Work permit possible?

[Ramsickle]

Hi.

So my fiancé is from the Philippines and I am a Canadian Resident, born and raised here. She was denied twice for a tourist visa as originally plans were for her to come visit for my birthday, then we were both going to go to the Philippines for awhile afterwards. Basically spend time in each others home countries with each other and they were not satisfied she will leave after her stay. Basically only I can go to the Philippines and she cannot come visit Canada.

Due to how hard they make it for her to just visit here we have been considering then why doesn't she just come work here instead. There's a minister I know who is willing to give her a job offer as a non paid camp counsellor for his charitable organization, lodging and stipend for food etc provided which according to IRCC site is acceptable. Now according to IRCC this is LMIA exempt so won't have to go through all of that apparently.

My question is since we've already spent thousands up to this point, how likely is it to be approved for an employer specific work permit under a charitable organization (since IRCC likes to specify being a charitable organization somehow is different than a regular job for some reason) despite being denied a tourist visa in the past? I know a TRV denial impacts other futureTRVs so not willing to attempt a third time, but does it majorly impact employer specific work permits that have provided a job offer?

This is basically a last resort as initially only wanted to visit this year and enjoy our time together since covid and all that keeping us apart and usually I am one to go there so changing it up or at least attempted tp. but they made that impossible so decided to potentially fast track everything now instead.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[scylla]

Hi.

So my fiancé is from the Philippines and I am a Canadian Resident, born and raised here. She was denied twice for a tourist visa as originally plans were for her to come visit for my birthday, then we were both going to go to the Philippines for awhile afterwards. Basically spend time in each others home countries with each other and they were not satisfied she will leave after her stay. Basically only I can go to the Philippines and she cannot come visit Canada.

Due to how hard they make it for her to just visit here we have been considering then why doesn't she just come work here instead. There's a minister I know who is willing to give her a job offer as a non paid camp counsellor for his charitable organization, lodging and stipend for food etc provided which according to IRCC site is acceptable. Now according to IRCC this is LMIA exempt so won't have to go through all of that apparently.

My question is since we've already spent thousands up to this point, how likely is it to be approved for an employer specific work permit under a charitable organization (since IRCC likes to specify being a charitable organization somehow is different than a regular job for some reason) despite being denied a tourist visa in the past? I know a TRV denial impacts other futureTRVs so not willing to attempt a third time, but does it majorly impact employer specific work permits that have provided a job offer?

This is basically a last resort as initially only wanted to visit this year and enjoy our time together since covid and all that keeping us apart and usually I am one to go there so changing it up or at least attempted tp. but they made that impossible so decided to potentially fast track everything now instead.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

IMO it will be very challenging to get a visa approved for the camp counsellor job given the two previous TRV refusals and the fact you are Canadian. Yes, the two previous TRV refusals have an impact on the work permit. A non-paid camp counsellor work permit via an LMIA exempt route is not a strong application to start with. Given she has two TRV refusals already (and you as her fiance in Canada), I expect IRCC will think she's just trying to find any way possible to get here. What is her profession? Is it related in any way to being a camp counsellor?

If she wants to go the work permit route, a far stronger application would be one that involves a paid job offer in Canada (and approved LMIA from her employer) that is strongly aligned to her previous education and work experience.

Ultimately you're only thinking of going the camp counsellor route because she hasn't been approved for a TRV. Her primary reason for trying to get to Canada is to be with you - not to work as a camp counsellor (this job is secondary and a means to an end). You've said yourself this is a last resort. This is how it's going to look to IRCC as well and why the chances of refusal are going to be very high (IMO).

What's her actual occupation / educational background? Any chance of securing a real job offer?

 

[Ramsickle]

IMO it will be very challenging to get a visa approved for the camp counsellor job given the two previous TRV refusals and the fact you are Canadian. Yes, the two previous TRV refusals have an impact on the work permit. A non-paid camp counsellor work permit via an LMIA exempt route is not a strong application to start with. Given she has two TRV refusals already (and you as her fiance in Canada), I expect IRCC will think she's just trying to find any way possible to get here. What is her profession? Is it related in any way to being a camp counsellor?

If she wants to go the work permit route, a far stronger application would be one that involves a paid job offer in Canada (and approved LMIA from her employer) that is strongly aligned to her previous education and work experience.

Ultimately you're only thinking of going the camp counsellor route because she hasn't been approved for a TRV. Her primary reason for trying to get to Canada is to be with you - not to work as a camp counsellor (this job is secondary and a means to an end). You've said yourself this is a last resort. This is how it's going to look to IRCC as well and why the chances of refusal are going to be very high (IMO).

What's her actual occupation / educational background? Any chance of securing a real job offer?

It was unfortunately the only job offer on the table, she applied to several LMIA approved jobs such as fisheries, farms etc which she was willing to actually work as well and no replies.

Her last job was an Administrative Assistant for a few years with a large company but with COVID came the job loss that unfortunately many faced. She didn't need college for the position either unlike here. Before that was a sewing job and call center.

The person is willing to pay if need be just they don't have a lot of funds for such things so would take more work for them to get factored into their budget. However even as a paid position it's LMIA exempt just due to the nature of the organization and job, camp counselor position as they (IRCC)say it's exempt regardless of paid or not. I have no idea the inner workings except what the IRCC has said and MPs have said which is why I'm here. Their advice was extremely vague.

It's getting harder for me to visit there because there's me and my daughter which already is headache of paperwork each time, and double the cost each time. Only wanted visiting until married but yeah, hasn't gone well. Spousal sponsorship also seems to be ridiculous because they told me I would have to make a bit over 45,000 a year which is not exactly normal in my province, far from it as median here is only 41k so we've been trying to work with what we have and kept it to visiting for as long as needed. If they didn't make this process so hard wouldn't be trying to think of other things, wasn't even planned for her to work here or move here yet until all of this.

One of the denial reasons was she is from a country with a poor economy. Well then take an extra worker here then since we complain about a worker shortage was sort of in thought process. What is your opinion on best route to take? I honestly wish just visiting would have been accepted, would have been cheaper and a lot less stressful.

 

[scylla]

It was unfortunately the only job offer on the table, she applied to several LMIA approved jobs such as fisheries, farms etc which she was willing to actually work as well and no replies.

Her last job was an Administrative Assistant for a few years with a large company but with COVID came the job loss that unfortunately many faced. She didn't need college for the position either unlike here. Before that was a sewing job and call center.

The person is willing to pay if need be just they don't have a lot of funds for such things so would take more work for them to get factored into their budget. However even as a paid position it's LMIA exempt just due to the nature of the organization and job, camp counselor position as they (IRCC)say it's exempt regardless of paid or not. I have no idea the inner workings except what the IRCC has said and MPs have said which is why I'm here. Their advice was extremely vague.

It's getting harder for me to visit there because there's me and my daughter which already is headache of paperwork each time, and double the cost each time. Only wanted visiting until married but yeah, hasn't gone well. Spousal sponsorship also seems to be ridiculous because they told me I would have to make a bit over 45,000 a year which is not exactly normal in my province, far from it as median here is only 41k so we've been trying to work with what we have and kept it to visiting for as long as needed. If they didn't make this process so hard wouldn't be trying to think of other things, wasn't even planned for her to work here or move here yet until all of this.

One of the denial reasons was she is from a country with a poor economy. Well then take an extra worker here then since we complain about a worker shortage was sort of in thought process. What is your opinion on best route to take? I honestly wish just visiting would have been accepted, would have been cheaper and a lot less stressful.

So a few things...

- There is no minimum income to sponsor a spouse, you just can't be on social assistance or bankrupt. Whoever told you that you needed to be making at least $45K a year doesn't know what they are talking about and doesn't understand basic immigration rules. Don't take any further advice from them. They have no clue and are giving you very bad advice. As soon as you are either married or common law (i.e. have lived together continuously for at least one full year), you can sponsor her regardless of your income.

- Your best route is to get married asap and sponsor her for PR as your spouse. All other routes (e.g. work permit, TRV) will be challenging since she lacks ties to her home country and it's probably quite clear by now to IRCC that she wants to come here and say long term. Based on her background information, I don't thinks he will be successful at qualifying for PR on her own through an economic immigration stream (plus some of those streams are on hold). Get married and go for spousal sponsorship.

- I personally don't think the work permit as a camp counsellor has any real chance of succeeding. She already has two refused TRVs, a fiance in Canada, she is unemployed and has low ties to her how country, etc. IMO it's going to be quite obvious to IRCC that she's trying to use this as a way to get to Canada to be with you. You are of course free to try.

 

[Ramsickle]

So a few things...

- There is no minimum income to sponsor a spouse, you just can't be on social assistance or bankrupt. Whoever told you that you needed to be making at least $45K a year doesn't know what they are talking about and doesn't understand basic immigration rules. Don't take any further advice from them. They have no clue and are giving you very bad advice. As soon as you are either married or common law (i.e. have lived together continuously for at least one full year), you can sponsor her regardless of your income.

- Your best route is to get married asap and sponsor her for PR as your spouse. All other routes (e.g. work permit, TRV) will be challenging since she lacks ties to her home country and it's probably quite clear by now to IRCC that she wants to come here and say long term. Based on her background information, I don't thinks he will be successful at qualifying for PR on her own through an economic immigration stream (plus some of those streams are on hold). Get married and go for spousal sponsorship.

- I personally don't think the work permit as a camp counsellor has any real chance of succeeding. She already has two refused TRVs, a fiance in Canada, she is unemployed and has low ties to her how country, etc. IMO it's going to be quite obvious to IRCC that she's trying to use this as a way to get to Canada to be with you. You are of course free to try.

Thank you for this insightful response, the person who told me was my local MP who contacted IRCC for me as the phone lines said they weren't taking phone calls. Politicians for you I guess.

Wanted to avoid her being here permanently at this time as her mother isn't doing so well so wanted it to be short term so is something I will have to discuss with her, might have to go there and get married, stay there for awhile until her mother is better, then apply for sponsorship after that possibly.

What are all the requirements of Spousal sponsorship? I understand no income assistance and cannot be in bankruptcy or have to be discharged if you were, I guess my MP wasn't honest with me or his IRCC contact wasn't. I know our immigration stream is the Atlantic Immigration Pilot which is one second on hold, and the next it's not so I don't see it as a stable method on a normal day anyway.

Really seems backwards that we were honest upfront about everything but turned down, I am assuming that unfortunately due to people overstaying it impacted others applications in the long run? She was going to leave after her visit, even had a return ticket although now refunded due to the denial. Yes we let them know she had a fiancé here, let them know she was visiting here, and that she was returning home afterwards. I thought it would have been better to be honest with them but maybe we initially should have left some of it out then. At least t he biometrics are good for 10 years so won't have to do that again.

Guess I'll have to look into longer term stay in Philippines requirements next as my Canadian Passport only lets me stay visa free for up a month (I think). That is going to be a lot of paperwork as my daughter would have to go to, and despite being full custody airports seem to second guess a father with custody and no mobility restrictions. Guess court order stating as such is something I probably should bring.

So guess that leaves the question of requirements of spousal sponsorship you are aware of, how hard that route is to take, and how long it takes?

I want to add I really appreciate you taking the time to respond, immigration organizations here locally didn't want to consult on anything unless she was already here, not even for advice.

 

[scylla]

Thank you for this insightful response, the person who told me was my local MP who contacted IRCC for me as the phone lines said they weren't taking phone calls. Politicians for you I guess.

Wanted to avoid her being here permanently at this time as her mother isn't doing so well so wanted it to be short term so is something I will have to discuss with her, might have to go there and get married, stay there for awhile until her mother is better, then apply for sponsorship after that possibly.

What are all the requirements of Spousal sponsorship? I understand no income assistance and cannot be in bankruptcy or have to be discharged if you were, I guess my MP wasn't honest with me or his IRCC contact wasn't. I know our immigration stream is the Atlantic Immigration Pilot which is one second on hold, and the next it's not so I don't see it as a stable method on a normal day anyway.

Really seems backwards that we were honest upfront about everything but turned down, I am assuming that unfortunately due to people overstaying it impacted others applications in the long run? She was going to leave after her visit, even had a return ticket although now refunded due to the denial. Yes we let them know she had a fiancé here, let them know she was visiting here, and that she was returning home afterwards. I thought it would have been better to be honest with them but maybe we initially should have left some of it out then. At least t he biometrics are good for 10 years so won't have to do that again.

Guess I'll have to look into longer term stay in Philippines requirements next as my Canadian Passport only lets me stay visa free for up a month (I think). That is going to be a lot of paperwork as my daughter would have to go to, and despite being full custody airports seem to second guess a father with custody and no mobility restrictions. Guess court order stating as such is something I probably should bring.

So guess that leaves the question of requirements of spousal sponsorship you are aware of, how hard that route is to take, and how long it takes?

I want to add I really appreciate you taking the time to respond, immigration organizations here locally didn't want to consult on anything unless she was already here, not even for advice.

MPs aren't immigration experts. It has nothing to do with honestly, IMO. They just don't know and shouldn't be relied on for immigration advice. As for the IRCC call centre, it's good for basic questions but not much beyond that. The MP likely asked the question the wrong way, or misunderstood the information that was provided, or was potentially given bad info. Regardless, there are no income requirements to sponsor a spouse.

The spousal sponsorship process will likely take around a year. So not short unfortunately. Information on all of the forms can be found in the link below. It's a bit of an involved process but most of us here have done it ourselves without any help from lawyer or consultants. FYI - Discussions about spousal sponsorship are in the Family Sponsorship section of the forum.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...mily-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children.html

Local immigration organizations are really there to help refugees and others who are already in Canada (and generally in bad situations). If you want advice / help beyond asking questions here, then you'll need to hire and pay for an immigration lawyer or immigration consultant.