AzLar41

Hello All

Would really like some help around what the whole immigration process is please?

This is something I am thinking about but would love a real idiots guide to the first steps

I am a family of four looking at potentially going out to Ontario.

Can anyone recommend a page or a step by step guide to what the process is?

Assume:
Get Visa
Apply for job
Hopefully land job
but then what?

sorry I know this is vague but would really appreciate some help
Thanks and hope someone can help.

AzLar

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

It really depends on your visa eligibility - for some the process you've outlined above would be right, but for others you'll need a job offer and LMIA first (more about that later, if you do need one) before you can even apply for the visa.

Best thing to do is first figure out if you are eligible for a visa, and if so, which visa route (there are lots of them), we can then help you work out the process. I'm assuming you've already looked at the CIC website, but let us know the results of the eligibility tool - Do you want to come to Canada, or extend your stay?

Good luck.

AzLar41

Is there somewhere I can take the language test?

christmasoompa

Yes, but you don't need to do that just to see if you're eligible, you can just assume maximum marks as a native speaker for now, to give you an idea. No point in spending a few hundred pounds on English tests if you don't qualify for a visa anyway! So just guesstimate for now to give you an idea.

HTH.

Shirtback

1. Do you want to come to Canada, or extend your stay?

2. Read the BE wiki.

3. See Chr'ompa's answers.

AzLar41

OK I passed and was eligible for express entry!!

PMM

Hi


1. Ok, if you have at least 67 points, then you have to determine how many points that you have under Express Entry. You will need probably at least around 450 points to receive an Invitation to Apply.

christmasoompa

Fab. The good news is that that's the quickest and easiest route to Permanent Residency, no job offer is required, and you and your family would be able to move to Canada and do pretty much what you like once there (work, study, retirement, set up your own business etc). You'd have security and be able to stay as long as you like, and be eligible to apply for citizenship a few years down the line.

Now, the bad news (potentially) is that being eligible to apply under EE is great, but that only gets you in to the EE 'pool' of applicants, and once you're in that pool, CIC only select those that are scoring the highest and invite them to actually apply for PR. So the next step is to check your score on the Comprehensive Ranking System and see what you'd be scoring, so that we can work out if you would be in with a chance of being invited to apply for PR, or if you'd just languish in the pool for a year having wasted quite a bit of time and money.

So check your score here (best to do it for both you and your spouse, and take the highest score) - Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) tool - Skilled immigrants (Express Entry)

You'll want to be aiming for around 450 or higher as a rough guide, a bit less would be ok but not too much lower.

HTH.

AzLar41

I came in at about 420 but was unsure on the education piece as I did two years college in uk and got a btec equiv two a levels, my wife got about 520 and she has a CIPS Post Grad degree but was unsure what that was??

Vulcanoid

That would likely be 'high school diploma'. By university/college they don't mean 6th form level, it's post-secondary.

christmasoompa

As above, your education will probably just be counted as secondary level. It sounds like your wife should be the principal applicant. I'm not sure what CIPS is, as long as it's a 'proper' academic program (rather than professional), then it sounds like she would get 126 points for education (bachelors degree plus masters).

Novocastrian

CIPS is most likely the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, who award professional qualifications, not Masters degrees.

christmasoompa

Ah, ok, thanks Novo. In which case OP, that wouldn't count at all, professional qualifications aren't assessed for points purposes. So if your wife has a degree, that would be the level she'd get points for.

HTH.

AzLar41

It is exactly that so sorry what would she pick on the form? And what score would that be?

christmasoompa

What other qualifications does she have? You said it was a post-graduate degree, so does that mean she's got a degree? If so, it would be 112, or she might possibly get away with having 'two more certificates, diplomas or degrees', which would be 119.

But if you can give us more info about her highest qualification (and any other relevant ones) then we can help you figure it out.