Thai Girlfriend in Canada

[TSpence]

I met my Thai girlfriend in Canada, she is over here on a work visa, specifically designated to one employer. We have been going out 6 months now and things are going very well. She is a nanny for a couple in the town I live and get to see her often enough after her shifts. At the start the family was very welcoming and things were great, it was looking like she could get her PR after working with this couple for 2 years. However things have seemed to change. For whatever reason she has figured out she will need to extend something in order to get PR. Her boss will not help her with the document. Not only that but they have become increasingly controlling. Telling her she can't leave certain days without pay or be home at certain hours even if she isn't working. It seems there relationship is deteriorating. So that being said I don't see a reason for her to stay with this family if she can't even obtain PR through them in the end which is the goal. We are not ready to Marry and won't just for the reason of PR. Like I said things are going very well but it has only been 6 months and I personally feel this isn't enough time to jump into a marriage. I would allow her to move in with me in the meantime and carry out a job of whatever she liked to finish off her stay but she says that her visa only allows the employer she is currently working for. My question I guess is what is our options. Can she re-apply while in Canada to work under someone else. How long might something like that take. Are there any options for me sponsoring her without marriage? I am financially secure and fine with her living with me. As well any tips on dealing with the family she is with. She is a nanny but has hours like anyone else. Do they have the right to tell her to stay at the house without paying her or giving her a curfew without any money involved. She is constantly forced to work overtime without any pay. For example the family will go visit the grandparents for her last hour of shift. They will stay for 3 - 4 hours at grandparents way out in the country and she will only get paid for the one hour but has no way to leave or get out of working until the family takes her home. They have also increased her work load to cleaning farm equipment and training the horses. All this is not the end of the world and my gf deals with it quite well but as any Canadian citizen is entitled to workers rights you would think the same applies to our visiting workers as well. Please if you have any insight on the VISA that would be great and people with workers rights knowledge your comments would be greatly appreciated as well.

[seedy]

As you are Canadian, as I am, and in Canada, the relevant Gov't websites will have all the info you need.

Labor relations with the working conditions.

Immigration with the PR.

AFAIK you must apply while she is out of Canada. Have had friends go down this road. Be prepared for a long wait.

Good luck.

[ToddWeston]

As posted above contact Immigration in Canada, she will be given a window to find new employment.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=223&t=4

One word of caution if she decides to move to another Province I believe under the skilled worker programme and live in caregiver programme she may have a waiting period for her new health card - so best to stay in your Province.

Best of luck.

Edit: We applied many moons ago for the PR card in Buffalo, trust me on this one, go the day before rest and then prepare for the longest day of your life from PR card to Oath 4 years had some issues as we travelled a lot out of country and that time abroad is deducted.

Edited April 5, 2014 by ToddWeston

[seedy]

Hey Todd - from the Rock I see !!!

[ToddWeston]

Hey Todd - from the Rock I see !!!

Why do you think we spent a lot of time out of country 55555 it's a wonderful place to be ..... from

Seriously though, the PR process is painless, it just takes a long time. Once she's granted PR status she's in.

OP there are thousands of caregivers who I'm sure are in the same situation, find her new employment, look on Kijiji and a few other job boards. Canada really does a good job providing information and protection to new Canadians and workers. In our previous life we had a caregiver for a family member and also hired a few people under the skilled worker programme it works really well.

[TSpence]

Finding another job is not going to be hard, we live in a city where there is no shortage. Problem with that is her current visa only allows her to be under the employer she currently works for. I would rather her not have to leave the country just to re-apply. I do think she is the one for me so PR not too concerned how long it takes. She apparently won't be getting PR through her employer so if it doesn't work out with us then she will be leaving the country regardless. I wish these things were not so difficult, you would think once she is here she wouldn't be forced to work for one employer or leave. It could only lead to taking advantage of your employee like the situation is here. My way or the highway sort to speak. Anyways thank you for your comments I will have to read through the overwhelming amount and not so clear forms listed in the cic.gc link to see if there is some sort of loophole we can hop through.

[seedy]

If you go down the road of filing against her employer thru labour relations, I think she will not be made to leave immediately. But check to be sure. Not her fault she was sponsored by a bunch of a**holes.

If she has a record of the hours she worked over what she contracted for, and the dates, they should listen.

But check it out before you do it - in a case like this once you pull the trigger there ain' t no way to pull it back !!

[TSpence]

Good news there is some light at the end of the tunnel, Thanks for the link Todd, I was a bit wary of the cic link because I dabbled in it before and got lost in piles of forms that didn't weren't exactly straight forward. It clearly explained her rights all I have to get a hold of is her conditions of employment. I'm sure washing farm equipment wasn't part of the initial agreement for care giver employment. She cannot be punished if she chooses to raise issues with the labour board. Meaning pull the trigger as many times as you please within reason. Everyone has the right to protect their rights in this country as you would hope.Further more she is allowed to re-apply for a work permit without leaving given her current situation and the online application only takes 2 weeks to process! If anyone reading this is in an abusive situation they will fast track you into another job but this isn't her situation fortunately. She had told me 4 months but that's only if she was too apply in Thailand. Now that she is here the process is much easier. Obviously she is not the only one in this situation and they made it easy enough to switch it up based on getting unlucky working for overbearing controlling a** holes as seedy put it. I really appreciate both your comments and taking the time to help out. Great news for us, cheers gentleman thanks again

[seedy]

No Sweat. Good Luck.

[ToddWeston]

Good luck, I hope she's able to get out of that situation quickly, as I said CIC do some things right. They know this programme is a stepping stone to citizenship and she should be afforded the same rights as all Canadians and rightly so, and shame on the employer for taking advantage.