Change Visitor Visa to Work Permit

Change Visitor Visa to Work status

It is common knowledge that Canada suffers from labour shortages. That is why local employers often need to hire workers from abroad. Foreign residents who get a job offer while being in Canada must change their visitor visa to work permit. A visitor visa allows foreigners to stay in Canada for up to six months, while a work permit is a written authorization that allows a person who is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident to work in the country. By the way, it is illegal to work in Canada without the appropriate authorization.

To change a visitor visa to a work visa, you must show the officer in charge that you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Hence, you need to fulfill several prerequisites.

1. You must convince the officer that you will leave Canada at the end of your job offer.
2. You ought to prove that you have enough savings to take care of yourself during your stay in Canada.
3. It is important that you obey the law and can prove you have no criminal record. In some cases, you may be asked to submit a police certificate to change your visitor visa to work permit.
4. You should demonstrate you are not a danger to the security of Canada.
5. You must be in good health and complete a medical examination if it is required.
6. You are ought to provide any additional documents requested by the officer.
7. You must not work for an employer on the List of Ineligible Employers.

The IRPR also includes requirements that aim to protect the rights of foreign workers by ensuring that Canadian employers respect the terms of their job offers. When you apply to change a visitor visa to a work permit, your prospective employer will be evaluated on several factors.

1. The authenticity of the offer of employment.
2. The history of employer’s compliance to the terms of salaries and work conditions outlined in offers of employment to foreign workers hired in the last six years.
3. The obedience of the employer with Federal, Provincial or Territorial Laws.

If the employer has not complied with previous commitments, they may be ineligible to hire foreign workers for two years, and your application to change visitor visa to work permit can be refused.

The first step to change visitor visa to work visa is to prepare the documents that are listed on the IMM 5556 Document Checklist. Hence, you should submit the following documents.

1. A copy of the LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) and a copy of your job offer letter from your prospective employer. An LMIA is a document that proves that your employment has a neutral or positive impact on the labour market in Canada. If you are eligible to apply for an LMIA-exempt open work permit, you need to provide a number of your offer of employment. You can find the LMIA exemption categories on the official web page of IRCC.
2. Proof that you meet the job requirements.
3. If you are going to work in the province of Quebec, you need to submit a copy of the Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (CAQ) issued by the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI).

To change a visitor visa to work visa, you also need to complete several forms.

1. IMM 5710 also known as the Application to Change Conditions or Extend Your Stay in Canada.
2. IMM 5556 (Document Checklist).
3. IMM 5409 also known ad the Statutory Declaration of Common-law Union, but only if it is required.
4. IMM 5476 (Use of a Representative) if required.
5. IMM 5475 (Authority to release personal information to a designated individual) if required.

When you apply to change a visitor visa to a work permit, you must provide only accurate information since all data you submit is subject to verification. Moreover, you need to complete all sections of the forms. If some sections do not apply to you, you need to write NA or Not Applicable. In case your application package to change visitor visa to work permit is incomplete, it may cause a delay in its processing.

The second step to change visitor visa to work permit is to pay the processing fees. The work permit processing fee includes 155 CAD, but if the foreign resident is eligible to apply for an open work permit, they need to pay 100 CAD in addition. In case the applicant has invalid biometrics, they need to give them and pay the processing fee of 85 CAD.

To pay the fees, you ought to create an IRCC account or sign in to it and complete the payment with the use of a valid credit card. You can pay the fees only online. It is worth mentioning that the fees are not refunded except for the open work permit fee. That is why you need to make sure that you submit the complete application to change the visitor visa to work permit.

The last step is to submit your application to change the visitor visa to a work permit. To apply online, you must sign in to your IRCC account, have access to a scanner to create electronic copies of your documents, upload them, and have a valid credit card to pay the processing fee mentioned above. To apply, you need to make photocopies of the following documents.

1. The copies of your passport pages that show your name and date of birth, the number of your passport, the dates of its issue and expiry, the stamp by the Canadian authority on your most recent entry to the country.
2. A copy of your travel or identity document if you did not use a passport to enter Canada.
3. A copy of your current visitor visa.
4. A copy of the return ticket if you have it.
5. If required, you need to submit a copy of your upfront medical examination.

Once you submit your application to change visitor visa to work permit, the Case Processing Centre will review whether it is complete. If your application is incomplete, you may gather all documents and reapply. However, you need to understand that the Case Processing Centre gets a large number of applications each year. That is why the officers recommend foreign residents to apply to change their visitor visa to work permit at least 30 days before the expiry of their current document.

When your application to change visitor visa to work permit is reviewed, the officer in charge will send you either a work permit, a letter of your application refusal, or a letter informing that your application has been sent to a local Canada Immigration Center for further processing.

In case your application to change visitor visa to work permit is processed by a local office, they may ask you to submit additional information and, if it is needed, invite you to pass an interview. You should keep in mind that it may take from three to five months for the local office to contact you and make a decision on your application to change visitor visa to work permit.

Moreover, an officer may impose conditions when issuing you a work permit. These may include the type of employment in which you may work, the employer for whom you may work, where you may work, and the period of work.

If you want to ensure that your application is processed as fast as possible, you must submit all required information and notify the officer in charge about the contact information changes, such as your mailing address, telephone number, or e-mail address. To see the status of your application to change visitor visa to work permit, you can visit the official web page of IRCC.

 

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