LMIA BASED WORK PERMIT
LMIA
Work permit applications by immigrants are soaring with every passing year in Canada. This paves the way to greater opportunities for immigrants with a valid job offer. To make this possible and help immigrants realize their dream of working in Canada, the government has listed an option of LMIA based work permits for them.
A labor market impact assessment or LMIA enables Canadian employers to hire “Temporary Foreign Worker(TFW)”. LMIA serves as evidence of non-availability of Canadian citizens or permanent residents for specific job that results in raising the opportunities for international employees.
A foreign national is not eligible to apply for an LMIA, rather a Canadian employer is entitled to apply for this document. Although there are cases where the foreign workers are exempted from requiring an LMIA, majorly every stream of Canadian temporary foreign worker program (TFWP) requires the employer to get an LMIA to be able to hire workers from outside Canada.
Application Process
It is a two-step standard process for foreign national to get an LMIA – based work permit :
Step 1 : The employers apply to obtain LMIA for TFW
This step determines whether the job offered to the TFW is a high-wage or a low wage position. To identify this, one need to assure if the income offered is higher or lower than standard provincial median average rate.
Step 2 : The TFW applies for the work permit visa
The recruitment is the part of the second stage of the LMIA application. Here the employer must execute and provide evidence of recruitment efforts made to employ Canadian citizens or permanent residents before offering the positions to a TFW.
LMIA Application Requirements
Unlike online visa applications, LMIA applications are submitted in hard copy via mail to the designated service Canada processing Centre. The applications must contain proof that the below stated eligibility requirements have been met :
- Processing fee : $1000
- Business authenticity documents
- Transition plan
- Recruitment efforts
- wages
- workplace safety