fistillarte said:
Liisa, explain me something.
As we argued before, BOWP can be awarded now to any AINP nominee as long as they have the legend in the certificate saying no restriction of employment, so there's that.
Now, in order to apply to a BOWP you MUST HAVE your AOR already. If you don't have it, you can apply via paper (takes around 90 days right now), and that would give you enough time to get you AOR before they even open you application.
You're suggesting in other posts that if you don't have the AOR yet, then you use your certificate to apply for a closed permit with same employer. My hesitation is (correct me if I'm wrong) that in order to apply for a closed work permit with job offer, you MUST (MANDATORY) have an LMIA, and if you only apply with the job offer only then is not valid. Other thing, when you say apply with job offer plus nomination support, you refer to the same nomination certificate that we have? Or we have to ask for a special letter from AINP office? If so, how do we get it from them?
I applied for PR already, just waiting for my AOR, but my permit expires in a month, and still not sure if to use the paper based app or that closed permit one. (I have a position, so I'm staying with my employer anyway).
I'm obviously not officially trained or licenced in immigration issues, so I can only say what I know from my own experience, what I've heard from my immigration consultant, or what I've gathered from other people's experiences here. I really hope I'm not giving out false information or causing problems to anyone, because that's not my intention in any way.. That said, I hope I can clarify some of your questions.
For BOWP, yes, you do need PR AOR. AOR is what CIC refers to as "positive eligiblity assessment". It says on the BOWP eligibility parameters that a positive eligiblity assessment must be present.
When I received my nomination certificate, I went down to the US border and got a closed 1 year WP (I had been in Canada on a visitor visa for a while, because my previous WP had expired). All I had with me was a written job offer, the email from BCPNP saying I had been nominated, and the support letter from the BCPNP office. I hadn't even received my official nomination certificate in the mail yet at that time. I was charged the $155 WP fee on the spot, and that was it. They didn't care that I didn't have the official certificate, and they didn't ask for a LMIA. I don't know if they were just being super nice to me or what, but that's what happened.
My understanding is, therefore, that a valid nomination certificate (along with the support letter) can indeed be used to get a WP without the need of LMIA, when other WP options aren't necessarily available due to PR AOR not being issued yet.
To answer your question about the support letter - it's a document that the PNP office can issue (at least in BC) that basically asks to override the need of LMIA because the applicant wants/needs to get a new WP faster than what the LMIA route would take. I asked for one when I submitted my PNP application, and it was attached as a PDF in the email that said I had been nominated. The PNP offices should be able to issue one (you can call or email them and ask) as long as the certificate is valid.
Here's a quote from my support letter:
"As Ms. XXX's employer, XXX, is urgently seeking to have her commence work for the company while she awaits the processing of her application for permanent residence, we request that her application for a work permit (to be submitted by the applicant) be processed without the need for Service Canada confirmation."
To clarify, Service Canada is (or at least used to be) the authority that handles and issues LMIA's, which I assume is why the letter mentions it.
So based on my experience, you should be able to get a closed WP without LMIA, if you have a valid certificate (or at least the email saying that you've been nominated and that the official papers will arrive soon), support letter and job offer (and potentially some additional documents depending on your work and general situation, such as proving your status in Canada, required credentials/training etc).
I hope this helps.
