I want to apply for Canadian PR. However I am in a predicament as to
where I should apply from - US(country of residence), India (My
country of Origin).Here is my background.
I came to US on a student Visa in Fall'95, finished School(BS) in
September'99. Worked under the Practical Training from October'99 to
May'01. Iwas on J1 visa, so I am allowed 18 months of Practical
Training after school. And then I was to sstart school in Fall'01 for
my MS. And I wanted to move to Canada, so I applied for a job, got
ajob offer from a canadian company. I applied for the work permit
under the IT fast track process. Called for interview on September 4th
2001 , and the interviewing lady asked me to show proof of work permit
for the Work I did from October'99 to March'01. I showed her the proof
of my work permit. She was satisfied. The she said you only have 18
months of full time work experience and that I needed 2 years to
qualify under the fast track process. I explained to her that I worked
as intern before to that, and that experience amounts to more than 2
years of full time and Ihad all the necessary documentation. She was
not satisfied with it really. THen she started accusing me that I am
out of status in the US. I told her I am not since I will be starting
my MS in a week. She said show me your I-20 for the MS. Ofcourse I
didnt have it with me then. I didnt think I was gona be asked that.
But anyways, she said on these 2 grounds - not being able to show I-20
and that I only have 15 months of full time experience, I was denied
the work permit.
I started my MS in Fall'01 in the US and scheduled to complete in
December of this year. My I-20 is valid until December 31st,2003 and I
have maintained my legal status in the US until this Fall semester (my
last semester). They have new rules with the new INS SEVIS systems,
and because of not registering in time (& $$ issues), I was out of
status this semester. I can only finish my Thesis next semester,,
which is until May'04. My school advised me to apply for
reinstatement., and the chances are .01% considering the new INS
regulations. So I most likely will be denied. I will be applying for
the reinstatement in the last week of December. And ofcourse I have no
intention of leaving US until I finish my masters, which can happen
anywhere between now and May. I know I am out of status, I unerstand
that can be cosidered as ILLEGAL or SIN by some folks, but what can I
say, I am not about to throw away my MS degree. And I dont intend to
stay in the US a day longer than neccessary to complete my MS.
I will finish my MS by May at the latest, and I will pack my bags and
leave for India. I already have a tentative job offer from a US
Engineering company's branch in India. But the first thing I want to
do aafter I reach India is apply for Canadian PR. So i am trying to
prepare myself. I have 67 marks.
Here are my questions.
1) SHould I wait and apply for my PR when I go to India instead of
applying right now. I really would like to apply now because I am
kinda worried if they increase the pass mark, I may not be qualified.
2)Mmy out of status issue, should that be mentioned to the Canadian
Immigration in my application for my PR? I am worried about the period
from December 30, 2003 to May 2004 when I will have no valid I-20. I
have valid I-20 upto December 30, 2003. How should I handle this.
3)My earlier work permit refusal at the NY canadian Consulate. I am
required to mention that in the application. Will that count
negatively towards my PR application? I still dont know the real
reason why she refused me the work permit.
4)It has always been my desire to Immigrate to Canada. That was one
reason why I looked for job in canada (and not a H1), and at that time
I thought that was the quickest way to go to canada via the Work
permit route, and then apply for the PR once inside. Obviously that
didnt work out. Now in my application, should I include the job offer
letter from back then July'01 to get some brownie points from the
Immigration officer?
Sorry about the looooong rat, Ihope it was interesting :) I would very
much appreciate your comments.
Thanks
Skilled EE :) |