One of my blog readers, who is interested to immigrate to Canada, sent me an email asking my opinion about the email she received offering to process her work permit to work in Canada. She is actively looking for opportunities to live and work in Canada so she is not surprised to receive an email from Canada. However, she wanted to be sure and thus, sent me an email.
Here's the email she received.
Dear [name withheld],
With the receipt of a provisional offer of employment letter in Canada,I have been contacted to apply on your behalf for a work permit with the Citizenship and Immigration Canada, United Kingdom, has been contacted to hasten your process of obtaining a permit. The process for obtaining a Canadian Work Permit consists of 3 distinct stages;
1. Obtain an offer of employment from a Canadian Employer
2. The Canadian employer must then apply for an LMO (Labour Market Opinion)
3. You then apply for the work permit through CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada).Which is what we are about to hasten.
Being in Canada on a work permit makes applying for permanent residency through the skilled migration route much faster and simpler.
I have been mandated to hasten your process as a skilled worker under the non regulated occupations. We shall provide you with a work permit and eventually assist with obtaining a permanent residency.You are to confirm your readiness to follow the process by providing these details:
Complete name;
Date of birth;
Address and Telephone number;
Your relationship to the person being invited; Employer
The purpose of the trip; Work
You are to also send a scanned copy of a passport photograph,
Your Full Mailing Details
We already have details of your accommodation and living expenses. You will also be required to make the administrative payment of $730.00 USD, for us to file for your papers with the CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) .Since you already meet the basic requirements; I will make your arrival stress free. In your reply, provide the details as requested above as well as inform us when you are to make the payments for us to commence, so I can provide you with payment details. As soon as i get the permit, which takes a maximum of 2 weeks, i shall courier same to you, for your trip.
I shall expect to hear from you.Any details are importat and should be adhered to the latter.
Sincerely,
Jessica Wilfred
+44 703 197 2891
The first time I saw the email, based on how it was constructed, I easily suspected that it's just one of those online scams.
1. My blog reader told me that her would be employer is the Linxus Royal Hotels in Canada. I searched for information about the hotel and didn't find any.
2. It was mentioned on the email that the work permit will processed at Citizenship and Immigration Canada - United Kingdom. My blog reader is a Filipino citizen presently residing in the Philippines. It is not possible to process her work permit at Canada High Commission in London. You may process your work permit application at Canada High Commission in London only if:
You are a citizen of Channel Islands, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Norway, Sweden or United Kingdom, or You have been legally admitted to one of the countries listed above.
3. According to the email, processing of work permit takes a maximum of 2 weeks and that the email sender was tasked to hasten the process. The average processing times for work permit application in Visa Office in London is 6 weeks. And there is in fact an important notice posted at their official website:
Our visa office receives many applications each day. Applications are processed in the order in which they are received. We cannot expedite applications.
I wonder how they can hasten the process and get the work permit in two weeks.
So there. I think it is just a scam similar to that of Omni Hotel Scam. The rule of thumb here is if the job offer is too good to be true, there is a great chance that it is not true. Especially those who promise a guaranteed visa. To find jobs in Canada, here's an alternative application process.
