WFP: Applicant Sues Imm Consultant
The Winnipeg Free Press (WFP) has recently posted an article regarding a frustrating, and common, situation involving an MPNP applicant. CIL is not involved in this matter and we have never represented either the worker or the employer. WFP contacted CIL for a legal opinion and commentary on this mess. As reported:
Gill applied to the provincial program and got an acknowledgement of the application in September 2022, then applied for a work permit — but he alleges Jasra failed to pay a standard compliance fee of $230, and his work permit was refused two weeks later.
The immigration consultant submitted a request for a new support letter from the provincial program and a new work permit application to restore Gill’s status as a legal worker in the country, the lawsuit alleged.
Gill said the consultant told him he could continue to work while the federal government considered his application.
Winnipeg immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke told the Free Press that is incorrect.
Indeed, based on the evidence provided, when the applicant received the refusal letter from IRCC, he lost his status as a worker and he was required to immediately stop working. Any work done after the IRCC refusal letter would be unauthorized work and could lead to disciplinary action by CBSA.
As noted by WFP, we have handled many of these situations and we do our best to fix the mess.
While Gill — his employment and potential immigration status in the balance — seeks damages in court, Clarke said he gets an almost identical case every month.
“Unfortunately, this is very common. I deal with many, many of these situations,” said Clarke, who is not involved in Gill’s case.
“In terms of this particular work permit, and agents or immigration consultants not properly submitting the requested documents, we have seen it many, many times.”
CIL dealt with another matter and we were able to help the worker. Recently, Alastair Clarke went to POE Emerson with another worker in a similar situation. In that case, the representative also told the worker that his Work Permit had been submitted, when in fact, it had not. The representative completely lied to her client.
Alastair Clarke spent many hours at POE Emerson with our client, explaining the situation to the Officer. Based on the working without authorization, our client was given a TRP and a WP.
Our client is now back on track to get PR status, despite the mistakes of his former representative.
