MarkyMark83

Hello. I'm a 33 year old Carpenter and Joiner. I've gone through the Express Entry form having taken my English exam (despite being English) but now seem to have hit a wall. I have been told that my City and Guilds qualification cannot be assessed as it is based on practical skills and not purely academic so my points for education are practically non-existent. I also can't gain points with a job offer as no one wants to commit which is understandable. My fiancé tried applying as she has a degree but again, computer says no. How do people like me do it...?! Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Snowy560

Either of you have other citizenships apart from the UK?

How old is your fiancee and what does she do?

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Have you looked in to getting your provincial certification? You'll need that anyway to apply under the Federal Skilled Trades program (either that or a job offer anyway), and that would help with your points.

What are you and your wife both scoring on the CRS? And when you say the 'computer says no' to your wife, do you mean she's not even eligible to enter the EE pool, or just that she's not scoring enough on the CRS?

Have you tried job hunting or are you just assuming you won't have any luck? A lot of people do manage to get job offers from sponsoring employers, and carpenters seem to be a trade that does well, lots of carpenters on the board that have gone over on sponsored TWP's, so not sure why you would struggle so much? Have you been out and job hunted in person, or are you just trying to find stuff online? If the latter, do read the Job Hunting section of the Wiki to understand why that might not be working.

If you can give us some more info about your wife's job etc, and also any other relevant info (the province you wish to move to, any Canadian relatives, etc), then hopefully we can help you figure out your best visa route.

Good luck.

MarkyMark83

We only have UK passports. My fiance has a business degree and is currently working for the New Zealand government.

MarkyMark83

Thanks for the reply.

I don't have provincial certification but I'll look into it now, thanks. My fiance has plenty of points on the CRS but is declined for EE, as I have been, despite scoring just above the minimum points. After I was declined, we thought we'd try with her as the principal applicant to see what came of it.

I spent 6 months in BC and Alberta last year, travelling around and contacting employers but was told I needed to gain a visa before they would hire me which was fair enough.

We're hoping to move to BC, Albert or even the Yukon. We have no Canadian relatives, I just have friends dotted around. My fiance has a business degree which has been assessed and is currently working for the New Zealand government.

rivingtonpike

Unfortunately in the current international climate immigration is becoming harder and harder. Without a job offer backed by a LMIA or very specific in demand skills, it is extremely difficult to move countries outside the EU. We used to welcome new British or European families to our Valley on a fairly regular basis. I can't remember the last time that happened. I have no idea whether this is a global phenomenon but certainly judging from the comments of would-be immigrants on this site it is harder than it ever has been.

cheeky_monkey

According to the stats in 2015 only 2% of PR granted were to people from the UK