Interim Pathway for Caregivers Immigration Program

What is Interim Pathway for Caregivers?

Interim Pathway for Caregivers is a limited-time program for temporary foreign worker caregivers and their family members. This will be an alternative for people who don’t qualify other permanent residence pathways like Home Child Care Provider or Home Support Worker Pilots.

The Canadian government will occasionally open and accept the application for this program. They have reopened the program from 8 July to 8 October 2019 after the first time open in March 2019. If you haven’t prepared for this time, you can check the IRCC – Program Delivery Updates to receive an official announcement about the next reopen of Interim Pathway for Caregivers.

Requirements / Eligibility

The eligible applicant must meet these 4 requirements:

• Have worker status in Canada
• Have sufficient experience as a home childcare provider, home support worker or combine both.
• Minimum language skills are equivalent to CLB 5 in English or NLCL 5 in French for all 4 skills.
• Have at least a completed Canadian high school diploma (or an equivalent foreign credential)

Besides, the program is only dedicated to the candidates who plan to live in any province or territory but Quebec.

Let’s get to the details to see whether you can meet the IRCC standards for this pathway.

1. Worker status

Before you apply, you should be in one of these categories:

• Have a valid work permit
• Have applied to work permit extension and be waiting on a decision
• Have applied to restore worker status

The Canadian will not only care about your status but also your history. If you are unfortunately have been refused when applied to extend your work permit nor restore worker status then you are unqualified.

In case you have already gotten or applied to extend/restore your work permit in the Live-in Caregiver Program, you aren’t eligible for this program as well. 

Since Interim Pathway for Caregivers is an alternative way to the Permanent Residence, this requirement will support the next criteria about the experience. 

2. Experience

To be qualified, your minimum experience must be 12 months of full-time work with at least 30 hours of paid work per week as a:

• Home child care provider
• Home support worker
• Combination of the two

Your work experience has been gained while working in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. In other words, your employer needed to get a Labour Market Impact Assessment before hiring you. Besides this program, your experience in self-employment or full-time study won’t be included when calculating. 

During the time you work, you can have breaks like sick leave or parental leave. However, the government won’t accept unemployment time, long-term sickness or extended absence from Canada for any reason.

3. Language skills

Your test results need to be still validated and must be less than two years since the time you took the test to prove your level of language efficiency. For English, IRCC will accept results from IELTS (general training test) and CELPIP (general training test). If you choose French then it will be TEF Canada or TCF Canada. To see if you have sufficient language ability, check the tables in this site to learn more: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/caregivers/interim-pathway/language-testing.html

4. Secondary education / High school diploma

You need to submit one of these documents to prove you meet the IRCC requirements:

• A completed Canadian high school diploma
• A completed foreign educational credential and an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report if your educational credential was obtained outside Canada. 

Your ECA report must be issued by a designated organization within less than five years on the date the IRCC receives your application. 

Documents checklist

After self-assessment based on the criteria we have listed above, if you are confident enough to apply for this program, let’s get to work. 

While checking your eligibility, you can also collect and prepare the documents in advance. Proofs for language sufficiency and level of education would need a certain amount of time and may not be ready right away. You should use this checklist to make sure you have prepared all the necessary documents as they require.

After opening the link, you properly can’t see the content because your PDF Reader is not the latest Adobe Reader version. The solution is you need to download the file from the link then install the latest version of Adobe Reader. Finally, open the file on your computer to see the whole content.

Briefly, you would need to prepare personal documents for you and your family members, proofs for language level, experience, and education. You also need to submit photos of you and everyone in your family even if they are not the secondary applicants, all of them must have been taken within six months before you lodge your application. Last but not least is police certificates and clearances. 

Application Process

To be approved to the Interim Pathway for Caregivers program, your journey will walk through a five-step process. Here are a few things you need to pay attention to when you follow the steps.

Step 1: Check your eligibility

Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots were launched on June 18, 2019, to replace the Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs pilots. Check the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC) system for your profession carefully to make sure your experience matches the description by the following instructions:

• Go to the NOC website.
• Enter the four-digit NOC code in the “Quick Search box with home childcare provider is 4411 and home support worker is 4412.
• Read the description and list of main duties to see if it matches what you have done. 

Besides the description, the IRCC emphasizes you must provide in-home care to children under the age of 18. Foster parents are not eligible. Housekeepers and workers in related occupations are not eligible to apply under the Temporary Public Policy for in-Canadian Caregivers.

Step 2: Gather your documents

If you have an equivalent foreign credential, there will be different in time and cost between designated organizations. Check the official websites of each to determine the documentary requirements, what fees are involved and how long the assessment process will take. You can choose from the list below:

• Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
• International Credential Assessment Service of Canada
• World Education Services
• International Qualifications Assessment Service
• International Credential Evaluation Service

Here is the step-to-step instruction if you plan to get an ECA report:

• Contact with the IRCC designated organization to make an arrangement and pay the assessment costs
• The outcome of your ECA report needs to match with at least one of the assessment outcomes identified in Appendix B’s list.
• Submit the original ECA report with your application together with copies of your diplomas/degrees/transcripts form your foreign educational institution.
• You can keep a copy of your ECA report for future use.

Make sure you read the checklist carefully and follow the instructions strictly. Any faults with the documents could make your application be refused as well as affected your permanent residence path.

Step 3: Fill out the forms

You can go to IRCC’s website to download all the necessary forms. They also have instructions for every section in the form.

Step 4: Pay the fee

The cost will be varied depends on the number of applicants, other third party fees including medical exams, biometric, ECA report, language assessment, police certificate,…

You can calculate to see the total amount of fee that needs to be paid. The right of permanent residence fee can pay it later (before you become a permanent resident) but IRCC suggests you pay along with the processing fee to avoid delays.

• Processing fee for you/your spouse or partner: $550 CAD 
• Right of permanent residence fee: $490 CAD
• Dependent Child: $150 CAD
• Biometric fees: $85 CAD/person and $170 CAD for a family from 2 persons

To pay your fees for your application you’ll need a valid email address; access to a printer (you’ll need to print the receipt), and a credit card or Canadian debit card.

Visit the link below and follow these instructions to pay:

• Go to Online Payment.
• Follow the online instructions.
• In the end, click on the print button to print the IRCC official receipt with a barcode. Print two copies.
• Attach a copy of this receipt to your completed application.
• Keep the second copy of the receipt for your records.

Step 5: Submit the application 

Mail your application in a stamped envelope before 8 October 2019 to the address below:

Case Processing Centre in Edmonton
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada
c/o PR (CG), Station 805
9700 Jasper Avenue NW, Suite 55
Edmonton, AB T5J 4C3

Make sure that you have clicked the validated button on the Generic Application Form for Canada IMM 0008 before printing. Print all the pages, including the barcode page. The documents checklist must be attached to the application as well.

After you have submitted the application, if there is any change in your information or family, you need to inform the IRCC with that. You will also receive a biometric instruction letter to let you know where to do the biometrics and submit it later.

Application fees

In most cases, your fees include:

• processing fees for you and anyone you include on your application
• the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF)
• biometrics

You have to pay your fees online. When you finish, you must print a receipt of your payment and include it with your application.

Biometrics
You and your family members may need to give your fingerprints and photograph (biometric information) at a biometric collection service point.

In most cases, you must pay a biometrics fee when you submit your application. Otherwise, you may experience delays. The biometrics fee covers the cost of collecting fingerprints and a digital photo.

After you pay the biometrics fee with a completed application, the government will send you a letter to tell you if you need to give your biometrics and where you can go. You must show this letter when you give your biometrics.

You must give your biometrics in person. You should book an appointment.

Find out if you need to give biometrics.

Third-party fees
You’ll have to pay third parties if you need a:

• medical exam
• police certificate
• language test
• Educational Credential Assessment

The instruction guide can help you understand which fees apply to you and how to pay them.

Processing time

Once your application has been received, you can check the status online. The average processing time for the Interim Pathway for Caregivers program is 12 months from the point the application is received to when IRCC makes a decision. Delay may happen if you need to have additional background checks or have changes in your family situation.

When you have been approved for the Permanent Residency (PR), IRCC will contact you for a short interview.

Your application’s status will be updated once it has been processing by the IRCC.

Avoiding delays

To avoid delays:

• tell the processing office about any changes to your personal information, such as your address, telephone number or email, or the birth of a child
• don’t contact the processing office more than once about the same issue

Your application will be delayed if:

• there are criminal or security problems or the government need to do more background checks
• your family situation is not clear – reasons could include divorce or adoption that is not yet complete or child custody issues that have not been resolved, or
• the processing office has to contact other IRCC offices in Canada or abroad to verify the data you gave

Confirmation of permanent residence

If the government approves your application, they’ll ask you to send your passport to the processing office so they can issue your permanent resident visa. This visa includes your Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) and an entry visa if you’re from a country whose nationals require a visa to enter Canada.

Your COPR will have information about who you are as well as your photograph. Check to make sure it’s correct. It should be the same as the information on your passport. If there is a mistake on your COPR, contact the government.

If you’re already in Canada

When the government approves your application for permanent residence, they’ll contact you and let you know what to do next. You’ll have to do a short interview with an immigration officer. You have 2 options for your interview:

• make an appointment at one of our offices in Canada
  • this is the best option because you won’t have to leave and re-enter Canada
• go to a Canadian “port of entry” (border crossing), and present:
  • proof that you have the funds to support yourself and your family
  • your COPR and your permanent resident visa (if they gave you one)

During the interview, the officer will:

• make sure all your documents are valid
• ask you a few questions to make sure you still meet the terms to immigrate to Canada
• confirm your Canadian mailing address, so they can mail your permanent resident card (PR card)

If you change your address within 180 days of completing your interview, you must tell the authority.

If you’re outside Canada

When you arrive in Canada, you’ll be greeted by an officer from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

When you arrive, you must have:

• a valid passport and/or travel documents
  • Your passport must be a regular, private passport. You can’t immigrate to Canada with a diplomatic,
• government service or public affairs passport.
  • a valid permanent resident visa and your COPR
• The officer will make sure you’re entering Canada before or on the expiry date shown on your visa (this document cannot be extended)
  • proof that you have enough money to support yourself and your family after you arrive in Canada

The officer will ask you a few questions to make sure you still meet the eligibility requirements to immigrate to Canada.

You won’t be allowed into Canada:

• if you give false or incomplete information or
• if you don’t convince the officer that you meet the conditions to enter Canada

If you meet the requirements, the officer will allow you to enter Canada as a permanent resident. They will also confirm your Canadian mailing address and have your permanent resident card mailed to you there.

If you change your address within 180 days of arriving in Canada, you must let the government know.