Which visa should I be applying for?

[elphizo]

Hello, I have been doing my visa research and I have a few questions. Should I be applying for a TRV (temporary resident visa) first and after arriving in Canada, apply for a work visa after I secure a job over there?

My end goal - secure a job in Canada.

From what I know, I need to get a letter of job offer before I can apply for a work visa. So assuming I can only secure a job when I'm over there, I'll need a visa to allow me to stay in Canada for at least 6 months. Some websites say I need TRV but from this page, as a Singaporean, it says I only need a eTA (which also allows me to stay for 6 months).

Question: Which visa/pass should I be applying that allows me to stay in Canada for 6 months and eventually be able to apply for a work visa if I secure one? TRV or eTA?

IRCC replied me with this - "If you plan to work in Canada, you are required to apply for a work permit prior to entering Canada even though you may hold an valid temporary resident visa. Please note that a visitor cannot change their status to become a student or worker within Canada." But I cannot apply for a work permit if I do not have a letter of job offer.

Appreciate any suggestions/replies. Thank you!

J

 

[Bs65]

If travelling on a Singaporean passport then according the official website you only need an ETA. Be aware that an ETA simply allows you to board a plane to Canada, how long you can stay as a visitor to a max 6 months would be decided by CBSA on arrival.

You should by the way only use as reference official Canada Immigration websites and this includes official ETA sites not ETA sites that charge you more than the 7 CAD cost.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada.html

Unless you have some unique skill not readily available in Canada it will be very difficult to get any employer to sponsor an LMIA application with a job offer given it costs them 1000 CAN upfront as well as advertising costs to ensure no resident is available.

Also given of course the severe impact COVID is having on employment it is likely that for quite some time there will be thousands on unemployed residents looking for work for chances of getting any job offer if not already authorised to work seem slim,

Where they said cannot change status in Canada that just means you have to exit the country and come back in to activate a permit.

Having said above nothing to stop you from visiting although obviously with COVID that would not be possible at the moment

Maybe you need to go straight to looking at immigration

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html

 

[scylla]

Hello, I have been doing my visa research and I have a few questions. Should I be applying for a TRV (temporary resident visa) first and after arriving in Canada, apply for a work visa after I secure a job over there?

My end goal - secure a job in Canada.

From what I know, I need to get a letter of job offer before I can apply for a work visa. So assuming I can only secure a job when I'm over there, I'll need a visa to allow me to stay in Canada for at least 6 months. Some websites say I need TRV but from this page, as a Singaporean, it says I only need a eTA (which also allows me to stay for 6 months).

Question: Which visa/pass should I be applying that allows me to stay in Canada for 6 months and eventually be able to apply for a work visa if I secure one? TRV or eTA?

IRCC replied me with this - "If you plan to work in Canada, you are required to apply for a work permit prior to entering Canada even though you may hold an valid temporary resident visa. Please note that a visitor cannot change their status to become a student or worker within Canada." But I cannot apply for a work permit if I do not have a letter of job offer.

Appreciate any suggestions/replies. Thank you!

J

You should assume it won't be possible to secure a job in Canada as a foreign worker. This is a very long and expensive process for the employer and it's generally extremely difficult to find employers willing to go through this process. As part of the process to hire a foreign worker, the employer must advertise the job for at least one month to prove there are no Canadians that could be hired for the job. Given recent COVID-19 job losses, this will be especially difficult to prove for the next number of months due to unemployment levels.

If you really want to move to Canada then I would recommend that you focus on applying to immigrate and become a PR through an immigration program like Express Entry. Assume that getting a job offer before you are a PR will be next to impossible.