Submitting a Work Permit Application W/O LMIA (LMIA is still processing)

[KeegenPayne]

I am reaching out on behalf of my partner whom is Foreign National from Japan. She came to Canada through the International Experience Canada (IEC) - Working Holiday (WH) program. She was manipulated and deceived by her original employer as she was led to believe that the WH program was a legitimate path to Permanent Residency (PR). The reality is that given her work experience, she would need 1 full year of Canadian work experience to even qualify for Express Entry (EE) (Referring to the Canadian Experience Class stream - which, yes I know, has not been accepting candidates for months now, its still her best shot). So we found a new employer and then through a series of misleading support, we are now at just 2 months left in her work permit and serious doubt regarding her current employers ability to support a new work permit.

They have not yet posted on the Job bank so it will be 30 days MINIMUM until they can apply for the LMIA. According to a Help Centre entry on the federal website there is a way to apply for the work permit before receiving the LMIA. There are two conditions:

1. You must apply within two weeks of your permit expiring, and
2. You must submit the positive LMIA within 60 days of the work permit application being received.


(LINK: I want to extend my expiring work permit, but I don’t have a new LMIA or CAQ yet. What should I do? (cic.gc.ca))

The language is also vague in that is says if you do not submit the positive LMIA within 60 days, your application MAY be refused.

Now I realize this is not an official document, I was unable to find anything in the immigration act referring to this exception, nor can I find anything about it anywhere else on the internet. (If you have sources that I have missed, please share). With that said, a number of Immigration Consultants have referred to this strategy as reliable though they have been very mindful of their language and have not confirmed or denied the above-mentioned 60 day limit. They have said that so long as you get the LMIA approved and submitted before the work permit is processed, you arefine.

This leads me to my question. Can anyone confirm the validity of the link above? Is the 60 days enforced? Do some regions or processing centers exercise more leniency than others?

Thank you in advance for the clarification

 

[scylla]

I am reaching out on behalf of my partner whom is Foreign National from Japan. She came to Canada through the International Experience Canada (IEC) - Working Holiday (WH) program. She was manipulated and deceived by her original employer as she was led to believe that the WH program was a legitimate path to Permanent Residency (PR). The reality is that given her work experience, she would need 1 full year of Canadian work experience to even qualify for Express Entry (EE) (Referring to the Canadian Experience Class stream - which, yes I know, has not been accepting candidates for months now, its still her best shot). So we found a new employer and then through a series of misleading support, we are now at just 2 months left in her work permit and serious doubt regarding her current employers ability to support a new work permit.

They have not yet posted on the Job bank so it will be 30 days MINIMUM until they can apply for the LMIA. According to a Help Centre entry on the federal website there is a way to apply for the work permit before receiving the LMIA. There are two conditions:

1. You must apply within two weeks of your permit expiring, and
2. You must submit the positive LMIA within 60 days of the work permit application being received.


(LINK: I want to extend my expiring work permit, but I don’t have a new LMIA or CAQ yet. What should I do? (cic.gc.ca))

The language is also vague in that is says if you do not submit the positive LMIA within 60 days, your application MAY be refused.

Now I realize this is not an official document, I was unable to find anything in the immigration act referring to this exception, nor can I find anything about it anywhere else on the internet. (If you have sources that I have missed, please share). With that said, a number of Immigration Consultants have referred to this strategy as reliable though they have been very mindful of their language and have not confirmed or denied the above-mentioned 60 day limit. They have said that so long as you get the LMIA approved and submitted before the work permit is processed, you arefine.

This leads me to my question. Can anyone confirm the validity of the link above? Is the 60 days enforced? Do some regions or processing centers exercise more leniency than others?

Thank you in advance for the clarification

The link you provided above is official. It's an FAQ from the official government web site (IRCC web site). It doesn't get more official than that.

 

[scylla]

They have not yet posted on the Job bank so it will be 30 days MINIMUM until they can apply for the LMIA. According to a Help Centre entry on the federal website there is a way to apply for the work permit before receiving the LMIA. There are two conditions:

One more comment... I'm assuming the employer knows that just posting to Job Bank isn't sufficient. They need to advertise across multiple platforms for at least 30 days (including Job Bank). Those platforms need to meet certain criteria.

 

[KeegenPayne]

One more comment... I'm assuming the employer knows that just posting to Job Bank isn't sufficient. They need to advertise across multiple platforms for at least 30 days (including Job Bank). Those platforms need to meet certain criteria.

Yes they are aware of this, I was skimming over the details that were not of concern.

 

[KeegenPayne]

The link you provided above is official. It's an FAQ from the official government web site (IRCC web site). It doesn't get more official than that.

Thank you, I fully understand that the source is from the IRCC, but that doesn't change the fact that the language used is vague (may verses will), and it doesn't change the fact that that several consultants have refused to directly answer my question regarding the 60 day limit but rather day things like "so long as you submit the positive LMIA before they process the Work Permit. I understand that I am sort of grasping at straws, but I feel like the key to improving ones chances is to read between the lines.

I was hoping to hear from people with personal experience regarding this 60 day rule. Has anyone submitted the positive LMIA after the 60 days and still been approved?

Perhaps you could assist with another matter. In the event that my partner applies for the work permit and provided the LMIA number for the still processing LMIA, and she fails to submit the positive LMIA in time, naturally her work permit would be denied and she would lose her status. I would like to know more about the restoration of status process. I understand she has 90 days from when her permit expires to apply for restoration but is it possible to restore your status when you were previously on a Working Holiday visa? Does that matter? The consultant I have been speaking to most has said that she will likely not be able to work for 4 or 5 months, but she can apply for the restored status and then apply for a work permit again.

Thank you again for advice.