Faster, pussycat

Faster is, by nature, a relative term. We thought that this concurrent processing of Mr. O's new temporary work permit would be "faster" than his first one: he sent in his permit application the same day that his new potential employer sent in the LMO application. According to the agent at the CIC call centre, once the employer gets the LMO confirmation, all Mr. O has to do is call the call centre and they'll inform Vegreville, and the permit will be issued.

Catch being, we're still waiting for the LMO. Last time it took about 2 weeks, and this time it's already been a month. Last time it was the permit that took its sweet time, and this time it could potentially be very fast. Moral of the story: there is no shortcut.

Countdowns within countdowns

Mr. O mailed his application for a new temporary work visa to Vegreville today, with the understanding that his employer has also sent their app for his LMO to HRSDC. Here's the official link to how this all works. If you clicked that link you'll notice that Mr. O isn't exactly following the rules, but rather taking the advice of a CIC agent. (In stark contrast to the CIC site, the phone reps are wonderfully human - helpful and practical.)

Depending on whether or not he'll have to wait for the LMO (which comes to the employer and then he has to send it to CIC himself) to start processing, it could take from three to six weeks.

Also of note: our PR application was submitted exactly three months ago today. Wheee!

National occupation

So Mr O. is, for the second time in a month, *this* close to scoring a real job. In fact, they'd like him to start next week. Trouble is, you know what the trouble is: six weeks' wait and a long detour to the CHC in London. Whether or not he could apply through a domestic office because he is already in Canada on a temporary permit is unclear.

With a bit of digging, however, it seems that there is a potential short cut: jobs listed on the "National Occupational List" are eligible for concurrent processing, which means that we can send in the visa application before receiving an LMO - which means saving around two weeks.

BUT - and there is always a but - the catch is that, in order to qualify, the application has to go through a foreign office, i.e. CHC. Which would suggest that otherwise he could go through a domestic office, or that as a temporary resident he's not eligible at all. We shall see.

LOL

Canada to speed up work permits

22 March 2007

The Canadian government has recently announced some more changes to its Temporary Foreign Worker Programme (TFWP)

These changes could further speed up processing times for work permit applications.

Following on from the introduction of Regional Occupations Under Pressure lists for Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia earlier this year - designed to speed up applications for work permits for positions included on these lists - the Canadian government has now said that from the beginning of April employers will be able to submit applications for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) online. A positive LMO is needed from Service Canada before Citizenship and Immigration Canada will approve a work permit application.

It is hoped that by granting employers more power to get the work permit application in motion sooner, processing times could be expedited by around three weeks.

Another key change made to the TFWP is the government's decision to extend the length of time a work permit holder may stay employed in Canada. Previously, temporary foreign workers would have had to leave Canada after 12 months for four months, and then re-apply to go back and work in the country. It will now be possible for a work permit holder to stay for up to 24 months without the need to request an extension.

"Employers who have exhausted their search for Canadian workers often need to hire temporary workers to work for a period longer than a year," explained immigration minister Monty Solberg upon announcing the changes. "Today's announcement will allow this to happen," he added.

It seems, then, that as far as work permits are concerned the Canadian government is doing its utmost to avoid the kind of backlogs that can currently be witnessed through the Skilled Worker category.

(From emigrate2.co.uk)

Full disclosure: Mr. O's translation job isn't on the list - but his LMO slid right on through. The bottleneck is at the CIC, where four weeks becomes six weeks becomes...any minute now...