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Coming to Canada Sooner on a Work Permit or Arranged Employment

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Wednesday, 29 November 2006

We are often asked if there are ways to speed-up the processing of an application for a Canada Immigration (Permanent Resident) Visa. There are.

Work Permits and Arranged Employment are two of the ways to reduce processing times of Permanent Resident applications under the Skilled Worker/Professional category of Canadian Immigration. There are some similarities between the two concepts but there are also some significant differences between them.

Work Permits
  • require a job offer from a Canadian employer.
  • are temporary in nature, but can sometimes be extended from inside Canada.
  • may or may not require the Canadian employer to demonstrate that no Canadian citizens or permanent residents are available to fill the position.
  • may be issued in a matter of weeks.
  • once they have been issued, can be converted to Arranged Employment if the Canadian employer extends a permanent job offer to the Work Permit holder.

Arranged Employment
  • requires a job offer from a Canadian employer.
  • must be for a permanent full-time position of indeterminate length.
  • does not require the Canadian employer to demonstrate that no Canadian citizens or permanent residents are available to fill the position.
  • can be applied for at any time during the Canadian Permanent Residency application process.

The main advantage of a Work Permit is that it allows the holder, and immediate family members, if applicable, to come and work in Canada prior to the issuance of the Canada Immigration Visa. And this can be accomplished very quickly. The disadvantage of a Work Permit is that in some instances the Canadian employer must demonstrate Canadians cannot be found to fill the position.

The main advantage of Arranged Employment is that it greatly reduces the delays inherent in the Permanent Residency application process. However, the applicant cannot come to live and work in Canada until the Canada Immigration Visa is issued. Another advantage to Arranged Employment is that the Canadian employer does not have to demonstrate that efforts have been made to hire Canadians.

Depending on your particular circumstances, both Work Permits and Arranged Employment can be utilized to get you to Canada sooner rather than later.