If you are employed in Canada on a work permit under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), you may be required to extend your work permit at some point. This article will discuss why you need an extension and how to handle it.
To prolong your TFWP work permit, carry out the following stages:
- Check qualification measures to specify that you are qualified.
- Check the expiry date of your passport
- Make sure your employer possesses a favorable or neutral LMIA
- Present your request
This article will check all the stages required to continue your TFWP work permit.
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Who Is Qualified To Extend A Work Permit Under The TFWP
Work permits are only valid for a restricted duration, so if you desire to stay in Canada and work beyond the expiration date, you will need to apply for an extension.
Because Temporary Foreign Worker Permits are closed work permits, you may as well be required to modify the requirements of your TFWP work permit, like:
- Your present employment changes, such as in pay or duties.
- You have been provided with new employment by your present employer.
- A different employer has employed you to apply for an extension of your work permit before your permit expires. If you stay in Canada, you will gain from maintained status, which means you will be lawfully allowed to continue working under the exact requirements as your existing work permit from the period that IRCC gets your request until the period they make a judgment on your request.
Maintained status only enables you to get employed under the requirements of your existing permit, so you cannot begin new employment on a Temporary Foreign Worker Permit until after you have gotten your new permit. IRCC suggests applying for a work permit extension a minimum of 30 days before expiration.
Check The Expiry Date Of Your Passport
Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada commonly denies granting a work permit beyond the expiration date of your passport when making plans to renew your work permit, review the expiration date of your passport to check if there is sufficient time remaining.
If not, apply for a new passport before applying for your work permit.
Make Sure Your Employer Has An LMIA
A work permit under the TFWP often needs a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). For you to prolong your TFWP work permit, your employer must have an LMIA with a favorable or neutral outcome.
You cannot get yourself an LMIA on your own. Your employer must apply to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for an LMIA. LMIAs can most times take months to get, so you are required to speak with your boss concerning the LMIA properly on time.
What LMIAs Will Not Be Processed?
Getting a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is not assured. There are some conditions whereby the national authority will deny running an LMIA request, which include the following:
- Roles above the limit on the proportion of low-income roles.
- Low-income roles in census metropolitan regions with an unemployment rate of 6% or more.
- In-home caregiver roles where there is a live-in condition.
- Any role if you have possessed an LMIA canceled during the past 24 months
- Specific low-income roles in the economic area of Montreal between 3rd September and 3rd March.
Prolong Your Work Permit
When your employer has concluded all the conditions, they must forward you a duplicate of the LMIA authorization letter and employment offer letter, as the two are required to apply for a work permit extension.
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You can then apply to extend your work permit. To do this, generate an online account via the IRCC webpage.
You will be required to:
- Complete the online form
- Upload the relevant documents
- Reimburse the work permit charges
- Reimburse the biometric charges, if needed.
Remember that if you cannot present the request online, you can also present a paper request. Hence, an online request provides several advantages over paper requests.
The advantages involve obtaining a letter stating that you can continue working under the exact requirements of your present work permit. You can also get updates on the status of your request directly via your online account and present more documents online, if necessary.
Documents Needed To Extend Work Permit
When making an application online, you will get a personalized document checklist to go together with your request.
Some documents you are likely to require comprises of:
- An authentic passport
- Copy of the LMIAissued by your employer
- A copy of your employment offer letter
- Evidence of present job
- Other documentation, as demanded
Biometrics (If Relevant)
Under certain conditions, you may be required to provide your biometrics. For instance, a work permit cannot be issued for more than 10 years from when the candidate last provided their biometrics.
If you are required to provide biometrics for this permit, you can do so online. If you are required to offer biometrics, you must reimburse the fee when you apply, wait for your letter of instruction, and schedule an appointment with an official biometrics collection location.
Conditions To Start Working For A New Employer Before Given A New Work Permit
Automatically, Temporary Foreign Workers on closed work permits cannot begin working for a new boss before being provided a new work permit. Hence, because of a temporary public policy presented during the COVID-19 period, it is feasible for TFWs to begin new employment even before being provided with their new work permit.
To do this, employees must satisfy specific measures. Qualified people must present their application for an employer-specific work permit from inside Canada (IMM 5710). When completing the inquiry part of the IRCC web form, they must copy specific text that applies to their condition and attach the code “PPCHANGEWORK2020” when copying and pasting into text form.
Meaning Of A TFWP Work Permit
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) enables international employees to be employed by Canadian employers to complete temporary employment when eligible Canadians are not obtainable. Work permits provided under the TFWP are closed, implying you can only operate for one employer under this work permit.
Canadian employers must obtain a positive Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to employ employees under this program. This document indicates that no Canadian employee or permanent resident can do the job.
