Kaye.

Hi everyone

Right, I'll start from the beginning!

My hubby and I are discussing emigrating to Canada, we are 22 and 23, and have 2 kids, girl nearly 4 and 8 month baby boy. Hubby is a welder, a job which is on The List, and we get 140 points. Just looking for some advice really as to what to do! We have never been to Canada before, so are planning a holiday/research trip for this year, probably late summer. We will arrange job interviews for hubby in advance. Having read as much on Wiki as possible and the CIC site, amongst others, we really like the look of Calgary, especially the lake community Okotoks, and I think there are some good job prospects in Alberta for my husband.

What do you all think we should do? Wait until we have had our holiday and then think about applying for a visa? The thing is, as our daughter is 4 in april, she would be starting school in 2010, and judging from all the threads I have read it seems that it would take a lot longer than that to get to Canada, and I would really prefer not to have to make my daughter move schools.

I also would prefer not to enter on a TWP, if we have to sell our house to do this I dont want the chance of getting put out of the country if there are no jobs!

Also (sorry!) regarding proof of funds, what is the situation for everyone who has a house to sell, have you all had savings to use as proof of income? We only bought our house 6 months ago so all our savings went as our deposit, so are starting from scratch again to save.

Any help, advice, or opinions would be greatfully received.

Sorry for the long post, especially as it's my first.

Kaye

chumley

huge luck blimey have they changed the points system ? 140 points for someone aged 23?

must get myself updated

have a look at the WIKI and have a good read of the site its truely fabby and will tell you all you need to know

chumley

think you need to re check your points?? from what I can see the pass mark is still 67??

how do you get 140 points??

do you have a degree and a PHD
are you fluent in both english and french?
do you have close relatves in canada
do you have many many years of work experience
have you lived in canada before

sorry not being unhelpful honest but just cant see where you are getting 140 points just dont think thats possible

just like to add points are not the only way to get to canada so dont be put off

terese677

Hi Kaye
just a short one to say welcome to BE, I'm sure there are many differing opinions but I would say spend some time over here on a recce to make sure this is the place for you ,but i haven't gone the PR route (I'm on a TWP) so not sure about the timeline.
Good luck
Terese

Novocastrian

I have a feeling that must be a total for the both of them.

Kaye.

It was my husband who worked out the points total, i now suspect he has done it wrong!!! When I tried it myself we got 71 points I think, but I thought maybe I had answered something wrong... hmm I must double check.

chumley

could be but 70 is still just about impossible given the ops history?

Novocastrian

I dunno. But less impossible than 140.

Anyway, to the OP... good luck.

Novocastrian

Not an expert, but I think the landing funds need to be "in hand". Equity doesn't count (not as though it's likely you have much, if you bought last year).

Again: good luck.

Alan2005

I thought that CHC london 'unofficially' allowed housing equity as proof of funds on the application. Not sure if they would still allow it in the middle of the biggest house price crash for a generation tho

Bellanova

Hi Kaye and welcome to BE!! It will feel like a minefield, but there really is tons of help on this site and lots of people offering advice, we couldn't have done it without this site, one word Research its the only way!! Good luck with it all
Bella

Sam-in-Okotoks

Hi Kaye
Welcome to the expat site and good luck with your plans.
I'm an ex brit now living in Okotoks and would be happy to answer any questions you have about Okotoks. I will be in London Feb 28 March 01 for the immigration show at Sandown Park. I will also have a business partner with me who can advise on all aspects of the visa process, what you need e.t.c
If you can make the show I have some free tickets to give away. Sam

Kaye.

Okay, I apologise, that was my mistake, I double checked with hubby and it was actually Australia that awarded 140 points, he did a test with them too one night. We were awarded 67 points, but if hubby had a job offer it would go up. Sorry about that.

Thanks to everyone who has welcomed me to the board, I have been reading it for a few weeks now so it's nice to finally post something.

Sam in Okotoks, let me speak to hubby about that, I may just take you up on the offer of the tickets. I will let you know. Thank you very much for the offer, and also the offer of advice about Okotoks.


Having read a lot of the Wiki, it appears to only advise how to get to Canada on a TWP, unless I am missing something, is it not possible to get there permanently rather than temp and then applying for PR?
Dont want to sell house on the off chance we will be made to leave, in the case of "last in first out".

Thanks everyone for the help and advice so far, and again apologies for me giving the wrong info.

Kaye

Getting There

Hi Kaye,

Welcome to BE. More Okotoks residents here. It's a lovely place to live (our blogs below may convey something of that) but that's all we'll say on it as our first suggestion would be to worry about good places to live a bit further down the line.

At this stage, the priority is figuring out the best route to get here and critically, what you will do when you get here to support your family. Whether you go down the Permanent Residence application route, or whether you come here first on a Temporary Work Permit, (we agree that is a greater risk to you and yours, although many choose to do so), it would be a very sound thing to do to network like crazy with potential employers and see if you can drum up interest among them. In the current economic climate, you need to try and mitigate the risks you face in coming here with a young family before you focus on the opportunities that this place presents, so try not to be blind-sided by the Okotoks thing - follow the work instead. Anything else could have severe financial repercussions for you.

Your strategy of coming here for a research trip first is absolutely spot on, if preceded by months of potential employer contact. As well as discovering the area, you want to get as much face time with potential employers as possible.

If we can make a suggestion, connect with JoolsGod on this forum. There are many similarities between your situations (and some differences). They are a lovely family and will, I am sure, be willing to share their experiences with you. The link below is where they started their journey on this discussion board and our (and others) interactions with them.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...64#post6732064
We gave lots of links out in our responses on that thread. The first link out is now a dead link but this is the updated link.
http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/...spx?val65=7265

You'll find lots of support on this forum Kaye and hopefully, from the research you are clearly doing yourselves and your interactions on here, you will find the most appropriate, least risk, way forward for you and yours.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

Kaye.

Thanks so much Eamonn and Janet for pointing me in the right direction... Im sure I will need to pick your brains at some point in the future about Okotoks, or buying a home!

I was researching more last night and discovered the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program... does anyone have any experience of this?
As I understand, the order of things is-

• Contact employers (network network network!!), try to arrange some interviews for when we are over on our recce trip
• Get offered a job for hubby!
• Contact AINP to advise of job offer
• Wait for AINP pack to arrive, fill in and send back
• Apply for Visa, PR, work permit
• Put house up for sale
• Hopefully sell house
• Once visa received, move!!

Is this right? Am I missing anything?
Does anyone know of a rough time scale from contacting AINP with details of a job offer, to actually moving?

Oh, finally, to Sam in Okotoks, we cant make the London show unfortunately as hubby will be going offshore at the beginning of Feb for 3 months. Thanks for the offer... very kind of you.

Thanks in advance,
Kaye