Hi everyone. Apologies if I was supposed to get some permission to create a new thread seeing I have just registered, but I would like to introduce myself and get across my current and up coming situation, which hopefully I will then get some good return comments to any of my comments and questions. If anyone is interested I was directed to the site by a contact who moved to Canada from the UK in recent years...

I graduated from University last summer and I have been looking for a meteorology job within the UK ever since, but as usual with this so called country, money seems to spoil everything and as a result main meteorological stations have been shutting down and jobs have been becoming ever more scarce, as a result I thought it was about time to look further afield. As a result I did so and I have just got back from Canada yesterday after spending 2 weeks there with family friends, experiencing the Canadian way of life for two weeks and gathering as much information as I possibly could in relation to the possibilities open to me.

I have gathered so much information that it is going to take a while to sort through and in general it would be pointless to go through every piece of information I have gathered, but it is safe to say there are numerous different paths I could take, as an example a meteorology certificate course at the Univeristy of York, possible work within the private sector meteorology companies (The Weather Network etc). Things are/were a touch complicated to say the least and to make matters a little worse while I was over there for the last week I also met someone, the niece of the family I was staying with, so that has added to the complications in a way.

What my intention is next, is to get over there for at least one to two months from roughly April onwards, by which time I will hopefully have got one or two specific routes to take after ciphering through all the information I currently have. One question that I do have and that is if I bought just a one way ticket how would I convince customs that I wasn't looking for work even though I could be in the country for upto 2 months *maybe* more?. This seems a very difficult thing to do. I could get a return flight, but the problem there is what happens if I want to stop longer than I get the return flight for?...

Obviously the main problem is the skilled working visa or the perminant visa, of which I have been told can take 6 months to even 3 years to get, I am only coming upto 23, so from a general point of view there is time. However it would seem it would be easier to go over as an international student on an international temporary visa for one year. While I was there for one year doing the York course I could then obviously look into a more perminant visa etc. The only downfall there is that if I don't get accepted onto this meteorology course I am somewhat back to square one. This then leads me onto the thought of would it be wise to just simply start the ball rolling for a skilled workers visa/perminant living visa now?.

As you can see I have a lot of questions and some large uncertainties. These two weeks have certainly proved to me that apart from family here in the UK I have nothing else keeping me here and its proved to me that I need to leave the country and move over there not only to help fulfill my lifelong ambition but now also in relation to having a 'loved' one out-there which being seperated from at the moment is far from the easiest thing to cope with. Not only that I have been once before this last 2 weeks, but this last 2 weeks especially have proved to me the way of life, the people over there are just amazing and I can't/couldn't get enough of it.

I apologies for this thread being so long but I do hope that the great recommendations from the person who directed me here come true (and he mentioned the name Andrew Miller, who could possibly help, and helped the friend who directed me here) as all help to the above questions mentioned and any further information would be greatfully appreciated and I hope to continue to post uptil the point of moving over there in one way or another.

Thanks for your time, regards, Matt.

Matt, yep thats a long post!

1. You will need at least a years full time work experience in your chosen field for skilled worker, so I guess that is ruled out. Check out the self assesment test at
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/assess/index.html
and be honest in your answers.

2. Best route is probably the student visa. Advantage here is relatively quick and easy to get, and you get to see the country for a year or two to see if first immpressions were accurate.

3. Get a return ticket, it is no more expensive, and immigration will not have a shit fit.

4. Andrew Miller posts on the canadian immigration forum (misc immigration.canada), not the lifestyle one

5. More likely to get answers to short questions there, try breaking this post down to the specific points you need answers to.

6. Check carefully into how you would go from student visa to permanent residennt. I am not sure but it will probably require getting a full time job offer at some stage. Rules for students working as interns are different, and once you course is done and your student visa expires, normal rules apply. If you make a dazzling impression as an intern the company may sponsor you for a work permit, which could be the first step on the road to PR.

Glad you liked Canada so much, good luck

Iain

You've got a lot to think about!

I would offer caution if the main motivator for your move is because you hate Britain. That is a sure fire way to line yourself up for a tremendous disappointment. Read these forums, you'll see it over and over again: people leave because they hate this and that and Tony's to blame for everything...then they arrive in Canada, Oz, or wherever, and find it's just as bad - often worse. Canada is not the solution to problems. There have to be reasons for coming to Canada, not just reasons for leaving the UK.

Anyway, what you decide is your business. Here's my two cents on your practical questions:

1. One-way ticket. Forget it (you know you're being silly).

2. Based on your story I suspect you won't have enough points to immigrate as a skilled worker because you lack the all-important work experience. So rule that out for the time being, at least until you have done a year of work in the UK.

3. University course in Canada is a good option. Look into it. Depending on the course, you may get a 1-year work permit after graduation. The good side is that this is not an entirely awful way of moving into the country, and it's very very quick. It will also get you around any of the all-too-common unrecognized qualifications crap. The down side is it's expensive and messier than going skilled worker. That said, it can take years to immigrate as a skilled worker.

Good luck.

iaink beat me to it...

Hi guys, thanks for the replies...

The situation in relation to the full-time work experience is interesting. Whether it counts or not I have no idea, but for over 2 years (finished last June) I was issuing weekly meteorological forecasts for my regional newspaper, on top of that since December 2000 I have been running my own regional meteorological website which I have to contribute and persistently update pretty much everyday. This former I was getting paid for the website it is voluntary but it is obviously webdesign work inrelation to meteorology, so whether I would get any points for that im not sure...

I tried the online 'mock' test in relation to the points score system and I attempted to score myself the lowest points on each section and I came out with 70. Obviously it is a mock test and not a great deal can be looked into it, but it is an interesting outcome.

From people I have spoken to while over there in the last 2 weeks (head of Ontario Weather Centre for one) the meteorology certificate program is well respected and as you have mentioned numerous organisations look for this between January and March each year in relation to possibly signing on people for work. So overall for a good week now that certainly seems to be the main route to take. Not only that I was also told that if a private sector organisation like The Weather Network offered me a job I could start to work without any sort of immediate visa.

Cheers, Matt.

PS: 'Calgary' that is certainly not the main reason why I want to leave the UK, please understand that. Every country has its own problems and from visiting Canada I have seen them. My main influx for moving there is in relation to fulfilling my lifelong ambition simply because the chances of doing it over there are greater as long as I can get into the country etc etc, and as mentioned in the original post I also now have someone over there on a more personal note that has to be considered.

Hi Matt,

Regarding your experience, it is certainly in a very grey area. Ask in the immigration forum. My gut feel is that unless you were employed full time, ie 5 days a week, for a solid year it is not going to count. To give you an idea, intern work experience, 4 lots of 4 months solid at a time does not count.

I have posted many times along the lines of "Do not immigrate for financial or career advancement reasons, come because you identify strongly with the lifestyle and values of your chosen destination".

Think carefully about your motivation here, this is a huge decision, it will be expensive and will not be easy at times. I was only commenting to my wife at the weekend that apart from one or two anchors, the weather network never seems to have the same meteorologist for more than 2 weeks at a time. Job security in canada seems a lot more insubstantial than it is in the UK.

Having said that, if it is a good course, and will be recognised in the wider world as well as in canada, then look into it.

Good luck.

Iain

Matt,

As someone who's 36 (and not so patient with the slow way things move!) trust me, you have all the time in the world, so measure your choices and take it all in your stride. If I could go back to Uni and fcomplete a good solid formal professional qualification I would do it tomorrow - but I have to wait til I get to Canada for that (due to current circumstances is all, not a problem for me).

And you're right, there are many things to moan about in the UK but many problems as you say in Canada. It's a matter of what you want from life and where you want it.

Very best of luck to you, keep your mind open and don't rule anything in or out til your gut feeling tells you just what you want.

The only hard advice I would give you is to get an initial assessment done by an immigration consultant to assess how you stand and what you need in the future to secure immigration. It wouldn't cost much and would be money well spent. And ask loads of questions on this website as well - there are so many helpful people out there.

And if it means studying in Ca. then go for it while you can.

All the best.

Hi Richard, thanks very much for that. I certainly understand the situation in relation to time, even if say it took (hope to god it doesn't!) 5 years to get completely sorted, I would still only be 26/27.

My feelings/intentions for moving there are mixed as im sure you can see; from aiding to fulfill my lifelong ambition in meteorology, to the way of life in general and the way people treat life over there its such a more easy-going situation to now a 'close' connection over there which may or may not develop further. Obviously that is certainly a main reason why I will be returning for a month or more towards April.

What I will ask though is do you know any starting links/places where I could find how to go through the process of getting assessed by an immigration consultant as that is certainly a new possibility that has been mentioned to me.

Time and money overall are something that isn't going to stop in my way really. Its just the process of getting over there that is obviously the largest step that needs to be addressed and as previously mentioned the addition of a Meteorology Certificate course to an Env Science honours degree, an advanced GNVQ in science and 9 GCSE's can only help me in the long run im sure!.

Thanks again for any further help.... Matt

Contact Andrew Miller or one of the other consultants who hang out on the immigration forum, He is always urging people to contact him for an assesment. Bear in mind that the rules for consultants are about to change soon, and CIC will soon only work with canada based consultants. Not sure if this applies also to the CHC London.

Iain

Thanks Iain, I have placed a message in that forum with a link to this specific thread, so hopefully he will take a read and get back to me.

Only been here a few hours and I am certainly learning and adding to the 'database' that I have gathered over the last two weeks.

Thanks again. Matt

Just a warning, he is not a fan of britishexpats.com, he doesnt like it as a portal to misc.immigration.canada, as it sometimes misses posts (although I have not had a problem with this).

To be safe I would find one of his many replies there and contact him directly with a brief description for what you want to do.

Typically he answers dozens of questions a day on the newsgroup, so keep it brief and to the point or he may pass it by. He is a good guy though, as far as you can tell through usenet.

Iain

Matt,

Drop Andrew Miller an email, and ask him if he will do a full assessment of your current scenario. Get all your info together first before you send it (compare this what you entered in the self assessment site) and the more detail the better.

Be honest - go with an edge of caution and don't give yourself any favours (eg ref the work experience).

Mr Miller may want a small fee from you, I really don't know about that, but I can say from experience, I wish we had done that and founbd out what our worst-case scenario is/may be.

Sounds like you have the same reasons for wanting to emigrate as most of us on here....lifestyle, people, attitude, make-it-happen attitude rather than can't-be-bothered.

Best of luck. It may not take you 5 years, and from what you say you can definitely find ways of spending time over there before anything permanent occurs. You are in an enviable position compared to some of us 'older' folks !!!

ps you will need cash or easily disposable assets of £4000 to £5000 (depending on the exchange rate) for permanent residency.

Rich.

Hi Rich. Thanks for that. I did send an email to Mr. Miller, but as I already knew because of my lack of work experience the skilled workers visa is a no-go situation at the moment. That is one major flaw in relation to getting into Canada from another country...

What I mean by this is that from the age of 5 uptil the age of 21 (for me) have been in full-time education learning and building up my education. Now that I have a good educational background because I don't have full years worth of working experience its a downfall. Quite laughable to be honest. Part time work yes, but there is no chance in hell any student can do a full time educational course and then also complete a full time job. So you say you could be envious of me because of my age and ambitions. To some degree I can see where your coming from and I do hope that your right in the long run, but at least you have more than one years worth of full time work.

That is the main reason why I want to go to Canada. Simply because now that I have built up my education and spent thousands of pounds I want a FULL TIME job, but because I haven't completed a full time job here for at least one year that route is going to happen. There are flaws in every system and I believe that is a major one for a younger person like myself.

However seeing I have now a strong tie over there (girlfriend) its made me even more determind to get over there perminantly, possibly even relying on a sponsorship if it comes to it. Meteorology has been my life for as long as I can remember and these past 2 weeks have shown to me that the options over there are MUCH greater than here in the UK and that is where I need to be in the long run. As with life there are many 'doors' that you can take and I won't let another one that has been shut in my face stop me. Why should I?. I have been down ever route here in the UK and its time to look further afield, in this case because of the situation Canada.

Yes I have time on my hands, a lot of it it has to be said, but seeing I am only coming upto 23 I feel quite 'alone' now it has to be said in relation to getting here there. Everyone else seems to be in their own location and position, its just me that wants/needs to get over there.

I feel there is a lot of hard work and heartache coming up in one shape or form, but why should I stop attempting to fulfill my lifelong ambition just because I don't have a full years worth of full time work?.... I shouldn't...

Thanks to all for your comments and thoughts, I will certainly be returning and viewing as the weeks and months pass by.

Regards, Matt.

Go there as a student, marry your girlfriend and then apply for PR from within.

You need a kick up the arse. Like many new university graduates you have a mis-placed sense of entitlement and think your education is the bees knees.

I would be surprised if there is a meteorologist alive in Canada today with less than a master's degree. When you arrive in Canada, and I am hopeful that you will, you will meet qualified medical doctors and Phd's driving taxis because their qualifications aren't recognized. And don't fall into the trap of thinking that English people are special in Canada. Those days are long gone.

Every one of us has had to jump through hoops to get here, some of us are still jumping through hoops. Take the time to read, learn the system, and you will find ways of achieving your goal.

Harsh? Absolutely. But you need a good shake up. Heaven knows I did, when I arrived here as a straight-A student from an English public school and under the impression that university in North America was easy. By my second semester I had nearly been booted (too much drinking with Canadian girls and not enough learning how to do my sums).

So check out your Canadian study options. This is a great way to get into the country if you can afford it. If you do a university course you will, as iaink pointed out, have a chance to see the country, meet some great friends and come out with a recognized qualification. You may then get a one-year work permit (you will if you do a full degree course) which, if taken advantage of, will give you the one-year work experience you need to qualify for permanent residency (convenient eh?).

If that doesn't work, find out what work experience is required to qualify as a skilled migrant, and then get it, fight for it tooth and nail. And then look at the provincial nominee programs, and then every other little thing that might help. Self-arranged migration (not company dealt-with) is hard to every country worth getting into. You will need the patience of a saint and then some.

Get real and you will find a way through this.