Procedural Fairness Question - Employment Misrepresentation

[tarun27in]

Hi, I applied for the PR about 6 months back and received a procedural fairness letter today. The letter says that I misrepresented the employment history. I worked at a company A in last 4 years but through that period I was getting paid by the sister company B. So, in my TRV I mentioned the name of the company B I was getting paid by and in my PR I mentioned the company A which was on paper.

Both companies represent the same ownership and are related to each other. I believe the owners did that to save some taxes etc. I know it was my mistake and I should have used only 1 company's name everywhere but how do I get out of this mess now? They have given me 7 days to submit any additional documentation. I do not know what additional documentation I can submit. I can ask my HR to put on a letter that both companies operate under one umbrella. Will that be enough?

I am terrified because of this stupid mistake I did and facing 5 years of inadmissibility if I cannot go through this. Also is there a way to avoid 5 years of admissibility? and resubmit the PR application again under CEC? I will complete 1 year of Canadian Experience in July. Thanks!

 

[k.h.p.]

Provided you can get documentary proof that the two companies are the same, and that this is acceptable to the visa officer, you haven't actually misrepresented in a significant way. This situation is what PFLs are for - there is an error in the visa officers assessment because they are the same company, it's just confusing how they're owned and how you reported it.

You need documentary proof that the two companies are connected.

 

[scylla]

To avoid the 5 year inadmissibility, you need to respond to the letter in a way that satisfies IRCC's concerns. If IRCC ends up making a misrepresentation finding and banning you for 5 years - you won't be able to apply for anything until those 5 years have passed (so no - resubmitting under CEC certainly won't be possible). You should be placing focus on your response to the fairness letter.

You want to provide hard evidence that the two companies are related - things like incorporation papers / tax papers, a letter from the main company confirming the sister company - and confirming how you were paid and why.

 

[tarun27in]

Provided you can get documentary proof that the two companies are the same, and that this is acceptable to the visa officer, you haven't actually misrepresented in a significant way. This situation is what PFLs are for - there is an error in the visa officers assessment because they are the same company, it's just confusing how they're owned and how you reported it.

You need documentary proof that the two companies are connected.

Thank you! Do a letter from the HR of the companies work in this case? or do I need to get any legal proof of ownership and relationship between the companies? Generally the companies are registered with their own name. I can try getting a letter saying

"Company A is a wholly owned subsidiary of Company B" on the letterhead of company B from the HR.

Worst case scenario, if I am not able to get this letter what else is my option? Can I still restrict the inadmissibility clause and reapply again under CEC after July?

 

[scylla]

Thank you! Do a letter from the HR of the companies work in this case? or do I need to get any legal proof of ownership and relationship between the companies? Generally the companies are registered with their own name. I can try getting a letter saying

"Company A is a wholly owned subsidiary of Company B" on the letterhead of company B from the HR.

Worst case scenario, if I am not able to get this letter what else is my option? Can I still restrict the inadmissibility clause and reapply again under CEC after July?

I would get legal proof of ownership. Do not assume the letter from HR will be enough.

Again, no - if a misrepresentation finding is made and you receive the 5 years ban - you will NOT be able to apply under CEC. How you respond to this letter is critical.

 

[dotslash227]

Is Company A and Company B private limited or LLP's? If yes, check their MCA records and check if they have one or more common directors. If they have, then it can be a proof that the two companies are related.

Second, you can ask for a letter from the upper management to submit an undertaking that the two companies are related.

Third, check both companies websites and literature and try to find text where it says that the companies are related.

 

[tarun27in]

Is Company A and Company B private limited or LLP's? If yes, check their MCA records and check if they have one or more common directors. If they have, then it can be a proof that the two companies are related.

Second, you can ask for a letter from the upper management to submit an undertaking that the two companies are related.

Third, check both companies websites and literature and try to find text where it says that the companies are related.

So I have collected the following documents:

1) My Govt. Photo ID which has the name of the company A right from start. In the country I worked before, it had the name of the company inscribed on the resident card. I have a copy of that.
2) The legal company registry of Company A which has the address of the company there.
3) The Letter from Director HR of Company A saying that the two companies were indeed sisters and shared the same address and I was only getting paid by Company B while working for company A
4) The letter from the president of the company A saying that two companies were together and I worked in company A for the amount of time I presented on my PR application. The president's name is there on board of directors of company A in the legal company registry as well.
5) I got hold of the documents I submitted for the TRV back in 2013 and one of the document is the application on the letterhead of company B which share the same address as company A matching with company registration paper. That letter is submitted with my TRV so Canada Immigration must have that letter hence they can validate that two companies have the same address.
6) A govt. registry website's screenshot saying company B which was paying the payroll was dissolved soon after I got the TRV for Canada. (The screenshot does not have an address of company B and company's details because it's dissolved in 2014 and they remove the records after a while)
7) Screenshots from LinkedIn, company's website and google search saying that company A exists and working.
8) Screenshot from LinkedIn, and Google showing that company B does not have a web presence because it was dissolved and also was only processing the payroll.
9) My experience letter from HR of company A saying that I worked for company A during the period I mentioned in my PR application.

With these documents, the story is a) Two companies are the same companies b) I was working for a company A since the 2012-2016 period.

Do you think these pieces of evidence and letters are adequate, what else can I gather at this point?

 

[k.h.p.]

It seems extensive. I hope that they accept it for you.

 

[tarun27in]

It seems extensive. I hope that they accept it for you.

10) I also have bank statements of that period of 2013 which says that my payroll coming from company B.

Are these evidence enough to convince the agent? The more I am reading on forums the more depressed I am becoming. It looks like the agent has already decided to refuse this application and there is no going back from this. Is that true?

 

[k.h.p.]

I don't know. It's up to the visa officer.

They send you a PFL in case they are making a mistake. In your case, refusing your application would be a mistake. You haven't misrepresented, you just have a confusing corporate structure to your employment.

 

[tarun27in]

I would get legal proof of ownership. Do not assume the letter from HR will be enough.

Again, no - if a misrepresentation finding is made and you receive the 5 years ban - you will NOT be able to apply under CEC. How you respond to this letter is critical.

Do you think the documents above would be able to cover it? Can you suggest if anything else can make this even more stronger?

 

[k.h.p.]

I think I've said three times that I don't know. Sorry.

 

[tarun27in]

Sorry the question was for @scylla . Just wanted to get his/her views on this as well. Apologies for asking the question again. This is causing me a lot of stress and It will be like that for the time till I hear from the IRCC on my application.

 

[dotslash227]

The documents you have gathered are pretty exhaustive.

However, I would suggest you to talk to an immigration consultant or lawyer for more clarification.

 

[tarun27in]

The documents you have gathered are pretty exhaustive.

However, I would suggest you talk to an immigration consultant or lawyer for more clarification.

Thank you for your input. I have engaged an attorney already. He is working with us on this. It's very stressing, especially when I spent so much effort and money to get a Masters Degree from a top university, got a dream job, and started to settle down in Canada. Our life would totally be uprooted because of one single company name mentioned in an application filed in 2013. I applied for a Study Permit and TRV, PGWP and TRV renewal after that with the same information I filled in my PR application and received my all Visas without any issues.

And the worst thing is that the TRV I received in 2013, I never even traveled using that TRV and applied for a new one with my study permit in 2016 because my passport was expiring in 2016.

That said, I can also see the point of view of the Visa Officer because he/she could have never figured out the similarity between the two companies. Hopefully, with this last effort stretch, this ordeal will be over for me