Hi David,
My name is XXXXXXXXXX and I am an immigration lawyer in Montreal.
I would greatly appreciate your advice on the following:
My client, Mexican citizen, has been working (illegally) in the U.S. for the last eight years.
He now wants to apply for PR in Canada (skilled worker category). He is very well qualified but I’m wondering if his work experience will be recognized given that he worked without obtaining a work permit in the U.S. (although he has paid his taxes and social security).
Would this be considered committing an “act” outside Canada and therefore render him inadmissible to Canada? Have you had similar cases before?
Thanking you in advance for your time.
Kindest regards,
xxxxxxxxx Attorney at law
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david ingram replies:
I am not a lawyer and not a member of CSIC. Although I have graduated from the UBC / Seneca College Immigration Practitioners course and was grandfathered into CSIC, I chose to drop my enrollment.
To my knowledge, his illegal work in the USA will not stop his acceptance in Canada. I can think of a dozen individuals i know (one from Sri Lanka and the rest from India) who came to Canada while working illegally in the USA.
No guarantees but I do not personally know of anyone who was stopped because of their illegal job in the USA.
However, note that I am talking the Canadian experience. I have no experience whatsoever with the Quebec system so Quebec could take a conmpletely different attitude to the situation.
Someone who you should talk to is Richard Kurland. If anyone knows what is going on in this area, it would be Richard- His Montreal Number is (514) 288-5252. He really never answers the phone so you have to leave a message but his irreverance for the asystem makes him a joy to talk to and deal with if you can get him interested.. His Vancouver Phone number is (604) 688-6583 - His fax is (604) 689-1327 and his email is [email protected] - He is also the former National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association.
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