Employers can apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) before a temporary foreign worker has been identified.

The LMO application without the foreign workers identified will be assessed in accordance with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program requirements, including robust recruitment efforts and meeting minimum advertising requirements. Employers issued with an “Unnamed Labour Market Opinion Confirmation” letter have six months to identify any temporary foreign worker and have them apply for a work permit.   Employers can apply for an “Unnamed Labour Market Opinion Confirmation” letter for one or more positions.

Note the official LMO confirmation letter will maintain the same expiry date as the “Unnamed Labour Market Opinion Confirmation” letter, and the foreign worker will be required to apply for a work permit before the expiry date on the letter.

With an Unnamed LMO, employers must continue their efforts to recruit Canadians and permanent residents to fill the position(s) indicated on the LMO application until they have selected the temporary foreign workers.

For more information on this or other Canadian or US immigration matters, please contact the Bomza Law Group – Immigration Lawyers at 1-800-993-9971 or info@bomzalawgroup.com.

To qualify for an L-1A, you must have worked for a company outside of the U.S. for at least one consecutive year within the last three years in a managerial or executive position. Also, you must be transferring to an office in the U.S. that has a “qualifying relationship” with the company located outside of the U.S. (a qualifying relationship means the non-U.S. and U.S. offices have a parent-subsidiary relationship, are affiliates, have a branch office relationship, or are joint venture partners).

If the office in the U.S. the you will be transferring to has been in operation for at least one year, you can obtain a three year term for your L-1A. Prior to the expiration of your three year term, you can extend your L-1A for an additional three years, then for an additional one year. Therefore, the total amount of time you can stay in the U.S. as an L-1A is seven years. Once you have been in the U.S. on an L-A for a total of seven years, you will have to wait one year before you can apply for an L-1 again.

To qualify for an L-1B, you must have worked for a company outside of the U.S. for at least one consecutive year within the last three years in a position that requires specialized knowledge (i.e. company specific knowledge of the business’ products, services, processes, procedures, etc.). Also, as is the case with the L-1A classification, you must be transferring to an office in the U.S. that has a “qualifying relationship” with the company located outside of the United States.

If the office in the U.S. the you will be transferring to has been in operation for at least one year, you can obtain a three year term for your L-1B. Prior to the expiration of your three year status, you can extend the L-1B for an additional two years. Therefore, the total amount of time you can stay in the U.S. on an L-1B is five years. Once you have been in the U.S. on an L-1B for a total of five years, you will have to wait one year before you can apply for an L-1 again.

There is an exception to the above rules pertaining to the duration of one’s L-1 status. If you spend no more than six months in the U.S. as on L-1 each year, you can renew your L-1 indefinitely in one to three year increments, and without any restrictions on duration, as long as you refrain from being in the U.S. in L-1 status for more than six months in any given year.

For more information on this or other Canadian or US immigration matters, please contact the Bomza Law Group – Immigration Lawyers at 1-800-993-9971 or info@bomzalawgroup.com.

In general, Canadian citizens are permitted to visit the United States. However, when attempting to visit the U.S., Canadians are not guaranteed entry. Under U.S. immigration law, if one wishes to enter the U.S. as a visitor, he or she must have nonimmigrant intent (i.e. the intent to return to their home country). If a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officer suspects that a visitor has immigrant intent (i.e. the intent to live in the U.S.), they will not let the traveler enter the United States.

It is also important to note that one cannot live in the U.S., or intend to live in the U.S., without proper documentation.  Individuals who enter the U.S. as visitors, but in fact intend on living in the U.S., will be denied entry by a CBP officer.

Whether or not someone attempting to visit the U.S. has the required nonimmigrant intent, or the prohibited immigrant intent, is a discretionary determination made by a CBP officer at a clearance point. In making such a decision, a CBP officer will determine whether the prospective visitor’s ties to the U.S. suggest that he or she intends on living in the U.S., or is in fact already living in the United States. For example, some common situations where a visitor is suspected of having immigrant intent are as follows:

Visitor frequently enters the U.S. and spends months in the U.S. upon each visit;

• The visitor never stays in the U.S. for more than 6 consecutive months, but does stay in the U.S. for more than 6 months within a year in the aggregate;
• The visitor stays with his/her American citizen spouse for frequent and extended visit; and
• The visitor is not employed in his/her home country, and/or does not have any significant ties to his/her own country.

For more information on this or other Canadian or US immigration matters, please contact the Bomza Law Group – Immigration Lawyers at 1-800-993-9971 or info@bomzalawgroup.com.

The BC PNP’s International Post-Graduates Pilot Project for Permanent Residence has been extended until July 31, 2013.  This pilot project aims to support BC’s universities in attracting top students from around the world and to help retain these highly qualified workers in the provincial workforce.

International graduates from an eligible masters or doctorate program in the natural, applied and health sciences have a history of strong success finding employment following their studies, making substantial contributions to key sectors such as technology and health services and help address critical skills shortages in BC.

An application must be received by the BC PNP within two years of the date shown on the final official transcript.  Nominee Applicants must satisfy the BC PNP of their intention to settle in BC once they obtain permanent resident status in Canada.

The short-term extension will allow the BC PNP to complete a review of the pilot project and assess outcomes.  Applications under this pilot project may be submitted until the 31^st of July 2013.

For more information on this or other Canadian or US immigration matters, please contact the Bomza Law Group – Immigration Lawyers at 1-800-993-9971 or info@bomzalawgroup.com.

On June 8, 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada published proposed regulatory changes which impose new conditions on employers of temporary foreign workers and significantly expand the inspection authority of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (“HRSDC”) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) officials for the purpose of verifying compliance with those conditions.

Among other things, the proposed changes would allow HRSDC and CIC officials to search the premises of any business employing foreign workers, in order to investigate whether the information provided by the employer at the time of an LMO request or work permit application was accurate, and whether the employer complies with the conditions imposed on them during the period of employment of temporary foreign workers.  In carrying out these on-site inspections, officials would have the authority to ask the employer and any person employed by the employer any relevant questions and to require from the employer, for examination, any documents found in the premises. Except where the business premises is a private dwelling, searches could be conducted without a warrant.

Under the proposed regulatory changes, inspections could be triggered if:

• There is reason to suspect that the employer is not complying or has not complied with any conditions imposed;
• The employer has not complied with the conditions in the past; or
• The employer is chosen for random verification of compliance with the conditions

CIC and HRSDC would have the authority to conduct an inspection at any time during and up to six years after the employment of a Temporary Foreign Worker.  This represents a significant extension of the current, two year compliance verification period.

The proposed regulatory changes would also impose the following conditions on employers of temporary foreign workers on both LMO-based and LMO-exempt work permits:

• The employer must be actively engaged in the business in respect of which the offer of employment was made;
• The employer must comply with the federal and provincial laws that regulate employment and the recruiting of employees in the province in which the temporary foreign worker works;
• The employer must provide a temporary foreign worker with employment in the same occupation as that set out in his or her offer of employment and with wages and working conditions that are substantially the same as — but not less favourable than — those in the offer;
• The employer must make reasonable efforts to provide temporary foreign workers with a work place that is free of abuse, including physical, sexual, psychological and financial abuse;
• The employer must not be convicted of an offence of human trafficking under the IRPA; and
• The employer must not be convicted, or discharged, under the Criminal Code of any of a number of designated offences involving human trafficking or assault or abuse of an employee, or convicted outside Canada of an offence that would constitute one of the designated offences, if committed in Canada.

In addition, where an LMO is issued, depending on the specific LMO and the conditions agreed upon between the employer and HRSDC prior to LMO issuance, employers could be subject to, and required to show compliance with, the following conditions:

Employers must ensure that the employment of the foreign national will result in direct job creation or job retention for Canadian citizens or permanent residents, if that was one of the factors that led to the issuance of the LMO and subsequent work permit;

• Employers must ensure that the employment of the foreign national will result in the development or transfer of skills and knowledge for the benefit of Canadian citizens or permanent residents, if that was one of the factors that led to the issuance of the LMO and subsequent work permit;
• Employers must make reasonable efforts to hire or train, or hire or train, Canadian citizens or permanent residents, if that was one of the factors that led to the issuance of the LMO and subsequent work permit.

Consultations with respect to the proposed regulatory changes are currently ongoing.  We will continue to monitor the development of the proposed changes and provide updates as additional information becomes available.

For more information on this or other Canadian or US immigration matters, please contact the Bomza Law Group – Immigration Lawyers at 1-800-993-9971 or info@bomzalawgroup.com.

It is commonplace for Canadians to visit the United States. In fact, in general, Canadians are permitted to reside in the U.S. as a visitor for up to 6 consecutive months. However, if a Canadian visitor stays in the U.S. for more than 6 months consecutive months, the visitor would be “unlawfully present”, which means the visitor could be deported from the U.S., or precluded from entering the U.S. for a period of time prescribed by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officer.

There are also instances where a Canadian visitor’s duration in and/or frequency of travel to the U.S. will result in them being denied entry into the United States by a CBP officer. For instance, if a Canadian frequently visits the U.S., and resides in the U.S. for more than 6 nonconsecutive months in a year, there is a chance the visitor will be denied entry into the United States. In this case, even though a CBP officer would not be able to render the visitor inadmissible (i.e. prohibited from entering the U.S.) for being unlawfully present in the U.S., an officer could assume that, in light of the visitor’s frequency of travel to the U.S., and/or duration of stay in the U.S., the visitor is effectively living in the U.S. rather than merely visiting, and deny the visitor’s entry on such grounds.

For more information on this or other Canadian or US immigration matters, please contact the Bomza Law Group – Immigration Lawyers at 1-800-993-9971 or info@bomzalawgroup.com.