Tanja87

Hey guys!
Just feeling quite depressed and need to get this off my chest so sorry for the length of this post...
Having read most of the recent threads about insufficient points based on education it looks like our application would be unsuccessful if we sent it off now as we planned to do (well, 50-50 chance - seems to be a bit of a grey area). Just quickly - our plan was to send off our PR application this month and then go to Canada on BUNAC mid next year and once PR came through to stay there... However, now it seems that we wouldn't get awarded as many points for hubby's education as we thought we would (he went to school from the age of 4-16 and then did 2 years of college but there seem to be some issues with whether the reception year counts or not etc.), causing us not to reach the 67 mark. Of course there would be other options i.e. learning French or getting that elusive job offer but, to be quite honest, for us it was a case of now or never! I am 22, he is 26 and I for my part am still planning to go to college to qualify for my dream job and after being stuck in a dead end job and tiny flat for 3 years now I really need a change of scenery! With our BUNAC visas we could get that at least for that 1 year but if we did that, it would probably make a big dent in our savings if not use them all up. The problem I have with that is if we decide to basically stay in the UK and just take 1 year out in Canada, we'd need to be able to move on somewhere when we get back i.e. have a job, a deposit for a house and me qualifying etc. So, does anyone see where my problem is?
We either stay in the UK "moving forward" (me qualifying and us buying a house and finally starting that family we've always wanted etc., and giving up on our dream of living in Canada!!) or we try anything to achieve our dream of living in Canada for now and don't "move forward" until we might hopefully be there... Oh, I just don't know
Ideas, anyone?

singingringingtree

How many points short are you? Looks like your OH has 13 years education?

readytomove

Really depends on how much you want to move to canada. If you spent the next year learnning french to get those extra points you could submit the application then and you would both still be young enough to go though BUNAC while it's processing. It's only another years waiting for what could result in a lifetime in canada.

Tanja87

Well, I really really want to go to Canada but I do feel like my hubby is not that convinced anymore. Over the last 6 months or so we have both been working 2 jobs in order to get our funds sorted so we haven't really had the chance to spend much time together. And he seems to be struggling with this a lot lately (not that it's easy for me but I can see the bigger picture and Canada IS our dream!!) But his way of thinking is that because of all the work we have done recently and us already owning a flat here we're in a good position to take the "next step" whereas if we try to get to Canada we would basically have to start from scratch there. I can kind of understand this but I have been picturing us and our future in Canada, with that big house and several acres of land for our hobby farm ... You get the drift But if we stay here we wouldn't have that! Could never afford it here and it's not a realistic life style for the UK I think! And I do believe that if we don't at least try to achieve our dream we will sooner or later regret it!
Hmmm, one question - if we apply now and our application does get rejected, could we submit it again with amended details once we are in Canada on BUNAC and both have jobs there? Would that make up for the 2 points or so we might be lacking now? I'm just trying to find any little loop holes there might be by now... I just really can't bare the thought of another year or 2 of our lives being the same as they are right now! Like I said - I need a change of scenery!! Something!!!
Thanks for your replies so far! Any more opinions or ideas would be highly appreciated!!

readytomove

last year i was in the same position as you. Canada has been my dream of ages and i was willing to do whatever to get there but my partner was losing enthusiasm and was thinking maybe we should just move somewhere else in the UK and he can get a better job. It all changed after we went on a reccie and now he is just as determined as me.

I think you can re-submit if your circumstances change but i'm not an expert

jericho

We started the process at a similar age to you, with a grey area on points, but we're here now. You give up too easy....

Howefamily

I am no expert either but could you go on BUNAC and then hope to get your network sorted so that you could then apply for all this from there? Maybe you will get your job offer more easily from there....

Regarding building your life here, I am an accountant, hubby has a decent job in the police and we are in early (ish) thirties. On paper you would think that life should be easy enough but we struggle continually to afford all the things we want. We even have to budget for say just two takeaways a month. We have childcare costs too but thats only part time due to hubbys shift work.

So, what I am saying is that in the UK, unless you have a job that pays ALOT or you are lucky it will always be just a abit of a struggle, in my opinion. Also, I dont think dreams go away, they just start up again sooner or later....

Rodge9

I was under the impression that an arranged job counts for 10 (?) extra points, and obviously unless you have experience in a job on 'the list' you'd need a job offer to apply as a skilled worker anyway...or have I missed something here? So if you go on a BUNAC and find a job wouldn't that serve as the job offer, and hence extra points, that you need?

Tanja87

Exactly my way of thinking! But if we re-submit our application once we're in Canada and working on BUNAC our BUNAC visas would run out before our PR would come through.... So we'd also need to apply for TWP once we're there!
And to jericho: I am not giving up, no way!! I am trying to find ways to make our dream achievable again without losing too much time, that's all! If you consider the fact that I still have to train for my "dream job" (about 2 years part time college education if we stay in the UK or 9 months full time in Canada) We just want to get a move on! If we stay in the UK I can start training next year. If we're planning to go to Canada however I wouldn't be able to start training until we're there! And I don't really want to start training for my job when I'm 24 or 25 as I just think this might be too late! Plus another 2 years of being stuck in my mind numbing job here (can't get anything better without qualifications I'm afraid) would be a killer!
Oh, I just really don't know! Seems to be a catch 22 situation... Can't have it all I guess....

Kaye.

THINKING OUT LOUD- MAY NOT BE CORRECT!!

If you go a bunac and work in Canada for the year you can claim points for that, here's a quick test I did for you (I had to guess some of the answers so might not be right)

1 Education 25 15
2 Language Ability 24 16
3 Work Experience 21 21
4 Age 10 10
5 Arranged Employment 10 0
6 Adaptability 10 5
Total Score 100 67

that's with your husband down as 13 years education. Try the test again but imagine taking the test once you've been in Canada for a year on BUNAC....

Good luck either way!

Tanja87

Thanks Kaye! And how sweet of you to take the test for me
I just feel like we have lots of thinking to do and some BIG decisions to make.... The problem I'd have with doing it that way is that a) we'd use up most of our savings to go to Canada for 1 year resulting in us having to work even more than we are right now in order to get the funds sorted again for our PR application once we got back and b) the time thing again for my training and stuff like that. Plus, be the time we finish our year in Canada the rules and regulations may have changed again!
Maybe we should just get on with it as if we were staying in the UK for good, I do my training, we get a house (if we can), learn some French and by the time all that is sorted we can still apply for PR if we think it's the right thing for us... I guess... Maybe....
But this is good, please just keep the posts coming!! It's making me think about all the options we may have! And thanks a LOT to everyone who's taking an interest in this!!

Kaye.

Have you been to Canada before?

We're in a similar situation as you (well not really similar but..) I'm 23, hubbys 24, we have 2 young children (4 and 1), we own our home, and hubby has a secure well paying job.. but we haven't stopped thinking about Canada for a year. We've never been!

Our plan is to go to Canada for a recce in May, if we decide we want to live there we will put in our application immediately. (Hubby is on the list)

We will have to sell our house, pack everything up, take our daughter out of school, transport our dogs, and move. It might not work out, we will have used all our savings, we would have to come back to the UK and start from scratch, buy another home, etc.

But... you only live once! Do you want to look back in 20 years and think "I wish we'd tried it" ? I don't! I want the adventure

Butch Cassidy

And that my friends sums it up for a LOT of people.

Tanja87

Exactly my point, Kaye! And our situations are quite similar I think....
We've been to Canada for 2 weeks only in April, but even just this made us want it more!! And we have the added bonus of not having children yet! Not that it's bad to have kids, that is totally not what I mean!! (God, that sounded really bad, it's really not what I mean at all!!!!) I just think it's easier to make a life changing decision and huge move like this if you don't have little'uns depending on you...
Right, I'll tell you a bit more about our situation:
I am 22 and my highest level of education is the German equivalent of A levels (yes, I am German... ) My husband is assistant network manager in a school and also manages a pizza shop in the evenings. We own a flat and I want to train to become a beautician. We also want to start our own family as soon as we can, given that we are in a good position to do this - me being qualified for, well, nothing and us living in a little 1 bed flat is not a good position far that, at least not for us. And then there is Canada, our big dream! Now, how to combine all of that, that's the question!

Oink

How about a nice holiday in Cornwall? Maybe have a fling at work? Or, take a pottery class. There's lots of adventure out there.