assigned by XXXX, on a basis of a full-time consultancy contract, to serve their sister agency AGENCYX (Global Office, Canada), operating partly (95%) from AGENCYX’s office in CityXYZ, CountryX, but engaging in a regional assignment covering CountryX, County-B, County-A and County-C. The assignment was controlled from Canada by XXXX and AGENCYX. I was providing monthly reports to them along with an invoice. My payroll was Canadian. I paid taxed (income tax and HST) to the Canadian government for this assignment. XXXX deposited my consultancy fees into my Canadian bank account with PC Financial every month, based on the narrative reports and invoice. Evidence of this is enclosed.
• Again, kindly refer to the letter from AGENCYX Global Coordinator that fully described the nature of the assignment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCLUSIONs
• In conclusion I would like to stress out that I had a subjective basis, reasonable in my personal circumstances, to believe that the XXXX contract abroad would be counted towards my PR-RO and will directly lead to a position in Canada after the temporary work in Central Asia. There is still such an opportunity, as confirmed in the support letter from AGENCYX Global Coordinator.
• I admit that I have made a mistake by misinterpreting the “they are assigned on a temporary basis to the work assignment” part of the IRCC requirements for the credit; because – neither my personal research, nor the calls with IRCC and VISAPLACE (Immigration Lawyers) resulted in highlighting the absolute importance of this specific requirement in my case.
• However, I must also admit that neither the regulations nor the description of this credit in IRCC manuals explicitly states that the PR must be first work for the Canadian company in Canada and then later get transferred to an assignment abroad. In my case, I actually had to work in Canada for the first four weeks of the assignment (as confirmed by the AGENCYX Global Coordinator) but since – by a virtue of a pure coincidence – I was in CountryX already at the time I received the offer, AGENCYX/XXXX decided to save on cost and let me work on the Global Office tasks remotely. If I would be aware of the pivotal nature of the term “assigned” at that time, I would NEVER agree to undertake the assignment. My PR status has an immense importance to me and to my wife and kids and I would have never jeopardized it, having known the true interpretation of this requirement. As I mentioned, all my attempts (research and seeking advice from IRCC and Immigration lawyers) to correctly interpret it appear to have resulted in an incorrect interpretation.
• It is important to note that the XXXX/AGENCYX contract did, after all, contribute to my ability to succeed in Canada economically/professionally. After returning to Canada, while volunteering for AGENCYX, I landed in many interviews with prominent employers such as Prosper Canada, Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, XXXX, and SAS Institute (Canada). I also landed in respectable jobs with ScotiaBank (Strategic Sourcing) and Bank of Montreal Capital Markets downtown Toronto. Evidence of the interviews is enclosed.
• Overall, since gaining PR status in 2011, I made a clear choice to permanently settle in Canada. After completing my contractual obligations in CountryX, starting from September 2013, I made a full effort to move to Canada. As you can see from my records, apart from the XXXX/AGENCYX contract, I have worked only in Canada and nowhere else. Having my wife and children apart from me (in CountryX) did force me to visit CountryX once in a while but overall, as you can see from the patterns, I indeed want to permanently settle in Canada. For us, as family of four, this is a dream come true. As provided in my application earlier, IRCC confirmed my eligibility for sponsorship of my wife and two sons (1-year old and a 5-year old) and their applications are currently with the Visa Office in Warsaw. We are determined to move to Canada as soon as possible.
- I came back to CountryX on June 11, 2016, only because my father died on May 24, 2016. After closing my contract with BMO Capital Markets, I came back to honor our traditional values/rituals. Otherwise, I would have not come here and wait for my wife and kids to join me in Canada.
I hope you will find my explanations useful in understanding the nature of the assignment and why I concluded that it would count towards my PR Residency Obligations. Your judgment will have the power to singlehandedly shape my future and the future of my wife and kids. Therefore, I hope you have analyzed the information provided to you with due diligence and rationality.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Most sincerely,
Mister X
