Under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, manufacturing companies looking for creative solutions to build the talent pool, especially to fill more skilled positions, should consider the temporary working stays.
U.S. has the TN Work Visa available to citizens of Mexico and Canada, which is appealing to many U.S. companies for the variety of occupations covered and the ease of obtaining workers.
What about Canada and Mexico?
CUMSA Employee Relocation is affected by the arrangement created by the North American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, U.S. and Mexico which facilitates the mobility of people and trade relations between the signatory states. Mexican citizens may apply for a work permit in Canada under the Professional or intra-company transferee categories. A worker of any signatory state can temporarily relocate to perform duties for his/her principal employer in another signatory country under the CUMSA employee relocation provisions of the Agreement. Different sorts of working visas are available which are also appealing to many companies for the essential advantages, variety of occupations covered and the ease of obtaining workers.
CUSMA facilitates temporary entry for business persons who are citizens of the U.S., Mexico and Canada and who are involved in the trade of goods or services, or in investment activities. As a part of CUSMA it is available a list of the identified, acceptable occupations deemed “professional”.
Mexico
Mexican Immigration laws require Canadians who are thinking about working in Mexico,
Canadians relocating to Mexico may apply for the Temporary Resident Visa corresponding to their financial status and length of their stay.
For Canadians staying longer than 180 days is generally recommending starting off with a Temporary Resident Card, this visa is issued for one year and renewable up to 3 more years, a total of 4 years maximum. You may apply for a Temporary Resident Visas with permission to prior to leave Canada.
Symbiosis assist Canadian companies on the obtaining of Temporary Resident Visas (in Canada) and the subsequent Permanent Resident Cards (in Mexico).
The Mexican immigration law changes frequently, there are also variations between consulates, Symbiosis’ experts on Mexican Law provide the integral service that Canadian companies require, according to their personal relocation needs.
Canada
The International Mobility Program lets Canadian employers hire a temporary worker without a Labour Market Impact Assessment, in fact CUSMA removes any need for a LMIA for all business persons covered by the Agreement.
Generally, the employer must submit an offer of employment through the Employer Portal. Afterwards, the temporary foreign worker must apply for a work permit.
In the case of a business visitor, it ensures that there is no requirement for a work permit.
For professionals that are TRV exempt, it expedites the application process by ensuring an application can be made at the port of entry.
Under the Global Skills Strategy, the process for most eligible work permit applications could be completed within two weeks.
Regarding CUSMA acceptable occupations, for example, “Engineer” is a professional category of particular interest to manufacturers. The Engineer category is broad. It includes positions that require at least a baccalaureate or Licenciatura degree in an engineering discipline or a state/provincial licence. This would cover manufacturing engineers, industrial engineers, mechanical engineers, civil engineers, and the like. Software engineers can also be covered.
Obtaining a visa is a relatively straightforward process which provides a quicker way to bring business visitors and employees to both Canada and Mexico as compared to other visa types.
Contact us to get your employees hiring or relocation process started.
SYMBIOSIS is actively advising Canadian companies with operations in Mexico on all aspects of the broad Legal Compliance and Corporate Governance. We are tracking developments and are available to assist foreign investors with questions about Mexico’s legal framework and strict compliance options. For further information please contact us, our lawyers and partners are ready to work together with you analyzing the impact of this criterion on your company’s operations in Mexico, as well as in any regularization activity.
