I am planning to initiate discussions with my employer in US (I am on H1B, specialized skill) for a transfer to Canada with an intent to apply for a PR.
Should I request my employer’s Canadian subsidiary to initiate an LMIA based job offer, so that I can then use the job offer points towards by EE profile as a specialized skill worker? It may take slightly longer** but will ensure i can claim job offer points, either this year, or next year (when i have accumulated 1 year experience). Both together should help me clear the cutoff (hopefully).
**Not sure if i qualify for 2 week LMIA processing.
My second option is to just get the ICT (non LMIA) - it is quicker/simpler administratively, but I am not sure if I can claim it as a job offer to get points this year or next year. I have been doing some research on the ICT route to confirm if can get job offer points from it…but i am not getting enough clarity.
Can someone help me please?
Thanks
If your employer is willing to accommodate your request and get you an offer with a labor market assessment that you can use towards your EE profile, that will be your fastest route to getting PR. The main thing here is that there really isn’t any incentive for them to do this (you will need your current or future manager to strongly advocate for you to initiate this).
If you’re not in a rush to get PR and want to move to Canada for moving sake then I’d recommend the other route, with an employer specific work permit. This way you can move to Canada sooner and can apply for PR on your own. You’ll get additional points for Canadian work experience and probably can get a PNP easier based on the province as well. The downside is that you’re tied to your current employer and if things go south for whatever reason then you’re going to be in a pretty tough situation.
Thanks for your reply Panditji!
I have a CRS score of 411 at the moment. With 1 year Canadian work experience, it will go up to 446 which is not enough (considering the cut off trends). Only with a valid job offer, it will go upto 496.
It is all about those 50 extra points.
It is clear that Intra company transfer will be faster and will help me complete my 1 year work ex in Canada quicker. My only worry is if my employer specific work permit (in the 0 category) will give me job offer based points or not (assuming i am able to extend it by an year).
What is your take on that?
Looking at this, they don’t need a LMIA if you work with your employer in Canada for a year. Along with that this lists the conditions for a valid job offer. So your job offer with the Canadian subsidiary of your current employer should be valid for express entry if you’ve been working with them in Canada for a year.
Unfortunately I don’t have firsthand experience with this to be able to provide an authoritative answer as I did my EE directly without a job offer.
Thanks for your help Panditji! I am likely going to need to consult with an immigration attorney to confirm how the ICT job offer works. Appreciate your time and guidance.