Options for immigrating to Canada

[Avadava]

Hi, everyone!

I am looking for options regarding immigration to Canada, from knowledgeable forum members. I will express the facts below and kindly ask you to advise on what to do in this situation.

1. I am a Canadian PR, my husband is a Canadian citizen and we have a son born in Canada.

2. My brother has Romanian citizenship, is 27 years old, not married. Both of our parents are alive and living in Romania. They have no intention of moving to Canada.

3. My brother would like to immigrate here, find a job and get established. I would love to have him live in Canada since I have no other family around.

4. He is a web developer, although he hasn't studied to become one (his highest education is high school). He gained his skills by working alongside my husband. He has an impressive portfolio, working as a freelance web developer/graphic designer since 2011.

5. The market for web developers is Vancouver is quite hot, there is a shortage and at the moment all the companies have very competitive offers for prospect employees with an adequate set of skills. (as a side note, my husband is receiving job offers every week).

6. Last but not least, Canada intends to lift visitor visa requirements for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens, as of Dec. 2017. http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/romania-roumanie/visa.aspx?lang=eng

We do not have the financial means to pay tuition fees as an international student. We are looking for options for him to get a work permit that would allow him to work and live in Canada. And by the way, if he does get a work permit and works in Canada for some time, would he be eligible to apply for permanent residence eventually?


Let me know if you need more info, I will happily provide it. Thanks in advance.

 

[scylla]

In order to qualify for a work permit, he would first need to secure a full time job offer in Canada and that employer would need to obtain an approved LMIA. Once he has the job offer and the employer has obtained an approved LMIA - he would then be able to apply for a closed work permit tied to that specific employer. The LMIA process is long and expensive. It involves a $1K fee the employer has to pay (on top of advertising costs) and processing can take over 4 months (although some are lucky have had the LMIA application processed within a couple of weeks). Additionally, before the employer can even apply for the LMIA, they must advertise the job for at least one full month (following the LMIA advertising requirements) to prove no Canadian could be hired for the role.

Having a job in Canada that's supported by an approved LMIA will help in the PR application process. The downside is the fact he doesn't have post secondary education will mean it will be more difficult to be selected (he won't get as many points).

So the first step is to find an employer who is willing to give him a full time job and who is also willing to obtain an approved LMIA.

 

[scylla]

Just to add - the fact that Canada will be lifting TRV requirements in 2017 doesn't change the above answer. He'll still need to go the job offer + LMIA route if he wants a work permit even once the TRV requirement is lifted.

 

[Avadava]

Thanks for your reply scylla. The reason I mentioned that TRV requirements will be lifted was because, in my opinion, I would think this will facilitate things a bit. In the sense of, it will be easier for him to travel to Canada to get in contact with possible employers.

So, would this be a viable scenario? He comes to Canada as a visitor (easier without the visa requirement), he gets in contact with some companies, goes for some interviews (although you are not supposed to look for work while visiting), and hopefully manages to get a job offer. Of course, the company would have to be willing to do the LMO and the whole process.

 

[scylla]

Sure - it may make it easier for him to get a job offer through meeting employers in person. Nothing is stopping him from looking for work while visiting (i.e. nothing illegal about that) - he just can't work without a work permit. Again, the challenge will be finding an employer willing to go through the LMIA process. That tends to be tricky. He should be very upfront about this requirement when meeting with employers.

Note that even with the TRV requirements lifted, he won't be able to travel on his passport alone. He'll need to obtain an eTA (although the process for this is far less involved than a TRV).

Good luck.