Hey everyone,
I have quite a unique set of circumstances and would really appreciate some help covering some of the issues I have (even if you can give me some guidance to one issue alone that would be really helpful!).
1) I am 30 years old. I moved to Canada in October 2015 under an approved LMIA which was obtained by my former employer - an oil & gas recruitment company. I subsequently was laid-off due to the falling oil price and economic woes in Alberta. I was laid off in April 2016. I had a "closed work permit" as it was attached to my former employer.
2) I had to leave Canada to visit family in the UK in May. I hoped I would be allowed simple re-entry under the closed work permit but this was just mere optimism! It ended up been taken out of my passport by immigration on the border and my passport was stamped with a 6 month stamp (I guess this is a visa exempt visitor "visa"?).
3) I live with my Canadian girlfriend who I met over Xmas 2015 in Calgary. We have lived together in the same address since 1 May 2016. We have a joint tenancy agreement for an apartment. We also have joint bills in our name. My girlfriend works for a design / advertising agency as a digital designer. I have become friendly with the directors of this company as they are in the same building that we live in and I am involved whenever they have social events.
4) My girlfriend's boss likes my "British wit" and is keen to employ me as a Copywriter. He has a current need in the company for such a hire and they have a lot of clients based in the UK / advertising that is directed to the UK market. We've talked about options and he would be interested to go through the LMIA process but neither of us are informed about how he would go about it. The firm only employs 5 people (not including the 2 directors) so 7 in total. All are Canadian citizens. The pay level would be around the $25/hr area. He would be willing to make me an offer but wants to ensure the due process is adhered to first (advertising the role etc). Can anyone help with some more information on this?
5) I need to go back to England again for family reasons in August. The stamp in my passport from May takes me until 13th November 2016. Can I leave and come back under the stamp or once I leave will this be an end to my current 6-month status and mean I'll have to be re-assessed by immigration again? I pretty much was given a lot of leniency in May when I came back into Canada because I went through immigration with my girlfriend and the agent seemed to be sympathetic to our situation (that I was laid off). We filled out the customs form jointly because we live together. I personally think this got me back in!
If anyone can give any insight into the above it would be brilliant. I know that there is a lot of information out there but there is a lot of stuff I don't yet quite understand, and I don't want to miss anything / overlook anything as it is a bit overwhelming.
FYI. I have a law degree and an LPC (post grad diploma in legal practice). I have spoken to an immigration lawyer about getting permanent residency and he seems fairly confident I should be able to get this should WES approve my post grad diploma and therefore give me enough points for Express Entry application.
Also.. I've been living with my girlfriend since 1 May 2016 (2.5 months to date). I've read into common law PR sponsorship. My belief is that if we've lived together for 12 months and she has the funds available to show she can support me, I can get perm residency that way?
I put my name in the pool for the IEC programme in March but haven't yet had an invite. since I'm currently 30 and will turn 31 in November I can't see this being an option for me.
Thanks in advance for your help!
James
I have quite a unique set of circumstances and would really appreciate some help covering some of the issues I have (even if you can give me some guidance to one issue alone that would be really helpful!).
1) I am 30 years old. I moved to Canada in October 2015 under an approved LMIA which was obtained by my former employer - an oil & gas recruitment company. I subsequently was laid-off due to the falling oil price and economic woes in Alberta. I was laid off in April 2016. I had a "closed work permit" as it was attached to my former employer.
2) I had to leave Canada to visit family in the UK in May. I hoped I would be allowed simple re-entry under the closed work permit but this was just mere optimism! It ended up been taken out of my passport by immigration on the border and my passport was stamped with a 6 month stamp (I guess this is a visa exempt visitor "visa"?).
3) I live with my Canadian girlfriend who I met over Xmas 2015 in Calgary. We have lived together in the same address since 1 May 2016. We have a joint tenancy agreement for an apartment. We also have joint bills in our name. My girlfriend works for a design / advertising agency as a digital designer. I have become friendly with the directors of this company as they are in the same building that we live in and I am involved whenever they have social events.
4) My girlfriend's boss likes my "British wit" and is keen to employ me as a Copywriter. He has a current need in the company for such a hire and they have a lot of clients based in the UK / advertising that is directed to the UK market. We've talked about options and he would be interested to go through the LMIA process but neither of us are informed about how he would go about it. The firm only employs 5 people (not including the 2 directors) so 7 in total. All are Canadian citizens. The pay level would be around the $25/hr area. He would be willing to make me an offer but wants to ensure the due process is adhered to first (advertising the role etc). Can anyone help with some more information on this?
5) I need to go back to England again for family reasons in August. The stamp in my passport from May takes me until 13th November 2016. Can I leave and come back under the stamp or once I leave will this be an end to my current 6-month status and mean I'll have to be re-assessed by immigration again? I pretty much was given a lot of leniency in May when I came back into Canada because I went through immigration with my girlfriend and the agent seemed to be sympathetic to our situation (that I was laid off). We filled out the customs form jointly because we live together. I personally think this got me back in!
If anyone can give any insight into the above it would be brilliant. I know that there is a lot of information out there but there is a lot of stuff I don't yet quite understand, and I don't want to miss anything / overlook anything as it is a bit overwhelming.
FYI. I have a law degree and an LPC (post grad diploma in legal practice). I have spoken to an immigration lawyer about getting permanent residency and he seems fairly confident I should be able to get this should WES approve my post grad diploma and therefore give me enough points for Express Entry application.
Also.. I've been living with my girlfriend since 1 May 2016 (2.5 months to date). I've read into common law PR sponsorship. My belief is that if we've lived together for 12 months and she has the funds available to show she can support me, I can get perm residency that way?
I put my name in the pool for the IEC programme in March but haven't yet had an invite. since I'm currently 30 and will turn 31 in November I can't see this being an option for me.
Thanks in advance for your help!
James
