Visiting Foreign Nationals

Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has implemented the International Mobility Program (IMP) where an employer is required to electronically provide IRCC with all details of a Foreign National who comes to Canada in a position that is exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).  The IMP include all streams of work permits that are LMIA exempt including visiting professors, NAFTA, postdoctoral fellows, guest lecturers, self funded academic researchers and medical fellows.  An employer compliance fee of $230.00 must be paid when submitting this information to IRCC and the foreign national must be able to demonstrate adherence to the particular immigration pathway when applying for the required immigration documents to enter Canada.

Template letters for LMIA exempt positions are provided by the Office of the Vice-Provost (Academic Planning, Policy and Faculty).  Please contact Jennifer Holburn to ensure that the proper template letter is being used for the purpose of the foreign national's visit at Western University.

Inviting Foreign National Visitors to Western

In accordance with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's (IRCC) International Mobility Program, Western University must complete and submit required documentation to IRCC for foreign national academic visitors.  Information provided in this documentation must be adhered to as it is binding to the University as a whole and subject to compliance audits by IRCC.

Process for Administrators and Faculty inviting Foreign Nationals

(Please note: for the pdf forms, Internet Explorer is the preferred browser. For best results, download and save the form to your desktop before opening and use your Adobe reader to open it. If you are still experiencing problems in opening the Adobe-fillable forms, please refer to the web page: Adobe Issues.)

Step 1

Before inviting a Foreign National Academic Visitor to Western, complete and sign the Foreign National Academic Information Request Form and submit it with supporting documentation via email to jennifer.holburn@uwo.ca. Based on the information provided, an assesment will be made to determine the category for the invitation in accordance with IRCC requirements.

Step 2

A template invitation letter will be provided to the host faculty member and appropriate administrator for review and completion.  Once finalized, the invitation letter should be sent to the foreign national with the Foreign National Academic Visitor Personal Information Form.

Step 3

When the invitation letter and Foreign National Academic Visitor Personal Information Form have been completed, the completed documents must be sent by email to jennifer.holburn@uwo.ca as well as a copy of the letter from the home institution (if applicable).

Step 4

If the category falls within the International Mobility Program (IMP),  the required information for IRCC will be completed and the payment of the employer compliance fee of $230.00 will be made on behalf of the host unit/faculty member.  A speed code will be required to recover the $230.00. This fee MUST BE paid by the employer and MAY NOT be recovered by the Foreign National.

Step 5

After receipt of the signed invitation letter and all supporting documentation, OFRR will provide an employer compliance application number to the visitor, host faculty member and appropriate administrator.  This information is required for the Foreign National to apply for a work permit.