Dear Miss Powell,I have an invitation to apply for permanent residence and I need to finalise my application in two weeks, but I am having problems proving my employment for two years as a manager because the company does not exist anymore. I have been trying to track down the former owner or the human resources manager but have not been able to reach them. What can I do? I am worried that I will run out of time to submit my application.LM

Dear LM,Congratulations on receiving your invitation to apply. Your letter raises three issues that many applicants face. The first is the requirement to prove your employment and personal activity over the last 10 years. The second is how to prove work experience when the employer has closed its doors. The third is what to do when the deadline is approaching, and your documents are incomplete.THE REQUIREMENT TO PROVE YOUR EMPLOYMENTWhen you receive an invitation to apply under the Express Entry system, you have 60 days from the date of the invitation to submit a complete application for permanent residence. As part of that application, you must account for your personal history over the last 10 years, or since your eighteenth birthday, and you must provide supporting documents for every period of work experience on which your eligibility and your Comprehensive Ranking System points depend. Section 16(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act imposes a duty on every applicant to answer truthfully all questions put to them and to produce all relevant documents that the officer reasonably requires.The standard proof of work experience is a reference letter from the employer, printed on company letterhead and signed by a responsible officer, stating your job title, the dates of your employment, your hours of work per week, your salary and benefits, and a detailed description of your duties. An Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officer will compare those duties against the lead statement and main duties of the Canadian National Occupational Classification ( NOC) code you have claimed, in your case as a manager. If the officer cannot verify your work experience, your application may be refused, or returned as incomplete, and you would have to re-enter the Express Entry pool. Basically, starting over again.  ALTERNATIVE EVIDENCE WHERE THE EMPLOYER HAS CLOSEDIRCC recognises that companies may close and that a reference letter is sometimes impossible to obtain. In that situation, the burden remains on you to prove your work experience by other credible means. You should gather every document that confirms the same facts a reference letter would have confirmed, namely your position, your dates of employment, your hours, your pay, and your duties. Useful documents include your employment contract or letter of appointment, promotion letters, pay slips, your P45, income tax returns filed with Tax Administration Jamaica, your National Insurance Scheme contribution statement, bank statements showing your salary lodgements, staff identification, performance appraisals, and work emails. You may also obtain records from the Companies Office of Jamaica showing that the company existed and has since been dissolved, which corroborates your explanation for the missing letter.In addition, a letter or statutory declaration from a former supervisor or colleague, written in their personal capacity and containing their full contact information, position at the company, and knowledge of your duties can carry significant weight. Note that a sworn statement written by you alone, attesting to your own employment, is not sufficient proof. You must also include an explanation with details of  the closure of the company, your efforts to locate the former owner and the human resources manager, and why the standard reference letter cannot be obtained. Keep evidence of those efforts, such as emails, messages, and call records, and exhibit it.The acceptance of alternative evidence is at the discretion of the officer, so your documents must tell one consistent story. Under no circumstances should you write a reference letter yourself or submit a fabricated document. Misrepresentation under Section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act renders an applicant inadmissible to Canada for five years.WHAT YOU SHOULD DOStart assembling your alternative documents immediately and prepare a clear explanation. If despite your best efforts, you cannot assemble a complete and persuasive application before your deadline, you may formally decline the invitation through your online account, and your profile will be returned to the Express Entry pool for future draws, without penalty. Declining is far better than allowing the invitation to expire, which removes your profile from the pool and far better than submitting a weak or inaccurate application. Given what is at stake and the short time remaining, contact an immigration lawyer to review your documents and advise you on the strength of your evidence before you submit.The lesson for all applicants is to keep your own employment records from the very beginning. Collect and store your contracts, pay slips, tax records, and statutory contribution statements, and request a detailed reference letter whenever you leave a job while the company still exists and your managers can still be found. Businesses close and people move on, but your immigration file will always demand proof.Deidre S. Powell is a lawyer, mediator and author in Canada. Contact her via www.deidrepowell.com or WhatsApp 613-695-8777