working holiday visa expires, want to stay longer!

[swede82]

Hi there. Ive been in Canada for a little over 10 months now on a working holiday visa and I want to extend my stay here. This is my second time here in Canada. The first time I came here was in December 2006 and I stayed for three years on a student visa. I studied webdesign here before and right now Im working as a webdesigner for a small company. Its a paid internship and they want to help me to stay. I know I need to get an LMO and then apply for a work permit, Im just wondering how long this process takes? Will I have time to do this before my current visa expires? And would I be allowed to stay in the country and work if Im waiting for the LMO? I really wish to obtain my Permanent Resident status and I know its alot harder to get a visa after you turn 30, which I did this year.. I know Im doing this at the last minute! I just hope that there is anyone who could help me with any information! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[PMM]

Hi

Hi there. Ive been in Canada for a little over 10 months now on a working holiday visa and I want to extend my stay here. This is my second time here in Canada. The first time I came here was in December 2006 and I stayed for three years on a student visa. I studied webdesign here before and right now Im working as a webdesigner for a small company. Its a paid internship and they want to help me to stay. I know I need to get an LMO and then apply for a work permit, Im just wondering how long this process takes? Will I have time to do this before my current visa expires? And would I be allowed to stay in the country and work if Im waiting for the LMO? I really wish to obtain my Permanent Resident status and I know its alot harder to get a visa after you turn 30, which I did this year.. I know Im doing this at the last minute! I just hope that there is anyone who could help me with any information! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

1. An LMO could take anywhere from 6-16 weeks. The employer has to advertise the position for 2 weeks on the job bank, before applying for a LMO.
2. No, you would have to apply for an extension as a visitor, and could not work. There is no implied status with the IEC as it is not extendible.

 

[swede82]

when you say job bank, would craigslist work or does my boss need to put an ad on lets say Monster too?
I found this site: moving2vancouver .ca

there they say that you can apply for a temporary working visa before you have applied for an LMO, that way you can extend your stay 2 more months and youre allowed to work during these two months.
Ive been looking into hiring a consultant to help me with all the paperwork because it seems quite complicated and I dont have that much spare time to research and make sure I fill out papers correctly.. is this something people recommend or should I just do it myself? the consultant would charge me 3000 dollars to fix it so that I would get a work permit for atleast one year. I just need to work a few more months fulltime and Ill be eligible for PR, so Im conetmplating whether to do it all myself or just let the consultant take care of it for me...

 

[scylla]

craigslist is definitely not enough. To make sure the requirements are met, the job should be posted here:

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/intro-eng.aspx