Keeping Canadian employment Insurance when moving in the USA

[cognac]

Hi all,

this is my first post and it is for a questions. Here is the situation. Me and my girlfriend moved to California in Sept 08. I have found a job there. At the time my gf was receiving employment insurance from Canada. After three months she finally found a job in Calif. During the time she was searching for a job, she was receiving unemployment. She was filling all the required paperwork that the Can gov was asking. She just received a letter from the Can gov asking her to reimburse all the money she got from the employment insurance while she was in the US.
Are they wrong? Are we? What should we do?

thanks a lot

[agnelson]

You aren't allowed to collect EI while outside the country, except in specific instances that -- above all -- need to be pre-approved.

The main criteria is legal ability to work in US. Unless she had a green card before going, she was not legally entitled to work. The fact that she could get a TN or H1 is not important.


Pay the money back.

[cognac]

Thanks Agnelson, although you can imagine it is not what I wanted to hear...
So the only options would have been that she first find the job before moving (its harder when you are not physically there) or that we got married and then she would have been under my VISA. Common law still does not mean anything...

She paid tax on the money from the EI. Any chance for her to get it back? How?
thanks

[agnelson]

Thanks Agnelson, although you can imagine it is not what I wanted to hear...
So the only options would have been that she first find the job before moving (its harder when you are not physically there) or that we got married and then she would have been under my VISA. Common law still does not mean anything...
Not sure what you mean here. Her options, to keep EI would have been to stay in canada. Curious as to what she told border officer in order to get into US to look for a job while on tourist status.
She paid tax on the money from the EI. Any chance for her to get it back? How?
Simple. File an amendment T1-ADJ to correct the amount. I'm also, curious, though, as to exactly how she paid Cdn and US taxes on it, if she declared non-residency, as EI payments are not to be reported on a Cdn tax return after you leave; it is subject to flat 25% NR tax. The EI would also have been reported on her US return
Sounds like there was a lot of misinformation being provided by your gf (to border, to UI, to CRA).

[Steven]

There isn't enough information to answer the question, what is her legal status in the US and was she available to work in Canada at the time and what was her tax status through all of this?

There is a UI treaty between Canada and the US, but you have to claim from an address where you are entitled to work. So if she wasn't legally qualified to work in the US, say she was a B visitor, as soon as she left she made herself unavailable for employment in Canada which means she wasn't eligible for EI benefits from Canada. But if she was a US citizen for example she could be eligible because she's available for employment in the US - but you really need to get that point made clear before leaving.

Read this thread: Is TN qualify for Unemployment Insurance?

[GrooveeGal]

Everytime u file your EI report it tells you that you are required to report any absences from Canada.
So when you don't let them know, they consider it as lying.
I went through this exact situation. They sent me the letter, I had to have a phone call with one of their case workers. They determined that I was 'lying' so I had to pay back all of the money they had given me plus they charged a penalty fee. All said and done I am stuck with a huge bill with insane interest rates.
Once she has spoken with the case worker, and a decision is made regarding her situation, you can appeal it. Make sure she gets all of the appeal information.. who to call ect. There are some good resources out there.