On Behalf of my Girlfriend

[Travis G.]

Hello, all.

My name is Travis, and I'm a 22 year old Canadian citizen that's lived in New York State since I was about 3. I currently have a Permanent Resident Card that's valid in the U.S.A. until 2019, as well as a valid social security number. In July I'm planning to move back to Toronto and attend the Second City acting school, and actively pursue acting opportunities within the city as much as I can. I'll be living in a house owned by my family (some of whom still live throughout Ontario) and looking for a job of some sort once I get there.

My girlfriend wants to come with me, however, we're not quite sure how to go about making that happen. She's 19, and will be 20 in 3 months. She has no criminal record, no medical conditions to worry about, has been working full time for the past 4 years, and has been the Human Resources Manager of a local KMart/Sears for the past 2. She graduated high school, and has some university education, but didn't finish for financial reasons. She'll be living with me, and would like to work full time immediately. She's possibly looking at an International transfer to a Sears location in Toronto, if we can get her status straightened out.

Is there a direction any of you can point me in? Anything I've said above that makes you think there's an option available? Anything else you need to know? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, a random side note, from some of my research it looks like an offer of employment helps a lot. Does it matter what the offer is? For example, if my sister (who works for Home Depot) got a manager to make my girlfriend an offer to work there, is that considered acceptable? Also, if it is, can she start looking for a different job once she got there, or is she expected to maintain that one for a certain amount of time?

 

[scylla]

First a question: Do you and your girlfriend currently live together? If so, how long have you been living together?

Right now your girlfriend can only come to Canada as a tourist. She cannot live here or work here. If she wants to live and work here - she will need a work permit. This is easier said than done and I've tired to outline your options below.

Normally an intra-company transfer would be the way to go - however I don't know if she would qualify. To qualify, she would have to meet the following requirements:

An intra-company transferee must:

- have worked continuously for at least one year in the preceding three years for the same or affiliated employer in the United States or Mexico
- be transferred to Canada to work temporarily for the same or an affiliated employer and
- work in a capacity that is managerial, executive or that involves specialized knowledge.

More information about what "specialized knowledge" means is available here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2011/ob316.asp

For the intra-company transfer bit to work - obviously her company would also have to be willing to transfer her and complete the required paperwork. Once she's here, she can only work for the company that arranged the intra-company transfer.

If the above isn't going to work, she can see if she qualifies for a work permit under NAFTA:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/special-business.asp#nafta

If she doesn't qualify under NAFTA, then she will have to go the LMO + work permit route. Here's how that works: First she will need to find an employer in Canada who is willing to offer her a job. That employer will then have to apply for something called a Labour Market Opinion (LMO). As part of the process, the employer will have to advertise the job for several weeks and prove that a Canadian could not be found to fill the role. If the LMO is approved (not all are), your girlfriend would then apply for a work permit. If the work permit is approved, she could then come to Canada and start working. Note that the work permit she receives would be a closed work permit meaning that she can only work for that specific employer. If she wants to start working for another employer, a new LMO and work permit will be required. I would say it's extremely unlikely that an LMO would be approved for a Home Depot (retail) job since it should be relatively easy to find a Canadian to fill this kind of role. Also, the LMO + work permit process typically takes a number of months to complete. Because of the amount of time it takes and because there's no guarantee of approval, many Canadian employers aren't willing to consider foreign candidates (such as your girlfriend) for job openings.

More information on LMOs is here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/employers/lmo-basics.asp

Work permits is here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-how.asp

Long story short - an offer to work will not get her here. The process is more complicated than that.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Travis G.]

First a question: Do you and your girlfriend currently live together? If so, how long have you been living together?

Yes. We've lived together 2+ years.

An intra-company transferee must:

- have worked continuously for at least one year in the preceding three years for the same or affiliated employer in the United States or Mexico
- be transferred to Canada to work temporarily for the same or an affiliated employer and
- work in a capacity that is managerial, executive or that involves specialized knowledge.

- She has worked as the HR Manager for KMart for 2 years in Buffalo, NY.
- She would hopefully be transferred by the same company to a Toronto or Scarborough location.
- She would still be HR manager, ideally, though may have to take a step down to a department lead, assistant manager, or possibly working in Sears' HR department. To the best of your knowledge, would that count?

Thanks for the great answer, I'll look into some of the options that you provided me with. Another question, that's popped into my head recently; last year she and I talked about a common law marriage in order to make some business transactions and our living arrangement a bit simpler, but ultimately decided against it. Now, if we were to do that within the next couple of months, what does that change about her status? As a common-law partner, is she automatically allowed to come into the country with me, or apply for residency without the strings of employment/education a 100% necessity?

 

[scylla]

I'm no expert in intra-company transfer. However based on what you've said, I'm not sure she's senior enough to fulfill the managerial criteria for a transfer. She'll probably have to invest some time to investigate this option fully with her company's HR department. Given the company's size, they should have experience with these transfers and should know what will fly.

I'm not sure what you mean by "common law marriage". There are essentially two ways you can qualify as a couple in the eyes of Canadian immigration: (1) actually get married; (2) become common law by living together for a minimum of one full year first (note that you must have lived together for a full year to qualify - a few months won't do). Being common law or married will not allow her to come to Canada to live and will also not allow her to work. If she wants to work, she will still have to go through one of the processes I outlined in my original response. However being married or common law will allow you to sponsor her as your spouse. This process typically takes 8-10 months for Americans (2 months to get the paperwork together and then around 6-8 months to process the file). Once her application has been processed and she has been approved for permanent residency, she can then officially move to Canada and work as a Canadian (i.e. no LMOs or work permits required).