Need help for my father who overstayed his working visa for nearly 10 years in Canada

[knnthrl]

I am writing this to seek your help and advice for my father who has been living and working in Canada for almost 10 years without a valid visa this coming year 2024. He came to Canada in 2012 as a temporary foreign worker with a work permit valid for two years. He was employed by a restaurant here in Toronto. He was hoping to apply for permanent residence through the Canadian Experience Class program after gaining enough work experience and language skills. However, his employer refused to renew his work permit or help him with his immigration application until his passport expired. He also threatened to report him to the authorities if he tried to leave the company or find another job. My father was afraid of losing his income and being deported, so he stayed with the same employer and continued to work illegally. He also did not have access to health care, social benefits, or legal protection. He was exploited and abused by his employer, who paid him below the minimum wage, deducted taxes from his salary but did not remit them to the government. I am asking for your help and guidance on how to resolve this situation. Is there any way that my father can apply for a humanitarian and compassionate consideration or a pre-removal risk assessment? I appreciate any information or advice that you can provide. Thank you for your time and attention.

 

[scylla]

I am writing this to seek your help and advice for my father who has been living and working in Canada for almost 10 years without a valid visa this coming year 2024. He came to Canada in 2012 as a temporary foreign worker with a work permit valid for two years. He was employed by a restaurant here in Toronto. He was hoping to apply for permanent residence through the Canadian Experience Class program after gaining enough work experience and language skills. However, his employer refused to renew his work permit or help him with his immigration application until his passport expired. He also threatened to report him to the authorities if he tried to leave the company or find another job. My father was afraid of losing his income and being deported, so he stayed with the same employer and continued to work illegally. He also did not have access to health care, social benefits, or legal protection. He was exploited and abused by his employer, who paid him below the minimum wage, deducted taxes from his salary but did not remit them to the government. I am asking for your help and guidance on how to resolve this situation. Is there any way that my father can apply for a humanitarian and compassionate consideration or a pre-removal risk assessment? I appreciate any information or advice that you can provide. Thank you for your time and attention.

I would recommend you join the H&C thread in the Refugee / Asylum section of the forum.

He can certainly try applying for PR under H&C. Processing times are around 2 years and none of us can tell you what the chances of success will be. Given how long he has been out of status, I think H&C is his only real option at this point.

He cannot apply for PRRA himself. This is something that he may be offered if he ends up in formal removal proceedings.

 

[knnthrl]

I would recommend you join the H&C thread in the Refugee / Asylum section of the forum.

He can certainly try applying for PR under H&C. Processing times are around 2 years and none of us can tell you what the chances of success will be. Given how long he has been out of status, I think H&C is his only real option at this point.

He cannot apply for PRRA himself. This is something that he may be offered if he ends up in formal removal proceedings.

Thank you for your recommendation. I appreciate your help and advice. I will join the H&C thread in the Refugee / Asylum section of the forum and see what I can learn from there.

 

[canuck78]

I am writing this to seek your help and advice for my father who has been living and working in Canada for almost 10 years without a valid visa this coming year 2024. He came to Canada in 2012 as a temporary foreign worker with a work permit valid for two years. He was employed by a restaurant here in Toronto. He was hoping to apply for permanent residence through the Canadian Experience Class program after gaining enough work experience and language skills. However, his employer refused to renew his work permit or help him with his immigration application until his passport expired. He also threatened to report him to the authorities if he tried to leave the company or find another job. My father was afraid of losing his income and being deported, so he stayed with the same employer and continued to work illegally. He also did not have access to health care, social benefits, or legal protection. He was exploited and abused by his employer, who paid him below the minimum wage, deducted taxes from his salary but did not remit them to the government. I am asking for your help and guidance on how to resolve this situation. Is there any way that my father can apply for a humanitarian and compassionate consideration or a pre-removal risk assessment? I appreciate any information or advice that you can provide. Thank you for your time and attention.

Did you/he report the employer to CRA when you discovered they were not paying any deductions? How does he have a family in Canada and what are your statuses? An employer is not required to continue to offer you employment or apply for an LMIA to get a WP. Was the employer preventing your father from returning home at the end of his WP? Was he being paid the correct wage and was the employer paying deductions to CRA when he was working legally? Did this change after his WP ended or was this always the case? What have your father attempted to do to regularized his status in the past 10 years and what has prompted him to try and regularized his status now? This story is likely complex.