OrangeMango

Two friends of mine came recently as PR to Canada. Only thing I noticed is that the application is quicker now, no longer that painful wait of 2 years. University degree didn't seem to be the main requirement, I think. Both were in their late 30ies. I also think that the right of landing fee has gotten cheaper. Some things might have changed, some for the better, some maybe for the worse.

What is now required is a language exam ( even if one is British) and the tax declarations when applying for citizenship. The residency requirement was 3 years when I applied, later extended to 4 years under Harper, and I think now reduced to 3 years again, under Trudeau?

Siouxie

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...try/works.html

CRS calculator: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...d/crs-tool.asp

Vulcanoid

The Federal economic immigration (eg federal skilled worker, which it sounds like you came under) is completely different now. The 67 points requirement and year of skilled work is only the bare minimum to qualify to try -after that, the applicants are ranked (with the CRS points Siouxie linked to) and the highest scorers are drawn out.

At the moment, being young with a degree, fluent English, and three= years work experience isn't enough - the minimum threshold is higher than that, so everyone drawn will have all of that plus some French skills/postgrad qualifications/Canadian education or work experience/family already living there, and lacking any of that (eg not being in 20s, not having a degree) would need even more to compensate.

OrangeMango

I recall, at time of application I scored 75 points exactly. During the application process it was dropped to 67. I don't know if that was ever applied to me, nor do I care. I think the overall limit of intake of PR immigrants was 300.000 per year and they didn't even reach that target back then.

Provincial Nominee is probably still easier, if one wants to live for 2 years minimum in Saskatchewan or New Brunswick? A friend of mine in his 40ies moved to Saskatoon as a field service technician, with a salary of $ 25 per hour. If one wants to immigrate to Canada they will find a way, and a legal way.

Being Canadian, and trying to move to the UK is even more difficult,and the path to citizenship is longer, more complicated and also more expensive having no UK ancestry and no family there.

Vulcanoid

You don't have to care if it being made easier when you applied applied to you or not. The fact is, the system was different then, and what used to be the entire thing is now stage 1. Your belief that anyone can get through it because you found it easy ignores that the process is no longer the same, and that only the top applicants are invited to apply.

Provincial nomination is, again, only 'easier' for people who qualify. The provinces decide what they're looking for. Simply saying "I'm willing to live in New Brunswick for two years" is.... absolutely not enough. Manitoba has been known to refuse applicants for the sin of having taken a vacation in Ontario.

People are paying the fraudsters because they have no route to qualify. If you are not eligible, you are not eligible - so people were paying huge fees to pretend that they were. You're right to say that if people really want to, they'll find a way - but the fact that this is being discussed proves that your second assertion, that it would always be legal, is at best naive; for some people, the only way they can qualify is by faking it. Your friend presumably came through either Sask nomination, or Federal Skilled Trades - both of which have their own requirement, which, again, lots of people don't qualify for.

You seem to believe that anyone in their 40s can just shrug and say "Ok, I'll be a plumber", and a prairie province will beat their door down begging them to move there. That's not how it works.

I don't think anyone who's ever been through the British immigration system has claimed it's easy; that has no bearing on the fact that lots of people aren't eligible to migrate to Canada.

OrangeMango

I understand your point. It's honestly been more than a while when I did it. I also knew of Canadians who came to the UK to settle, and couldn't do it again today, as either the programme or the kind of visa has been cancelled or they face age discrimination during the application. For Europeans going to Canada it's most likely the same.

I've immigrated to both countries and naturalized in both first, Canada and then the UK, and was always aware of the idea "if I don't do it now it will get either more difficult or more expensive, if not both". Raising fees is the easiest any government can do. ILR for Canadians in the UK stands at a whopping 2300 pounds and naturalization a further 1300 pounds, fees, photos, exams and books are extra.... Canada was nearly not even close to that in terms of fees, but that was 15 years ago for me.....

I am sure it will get even more expensive and more regulated in both countries to immigrate to and to get naturalized in. After all, as said, raising fees is the easiest any government can do.

BristolUK

I came to Canada under family sponsorship 2004; a Canadian wife.
At that point I had been continuously employed in the UK for 31 years but prior to marrying I did the points test and I was nowhere near it. Wouldn't have met the being together for a year condition, so marriage it was.
That should tell you it's not as easy for everyone as it was for you.

This is absolutely true and it doesn't even need to be rural, with a bit more on the house. But being able to afford it doesn't get you PR.