Hello!

Just a quick intro. My wife and I have had enough of the UK and want to move to Alberta to join friends and cousins who rave about the area!

We're both experienced in the Oil and Gas industry with relevant degrees both batchelors and masters.

Any help, advice or experiences to make our dream come true would be appreciated!

Cheers

Depends what areas of Alberta you want to rave about and what your dream is?

Thanks for the reply.

We'd definitely prefer to be close to Edmonton to be with friends and family but if opportunities came in Calgary we'd go. Ideally a rotational job for myself around Fort McMurray and the wife isn't that fussy, so long as it's in the oil and gas industry.

Cheers.

Do you qualify for any type of visa and, if so, what type? That will be the first hurdle you have to overcome and, if you can't, that will be the end of your journey.

Unfortunate... as most of the things that people rave about Alberta (and what attracts 90% of the tourists that come to Alberta) is within 1 hours drive of Calgary, and 4+ hours from Edmonton.

Hi, I've been living and working in Calgary since 2004. As a contract programmer I've worked in several industries in that area but never O&G, although I have friends who have.

I would say it's absolutely critical BEFORE you move here to understand the type of visa you qualify for and that you check there are jobs available in O&G both in the area where you want to be or anywhere in Alberta. O&G has been in a severe up & down state for the last 3-4 years because of issues with oil prices and climate policies. Jobs that are there one day might not be the next. Certainly having a solid job offer before you come over here will help ease the process tremendously. My wife & I used to own a rental property that we rented to UK immigrants and we saw quite a few people come over with no idea of what they were getting into and no job offers - most of them ended up working minimum wage jobs for a few years before they could do better.

Not sure about O&G but it's also important to understand whether you will need any professional qualifications or certifications to do the same job here that you have in the UK. This definitely applies to doctors, nurses, lawyers and even automotive repair workers. Certain other categories, such as engineers (particularly those in a government regulated position, such as architecture or structural engineering) may also need additional qualifications. This is where having a solid job offer helps as your prospective employer will let you know if you need any certifications.

If you're giving up everything in the UK and coming here with nothing but high hopes then I'm afraid you may be disappointed. You REALLY need to do your homework on available jobs before making that move.

On the good news side, Alberta is awesome and I highly recommend coming here.

+1
Many jobs/trades are Regulated Provincially and require Certificates of Qualification in order to work. If you could give your job titles - or your NOC code, someone will be able to give you more information.

The first thing you need to ascertain - apart from the work aspect - is whether you can qualify for any of the routes to Permanent Residency and whether you will need a job offer or not in order to do so. If you'd like to post to the Immigration Forum with details, someone will be along to help! Initially you could use the CRS calculator for Express Entry (either Federal Skilled worker or Federal Skilled worker (Trades) - assume you have top marks for English IELTS and have had your academic qualifications (i.e. your degrees) ECE done and have sufficient funds to meet the minimum required.. then report back in the Immigration forum with your points breakdown and we'll give you our input! http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...d/crs-tool.asp