So I need some direction please. I'll explain the situation as briefly as I can and to my understanding:
Recently I rented a room in my home to a very nice newly arrived Vietnamese lady. She is very private, quiet and generally happy until this morning when I noticed she was extremely visibly distraught. I asked her what was wrong and in very difficult broken English she explained the following to me.;
Her brother is a permanent resident of Canada and as she wished to join him in this country with her two young daughters she went to an " agent" in Vietnam to aid her in the process of applying for a 2 year work visa. The fee ( to my amazement and disgust) was $50.000 Which she explained had to borrow, scrape and put together. The agent, found her a job here in small town BC and the employer filled the necessary papers to secure her the 2 year work permit ( not open). Here she landed with a focus to work hard, send money home to her family to support her 2 daughters ( until she can apply for PR and bring them over) She began work roughly 3 weeks ago and all seemed great, difficult for her but long term hope filled her with joy. Today she received her paycheck and the amount did not match the amount expected as per her employer LMIA agreement. Matter of fact was considerably less and promised overtime wages per hours worked was not accounted for. Upon her asking the employer questions she said he became very aggressive and dismissive informing her that the 40 hrs x week promised we're going to be cut down to 10 hrs. X week!!! If she didn't like it that was tough $*#! And she was free to quit ( which in my understanding will make her visa null and void). He also told her that if she was thinking of reporting this to service Canada, she would be blacklisted from ever working at " her" job from all lower mainland available positions . She then said, after I asked her about the insane fees she paid for the work permit, that her boss received 25.000 of the $50.000 paid to the agency to give her the work opportunity!! With tears in her eyes she told me that when her brother called her boss he simply said " I don't talk to anyone but her" and hung up! She showed me an email she received from a Local " agent" showing the cost to apply for a new visa to stay here with a new employer... The cost is $60.000!!! Payable in installments starting with $5000 retainer, $10.000 after o e month and so on until the final $30.000 payable one year from signing a contract! Are we fkn kidding here? This is happening in CANADA?? This poor woman is destroyed! Now I'm not an idiot and obviously I know this is all illegal but what is this woman supposed to do next? She has no $ , can barely speak English without her e-translator and doesn't know where or who to turn to. Yes, I understand it can and should be reported to service Canada but this whole thing just seems very organized with many people involved that just bleed poor and hopeful people just looking for a glimpse of a better life!
I have no means myself but I want and need to help this human with her situation, I'm sick to my stomach about it all. Please if you can offer some direction DO! Who can help? Where can she go? Thnks
Recently I rented a room in my home to a very nice newly arrived Vietnamese lady. She is very private, quiet and generally happy until this morning when I noticed she was extremely visibly distraught. I asked her what was wrong and in very difficult broken English she explained the following to me.;
Her brother is a permanent resident of Canada and as she wished to join him in this country with her two young daughters she went to an " agent" in Vietnam to aid her in the process of applying for a 2 year work visa. The fee ( to my amazement and disgust) was $50.000 Which she explained had to borrow, scrape and put together. The agent, found her a job here in small town BC and the employer filled the necessary papers to secure her the 2 year work permit ( not open). Here she landed with a focus to work hard, send money home to her family to support her 2 daughters ( until she can apply for PR and bring them over) She began work roughly 3 weeks ago and all seemed great, difficult for her but long term hope filled her with joy. Today she received her paycheck and the amount did not match the amount expected as per her employer LMIA agreement. Matter of fact was considerably less and promised overtime wages per hours worked was not accounted for. Upon her asking the employer questions she said he became very aggressive and dismissive informing her that the 40 hrs x week promised we're going to be cut down to 10 hrs. X week!!! If she didn't like it that was tough $*#! And she was free to quit ( which in my understanding will make her visa null and void). He also told her that if she was thinking of reporting this to service Canada, she would be blacklisted from ever working at " her" job from all lower mainland available positions . She then said, after I asked her about the insane fees she paid for the work permit, that her boss received 25.000 of the $50.000 paid to the agency to give her the work opportunity!! With tears in her eyes she told me that when her brother called her boss he simply said " I don't talk to anyone but her" and hung up! She showed me an email she received from a Local " agent" showing the cost to apply for a new visa to stay here with a new employer... The cost is $60.000!!! Payable in installments starting with $5000 retainer, $10.000 after o e month and so on until the final $30.000 payable one year from signing a contract! Are we fkn kidding here? This is happening in CANADA?? This poor woman is destroyed! Now I'm not an idiot and obviously I know this is all illegal but what is this woman supposed to do next? She has no $ , can barely speak English without her e-translator and doesn't know where or who to turn to. Yes, I understand it can and should be reported to service Canada but this whole thing just seems very organized with many people involved that just bleed poor and hopeful people just looking for a glimpse of a better life!
I have no means myself but I want and need to help this human with her situation, I'm sick to my stomach about it all. Please if you can offer some direction DO! Who can help? Where can she go? Thnks
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