weener

Well its my 3rd anniversary Tomrw from my AOR, and if you have read my other threads I am 70% sure I don't really want to go now and emailed the CIC to put my application on hold, but was obviously too late as recieved a emiail yesterday form my Immigration gut saing they have requested Passports etc.

I suppose most people on here would give there right arm (and maybe more) to be in my position on this site, just sold my house privatly as well for the asking price.

Looks like its Decision time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes

Tangram

Why not land, have mooch around and then decide.

weener

wish it was that easy...give up work, me and wife, child in tow as well, never loan the cost

yonk

Land and have a short holiday, keep your options open, you've waited a long time.

Iain Mc

Well you can put off landing until a year after your medical date, and then once landed you can come straight back and remain out of Canada for no more than (I think - someone correct me) three years out of the next five before you lose your PR status.

So that gives you a LOT of breathing space.

Don't jack in the job yet - take a two week holiday over there during which you can "land", see if that feels right, take a look around places you might live, work, etc. Get a rental property in the UK for a bit (renter's market at present so you should be able to get somewhere nice for a while).

The only thing with the turning-straight-round thing is you need a Canadian residential address for them to send your PR card to (that can be up to a month after you land). If you have a friend over there who's address you can use then that's pretty easy, that's what we did; if not you might have to be a bit more inventive.

Don't throw away the PR status if there's the SLIGHTEST chance you might want to emigrate in the next five years! You can keep your options open and it's nice to have an "out" available!

Cheers, Iain

yonk

Nicked off the CIC webpage...


Permanent Resident Status

Now that you are a permanent resident of Canada, you have certain rights. You also have some obligations.

You will not lose your permanent resident status unless you spend too much time living outside of Canada. You must live in Canada for two years in every five-year period.

jood

Having the jitters is normal - try it - even with wife and child in tow. Better to try it than live the rest of life wondering "what if"

Eastbound

HI
Have to second all the comments so far made there must have been something that made you put in for P.R., an altenative lifestyle perhaps a better life for the kids or just the chance to try.
Youve got nothing to lose especialy if you take a two week holiday as some have suggested
best of luck in your descision

neill

Yes, land, land, land! have a holiday, then return to the UK. This will give you plenty of time to think about it as you only have to meet the 2 in 5 rule; i.e. you have up to 3 years to think about it, at which any point in between you could just move straight over to Canada if you make up your mind to emigrate!

Piff Poff

I second what everyone else has said - don't lose your option of living here, try visiting a different Province to where you have been before, that might put you in a different perspective. At the end of the day only you can decide - you will make the best decision for you and your family whatever it may be.

iaink

Ill third or fourth or whatever the advice to come land, spend a holiday here, maybe reconnect with what attracted you to Canada in the first place, and then if necessary go back to the UK and think on it for a while.

Dont worry about the PR cards, you have 6 months to give an address for them to send them to in Canada, and if after 6 months you still arent sure Canada is for you, then it probably doesnt matter anyway.

Calgal

Whatever you do - DON'T throw this opportunity away in a hurry.

Put yourself a few years down the road; and ask yourself:

What would your life in the UK be like then?
What "could" it have been like here?
Why do you think you don't want to go?
Is it fear of the unknown?
Why did you make the decision to emigrate in the first place?
What's changed since that decision?
Will you regret not giving it a go?

It's normal to get cold feet. It's a huge step to take. As has been pointed out; you don't have to come here one day and that's it - you're here permanently. Knowing you feel the way you do; would it be possible to build in a financial 'safety net' that you could fall back on? A kind of return to the UK if we don't like it fund"? That way you could take advantage of that "breathing space" available to you, and it will feel like more of a gradual transition.

What do the rest of the family think? How do they feel about it? Don't they get a say, too?

You could also come and do your three years - get citizenship, and go back to the UK if you want. You'll have the freedom to do as you please then. That way you give your child opportunities that may never be avaiable otherwise. He/she would have the right to come here as an adult, then you'd have the freedom to join him/her if you wanted to. Anyway you look at it, the opportunity to come and go between two Countries, could be become very valuable in this uncertain world we live in today. (But as you can see from the above posts; most people believe it so today, too).

Good luck - it's a toughie

weener

Hi

Thanks to your replies, and you are all so right in what your saying...I'll keep you posted.

sam/stu

They won't shackle you if you don't like it! Give it a few months, see how you settle, does the family like it etc. etc. then decide. You are in a really good position now! Good luck...

Alberta_Rose

On the 15th January you said this:

What I would like to do is, hopefully have PPR very shortly, visit Canada on vacation this year to get the paperwork sorted, but then come back to the UK as I know we can live here for a couple more years, and "maybe" then something will push me towards making the right desicion, and after going through all this it seems daft just to say "no".

Well,......... looks like your wish was granted, so I (like the others) say "Go for it" or you may always wonder, and wish you had!

btw, we have a view of the mountains! (We also have a large mortgage, it's true but we are better of in many many ways. )