US Looking to migrate on temporary

[xiosen]

Hello All,

My Girlfriend and I of 3 years are both from the US and looking to migrate to Toronto or Ottawa area. We have been researching for days and I just wanted to confirm the best course of action for us.

My girlfriend is currently employed as a Medical Lab Technologist with a Bachelors degree for the last several years. Im self employed and get all of my income from my US corporation.

It looks like my girlfriends job is found on the NAFTA list which means she would not need to get an LMO when applying for a job? It is also my understanding she can write on the applications when asked if she can legally work in canada that she can through NAFTA?

So the first step is to start applying for jobs all around ontario as a medical lab technologist. Once she gets an offer she can be issued a temporary visa which happens fairly quickly and essentially move and start working?

I would then be eligible to apply for an open work permit as a common law partner? Would I even need an open work permit considering I am employed by a US company. Technically I am working within Canada but not for a canadian company so I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

How difficult is it to renew the temporary visa each year until we qualify for PR? Would we both be able to transition to PR from her temporary visa?

Our long-term goal is to become dual-citizens and we are at the very beginning of this process and just wondering the best way to go about it. We will be visiting friends in toronto and montreal for 1-2 weeks in a few months as a tourist so this is a very exciting adventure for us.

Thank you for any insight!

 

[xiosen]

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[amira_mais]

Hi, I can try to help with some of your questions.

1. If your girlfriend's job is indeed covered under NAFTA, then she wouldn't need an LMO. Once she has a job offer, she can just apply for a work permit at the border but must carry sufficient proof of her qualifications (resume, certifications, etc.) along with the job offer letter/contract to satisfy the border officer that she meets the requirements to obtain said permit.

2. She can't apply for jobs saying she's legally able to work in Canada under NAFTA as this is somewhat misleading - she can legally work in Canada once she receives a work permit. Remember she may be eligible to apply for a WP but there's no presumption of success. She could however mention that she's LMO exempt under NAFTA - this may encourage employers to give more consideration to her application and not be put off by her being a foreign worker.

3. Only after your girlfriend gets a job categorized as high skilled, i.e., it falls within NOC 0, A or B (and medical lab technologists are NOC B), would you be eligible for an open work permit.

4. If you're working in Canada for a foreign company, US or otherwise, you usually still need a work permit of some kind, unless it's a specific occupation that's exempted (e.g., journalists working for foreign news organizations, etc.).

5. As to how difficult it would be to renew the work permits, I can't really say.

6. But here's the good news - If either one of you gets a job categorized as NOC 0, A or B, and can hold it for at least 12 months of full time work (or equivalent part time work), then your best bet is to apply to immigrate under the Canadian Experience Class program which was specifically designed to help foreign workers transition to permanent residents. See here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/cec/index.asp

Hope that helps.

 

[xiosen]

6. But here's the good news - If either one of you gets a job categorized as NOC 0, A or B, and can hold it for at least 12 months of full time work (or equivalent part time work), then your best bet is to apply to immigrate under the Canadian Experience Class program which was specifically designed to help foreign workers transition to permanent residents.

This helps a lot, thank you!

I can't quite tell what happens to the common law? If my GF has the job categorized as NOC B and I anticipate I would be on the open work permit, then does this only allow her to transition to permanent resident or do I transition when she does?

 

[amira_mais]

This helps a lot, thank you!

I can't quite tell what happens to the common law? If my GF has the job categorized as NOC B and I anticipate I would be on the open work permit, then does this only allow her to transition to permanent resident or do I transition when she does?

Not to worry - she would list you as her common law spouse on her CEC application, so you'd be assessed together and would receive your PR visas at the same time.

To be clear, as long as you're common law or married spouses, she MUST include you on her PR application. Otherwise she would be committing misrepresentation, could never sponsor you later, and could lose her own PR status if discovered.