IRCC or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada have recently published guidelines forth field officers to judge eligibility criteria for work permits of the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT). The guidelines include startups, legal clauses for Intra-Company Transfer, status extension, Intra-Company Transfer for the short term projects. With these updates, the immigration process will get more fluent and accurate. The country takes skilled labors from other countries to meet its internal demand for skilled workers.
FTA Intra Company Transfer Application
With the application or implementation of general immigration legislation, Intra-Company Transfer applications are processed. However, a few of the applications are required to be processed with the FTA (Free Trade Agreements). FTAs include the Comprehensive and Progressive Free Trade Agreement (CPTPP), CETA, etc.
Terms of an Intra-Company Transfer work permit which has been processed with Free Trade Agreements do not need to be equal with the general Intra-Company Transfer work permits. For example, the Canada-Peru free trade agreement will allow Intra-Company Transfer work permits after observing only 6 months of employment with foreign affiliates.
The Intracompany Transfers can be of Period upto 7 years
For specialized works, Intra-Company Transfers have been issued for a period of 5 years. The duration becomes 7 years when Intra-Company Transfers have been issued for the managerial workers. If the time has been spent without working, the time beyond the statutory limit can be recaptured. With the introduction of the new guidelines from IRCC, it has been specified that recapture will not be considered when there is no work done for a period which is lesser than the 30 consecutive days.
The Guidelines for the Startups
For startup companies, new guidelines have been rolled out by the IRCC. Intra-Company Transfer applications will be granted for the companies, which possess establish business in Canada. For the startups, Intra-Company Transfers can also be issued, when some additional documents are shown. The business must have a physical presence in Canada, and only then a transfer fee will be applicable.
For the managerial level employees, the allowance has been made. It is expected that such employees would come to Canada, and start business operations. The transfer of the mangers or executives should also be supported by proper documentation.
The timeline for initial work permits for the startups will be one year. For extension of the work permit, the company has to provide all the documents that show the company has performed business activities continuously.
Various Short Term Projects
Foreign companies with a lot of short term projects in Canada may also be issued Intra-Company Transfer work permits for a year, as per the directive of the IRCC guidelines. Previously, there were some restrictions on foreign companies. The new set of guidelines will ease those things to make the work permit easily issued.