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Comment by FpUser | Hacker News Reader

I think here in Canada we can ask MP (Member of Parlament) to do this. Not sure how effective is that though as I've never tried it personally.

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Canadian politician offices typically have constituent services. They usually have access to MP-only phone numbers to sort out regular snafus (often immigration related). But if you’ve been caught in a systematic issue that the government created, and your MP belongs to that party, your MP is unlikely to take any action whatsoever.

You can also email the prime minister and sometimes they’ll forward it to the Minister responsible and then they have to reply. Just make sure to phrase it as a non-systemic issue when it was a systemic issue they created ;)

Thank you. This is sort of revelation to me.

I spoke face to face with my MP when I was at my wits end trying to get Permanent Residency. I was working for Bell at the time, as an Engineer. I have a degree in Engineering.

My MP told me to get a job at McDonald's, Wal-Mart or Crappy Tire, because they have rubber-stamp approval for Permanent Residency, and that would be the best way. I'd just have to suck it up and earn minimum wage for 2 years.

Or be a student for four years. He had no idea how I was supposed to pay for that.

As a natural born Canadian, I'd give you full citizenship right now if I could, only based on the fact you called "Canadian Tire" "Crappy Tire"! Well done sir! You ARE a Canadian!

Thanks! I've been here 15 years, and "Crappy Tire" might be one of the first things I picked up!

... still not a citizen though. That's a LONG process!

ANECDOTE: I came to Canada at 3 years old with first generation parent immigrants in the early 90's and we all had citizenship within ~3 years (I was 6 at the time).

Things are most likely different now.

Thanks to McDonald's (and others) breaking all the rules and abusing immigrants, the current situation is you have to be physically inside Canada for 5 years out of 7 before you can even apply for citizenship.

And that's just to apply. The process can easily take a year or two longer. Also every day I spend outside Canada (holiday, visiting family, whatever) pushes that back.

It's a LONG process.

Wrong info. Here are the actual rules from the Government site:

To be eligible to become a Canadian citizen, you must:

  be a permanent resident
  have lived in Canada for 3 out of the last 5 years
  have filed your taxes, if you need to
  pass a citizenship test
  prove your language skills
  Other requirements may apply.

I got my citizenship ages ago but I think the rules were about the same.

....that, is extremely interesting.

My application in mid 2015 was denied because they received it the day after the rules changed from what you posted to what I posted.

It must have changed back in the mean time, and I've never looked into it again.

Thanks very much!

Yeah, that was Mr Mike at his best. When they can't do something productive they get "tough" on immigration/crime/lap dancing/whatever other subject tickles their cockles. After him they must've changed the rules back.

Thanks again!

And because you said "ages ago" I suspect you and I have the same original passport.

Hear hear - they get my vote for citizenship as well.

This makes me feel better about dealing with the staff at the office instead of ever hearing from the MP themself.

Though I did email an MP about how Bell was trying to destroy Teksavvy and out lacklustre telecom competition (my DSL line was stuck at 1mbps...). Their office responded that our MP was a retired Bell linesman and Bell’s competitors use poorer quality lines.

I guess Bell was good to him at the expense of their customers...

Why was it a problem to get the Permanent Residency permit while working for Bell as an Engineer?

Simply having a good job is not enough, there is no "stream" for that. I was on a 2 year working holiday visa for that job, and when the visa ran out I was done.

.. eventually though I convinced Bell and the Province I was living in to run me through the "Provincial Nominee" stream, which required TONS of paperwork to prove that no Canadian was willing or able to do the job, and therefore they needed a foreigner like me. That took 2 years of paperwork, interviews, medical tests and background checks and being saddled to that job before I finally got it.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. My neighbour's work permit was stuck in limbo pre-covid. On my advice, she contacted our Liberal party MP, and although the MP signed off on a letter asking for it to be expedited, IRCC basically told her to pound sand. It still took an unreasonably long time to arrive, pretty much what they guaranteed.

I still think it would have been worse without the letter, and at least it helped my neighbour's spirits. She comes from a part of the world where nothing happens without a bribe, and even then it ain't very effective.

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