Hi,

My name is Ben, i'm 22 and currently living in Bedford. I've been thinking about moving away from England on and off for a while now. I've recently moved home to my parents after living in Leeds for 4 years whilst at university. Last night after work I made the decision that I want to emigrate to Canada. I had a look on the internet at things I need to do (visas etc.) and I felt swamped. The main part I am worried about is if I would get a visa or not. I currently work full-time in client liaison at a family run debt management company in Bedford.

What are my chances of getting a visa? And what should I be doing to get the wheels in motion for my move?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.
Ben

Hi Ben, and welcome to the forum.

Your best bet is to start with the Wiki - on the blue bar at the top of the page. This article will hopefully give you a clear overview of your options to start with.............http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick_...an_Immigration

I assume you've also been looking at the CIC website, which is great, but if you're struggling with that hopefully the Wiki will make it clearer for you as it's written by laypeople.

From what you've said, I can't see any way that you would qualify for Permanent Residency just yet, you'd probably need a job offer for that, although it's difficult to say without knowing everything about you. But one option that may be good is a Working Holiday Visa - that would give you a year's open work permit. You could then try it out without the big costs of a permanent move, and see what you think. Have you been to Canada before and whereabouts are you hoping to move to?

I'm swaying towards Calgary, but I only really started looking yesterday so i'm open to suggestions. Ideally i'm looking for somewhere like Leeds, not too big but with everything a 22 year old would wants to do (bars, shops etc.). Where would people suggest?

Also, how easy is it to find a job in Canada? Where should I be looking? And what should I expect to find/get paid?

Sorry for all the questions!

Ben

It's commensurate with your qualifications and experience and how much in demand they are. Don't expect a great deal given the competition you're going to face against Canadian graduates.

You can get a work holiday visa for a year.

It's easy to figure out and apply for.

If you get stuck there is a thread on the "Immigration" section of this forum.

If you like Canada you can get another work holiday visa for a second year and that's probably a good point to look at longer term options.

If you want to do snow sports go west for bars and shop's it's Toronto. No Canadian city seems particularly big.