Are you a professional caregiver working under the Live-in Caregiver Program? Do you love what you do and can’t imagine leaving Canada? If so, there is a way for you to obtain a Permanent Residency in Canada through the Live-in Caregiver Program. Assuming that you are eligible and can produce a strong application, you will be well on your way to becoming a permanent resident in Canada.
Before applying through the program, you must ensure that you are eligible for it. Firstly, it is important to ensure that you match the Live-in Caregiver definition in Canada. Under section 2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), a live-in caregiver is defined as “a person who resides in and provides child care, senior home support care or care of the disabled without supervision in the private household in Canada where the person being cared for resides”. In simpler terms, this requires that the caregiver provides care to children, seniors, or the disabled in a live-in nature. To be eligible, you must have had specific work experience under the program and have obtained a work permit as a Live-in Caregiver. This involves one of two options: either 24 months of authorized full-time live-in employment or 3900 hours of authorized full-time employment, given that these hours are completed within a minimum of 22 months. If your work experience falls under the second option of 3900 hours, you may also include up to 390 hours of overtime. Another important requirement is that the work experience must be acquired within four years of your date of arrival to Canada. Other eligibility factors include family members; neither you nor your family members may be the subject of a removal order or an admissibility hearing under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) or have any pending judicial review as a result of such hearing.
Prior to calculating your work experience, ensure that the experience you are including was acquired within four years of your arrival to Canada. Next, regardless of which option you choose (either the 24 months or 3900 hours); there are specific parts of your employment you may not be able to include. This involves any period of unemployment; for example, if you were employed for six months, unemployed for one month, but then found a job for another six months, your total would be 12 months rather than 13 months. Another aspect to consider is any extended period of time you spent outside of Canada; if you spent an amount of time longer than the vacation period specified in your employment contract, that time period would not count towards your work experience. Furthermore, if your employer sent you to work outside of Canada or you went on vacation outside of Canada, those time periods would not be applicable. Finally, any time period you spent working as as a Live-in Caregiver while living outside the home of your employer would not count towards your work experience. However, if this is the situation for you and you have work experience as a live-out caregiver, you may apply for permanent residence through other routes such as the Caring for Children or Caring for People with High Medical Needs pathway.
After ensuring that you meet the requirements, you would want to begin applying. In terms of negative impacts, there are two things that can be an issue in your application. The first is if you or family members have a criminal record or serious medical problem. This is to ensure the security and health safety of Canadian society. It is important to note that in this case, family members include your spouse or common-law partner. The second problematic situation in your application would be if you did not provide truthful information about your education, training, or experience when you were applying under the Live-in Caregiver Program. Even if you were ultimately successful and received a Work Permit to come and work in Canada (which you must have done to have the required work experience), this could affect your application to become a Permanent Resident. Other than those two factors, there are no other issues that could affect your application. Specifically, your financial situation, skills upgrading in Canada, volunteer work, marital status, or the number of family members you have in your home country will not influence your application in any way. Keep in mind that this includes positive and negative influences: a declining financial situation will not detract from your application, but a large amount of volunteer work or strong financial situation will not increase your application either. If you are looking to expand your career, you may consider applying for an Open Work Permit. You may do so at the same time you apply for Permanent Resident Status. This Open Work Permit will allow you to take any job you wish, once the permit and PR status has been granted.
All of your family members, including spouses and common-law partners, must be included in your application for Permanent Residency through the Live-in Caregiver Program. This is regardless of whether or not they intend to come to Canada with you. With this application, you and your family members can get permanent resident status at the same time; if you have family members in another country, they will go through the PR process at their nearest visa office. Keep in mind that family members who are not listed on your application will not be able to be sponsored by you at a later date; therefore, if your family members ever intend to move to Canada, ensure that you include their names in your application. Your family members will be assessed by their medical and criminal history – they must pass both screenings. Once they have passed the screenings, you will receive a permanent resident status and your family members will receive immigrant visas from the overseas visa office that processed them.
If you are considering leaving Canada for an extended vacation, you may need to apply for a Temporary Resident Visa before returning. If this is your case, ensure that you do so before travelling and within Canada. Note that if you leave for more than one year or your work permit expires, you will need to reapply to the visa office/center in your home country before you return to Canada. If you intend to leave permanently to your home country, you may do so at any time granted you have given sufficient notice to your employer.
In order to prove that you meet the criteria, you will need to include certain documents in your application. Firstly, you will need to prove your work experience in Canada. Documents to include for this may include a statement of earnings, T4 slips, or other documents you may have received as proof of employment. It is important to ensure that you include documents from all the jobs you have had since your arrival in Canada; if you switched employers, records of employment from each former employer as well as current employer must be submitted.
There is also a fee for the application, which is dependent on the applicant’s situation. Visit the Government website to ensure you are paying the correct fees, and include a letter of receipt or other evidence that your fees have been submitted. Furthermore, if you are employed in Quebec, the province will also assess your application. They may seek additional information, including your knowledge of French. If you are in this situation, it is suggested that you visit the Quebec Immigration website to ensure you qualify. Otherwise, all forms for the PR application are available on the government website. Though there is widespread access to the forms and requirements, compiling a strong application alone simply through the government website can be a difficult and tedious task. If you would like assistance with your application, feel free to call Akrami and Associates, where our team of experienced and dedicated professionals will be more than qualified to help you produce a strong application.
With Akrami and Associates, there is always a way!
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