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sms1982

Star Member
Nov 10, 2017
124
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Hi all and thank you for taking the time to read this.

I am a British Citizen who has a Canadian girlfriend from Quebec. She's a born and raised Canadian Citizen.

After a failed Conjugal Partner Application (well we realized very early on after a post on here that it would be rejected because an immigration barrier doesn't count as "Conjugal" in the eyes of Canadian immigration law. As In theory, I could move here for 6 months and she could live in the UK for 6 months)

But as she has 3 kids, a mortgage and is a company director, and I have no practical ties, we always agreed I'd be the one moving over, and here I am on my 6 months tourist visa looking to make my stay a longer one than my return home which is 14th June 2018. Immigration asked me reasonable questions at the border, we had an open and honest conversation. I explained about the application for PR status and why I'm here etc. all is fine here because I was transparent and honest, and they know I will leave Canada if my mission fails.

But obviously I don't want this to fail; I've put my life on the line to make a better life for myself. I love this country, I love my girlfriend to bits and I want to make a life here permanently and eventually become a citizen. I want to live by the book, get a job, contribute to Quebec and Canada through taxes, and work hard. Surely what a country would want right? Just an honest guy making a new living. So now the background is out of the way; here's where I'm at, and I need your advice please.

I'm applying for jobs every day in order to get a job offer from an employer who is prepared to take a chance on me, say if there's no Canadians who can be employed instead for whatever reason. From what I'm aware the process is:

Get a job offer in writing from an employer
Get them to fill in the LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) and get it approved
I then apply for an Employer Specific Work Permit (currently 6 weeks with IRCC)
Get a CSQ (Certificate de Selection du Quebec) approved from their government
Start Working for the employer with an Employer Specific Work Permit

I am of course concerned that all this above will completely put employers off having to wait around 10 weeks in all to simply be able to work! Do I have cause for concern or am I over worrying about the situation, Once again I just want to make an honest living here in Quebec and apply for a common-law sponsorship after 12 months of living here, but of course I need to "bridge the gap" between 6 - 12 months in order to fulfill this ambition. Sorry this is long but there's a LOT of things to consider and I want to make the most of the available time possible as I do not want to have to leave.

Thank you all in advance.
Steven
 
So in essence, you want to get a temporary worker status, so that you can stay and then place an application for permanent residency? A little correction - instead of CSQ you will apply and hopefully get a CAQ. CSQ is what you need for permanent residency and in the regular program it will take at least 6 months to get it.
I don't know what is your profession, but I would say it totally depends on the job market how lucky you will be in finding an employer who will go through LMIA and CAQ and work permit. 10 weeks is an optimistic estimation... If your occupation is something that is in high demand, or you can work a job that is in desperate need of labor force - I'd say it is not impossible to get a job, especially if you know French well.

Did you ever consider trying the Express Entry route through another province? At the moment we are looking at approximately 20-22 months of total processing time for PR through regular skilled worker program in Quebec. Express entry is up to 6 months...
 
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