work experience from staffing agency

[miqbal06]

Hi Guys,

I have got ITA and I am in the process of getting all the documents for my PR application. I am applying from US on an F1 student visa and need some help understanding my situation:

1) During my Masters I worked on CPT both full time and part time for 1.5 years through a staffing agency at a client location for which I got credits. Would that experience count under express entry FSW? I have 453 points if I include that experience.

2) I put client as my employer in express entry profile but I have letters from both staffing agency and client. Would that be a problem? Do I need to change the name to staffing agency in the employer name and if so, then how do I do that?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks a lot!

 

[Peacekeeper87]

Hi Guys,

I have got ITA and I am in the process of getting all the documents for my PR application. I am applying from US on an F1 student visa and need some help understanding my situation:

1) During my Masters I worked on CPT both full time and part time for 1.5 years through a staffing agency at a client location for which I got credits. Would that experience count under express entry FSW? I have 453 points if I include that experience.

2) I put client as my employer in express entry profile but I have letters from both staffing agency and client. Would that be a problem? Do I need to change the name to staffing agency in the employer name and if so, then how do I do that?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks a lot!

1) Yes you can include it, but it will depend on the amount of hours. Can you have on your reference letter that it's 20 hours per week? If yes, than you can use it as work experience. If it's less than 20 hours per week, it won't add up to the minimum. Let me explain why.
As F1 student, you're only allowed to take part-time work up to 20 hours per week. Based on that work volume, across 78 weeks (1.5 years as you say), that amounts to exactly 1560 Hours, and that's what CIC will consider as the equivalent of 1 year, which is the minimum. That being said, you need to have these details mentioned in reference letter. If it's any less than 20 hours per week, it won't add up to 1560 hours, the equivalent to one year, and won't meet the minimum work experience requirement. More info on that here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/eligibility/federal-skilled-workers.html

2)I don't think you should put your client as employer. A client is a client requesting the services of the company for which you work for. So even if you were often at their office or something, your employer remains the staffing agency. For matter of consistency, get reference letter from employer only. That should be your element of focus in regards to work experience. Maybe you can add the letter from client as supporting document only in case your employer isn't cooperative in providing you with a letter per CIC requirements. If it's the case, add LOE.

If you need to change name of employer in EE, you can change name in work experience fiels even post ITA. No issue there. Just go there and edit info.

Hope I helped. Cheers.

 

[miqbal06]

1) Yes you can include it, but it will depend on the amount of hours. Can you have on your reference letter that it's 20 hours per week? If yes, than you can use it as work experience. If it's less than 20 hours per week, it won't add up to the minimum. Let me explain why.
As F1 student, you're only allowed to take part-time work up to 20 hours per week. Based on that work volume, across 78 weeks (1.5 years as you say), that amounts to exactly 1560 Hours, and that's what CIC will consider as the equivalent of 1 year, which is the minimum. That being said, you need to have these details mentioned in reference letter. If it's any less than 20 hours per week, it won't add up to 1560 hours, the equivalent to one year.

2)I don't think you should put your client as employer. A client is a client requesting the services of the company for which you work for. So even if you were often at their office or something, your employer remains the staffing agency. For matter of consistency, get reference letter from employer only. Maybe you can add the letter from client as supporting document only in case your employer isn't cooperative in providing you with a letter per CIC requirements. If it's the case, add LOE.

If you need to change name of employer in EE, you can change name in work experience fiels even post ITA. No issue there. Just go there and edit info.

Hope I helped. Cheers.

Thanks a lot! I actually had 1 semester of 20 hours per week and 2 semesters of 40 hours but it did not exceed 12 months so I'm good. However, my letter simply states full time in order to avoid any confusion.

And thanks for clarifying this. I will go ahead and change my employer but I will also include an LOE just so they know it's a staffing agency.

Also, what's the biometric fee? This is something new but when and where do you have to go?

 

[Peacekeeper87]

Thanks a lot! I actually had 1 semester of 20 hours per week and 2 semesters of 40 hours but it did not exceed 12 months so I'm good. However, my letter simply states full time in order to avoid any confusion.

And thanks for clarifying this. I will go ahead and change my employer but I will also include an LOE just so they know it's a staffing agency.

Also, what's the biometric fee? This is something new but when and where do you have to go?

If your reference letter says 40h/week full time, then all good.
Biometric fee is 170CA$ for each family member, to be paid upfront upon submission. They'll send you instructions for biometrics in due time.
FYI, on an unrelated note, you're not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week during a full time study. The only instance where you're allowed to exceed that limit is during breaks and holidays. If not, it needs to be a work-study visa, which is the only instance where the the 12 months duration limit applies. It's Called OPT or CPT. Maybe that's what you had, but just wanted to point that out.
Cheers.

 

[miqbal06]

Thanks! Yes I only worked full time when I was a part time student and I had 2 different reasons for the semesters when I was studying part time.

I had another question regarding police certificate. I know that they only require clearance from countries where I've spent 6 months or more, however, I came to US from UAE to study when I was 17 so I don't need a police certificate from UAE right?

 

[Peacekeeper87]

Thanks! Yes I only worked full time when I was a part time student and I had 2 different reasons for the semesters when I was studying part time.

I had another question regarding police certificate. I know that they only require clearance from countries where I've spent 6 months or more, however, I came to US from UAE to study when I was 17 so I don't need a police certificate from UAE right?

If you are a UAE citizen, your application will probably get rejected if you don't submit your UAE PCC.
If it's your home country, you'll have to provide one.
Here is how to get it:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/medical-police/police-certificates/how/united-arab-emirates.html

It's too risky to submit an application without one.

 

[miqbal06]

If you are a UAE citizen, your application will probably get rejected if you don't submit your UAE PCC.
If it's your home country, you'll have to provide one.
Here is how to get it:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/medical-police/police-certificates/how/united-arab-emirates.html

It's too risky to submit an application without one.

Oh I know I need one from US, I was just asking if I needed a police certificate from UAE because I spent my life there but I entered US when I was 17 years and 2 months old.

Btw do we need academic transcript where it says diploma/degrees to upload? I was only going to upload degree, ECA and IELTS report.

 

[Peacekeeper87]

Oh I know I need one from US, I was just asking if I needed a police certificate from UAE because I spent my life there but I entered US when I was 17 years and 2 months old.

Btw do we need academic transcript where it says diploma/degrees to upload? I was only going to upload degree, ECA and IELTS report.

Yeah that's what I said. Check my reply. You do need one from UAE
Technically, only Degree is required. No need for transcripts. But in many applications, visa officer has requested IELTS and/or ECA even though they have access to them. So might as well attach all three: Degree+ECA+IELTS

 

[miqbal06]

Yeah that's what I said. Check my reply. You do need one from UAE
Technically, only Degree is required. No need for transcripts. But in many applications, visa officer has requested IELTS and/or ECA even though they have access to them. So might as well attach all three: Degree+ECA+IELTS

Yes you’re right about the degree part but I have read the cic website and followed other people’s posts and all of them said you only need a police certificate from a country where you’ve spent 6 months or more AFTER the age of 18. Nowhere it says you need one before that and I moved to US when I was 17.

 

[Peacekeeper87]

Yes you’re right about the degree part but I have read the cic website and followed other people’s posts and all of them said you only need a police certificate from a country where you’ve spent 6 months or more AFTER the age of 18. Nowhere it says you need one before that and I moved to US when I was 17.

Create and submit your EE profile. Once you get ITA and entered your info, see what upload fields are generated. If it doesn't ask you to upload PCC from UAE, you're free not to. But don't be surprised if CIC asks you for one, as they may automatically expect one. They have the discretion to ask you for any document.

My suggestion was to upload one upfront, even if it's not asked, to avoid any possible delays in your application.

If you can't (or don't want), I would suggest attaching an LOE. But it's up to you really. I mean is it really complicated to get one in your situation?
Nobody ever gets rejected for uploading a document that wasn't requested...

 

[miqbal06]

Yeah better to be safe than sorry. Ok i’ll do that.
Btw I have 1.5 years of work experience for a contract company but I was working at a client site. I have both reference letters from the employer and the client.

But then I also claimed a 3 month contract work experience which was after this job but I don’t think I’m getting any points for that. I have the reference letter with job description from the contract company but not the client. If I apply without a client’s reference letter in this case, would that be a problem? I mean I’m not getting any points for it since it was only for 3 months.

 

[Peacekeeper87]

Yeah better to be safe than sorry. Ok i’ll do that.
Btw I have 1.5 years of work experience for a contract company but I was working at a client site. I have both reference letters from the employer and the client.

But then I also claimed a 3 month contract work experience which was after this job but I don’t think I’m getting any points for that. I have the reference letter with job description from the contract company but not the client. If I apply without a client’s reference letter in this case, would that be a problem? I mean I’m not getting any points for it since it was only for 3 months.

Since you're not claiming points for it, why are bothering getting reference letter at all?
Don't include in it work history. Only in personal history, and the system won't ask you for reference letter. Problem solved.

 

[miqbal06]

Oh but I included it in my express entry profile. If I remove it then would the immigration officer say something? I will mention it in LOE just to be more careful.

Also, I have Bachelors and Masters degree in Chemical Engineering but my work experience is of a Chemist. So should I use NOC for Chemist or Chemical Engineer?

My work experience is while I was studying for Masters so would that be a problem? According to the system, I'm getting points for it.

 

[Peacekeeper87]

Oh but I included it in my express entry profile. If I remove it then would the immigration officer say something? I will mention it in LOE just to be more careful.

Also, I have Bachelors and Masters degree in Chemical Engineering but my work experience is of a Chemist. So should I use NOC for Chemist or Chemical Engineer?

My work experience is while I was studying for Masters so would that be a problem? According to the system, I'm getting points for it.

You didn't need to include it. And because there are no points claimed for that experience, it's totally okay to just remove it and put it in personal history. Remove it, and check the "Preview Score" in Post-ITA stage when you're done. If score hasn't moved compared to your score at ITA, you know there's nothing to worry about.

Whether it's chemist or chemical engineer, it all depends on the duties that fit the right NOC.

If it's experience is done outside of Canada, you can claim it for Work XP under FSW program. If you're CEC, no that won't work.

 

[miqbal06]

Ok that works for me! Thank you very much btw! You're a great help

How long is the process if I apply this week? I know the next step would be to get the biometrics done. I'm hoping to get PR by Feb or March.