Our Calgary trip.
 

Hi guys,

Yep, i'm back - once again i've been off the forum way tooooo long! Sorry about that.

Anyway, as some may know, we visited Calgary back in mid-May for a fortnight. It was never gonna be a "vacation" as such, but more of a fact-finder, and below i've listed the good points and the bad points;-

Good Points;-
Got really positive responses from potential employers.
Got to meet some wonderful people and literally made some lifelong friends.
Got to view some wonderful affordable houses.
Got to visit some great schools in our potential chosen settlement area.
Got to do the Calgary Tower thing (thanks for that John - you know who you are), did the Rockies/Jasper/Banff thing, the Edmonton Mall thing, the Drumheller thing.
And all in all, had a fan-f***in'-tastic time!

Bad Points;-
Um, err, uuummm.............. dunno really!

Anyway, for anyone who's followed our little story since April '04, here's the latest;-

We were issued our File/Case-number last Oct/Nov time, and were told by our Migration-agent that typically there's a 12 to 14 month wait between File-number issue, and medicals notification. Obviously this led us to believe (and hope) that we'd have had our medicals by this Christmas, and if successful, we could be living there by this time next year.
However, on our return from our recent trip, i emailed our agent to say how successful the trip had been, and to ask if we were still on course to have our medicals by Christmas. She told us that, due to a heavy workload, we were probably looking at a FURTHER 12 months from now before we get to that stage! What a bummer!
I can only hope things speed up, 'cos now we've been there and seen what will hopefully be, WE CAN'T WAIT TO GET THERE AS PERMANENT RESIDENTS!
And the sooner - the better!

Anyway, that's the story so far, and that's me done for the moment. So until next time, and as always, take care y'all.

Kev.
P.S. If John or George (from Bragg Creek) read this, can u email me please. My 'puter crashed the other day, and i lost my email address book - amongst other things!

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Hi, we feel like that too :D

Glad you had a good trip! :)

Morw

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Hi Kev,

Sounds fantastic, glad it all feels right for you and all went so well.

No chance of getting work permit(s) ? We would have done that had we sold house, would have left PR running in UK and got on with life over there - assuming your case is strong enough to stand up, the only hassle might be a return UK trip to do interview. We figured it was worth the risk, but things didn't work out that way.

Worth a thought.

Rich.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Hi guys,

Yeah Rich, i thought about the work-permit/visa, but i was told that seeing as it takes 3 years to qualify for citizenship, if i was to lose my job within that period, it's possible that they could ship me back to Blighty - and that's something i wouldn't wanna risk.
Besides, my boss (Linda, the missus) would rather us just plod on with the PR visa application - lengthy but safer.

Kev.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Yep agreed mate if it doesn't feel 'safe' then too much risk and expense and hassle and heartache.

Hope it all sorts out soon,

Rich.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Thanks for the best wishes, Rich. And a big "Hi" to Morwenna.

Actually, even though our migation-agent said we still may have another 12 months to wait from now for our medicals-notification, i recieved a reply to an email i sent to the CHC in London. They said that our application should hopefully be processed late this year or early next - whatever "being processed" means!

So going by that opinion, it may still be feasible for us to be living there before next Autumn if all goes well...... please God!

Kev.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Sounds perfectly feasible TBH, see our timeline below. Amazing how quickly it can come together. One thing I would say, from experience, don't let property hold up your move.

Anything you can send to CIC in the meantime, such as a report of your recce and + findings, any correspondence from potential employers which is encouraging or more than that, send it all off - they read it all come the assessment.

It'll come together.

Rich.

Rich.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Hi there, glad your trip went well.
We're going to Calgary on a reccy trip next May(ish) and we'll also be looking at schools, houses, different areas etc, so nice to hear some positive comments.
Jo

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Hi Jo,

Dunno if you've been to Calgary (or Canada itself) before, but we absolutely loved it. And as i pointed out in the beginning of this thread, i cannot for the life of me think of any negatives about our trip!

I'm sure you'll love it too, and if you want any tips - not that i'm an authority, but based on the fact that we only went there recently - feel free to either P.M. me, or email me at '[email protected]'

Take care,

Kev.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Hi Kev, Linda and Kids

I'm Glad to see you had such a nice Trip, I know that when you were here one the the reasons you wanted to leave England was the weather. Kev is tired of the grey wet weather.....well since you have left in the last 3 weeks we have had more rain then we usually get in a year , and I believe England is having hot, dry weather, would you mind coming back and bring the sun back with you.

thanks again

Your Canadian Friends

Brian, Joanne, Josh and Sarah

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

By citizenship, I take it you mean PR. The work permit route can be an effective route if you can get a permanent job offer in advance. This is what I have done and was given a 3 year work permit when I landed at Calgary airport. The essentially means that we can't be kicked out for 3 years even I I loose my job. Should be plenty long enough to get the PR application done.

Only real risk is being declined for PR, but you have to take some risks in life. Once you have a job with a work permit it's pretty much impossible to fail to meet the points target so only medicals/police record to worry about.

Depending on your skills, even if you loose your job within the 3 years it should be possible to get another one as long as you network network network. As many people have said, it's who you know here. Being IN Canada shows commitment to potential employers who should then be willing to sponsor you for another work permit.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Hi, Im new to this site and just "popped in" to see if I could get any info on Calgary. My husband has just got a job for a freight firm and we will be based in Calgary. He will be going over in September and we (me, 3 kids aged 11 and 3 year old twins) will be following when we've (eventually) sold our house.

Ive been looking at the websites for houses (buying and renting) but really I need to know the best areas in Calgary. I don't have a clue where to start. The firm my husband will be working for are employing a re-location firm to help out but Id rather speak to somebody with experience of the area.

Most importantly are the schools, Catholic. I think once I can find a good one then we'll settle in that area. Also, Im gonna be on my own for 3 weeks out of every month so Id probably want somewhere close to "the action"

Any help from ANYONE would be gratefully received.

regards

Michelle Rodgers

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Hmm!!! "Close to the action". Not sure that you've picked the right country. Most people have moved for a more laid back lifestyle.

I'm no expert on the areas other avoid the North East of Calgary itself. If youe are looking for more space then perhaps just outside Calgary will be a better bet. We will be moving to Cochrane 30 minutes drive North West of downtown. Population of 12000 or so but growing rapidly. Has a little more "character" than some areas. Also signfiicantly higher that the areas to the South and West that have just been badly flooded. I find the housing in Calgary itself to be very dense. not helped by the Calgarian way of building a "huge" house to cover the entire plot of land leving a tiny garden and small bit of decking. Budget will also heavily constrain the area where you live.

I think that you will find most schools are pretty good. My own personal opinion would be to forget about finding a specific Catholic school unless you feel that a religious element as part of the curriculum is important to you. Find an area where you would be happy to live then check out the schools. If the local School is catholic then so much the better fo you. My own view is that since Canada is such an ethnically diverse Country that kids should be schooled in the same ethnically diverse environment. The segrationism in the UK (is that a real word??) is one of many reasons for us leaving the UK. But I digress.

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Out of curiosity. Isn't your work visa company specific stating that whoever gave you the job offer is only who you can work for. I presume it is the bit of paper stapled to your passport.

We landed here initially on work visas and my wife's stated that she could only work for the people that gave her the offer. Mine on the other hand (as a spouse) was an open work visa.

Or, are you saying that if you lost your job, you would stay in the country and reapply for another visa using your new company as new sponsors?

Re: Our Calgary trip.
 

Yep, work permit is company specific. It is normal for a spouse to then get an open work permit.

If I loose my job (highly likely given the state of the company I have just started working for) I can stay until the end of the 3 years. I would defitely stay in the country and hunt for a new company to sponsor me for a new work permit. I am in the lucky position of already having been aproached by two companies willing to do it if necessery (Not bad for a weeks work!!!). You can also get another company to get you a work permit while you are already employed. I've thought about this already but feel morally obliged to gove my curretn employer a fair crack at the whip.