Hello All

I have been visiting the site for approx 6 months and thought it best to finally join the masses attempting to leave Blighty.

I am 33 years old, been married for two years and have two girls aged 4 and 21 months.

We have applied at the same time as another couple who are God Parents to my eldest Daughter.

We applied in July last year, so this is our first anniversary and it was not too bad. We managed to almost forget about the whole drawn out procedure, although i am sure that this will change when they eventually get back to us.

Is it safe to assume that i will not hear anything back until this time next year which will then be two years from application, or do you think it will be the end of the year

I am looking to move to Ontario with Burlington initially being our choice of destination. I have spoken to a business contact who lives in Uxbridge north of Toronto who believes that Burlington might be a bit Industrial being so close to Hamilton. Does anyone know if this is true and if so do you think it will be better further away from the Lake and nearer Oakville???????

Any response would be appreciated.

hello from Bolton

I hope you don't mind me asking, I apolgise if it is a bit personal, but what made you go down the Permanent residence route (i take it that is the route) and not a Temp work permit which everyone seems to be doing, its just that I am in the process of applying and really unsure as to which route. I have two years to "play with" anyway and would be unable to move quickly.

Again apolgies if too personal.

Tracy

Hi,

First and foremost, welcome to BE.

We're over in Alberta and have no experience of Burlington/Hamilton etc but we're sure someone more knowledgeable will come along soon enough to comment.

One year down in the Skilled Worker line-up is good but hoping to see progression of the application in another year to 18 months is maybe optimistic, at least based on this article in the WIKI...

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick_...an_Immigration

If the prospect of a lengthening processing timeline is unpalatable (could totally understand that), there's always the option that many others are acting on now - coming over on the basis of a job offer first.

Regardless, we hope you get yourselves across in due course.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

Hi, we too are looking to get to the gta area. We have 3 kids, 6, 3 and 20mths. We were out there this summer checking out all the areas. We visited Burlington, oakville and have friends in milton. It depends what you like. I thought around the whole of that area was very built up, and personally it all felt too industrialised. Once you got into oakville (it was the only area we got stuck in traffic in 2 weeks) it was really pretty, had a nice high street that you could browse up and down. For me that kinda thing is important. I think though oakville is very expensive, which is a no no for us, we want less morgage more house! I liked the areas a bit further away, guelph i really liked- pubs, high street lots of green areas great for kids and away from the built up area of toronto. Waterloo, which is an hour away from toronto was also great. Loads to do with kids our age, nearer countryside but also very city! (if that makes sense!) Also lovley lakes with great beaches in waterloo and guelph. We went to burlington beach on lake ontario, (they're may have been another one) but it wasn't very nice and the water was freezing!
God, i'm really rambling now!

To finish off, we were like you looking into oakville, burlington areas, but now have decided on either guelph or waterloo, i guess whatever takes your fancy! Good luck, its all very mind boggling! Have you been out there? What are your reasons for leaving blighty? I'm always interested to know!

Hi Tracy

No of course it is not too personal.

I am looking at going down the Permanent Residence route as we have two youngs girls and i would rather wait 42 - 48 months as advised and know that when we arrived it was over and we still did not have to worry about ensuring we get accepted when we are over in Canada. We can then get on with the rest of our lives and plan for the future.

I have a good job in the UK and i feel that i am happy working for another 3 years to get as much money together as possible.

To be honest i am unsure how to go about applying for a job before we get there and can i bring the whole family with me?????

I hope everything goes smoothly for you

Hi Eamonn & Janet

Did you go the Job first route or did you apply for Permanent Residency like me and then sort it out when you are over there????

Hi

First, you can ramble as much as you like as i found your e-mail very interesting as we have not been out there yet.

I was speaking to the Wife earlier an dour friends who we are looking to go out with, and we all agreed that maybe living in a city is not what we want as long as we can commute into the towns easy enough.

My initial thoughts when looking at somewhere to settle was that it would be nice to live near the Lake and close to all the aminities, however i am changing my opinion as we speak.

My reasons for leaving the UK are similar to most i presume, in that i a fed up with watching a great country go down the pan. Schooling is average at best, even though we have just got my eldest in a fantastic little Church school with only 15 children in the intake. The Health Care is frightening and the way of life is becoming lazy with no real encouragement for the kids to go outside and explore.

When did you apply and are you going down the Permanent Residency route like me????

Kind regards

Dan

Hey Dan,
Just found your post over here....
Funny - I am also 33 and we are also planning to move to Ontario (The wife has family around the Guelph area)..
As you will have gathered, timelines are a real bone of contention at the moment as no one really knows what is going on...All I go on is by looking to see what peoples AOR dates are who are getting the 90 day letters through and if the process is linear (which I am sure it is not then we should hopefully hear something by the end of the year)
But with the increasing backlog who knows....there really doesn't appear to be any science to it at the moment...
Hang on in there..you'll find lots of advice and support on here..
Cheers
Tim

Hi

Welcome to BE, Good luck with all of your plans

Hi ESSEXHAMMER

We are also lookiing at going to Burlington, we went last year for a reecie and loved the place. I have relations in Oakville, but it's to expensive to move there first. We submmited forms July 07 through SW route and now have the very long wait. We have 2 daughters aged 8 and 6 and are looking to going out next year for another look.

It would be nice to keep in touch with you

27MICH71

Thanks for the reply, however after countless emails/phone calls and reading of threads I have decided Canada is not for me. I am a young teacher (in years not age!) and the thought of not being able to teach has really helped me to decide that Canada is not for me or my family. I ma the main wage earner, yes I could go and get another job don't have a problem there, have over 20 years PA/finance/sec experience, but really don't want to do that.

Shame. However, I am sure you will have a fab life, it sounds absolutley wonderful out there, some friends are applying and I will be so jealous when they get in, fingers crossed!

wish you all the best, make sure you read the wiki stuff at the top of the first page when you log in, explains it all.

good luck!
Trace

Hi Mich??

It will be good to keep in touch to see how you are getting along.

Did you think Burlington was quite Industrial espeially down near the waterfront. I do not really want to look at the Lake and see a load of Industrial plants in the area.

I suppose like anywhere you can stay in parts that are better, and even if you choose West Burlington it would be closer to Oakville. I have continued to look at other places and Guelph looks quite nice.

Did you visit anywhere else apart from Burlington and Oakville, and how expensive is Oakville??

Keep in touch

Dan

hi, in reference to which route we're going down , we are very lucky as my mum is canadian and when i was 18 i tripped down to london to sing the 'oh canada' song and swear my allegience and gained citizenship. So i am going down the sponsorship route for my husband (i think the forms are just as horrible to fill in if it makes you feel any better!) Hopefully we will be there by next spring if all goes well ( they may find me a completely inadequate sponsor for my husband!) hope not!
Its all very hard work thinking/doing all the stuff that goes with this process. esp when there are little ones running around permanently! You must have the same (or your wife, or both!) Keep in touch, let us know how the app is going. Kristen

Lucky you.

Are you sure that we can't also get married and then i can get there even quicker,

I am sure my Wife will be more than willing to get rid of me.

Good luck with your application and i hope you get there soon.

Dan

Hi Dan

We visited from Brighton right trough to Niagra on the lake, so we saw some lovely towns and not so lovely towns. Burlington, Oakville and a new community that is being set up in Stoney Creek will be fab when complete.
I think IF we go out next year (it's hard when you are trying to save, but at the same time want to go and sus everything out) we will look at Guelph.

Keep in touch

Michelle