pip_is_fab

Hi,
I am hoping to move to canada with my canadian boyfriend, we both currenlty live in the UK but hope to be back around Christmas 2009.
Does anyone have suggestions on the best way to get my visa, and what type, how long it might take, anything really!!!
Also any suggestion on moving firms, the cheaper the better really!!!

bazzz

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/

Polar Bear

Kamloops?? can't think of a good reason to move there.... arid, remote and ugly!

Doree Bonner gave us a good deal when we moved back in Feb.

R I C H

I'm sure that balanced opinion will be helpful.

pip_is_fab

Wow, very helpful there. I have already visited KAmloops so i know what to expect!! As i say, my other halfs family live 2 hours from kamloops, and i need to be somewhere built up to find work, so i think Kamloops will be fine for these purposes.
Any actual advice would be useful tho, please.

Shawn_ldn

Hi,
I've just moved to Calgary with my Canadian girlfriend so was kindof in a similar situation. Can't comment on moving to Kamloops specifically (just got back from the Okanagan for the weekend and it really is nice in the summer) but can comment on the visa bit.
We found the best route to go down was for my girlfriend to sponsor me as common-law spouse. A fair bit of paperwork to go through and you have to be able to prove that you have actually been together for more than 1 year also your boyfriend will have to sign a contract which effectively means he will be responsible for you for at least 3 years (up to 10 in some cases). So that is a fairly serious set of contractual obligations.
I found the process fairly smooth, they came back with a request for one document I think but it took about 5 months to get the offer back.
You can PM me for more info about the visa process if you want.

Personally think that it is the getting the job part that is going to be the most challenging. I am finding the resume writing the hardest part about the process and trying to coordinate documentation for getting jobs from the UK and South Africa (where I am originally from) is a real headache. Probably didn't take it seriously enough among the moving whirlwind.
But I highly recommend the move - think Canada is fantastic and if you like the outdoors it really doesn't get much better than this, although if I don't get a job and the money runs out then that thought could change!!!!

pip_is_fab

Thanks Shawn,
I've been to BC a fair few times now, at most times of the year and it truly amazing, such extremes dont you think? Scorching summer and then freezing winter! Tried snowboarding, fell over a lot!!

The family sponsorship option seems to lok the most appropriate for us. was your girlfriend living in uk with you at the time too? That is the main concern of mine, i cant bear the thought of having to go through immigration with so amny questions alone. Do you have to sit through a formal interview in the airport once you touch down or do they process you at the customs gate?
Thanks for your advice!!

Shawn_ldn

we were living together in the Uk, you'll complete the application forms specific to spouse sponsorship outside Canada, there are a number of sections to complete, you will have to be thorough in completing them having things like proof of relationship (joint bank accounts, leases etc).
You'll have to pay the application fee, have a medical done (which costs about 200 odd quid). The documents get processed in Canada then in London, hopefully you'll get the offer of permanent residence, you send your passport to the Canadian Embassy in London, the permanent residence visa gets put into your passport and then you have to go to Canada to "land". I went and landed, then returned to the UK getting my permanent residents card sent to me by my girlfriend's family.
We never had an interview, think the documentation we sent in was pretty comprehensive. And landing was very easy to.

Polar Bear

well you should know you live there... come on be honest!

Danny B

I could say the same thing about Hope.

Rich_007

Trying to be objective in this matter, Kamloops rates a general 7/10 score over Hope's 2.

As even the local's say "there's no hope in Hope". The place is a godawful skanky depressing shitty dead-end McJob town. I wouldn't even stop by on the way to/from Van City for a piss.

R.

Steve_P

Plus if you believe Fort St. John has drug problems they may pale in comparison to Hope.

Seen a couple of TV shows in the past documenting the drug problems in Hope.

Rich_007

Well there's good weed and a shitload of a stoner population. I'm not surprised, as there's not a heapload to do there. High retardation level, kinda hole.

R.

dingbat

<snorts>

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Hope_BC


There is no page on Kamloops. 'nuff said.

Polar Bear