Your gateway to Canada

MAKE SURE YOU QUALIFY BEFORE APPLYING FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE

By Atty. Henry Moyal

1. I’m a worker in Canada and recently applied for permanent residence under the new TR to PR Pathway as I finished my one year course in nursing at Seneca College. I did not have my English language test at the time of submission but I have it now. How can I send it to Canada Immigration?

1. I am a little confused. As you know, there are three main streams or types of applications that are under the umbrella of TR to PR Pathway. It appears to me that your stream was the post-secondary education stream. However, the one year program you describe above is not eligible. Second, the instructions clearly indicate to provide the IELTS score at the start, not after. In fact, the instructions clearly indicate that all documents must be submitted at the start except for medical or police clearances which you can show efforts made. My gut feeling is that you did not qualify for the stream and took one of the 40,000 precious spots which could have been given to someone else. I would seriously suggest obtaining professional assistance to look into what you submitted and to rectify the deficiencies, if possible.

1. My consultant filed an application years ago under the Interim Pathway Caregiver program. Time was running out due to submission deadline and the application was submitted with only ten months of work experience. After two years of waiting, we just received a letter stating that my application was refused because I was not eligible. My consultant says he cannot appeal to the court because he is not a lawyer.

What can I do now?

1. You consultant is correct. He is not a lawyer. He does not have a license to practice law and obviously is not qualified to do any immigration work. If you were not eligible at time of submission, then the immigration officer was 100% correct to refuse you. Having a lawyer go to federal court, in my opinion, will not give you the result you want and need. There are other programs that you may be eligible for now as a caregiver, so it is best to explore those options. If you do decide to pursue another application, go to a different consultant ( regardless of what false promises your past consultant makes).

1. I finished a Bachelor degree from York University and I applied for a post graduate work permit. I assumed that the work permit would be issued for 3 years but I only got 13 months. Why so short if I completed a Bachelor degree in Canada?

1. Check the validity of your passport. You are correct that the duration should be 3 years but work permits cannot exceed the date of validity of passport. If your passport will expire soon, extend the passport and then apply for an extension of the post graduate work permit for the balance of 23 months owed to you. Note that these type of permits can only be filed on paper – not online.

1. I’m a Canadian citizen who is in a relationship with a woman in Manila. We were planning on marrying last year but Covid hit. With the quarantine rules, I cannot leave my work in Canada to travel to see her.

We are both legally separated from previous spouses and we want to build a family but it seems like it cannot be advanced due to this pandemic. I know that there is a travel ban and only essential workers can enter Canada. If so, should I get her a work permit to work at a hospital as she is a nurse? How else can she come?

1. You can certainly try to get her a position at a hospital but the hospital would of course need an LMIA ( labour marker assessment). Second, your partner would need to obtain a license as a nurse to practice in Ontario. That is one route. Another route, would be to invite her to visit you on the condition that you have been in an exclusive relationship for one year and spent time together. Those type of relationship are exempt from the current Covid travel ban.

Attorney Henry Moyal is a certified and licensed immigration lawyer in Toronto, Ontario.
The above article is general advice only and is not intended to act as a legal document.
Send questions to Attorney Moyal by email canada@moyal.com or call 416 733 3193