dbd33

Do your grandchildren have another set of grandparents who are local to them?

christmasoompa

You're looking at Family Class sponsorship processing times (i.e. a PR app). The OP is correct that Supervisa processing times are currently at 69 days.

HTH.

Principled

dbd33- I'm pleased to say that they do have another set of grandparents who are less that 30 mins away and who do a great job. Unfortunately, unlike us, both are working full time so their free time is very limited- especially during the week. That free time also has to be shared amongst their other grandchildren.
P

vikingsail

To the OP - I would stay put and opt to use the UK as your base. Go for 3-6 months on visa travel to Canada. I tried this route many years ago with my own parents who found they could only last 3 months at a time here in the US, luckily they kept their base etc in the UK. Talking, skyping imho occur far more frequently when there are miles between people.I have siblings who live less than 4 miles away from my parents but talk every few weeks, sometimes monthly.

Re your latest post. How much do your family in Canada really feel the same? They may say they want you there and you are willing to go but don't underestimate that privacy distance creates. Go on a long holiday/ or cruise and see how you feel once you and they have been out of each others lives for some time.

vikingsail

To the OP I say stay in the UK and keep your base there and visit for extended periods. I believe ultimately it leads to less heartache and less expense going for 3- 6 months at a time. After all we all need our privacy and separate time no matter how much we think the opposite.

dbd33

I ask because there are few people in this world to whom I would less enjoy more exposure than my grandchildren's other grandparents. It's a dynamic to be considered.

not2old

That said, how do you see your involvement with your Daughter & her children - will it be Monday to Friday so you get a weekend off, less frequent or on as need be basis?i

Right now you're making a couple of visits a year, on the phone & skype regularly, so looking at this from another angle, suppose your daughter & her family lived in the UK in another town or city that was more than one-hour away, how often do you reckon you would be seeing each other?

Should it all go the way it will supervisa, are you planning to live within walking distance of your Daughters home, will you be minding the children, taking them to school & picking them up the way that grans in the UK do?

bats

Have your children asked you to move? Is it something that's even been discussed?

Have you looked at the cost of health insurance on a supervisa?

Are you aware that your UK state pension won't increase while you are resident in Canads?

Have you factored in exchange rate fluctuations on your uk income sources?

If you like your lives now then stay put. Carry on with the long visits, let your family know that if needed you can fly out and stay with them at short notice.

Based on my mums visits with us we've got to spend more time and with greater depth since we moved here than we would have had we stayed back in England and visited weekly.

Dorothy

These last few posts have summed up a lot of the things I've thought of as well. Questions like, does the OP's daughter and her family actually want them to move closer? I know myself that I have carved out a life here away from my family and while I would love to see them more often I truly don't know how I would feel about my aging parents living so close. Would I feel an obligation to see them weekly? If so, what in my life do I give up so I can make time for that? Do my children really want to hang out with their grandparents more often? If yes now, how long before they don't want to? Kids grow up and make their own lives, so it's only a matter of time before the grandkids do the same.

My partner and I are awaiting our visa which will allow me to move "home" to Canada. However, while most of my family is in Southern Ontario, we are planning to go to eastern BC. I have been gone for 11 years and while it's great to see everyone on holidays I am no longer a part of their daily lives and they are no longer a part of mine.

OP, if you were my parents I would probably try to dissuade you from moving to Canada. You have your home, your friends, your daily activities, GP, church, whatever you do, right where you are. If you move to central western Canada what will you have besides your daughter and her family? That's a very large responsibility for her knowing that you gave up your lives to move to be nearer her. I would encourage you to visit me for as long as you wanted to but keep your home in the UK with all you're used to.

As for having someplace of your own while you're in Canada, have you looked at renting a place of your own for 3 months at a time? Maybe an AirBnB? I'm not sure where you daughter is, but I know where my family is there are lots of really nice trailer parks where you can rent a nice static caravan for the season so you would have your privacy and not feel like you're living in your daughter's home. It's also a place where the grandchildren can come and visit you.

Good luck with whatever you decide. It's a tough one.

DandNHill

Renting somewhere sounds like a really good idea. That way the OP can experience actual living in Canada as opposed to visiting.
Maybe that's the first thing to try out even before considering a permanent move any further?

Siouxie

You mentioned upthread about the difficulty in staying with family for extended periods of time, which I completely understand. Whilst it would be expensive to have to rent a place (always supposing that you could find a short term let), have you considered house sitting?

There's several agencies / websites where you can peruse the requests for sitters (it may be also looking after pets etc.,) and the time period can be from a few days to months. There's usually no charge to the 'sitter' (although some of them require you to pay for electicity and gas) and this would give you the opportunity to discover what life would be like as a resident, rather than a tourist. You could even combine 2 or 3 house sits to enable you to stay for 2-3 months or so at a time. If you were prepared for a winter stay, there's a fair few 'snowbirds' who look for house sitters for up to 6 months (you'll find some on the last link)

Just a thought...

I'd suggest applying for the Super Visa to allow you both to visit at will (provided you have medical cover) and see how it goes from there.



https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/ca/
https://www.mindmyhouse.com/sitters/overview
https://www.housecarers.com/how-homeowners.cfm

Dorothy

House sitting is an excellent idea! I might look into that for next time we go to Canada, since we do like to go for a few weeks at a time.

Principled

Thanks everyone for taking time to offer your sound advice. It is very much appreciated. The pertinent questions you posed and the answers others have given have provided a valuable independent viewpoint on my "dilemma". Others have raised points that I hadn't even considered.
I think I have hogged this forum for long enough, so I'll finish by summarizing what I think is the general consensus of the posters: Proceed with caution and take stock of the life/friends/enjoyment etc. that you would be leaving behind. Check out thoroughly FULL health care costs and not just the "emergency cover" minimum required by the EV. Get an SV so you have flexibility without permanent commitment. Rent (or "house sit" ) first and DON'T sell your UK base until you're absolutely certain you can "survive" life Canada in all seasons. If possible only sell our base when/if you get PR. Remember that our daughter's family has forged its own life and way of living and so be prepared that family contact may be no more than it is now and possibly less as, especially as grandkids grow.

One final question that was posed was whether or not our daughter actually wanted us there permanently. This is the one question I am confident I know the answer to. Following a visit at the end of last year we broached the subject of more permanent help (which we had done on and off over the years). Her response this time- in fairly detailed email - was affirmative, but "only if we wanted". One week later she sent us a video of a lovely house 100 metres from her that had just come on the market! Unfortunately, that was before any of us had investigated immigration and the hoops we would need to jump through to actually make it happen. As they say, ignorance is bliss. Kind regards P

not2old

OP, kindly post back if you managed to get the supervisa or if you are now taking another option?

Principled

Not2old- Yes will do. I expect to mull over the various points posters made and do some more research on health insurance/renting etc. over the next couple of months. Once I make the decision, I'll resurrect the thread and keep posters informed on what I've decided and any hiccups/things that may be of interest along the path I decide to take. Thanks for your interest. P