# California -> Toronto: Work Visa Basics



## tdcush (Nov 19, 2008)

*(Need Help!) California -> Toronto: Work Visa Basics?*

Hello Everyone,

After looking around the forum for some time I was unable to find information that would help me through my current situation. I would love any and all information people may have regarding my situation and *if anyone reading this right now is an American working in Canada I would specifically like to hear your story* as to how your hiring/visa process worked.

_*Here is my story...shortened in hopes people may read it:*_

My fiancée and I just moved up to Toronto from California at the beginning of August. We are both American, but she also has her Canadian citizenship so she is fine up here. While she has started her schooling again I have been looking for work in Toronto (I have a work background in Silicon Valley in Research/Marketing/HR). With that said, I have been trying to find any and all routes for me to be able to stay in Canada for the next two years (that is when her education will finish and we will move back to California) weather through TN/Canadian work visas, permanent residency, or extending my visitor status. The only wrench in the situation is that we are planning to go back to the States for two weeks in December this year and then for a weekend in May of next year, which may cause issues for anything requiring me to not leave the country. That is the basic story.

_*Now my questions...any insight into any of them would be of help:*_

What is the most basic process for being able to work in Canada in terms of visas?

Is there a way for me to extend my visiting status for two years?

If I leave the country for a couple of weeks during my current 6-month stay and then come back to Toronto, will they even let me back in to Canada, and if so, does that give me another 6 months upon re-entry to be here as a visitor?

Is there a web site (other than the CIC) that describes the TN/Canadian Visa process in a simple to read format for both possible employers as well as myself?

Are there professionals that deal with this situation that you could forward me on to in the Toronto area or via a link to their web site?

Can I get visas for Contract work in Toronto, i.e., jobs that require 30-100 hours of work every couple of weeks?

Has anyone here received a TN visa as an American working in Canada, and if so, was it a simple process?

_*And now my thanks...to everyone:*_

Thank you to any and all of you that read this, comment here, or ask a question that I can help answer. Any and all discussion/thought on this topic will hopefully in turn make these situations for people easier to deal with. Hopefully, if my situation concludes in a reasonable manner I will then create a simple web site detailing my process and posting information on USA->Canada working, thus solving my own problem herein.

For those that may have information better served over the phone or via chat, feel free to let me know you are open to discussions outside of this forum.

I wish you all the best. Great web site btw ;-)

Stay well,

Tyler


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## louiseg (Nov 17, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Tyler,

Not sure if there is a basic way to get a work visa, but the quickest way appears to be getting a job offer, and then the employer will need to get a positive labour market opinion, which states that employing you will not negatively affect the local job market. Once you have this you can then apply for a temporary work visa. That way you can live and owrk in Canada for the period of the visa. It may be possible to extend that.

I do not know this firm but their website may hold some additional info for you Skilled Worker Immigration to Canada - Matthew Jeffery, Toronto ON.

The way I understand it, if you leave the country after 6 months you can then come straight back in for another 6 months. Leaving the country for a 2 week vacation will not affect whether you can come back in or not.

Louise


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## tdcush (Nov 19, 2008)

*Thanks!*

Hey Louise,

Thanks for the reply and the information.

In terms of a working here in Toronto with a visa, the best way for me to get a handle on how it actually happens would be to talk with people who are American working up here. Hopefully someone that meets that description will see this and respond. Knowing that there are several types of visas to work here doesn't help the matter either in terms of me trying to figure out what may be best for my situation.

And in terms of leaving and coming back, I hope that your line of thought is the way things are done as I spoke to someone at the CIC (Canada Immigration Centre) and they said it was up to the discretion of the border-people to let you back in or not which sounded rather ominous.

I suppose with everything said the best place to start is by getting a job offer which I hope all these interviews I keep doing will help. But, with that said, I am still unsure as to how to answer possible employer questions like "so, how will it work in terms of visas if we give you a job offer", it all is just rather non-concrete.

If you happen to know of any Americans in this forum that are now working in Canada (perhaps even Toronto) and are not here on a student-visa, please ping them and let them know I could use any type of insight on the subject.

Thank you again for such a nice forum,

Tyler


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