From Start to a new Start....
Mar 6th 2009, 7:10 pm
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 10
From Start to a new Start....
Hi everyone
Firstly a big thank you to everyone who's helped us in the past on this forum and to all its contributors who have made this forum an invaluable source of information for the would-be immigrant.
It's been so long since we first applied way back in 2005 that it's hard to recall all the things that went on in between but for the benefit of everyone here are some of the obstacles and points we encountered which I think all applicants should be aware of.
Quick intro: We applied back in 2005 in London,UK and landed in summer 2008.I had no job offer at the time, just a straightforward application to emigrate. I, as principal applicant started work here in Toronto in early January 2009 while my wife wound up the house sale (big discount) and removals. I got us a house to rent, car, etc until the rest of the family (wife,2 kids-7 and 9, and our dog) came over.
Forms: Do EVERYTHING exactly as they ask. Do NOT deviate one bit from anything stated on those forms no matter how weird or strange it may seem. Case in point: when it came to hand in the completed forms we put everything in its appropriate sections and after much agonizing we cut out all the little numbers and clipped them to the front of each section with a typed title just as they asked. It didn't seem right at all but we did it anyway.
More forms: In late 2006 they asked us to complete more forms which were modified forms from the original ones we did. Again, just do everything to the letter. Make tons and tons of copies of all the forms because you will need them again I guarantee it.
Police Records: Both my wife and I were born in different countries and have also lived abroad. EGt any overseas one as soon as possible but leave the UK ones till the last as we found the turnaround time to get them was very quick and ended up having to re-apply as they had expired due to the Swiss police form taking 2 months to get here.
Photos: We took the templates to a couple of photographers and paid up to make sure they knew exactly what to do: I recommend Panther Imaging on Leather Lane in London as they have had experience of the exact sizing of the "heads". We had to take new pictures of the kids in this case as they had obviously grown a bit in the interim.
French Language:If you're borderline on points and need a few extra this is a great way of tacking on another half dozen or so. I hadn't spoken a word of French since my A-levels and I was quite daunted at the prospect of taking the proficiency test at the Alliance Francais but get the books they recommend and hit them hard! It's boring and dull listening to tapes of Pierre and Louis talk about wine growing in the Loire valley and the price of onions but keep reminding yourself of why you're doing it. Find someone who speaks French to practise with as I found the conversation part of the exam to be the toughest especially as it's at the end of the grueling 3-4 hours of written and listening exams and you'll be pretty knackered. The last thing you'll want to do is some role playing whereby you're a travel agent trying to convince the invigilator to take a cruise around the Med. On the day everyone else who was taking the exam was doing it for exactly the same reason!
London Consulate: Handing in the forms takes time! Get there early and queue for that ridiculous 1 hour window when they are open. I didn't and had to get back to work. Instead I walked down the street to the local post office and sent it off by registered post. My wife gave me the third degree about that and with hindsight I should have waited in line just for the peace of mind factor but hey, thanks for saving my butt Royal Mail!
Medical: It was so exciting to get the request coz you know you're almost there! This too costs money but is fairly straightforward-general checkup, blood tests and some chest x-rays. The doc we chose was very nice and did these exams for Canada all the time. He hit the nail on the head by saying "They don't want you to come you know? They are waiting for you to fall at the first hurdle" Oh well....
Passport Request: I went to the Consulate and queued up to hand these in. It's a long process as their security is very tight. Make sure you're not going anywhere for a month or so! I think you will get a confirmation of exactly when you need to come back to collect them on the day but I might be wrong. When it was opening time the Officer basically came down to all of us outside on street level and handed them out from a big box!
Landing: This is it! This is what it's all been leading up to, just stay calm as there's gonna be some waiting involved. Sounds obvious but have ALL your documents with you-proof of funds, etc, etc. I got the impression that coming from the UK makes it fairly easy for them to process you. We landed at about 3:30 pm in Toronto with BA, this is a great time to arrive as there are hardly any other flights coming in and so queues are shorter. They make you sit in the "interview" area where you wait for an Immi Officer. This was interesting as they were interviewing loads of other people just like on TV shows like Border cops or similar-"why are you here in Canada? You've been here before, stop lying!" One fellah was in cuffs repeating an extract from the Geneva Convention demanding they grant him asylum.
The guy who saw us was very cool and calm and only asked to see the proof of funds before canceling the Visa thingies in our passports. We used a lawyer's address in downtown for our landing address. It took about 6 weeks for the PR cards to arrive which our lawyer (for a fee of course) Fedex'd to us in London. The next thing you have to do is show your goods to follow list at customs; have this FULLY TYPED up, it'll save you bags of time and we got the impression from the customs guy that not everyone does it but it was much appreciated as it made their life easier. We spent a glorious 2 weeks in Southern Ontario scouting out places to live, schools and just enjoying Canadian life. I hooked u with an old buddy of mine whom I used to work with in London and he offered me a job which for us was like winning the freakin' lottery. I thought about it for all of 2 picoseconds and accepted.
House Sale: I know everyone's hurting but keep trying. We put our house on the market in September 2008 and it sold in Jan 2009. Don't be sucked in by idiot agents overpricing your house. We got duped and were too greedy. Your house WILL sell but sell it at the right price. I'm sorry of this sounds glib but we reduced ours to a realistic level and accepted a low offer (10% discount). If you really want to get here you will have to go lower....
Removals: My wife organized this for the most part and it was by all accounts very good with only one old mirror breaking . We used one of the recommendations here but I won't say who as we are having a minor dispute with them over some missing articles.... they are of low value and insured but there are some extenuating circumstances and they have not provided us with an adequate explanation. Feel free to email me if you want to know the name.
Pets: As long as your animal's got all his shots and certificates there's no quarantine here. Getting our dog across wasn't cheap unfortunately. You will need a dog license which is about 20 CAD.
Arrival: Arriving on my own in the depths of winter was fun and I had to learn really quickly how to drive in snow as have all you guys in the UK recently! Get all your forms/admin done asap, I took the morning off and got in order: the SIN, bank account,drivers license and OHIP.
SIN: This is pretty much for tax purposes-I used my work address for it as you can change it later
Bank Account: I thoroughly recommend HSBC as they cater especially for newcomers and their aim is to get your credit score up as soon as possible. They'll give you a credit card with a tiny amount of credit but be patient and this will go up if you make regular payments. The advantage of HSBC is you can use their ATMS and Bank of Montreal's without incurring charges. My wife also got her own account but as she doesn't have a job she had to put down 1000 CAD surety on the credit card.
Drivers' License: This is going to cost you about 70 CAD here in Ontario. They take your UK one and issue you with a temporary paper card. You have to get your picture taken (no smiling!) and have a weird eye test but it's no biggie. You have to give them a residential address: I gave them my hotel address and the photo card came within 2 weeks. I changed the address on a form included once we got our house-very easy and hassle free. I was lucky at the AUTO place and it only took 10 minutes but my wife got stuck for 2 hours.
OHIP: You're not eligible for OHIP health insurance for the first 3 months so make sure your travel insurance covers you for that time. Tip: go at the end of the day towards closing time as it seems to be emptier there. Again they take your picture ( you can smile on this one!) and ask for your address...pretty straightforward.
Renting: There's a lot of stuff available in Southern Ontario. The housing market has been hit but not as badly as the States or the UK. Get yourself MORE THAN ONE realtor and they will put together a portfolio of houses you need to see. We set a monthly budget and I would say that 80% of what was shown to me was absolute rubbish! Maybe I'm being paranoid but I got the impression I was shown a lot of expensive crap coz I'm a dumb immigrant.....dirty, old, unloved houses for big money. I eventually found a realtor who herself was an immigrant over 12 years ago and she showed me houses that were in my price range, brand new and in tip-top condition. I made an offer 15% lower than the asking monthly rental and we settled on a little more. I had to show a lot of proof of income and funds and rightly so I guess. Your credit history doesn't count for s**t here I found, and we have a very high score. Once you have the house youcan easily get the Hydro, gas and water sorted out-they will either ask you to pay a deposit or take it by direct debit. As for Tv, internet,phone there are a couple of companies here offering all-in-one packages much like SKY. We went with BELL who have a nice HD/interweb/phone package costing about 150 CAD a month with included calls to the USA, Canada and a couple of European countries.
Car and insurance: wake up call, cars are NOT cheap here! European cars go for a big premium so stay away from them. You have to pay Federal tax and Provincial tax on all sticker prices regardless of the car's age if you're buying from a dealer so add on another 13%. I think the Provincial tax is waived if you buy privately but don't hold me to it. Tip: go to www.leasebusters.com Many Canadians lease their cars but sometimes they run into trouble and will try to offload the lease for a discount. This is very common and in some cases they will offer you a cash incentive to take on the lease. You could pick up the last 6 months of someone's lease for a couple of hundred CAD a month on a family car. Obviously it depends on how the Leasing company views your credit history, etc etc.
Now for the biggest shocker: car insurance: that 20 years no claims you have back in Blighty? Forget it, you're back to being treated like a 17 year old hop-head again! I got quotes like 4000 CAD a year!!! We used a broker and he got us a 3 year no claims with ING. There were other discounts for taking out home insurance as well. Still not cheap but you have to start somewhere!
Mobile phone: Brits are spoilt when it comes to mobiles! Contracts here start at 2 years minimum and you generally have to pay for the phones including upgrades. If you get a pay-as-u-go you have to pay for incoming calls and texts too. Only Rogers is on GSM enabling you to use your quad phone as they use SIM cards. All the other networks are CDMA and don't have SIM cards....dunno how it works but that's what it is. I have found Rogers to be pretty useless but hey, it's a mobile phone company and they're all the same right?
Furniture/Electrical goods: Hardly any of our stuff is dual voltage but we took it all anyway. Stuff like fridges and kitchen appliances use a lot of wattage so you will need a heavy duty converter and they cost big bucks.... you might as well buy new stuff and start again. e.g. hairdryer, coffee machine, blenders, vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaners here cost about double than in the UK for some reason! Dysons are all about 1000 CAD! Most other household electrical stuff is comparable with the UK. E-commerce is no way as advanced as the UK and you will struggle to find competitive prices in online stores. Furniture is good value here, just remember to buy Canadian! Tip: Ethan Allen is a US furniture company, if you call the branches over the border they will COME to your home in Canada and give you a better deal than the Canadian branches..... cut-throat!
Groceries: They have big stores here like in the UK and maybe it's a Southern Ontario thing but food is not cheap! We shopped at Costco in London and continue to do so here as the prices are that much better especially fresh meat. Beef is a lot cheaper here so it's good news if you love steak.
That's all I can think of ...my impressions of Southern Ontario and Canadians: just get over here! It's everything we've hoped it would be, Canadians are so friendly and helpful and this place is crazy beautiful! This year is going to cost us big with the move but we're building for the future and this is the price of that investment. Once you start filling in those forms and hand over the money please, please, please make the commitment and take everything they throw at you as it will be so worth it I promise.
I apologize if some of what I've said may no longer be that accurate but this is just what's happened to us and maybe your experience might be different.
Thanks and good luck to you all
Morry
Firstly a big thank you to everyone who's helped us in the past on this forum and to all its contributors who have made this forum an invaluable source of information for the would-be immigrant.
It's been so long since we first applied way back in 2005 that it's hard to recall all the things that went on in between but for the benefit of everyone here are some of the obstacles and points we encountered which I think all applicants should be aware of.
Quick intro: We applied back in 2005 in London,UK and landed in summer 2008.I had no job offer at the time, just a straightforward application to emigrate. I, as principal applicant started work here in Toronto in early January 2009 while my wife wound up the house sale (big discount) and removals. I got us a house to rent, car, etc until the rest of the family (wife,2 kids-7 and 9, and our dog) came over.
Forms: Do EVERYTHING exactly as they ask. Do NOT deviate one bit from anything stated on those forms no matter how weird or strange it may seem. Case in point: when it came to hand in the completed forms we put everything in its appropriate sections and after much agonizing we cut out all the little numbers and clipped them to the front of each section with a typed title just as they asked. It didn't seem right at all but we did it anyway.
More forms: In late 2006 they asked us to complete more forms which were modified forms from the original ones we did. Again, just do everything to the letter. Make tons and tons of copies of all the forms because you will need them again I guarantee it.
Police Records: Both my wife and I were born in different countries and have also lived abroad. EGt any overseas one as soon as possible but leave the UK ones till the last as we found the turnaround time to get them was very quick and ended up having to re-apply as they had expired due to the Swiss police form taking 2 months to get here.
Photos: We took the templates to a couple of photographers and paid up to make sure they knew exactly what to do: I recommend Panther Imaging on Leather Lane in London as they have had experience of the exact sizing of the "heads". We had to take new pictures of the kids in this case as they had obviously grown a bit in the interim.
French Language:If you're borderline on points and need a few extra this is a great way of tacking on another half dozen or so. I hadn't spoken a word of French since my A-levels and I was quite daunted at the prospect of taking the proficiency test at the Alliance Francais but get the books they recommend and hit them hard! It's boring and dull listening to tapes of Pierre and Louis talk about wine growing in the Loire valley and the price of onions but keep reminding yourself of why you're doing it. Find someone who speaks French to practise with as I found the conversation part of the exam to be the toughest especially as it's at the end of the grueling 3-4 hours of written and listening exams and you'll be pretty knackered. The last thing you'll want to do is some role playing whereby you're a travel agent trying to convince the invigilator to take a cruise around the Med. On the day everyone else who was taking the exam was doing it for exactly the same reason!
London Consulate: Handing in the forms takes time! Get there early and queue for that ridiculous 1 hour window when they are open. I didn't and had to get back to work. Instead I walked down the street to the local post office and sent it off by registered post. My wife gave me the third degree about that and with hindsight I should have waited in line just for the peace of mind factor but hey, thanks for saving my butt Royal Mail!
Medical: It was so exciting to get the request coz you know you're almost there! This too costs money but is fairly straightforward-general checkup, blood tests and some chest x-rays. The doc we chose was very nice and did these exams for Canada all the time. He hit the nail on the head by saying "They don't want you to come you know? They are waiting for you to fall at the first hurdle" Oh well....
Passport Request: I went to the Consulate and queued up to hand these in. It's a long process as their security is very tight. Make sure you're not going anywhere for a month or so! I think you will get a confirmation of exactly when you need to come back to collect them on the day but I might be wrong. When it was opening time the Officer basically came down to all of us outside on street level and handed them out from a big box!
Landing: This is it! This is what it's all been leading up to, just stay calm as there's gonna be some waiting involved. Sounds obvious but have ALL your documents with you-proof of funds, etc, etc. I got the impression that coming from the UK makes it fairly easy for them to process you. We landed at about 3:30 pm in Toronto with BA, this is a great time to arrive as there are hardly any other flights coming in and so queues are shorter. They make you sit in the "interview" area where you wait for an Immi Officer. This was interesting as they were interviewing loads of other people just like on TV shows like Border cops or similar-"why are you here in Canada? You've been here before, stop lying!" One fellah was in cuffs repeating an extract from the Geneva Convention demanding they grant him asylum.
The guy who saw us was very cool and calm and only asked to see the proof of funds before canceling the Visa thingies in our passports. We used a lawyer's address in downtown for our landing address. It took about 6 weeks for the PR cards to arrive which our lawyer (for a fee of course) Fedex'd to us in London. The next thing you have to do is show your goods to follow list at customs; have this FULLY TYPED up, it'll save you bags of time and we got the impression from the customs guy that not everyone does it but it was much appreciated as it made their life easier. We spent a glorious 2 weeks in Southern Ontario scouting out places to live, schools and just enjoying Canadian life. I hooked u with an old buddy of mine whom I used to work with in London and he offered me a job which for us was like winning the freakin' lottery. I thought about it for all of 2 picoseconds and accepted.
House Sale: I know everyone's hurting but keep trying. We put our house on the market in September 2008 and it sold in Jan 2009. Don't be sucked in by idiot agents overpricing your house. We got duped and were too greedy. Your house WILL sell but sell it at the right price. I'm sorry of this sounds glib but we reduced ours to a realistic level and accepted a low offer (10% discount). If you really want to get here you will have to go lower....
Removals: My wife organized this for the most part and it was by all accounts very good with only one old mirror breaking . We used one of the recommendations here but I won't say who as we are having a minor dispute with them over some missing articles.... they are of low value and insured but there are some extenuating circumstances and they have not provided us with an adequate explanation. Feel free to email me if you want to know the name.
Pets: As long as your animal's got all his shots and certificates there's no quarantine here. Getting our dog across wasn't cheap unfortunately. You will need a dog license which is about 20 CAD.
Arrival: Arriving on my own in the depths of winter was fun and I had to learn really quickly how to drive in snow as have all you guys in the UK recently! Get all your forms/admin done asap, I took the morning off and got in order: the SIN, bank account,drivers license and OHIP.
SIN: This is pretty much for tax purposes-I used my work address for it as you can change it later
Bank Account: I thoroughly recommend HSBC as they cater especially for newcomers and their aim is to get your credit score up as soon as possible. They'll give you a credit card with a tiny amount of credit but be patient and this will go up if you make regular payments. The advantage of HSBC is you can use their ATMS and Bank of Montreal's without incurring charges. My wife also got her own account but as she doesn't have a job she had to put down 1000 CAD surety on the credit card.
Drivers' License: This is going to cost you about 70 CAD here in Ontario. They take your UK one and issue you with a temporary paper card. You have to get your picture taken (no smiling!) and have a weird eye test but it's no biggie. You have to give them a residential address: I gave them my hotel address and the photo card came within 2 weeks. I changed the address on a form included once we got our house-very easy and hassle free. I was lucky at the AUTO place and it only took 10 minutes but my wife got stuck for 2 hours.
OHIP: You're not eligible for OHIP health insurance for the first 3 months so make sure your travel insurance covers you for that time. Tip: go at the end of the day towards closing time as it seems to be emptier there. Again they take your picture ( you can smile on this one!) and ask for your address...pretty straightforward.
Renting: There's a lot of stuff available in Southern Ontario. The housing market has been hit but not as badly as the States or the UK. Get yourself MORE THAN ONE realtor and they will put together a portfolio of houses you need to see. We set a monthly budget and I would say that 80% of what was shown to me was absolute rubbish! Maybe I'm being paranoid but I got the impression I was shown a lot of expensive crap coz I'm a dumb immigrant.....dirty, old, unloved houses for big money. I eventually found a realtor who herself was an immigrant over 12 years ago and she showed me houses that were in my price range, brand new and in tip-top condition. I made an offer 15% lower than the asking monthly rental and we settled on a little more. I had to show a lot of proof of income and funds and rightly so I guess. Your credit history doesn't count for s**t here I found, and we have a very high score. Once you have the house youcan easily get the Hydro, gas and water sorted out-they will either ask you to pay a deposit or take it by direct debit. As for Tv, internet,phone there are a couple of companies here offering all-in-one packages much like SKY. We went with BELL who have a nice HD/interweb/phone package costing about 150 CAD a month with included calls to the USA, Canada and a couple of European countries.
Car and insurance: wake up call, cars are NOT cheap here! European cars go for a big premium so stay away from them. You have to pay Federal tax and Provincial tax on all sticker prices regardless of the car's age if you're buying from a dealer so add on another 13%. I think the Provincial tax is waived if you buy privately but don't hold me to it. Tip: go to www.leasebusters.com Many Canadians lease their cars but sometimes they run into trouble and will try to offload the lease for a discount. This is very common and in some cases they will offer you a cash incentive to take on the lease. You could pick up the last 6 months of someone's lease for a couple of hundred CAD a month on a family car. Obviously it depends on how the Leasing company views your credit history, etc etc.
Now for the biggest shocker: car insurance: that 20 years no claims you have back in Blighty? Forget it, you're back to being treated like a 17 year old hop-head again! I got quotes like 4000 CAD a year!!! We used a broker and he got us a 3 year no claims with ING. There were other discounts for taking out home insurance as well. Still not cheap but you have to start somewhere!
Mobile phone: Brits are spoilt when it comes to mobiles! Contracts here start at 2 years minimum and you generally have to pay for the phones including upgrades. If you get a pay-as-u-go you have to pay for incoming calls and texts too. Only Rogers is on GSM enabling you to use your quad phone as they use SIM cards. All the other networks are CDMA and don't have SIM cards....dunno how it works but that's what it is. I have found Rogers to be pretty useless but hey, it's a mobile phone company and they're all the same right?
Furniture/Electrical goods: Hardly any of our stuff is dual voltage but we took it all anyway. Stuff like fridges and kitchen appliances use a lot of wattage so you will need a heavy duty converter and they cost big bucks.... you might as well buy new stuff and start again. e.g. hairdryer, coffee machine, blenders, vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaners here cost about double than in the UK for some reason! Dysons are all about 1000 CAD! Most other household electrical stuff is comparable with the UK. E-commerce is no way as advanced as the UK and you will struggle to find competitive prices in online stores. Furniture is good value here, just remember to buy Canadian! Tip: Ethan Allen is a US furniture company, if you call the branches over the border they will COME to your home in Canada and give you a better deal than the Canadian branches..... cut-throat!
Groceries: They have big stores here like in the UK and maybe it's a Southern Ontario thing but food is not cheap! We shopped at Costco in London and continue to do so here as the prices are that much better especially fresh meat. Beef is a lot cheaper here so it's good news if you love steak.
That's all I can think of ...my impressions of Southern Ontario and Canadians: just get over here! It's everything we've hoped it would be, Canadians are so friendly and helpful and this place is crazy beautiful! This year is going to cost us big with the move but we're building for the future and this is the price of that investment. Once you start filling in those forms and hand over the money please, please, please make the commitment and take everything they throw at you as it will be so worth it I promise.
I apologize if some of what I've said may no longer be that accurate but this is just what's happened to us and maybe your experience might be different.
Thanks and good luck to you all
Morry
Mar 6th 2009, 7:17 pm
#2
Moderαtor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Upstate South Carolina
Posts: 30,768
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Welcome to BE, gonna move this to the lifestyle area....
A veritable wiki of info there! Glad its working out well for you here
Did you actually get a deal through leasebusters? my understanding was that canadian credit history was a requirement with them to take over a lease.
A veritable wiki of info there! Glad its working out well for you here
Did you actually get a deal through leasebusters? my understanding was that canadian credit history was a requirement with them to take over a lease.
Mar 6th 2009, 7:22 pm
#3
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 10
Re: From Start to a new Start....
To be honest we bought our cars - one outright and one on an HSBC car loan to try and get some credit history built up. I didn't actually try and get a deal on Leasing as I only heard about it too late and time wasn't on my side.
Mar 6th 2009, 7:25 pm
#4
Moderαtor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Upstate South Carolina
Posts: 30,768
Re: From Start to a new Start....
OH, and TRAVEL INSURANCE is not sufficient to cover the three month OHIP gap, they will weasel out of claims as you are no longer traveling, you are resident here. You need specialised newcomer/ foreign worker insurance to cover the gap. You can take a chance on not having cover, but it seems an unnecessary risk to me
Last edited by iaink; Mar 6th 2009 at 7:31 pm.
Mar 6th 2009, 7:33 pm
#5
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: Kamloops BC / Cheltonian
Posts: 232
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Oh. I dont know where you shop, but Dysons are about $600-650 (plus tax) around here. And my Honda Civic was about 80% of its UK equivalent cost here, and domestic cars even cheaper, so I dont know why you say cars are expensive... Used cars I guess are, partly becasue of the retarded tax situation at dealers.
OH, and TRAVEL INSURANCE is not sufficient to cover the three month OHIP gap, they will weasel out of claims as you are no longer traveling, you are resident here. You need specialised newcomer/ foreign worker insurance to cover the gap. You can take a chance on not having cover, but it seems an unnecessary risk to me
OH, and TRAVEL INSURANCE is not sufficient to cover the three month OHIP gap, they will weasel out of claims as you are no longer traveling, you are resident here. You need specialised newcomer/ foreign worker insurance to cover the gap. You can take a chance on not having cover, but it seems an unnecessary risk to me
Mar 6th 2009, 11:05 pm
#6
In limbo!
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 329
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Thank you so much for a great and informative post.
Good luck with your new start.
Good luck with your new start.
Mar 6th 2009, 11:31 pm
#7
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2009
Location: Coquitlam, Vancouver
Posts: 71
Re: From Start to a new Start....
great and helpful post, thank you Morry and good luck. Our passports go off tomorrow so we are starting to get excited after 3 years of waiting 
Mar 6th 2009, 11:46 pm
#8
No time for muppets!
Joined: Jun 2008
Location: Alliston, ON
Posts: 585
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Welcome to Ontario and glad ur enjoying it! Its a great place to live!
Mar 7th 2009, 1:38 pm
#9
Citizenship Nov 10 2016!!
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Stewiacke Nova Scotia
Posts: 6,659
Re: From Start to a new Start....
What a great post, lots of useful info, thanks for posting and congratulations on making it to Canada
Mar 8th 2009, 7:11 pm
#10
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 88
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Hi everyone
Firstly a big thank you to everyone who's helped us in the past on this forum and to all its contributors who have made this forum an invaluable source of information for the would-be immigrant.
It's been so long since we first applied way back in 2005 that it's hard to recall all the things that went on in between but for the benefit of everyone here are some of the obstacles and points we encountered which I think all applicants should be aware of.
Quick intro: We applied back in 2005 in London,UK and landed in summer 2008.I had no job offer at the time, just a straightforward application to emigrate. I, as principal applicant started work here in Toronto in early January 2009 while my wife wound up the house sale (big discount) and removals. I got us a house to rent, car, etc until the rest of the family (wife,2 kids-7 and 9, and our dog) came over.
Forms: Do EVERYTHING exactly as they ask. Do NOT deviate one bit from anything stated on those forms no matter how weird or strange it may seem. Case in point: when it came to hand in the completed forms we put everything in its appropriate sections and after much agonizing we cut out all the little numbers and clipped them to the front of each section with a typed title just as they asked. It didn't seem right at all but we did it anyway.
More forms: In late 2006 they asked us to complete more forms which were modified forms from the original ones we did. Again, just do everything to the letter. Make tons and tons of copies of all the forms because you will need them again I guarantee it.
Police Records: Both my wife and I were born in different countries and have also lived abroad. EGt any overseas one as soon as possible but leave the UK ones till the last as we found the turnaround time to get them was very quick and ended up having to re-apply as they had expired due to the Swiss police form taking 2 months to get here.
Photos: We took the templates to a couple of photographers and paid up to make sure they knew exactly what to do: I recommend Panther Imaging on Leather Lane in London as they have had experience of the exact sizing of the "heads". We had to take new pictures of the kids in this case as they had obviously grown a bit in the interim.
French Language:If you're borderline on points and need a few extra this is a great way of tacking on another half dozen or so. I hadn't spoken a word of French since my A-levels and I was quite daunted at the prospect of taking the proficiency test at the Alliance Francais but get the books they recommend and hit them hard! It's boring and dull listening to tapes of Pierre and Louis talk about wine growing in the Loire valley and the price of onions but keep reminding yourself of why you're doing it. Find someone who speaks French to practise with as I found the conversation part of the exam to be the toughest especially as it's at the end of the grueling 3-4 hours of written and listening exams and you'll be pretty knackered. The last thing you'll want to do is some role playing whereby you're a travel agent trying to convince the invigilator to take a cruise around the Med. On the day everyone else who was taking the exam was doing it for exactly the same reason!
London Consulate: Handing in the forms takes time! Get there early and queue for that ridiculous 1 hour window when they are open. I didn't and had to get back to work. Instead I walked down the street to the local post office and sent it off by registered post. My wife gave me the third degree about that and with hindsight I should have waited in line just for the peace of mind factor but hey, thanks for saving my butt Royal Mail!
Medical: It was so exciting to get the request coz you know you're almost there! This too costs money but is fairly straightforward-general checkup, blood tests and some chest x-rays. The doc we chose was very nice and did these exams for Canada all the time. He hit the nail on the head by saying "They don't want you to come you know? They are waiting for you to fall at the first hurdle" Oh well....
Passport Request: I went to the Consulate and queued up to hand these in. It's a long process as their security is very tight. Make sure you're not going anywhere for a month or so! I think you will get a confirmation of exactly when you need to come back to collect them on the day but I might be wrong. When it was opening time the Officer basically came down to all of us outside on street level and handed them out from a big box!
Landing: This is it! This is what it's all been leading up to, just stay calm as there's gonna be some waiting involved. Sounds obvious but have ALL your documents with you-proof of funds, etc, etc. I got the impression that coming from the UK makes it fairly easy for them to process you. We landed at about 3:30 pm in Toronto with BA, this is a great time to arrive as there are hardly any other flights coming in and so queues are shorter. They make you sit in the "interview" area where you wait for an Immi Officer. This was interesting as they were interviewing loads of other people just like on TV shows like Border cops or similar-"why are you here in Canada? You've been here before, stop lying!" One fellah was in cuffs repeating an extract from the Geneva Convention demanding they grant him asylum.
The guy who saw us was very cool and calm and only asked to see the proof of funds before canceling the Visa thingies in our passports. We used a lawyer's address in downtown for our landing address. It took about 6 weeks for the PR cards to arrive which our lawyer (for a fee of course) Fedex'd to us in London. The next thing you have to do is show your goods to follow list at customs; have this FULLY TYPED up, it'll save you bags of time and we got the impression from the customs guy that not everyone does it but it was much appreciated as it made their life easier. We spent a glorious 2 weeks in Southern Ontario scouting out places to live, schools and just enjoying Canadian life. I hooked u with an old buddy of mine whom I used to work with in London and he offered me a job which for us was like winning the freakin' lottery. I thought about it for all of 2 picoseconds and accepted.
House Sale: I know everyone's hurting but keep trying. We put our house on the market in September 2008 and it sold in Jan 2009. Don't be sucked in by idiot agents overpricing your house. We got duped and were too greedy. Your house WILL sell but sell it at the right price. I'm sorry of this sounds glib but we reduced ours to a realistic level and accepted a low offer (10% discount). If you really want to get here you will have to go lower....
Removals: My wife organized this for the most part and it was by all accounts very good with only one old mirror breaking . We used one of the recommendations here but I won't say who as we are having a minor dispute with them over some missing articles.... they are of low value and insured but there are some extenuating circumstances and they have not provided us with an adequate explanation. Feel free to email me if you want to know the name.
Pets: As long as your animal's got all his shots and certificates there's no quarantine here. Getting our dog across wasn't cheap unfortunately. You will need a dog license which is about 20 CAD.
Arrival: Arriving on my own in the depths of winter was fun and I had to learn really quickly how to drive in snow as have all you guys in the UK recently! Get all your forms/admin done asap, I took the morning off and got in order: the SIN, bank account,drivers license and OHIP.
SIN: This is pretty much for tax purposes-I used my work address for it as you can change it later
Bank Account: I thoroughly recommend HSBC as they cater especially for newcomers and their aim is to get your credit score up as soon as possible. They'll give you a credit card with a tiny amount of credit but be patient and this will go up if you make regular payments. The advantage of HSBC is you can use their ATMS and Bank of Montreal's without incurring charges. My wife also got her own account but as she doesn't have a job she had to put down 1000 CAD surety on the credit card.
Drivers' License: This is going to cost you about 70 CAD here in Ontario. They take your UK one and issue you with a temporary paper card. You have to get your picture taken (no smiling!) and have a weird eye test but it's no biggie. You have to give them a residential address: I gave them my hotel address and the photo card came within 2 weeks. I changed the address on a form included once we got our house-very easy and hassle free. I was lucky at the AUTO place and it only took 10 minutes but my wife got stuck for 2 hours.
OHIP: You're not eligible for OHIP health insurance for the first 3 months so make sure your travel insurance covers you for that time. Tip: go at the end of the day towards closing time as it seems to be emptier there. Again they take your picture ( you can smile on this one!) and ask for your address...pretty straightforward.
Renting: There's a lot of stuff available in Southern Ontario. The housing market has been hit but not as badly as the States or the UK. Get yourself MORE THAN ONE realtor and they will put together a portfolio of houses you need to see. We set a monthly budget and I would say that 80% of what was shown to me was absolute rubbish! Maybe I'm being paranoid but I got the impression I was shown a lot of expensive crap coz I'm a dumb immigrant.....dirty, old, unloved houses for big money. I eventually found a realtor who herself was an immigrant over 12 years ago and she showed me houses that were in my price range, brand new and in tip-top condition. I made an offer 15% lower than the asking monthly rental and we settled on a little more. I had to show a lot of proof of income and funds and rightly so I guess. Your credit history doesn't count for s**t here I found, and we have a very high score. Once you have the house youcan easily get the Hydro, gas and water sorted out-they will either ask you to pay a deposit or take it by direct debit. As for Tv, internet,phone there are a couple of companies here offering all-in-one packages much like SKY. We went with BELL who have a nice HD/interweb/phone package costing about 150 CAD a month with included calls to the USA, Canada and a couple of European countries.
Car and insurance: wake up call, cars are NOT cheap here! European cars go for a big premium so stay away from them. You have to pay Federal tax and Provincial tax on all sticker prices regardless of the car's age if you're buying from a dealer so add on another 13%. I think the Provincial tax is waived if you buy privately but don't hold me to it. Tip: go to www.leasebusters.com Many Canadians lease their cars but sometimes they run into trouble and will try to offload the lease for a discount. This is very common and in some cases they will offer you a cash incentive to take on the lease. You could pick up the last 6 months of someone's lease for a couple of hundred CAD a month on a family car. Obviously it depends on how the Leasing company views your credit history, etc etc.
Now for the biggest shocker: car insurance: that 20 years no claims you have back in Blighty? Forget it, you're back to being treated like a 17 year old hop-head again! I got quotes like 4000 CAD a year!!! We used a broker and he got us a 3 year no claims with ING. There were other discounts for taking out home insurance as well. Still not cheap but you have to start somewhere!
Mobile phone: Brits are spoilt when it comes to mobiles! Contracts here start at 2 years minimum and you generally have to pay for the phones including upgrades. If you get a pay-as-u-go you have to pay for incoming calls and texts too. Only Rogers is on GSM enabling you to use your quad phone as they use SIM cards. All the other networks are CDMA and don't have SIM cards....dunno how it works but that's what it is. I have found Rogers to be pretty useless but hey, it's a mobile phone company and they're all the same right?
Furniture/Electrical goods: Hardly any of our stuff is dual voltage but we took it all anyway. Stuff like fridges and kitchen appliances use a lot of wattage so you will need a heavy duty converter and they cost big bucks.... you might as well buy new stuff and start again. e.g. hairdryer, coffee machine, blenders, vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaners here cost about double than in the UK for some reason! Dysons are all about 1000 CAD! Most other household electrical stuff is comparable with the UK. E-commerce is no way as advanced as the UK and you will struggle to find competitive prices in online stores. Furniture is good value here, just remember to buy Canadian! Tip: Ethan Allen is a US furniture company, if you call the branches over the border they will COME to your home in Canada and give you a better deal than the Canadian branches..... cut-throat!
Groceries: They have big stores here like in the UK and maybe it's a Southern Ontario thing but food is not cheap! We shopped at Costco in London and continue to do so here as the prices are that much better especially fresh meat. Beef is a lot cheaper here so it's good news if you love steak.
That's all I can think of ...my impressions of Southern Ontario and Canadians: just get over here! It's everything we've hoped it would be, Canadians are so friendly and helpful and this place is crazy beautiful! This year is going to cost us big with the move but we're building for the future and this is the price of that investment. Once you start filling in those forms and hand over the money please, please, please make the commitment and take everything they throw at you as it will be so worth it I promise.
I apologize if some of what I've said may no longer be that accurate but this is just what's happened to us and maybe your experience might be different.
Thanks and good luck to you all
Morry
Firstly a big thank you to everyone who's helped us in the past on this forum and to all its contributors who have made this forum an invaluable source of information for the would-be immigrant.
It's been so long since we first applied way back in 2005 that it's hard to recall all the things that went on in between but for the benefit of everyone here are some of the obstacles and points we encountered which I think all applicants should be aware of.
Quick intro: We applied back in 2005 in London,UK and landed in summer 2008.I had no job offer at the time, just a straightforward application to emigrate. I, as principal applicant started work here in Toronto in early January 2009 while my wife wound up the house sale (big discount) and removals. I got us a house to rent, car, etc until the rest of the family (wife,2 kids-7 and 9, and our dog) came over.
Forms: Do EVERYTHING exactly as they ask. Do NOT deviate one bit from anything stated on those forms no matter how weird or strange it may seem. Case in point: when it came to hand in the completed forms we put everything in its appropriate sections and after much agonizing we cut out all the little numbers and clipped them to the front of each section with a typed title just as they asked. It didn't seem right at all but we did it anyway.
More forms: In late 2006 they asked us to complete more forms which were modified forms from the original ones we did. Again, just do everything to the letter. Make tons and tons of copies of all the forms because you will need them again I guarantee it.
Police Records: Both my wife and I were born in different countries and have also lived abroad. EGt any overseas one as soon as possible but leave the UK ones till the last as we found the turnaround time to get them was very quick and ended up having to re-apply as they had expired due to the Swiss police form taking 2 months to get here.
Photos: We took the templates to a couple of photographers and paid up to make sure they knew exactly what to do: I recommend Panther Imaging on Leather Lane in London as they have had experience of the exact sizing of the "heads". We had to take new pictures of the kids in this case as they had obviously grown a bit in the interim.
French Language:If you're borderline on points and need a few extra this is a great way of tacking on another half dozen or so. I hadn't spoken a word of French since my A-levels and I was quite daunted at the prospect of taking the proficiency test at the Alliance Francais but get the books they recommend and hit them hard! It's boring and dull listening to tapes of Pierre and Louis talk about wine growing in the Loire valley and the price of onions but keep reminding yourself of why you're doing it. Find someone who speaks French to practise with as I found the conversation part of the exam to be the toughest especially as it's at the end of the grueling 3-4 hours of written and listening exams and you'll be pretty knackered. The last thing you'll want to do is some role playing whereby you're a travel agent trying to convince the invigilator to take a cruise around the Med. On the day everyone else who was taking the exam was doing it for exactly the same reason!
London Consulate: Handing in the forms takes time! Get there early and queue for that ridiculous 1 hour window when they are open. I didn't and had to get back to work. Instead I walked down the street to the local post office and sent it off by registered post. My wife gave me the third degree about that and with hindsight I should have waited in line just for the peace of mind factor but hey, thanks for saving my butt Royal Mail!
Medical: It was so exciting to get the request coz you know you're almost there! This too costs money but is fairly straightforward-general checkup, blood tests and some chest x-rays. The doc we chose was very nice and did these exams for Canada all the time. He hit the nail on the head by saying "They don't want you to come you know? They are waiting for you to fall at the first hurdle" Oh well....
Passport Request: I went to the Consulate and queued up to hand these in. It's a long process as their security is very tight. Make sure you're not going anywhere for a month or so! I think you will get a confirmation of exactly when you need to come back to collect them on the day but I might be wrong. When it was opening time the Officer basically came down to all of us outside on street level and handed them out from a big box!
Landing: This is it! This is what it's all been leading up to, just stay calm as there's gonna be some waiting involved. Sounds obvious but have ALL your documents with you-proof of funds, etc, etc. I got the impression that coming from the UK makes it fairly easy for them to process you. We landed at about 3:30 pm in Toronto with BA, this is a great time to arrive as there are hardly any other flights coming in and so queues are shorter. They make you sit in the "interview" area where you wait for an Immi Officer. This was interesting as they were interviewing loads of other people just like on TV shows like Border cops or similar-"why are you here in Canada? You've been here before, stop lying!" One fellah was in cuffs repeating an extract from the Geneva Convention demanding they grant him asylum.
The guy who saw us was very cool and calm and only asked to see the proof of funds before canceling the Visa thingies in our passports. We used a lawyer's address in downtown for our landing address. It took about 6 weeks for the PR cards to arrive which our lawyer (for a fee of course) Fedex'd to us in London. The next thing you have to do is show your goods to follow list at customs; have this FULLY TYPED up, it'll save you bags of time and we got the impression from the customs guy that not everyone does it but it was much appreciated as it made their life easier. We spent a glorious 2 weeks in Southern Ontario scouting out places to live, schools and just enjoying Canadian life. I hooked u with an old buddy of mine whom I used to work with in London and he offered me a job which for us was like winning the freakin' lottery. I thought about it for all of 2 picoseconds and accepted.
House Sale: I know everyone's hurting but keep trying. We put our house on the market in September 2008 and it sold in Jan 2009. Don't be sucked in by idiot agents overpricing your house. We got duped and were too greedy. Your house WILL sell but sell it at the right price. I'm sorry of this sounds glib but we reduced ours to a realistic level and accepted a low offer (10% discount). If you really want to get here you will have to go lower....
Removals: My wife organized this for the most part and it was by all accounts very good with only one old mirror breaking . We used one of the recommendations here but I won't say who as we are having a minor dispute with them over some missing articles.... they are of low value and insured but there are some extenuating circumstances and they have not provided us with an adequate explanation. Feel free to email me if you want to know the name.
Pets: As long as your animal's got all his shots and certificates there's no quarantine here. Getting our dog across wasn't cheap unfortunately. You will need a dog license which is about 20 CAD.
Arrival: Arriving on my own in the depths of winter was fun and I had to learn really quickly how to drive in snow as have all you guys in the UK recently! Get all your forms/admin done asap, I took the morning off and got in order: the SIN, bank account,drivers license and OHIP.
SIN: This is pretty much for tax purposes-I used my work address for it as you can change it later
Bank Account: I thoroughly recommend HSBC as they cater especially for newcomers and their aim is to get your credit score up as soon as possible. They'll give you a credit card with a tiny amount of credit but be patient and this will go up if you make regular payments. The advantage of HSBC is you can use their ATMS and Bank of Montreal's without incurring charges. My wife also got her own account but as she doesn't have a job she had to put down 1000 CAD surety on the credit card.
Drivers' License: This is going to cost you about 70 CAD here in Ontario. They take your UK one and issue you with a temporary paper card. You have to get your picture taken (no smiling!) and have a weird eye test but it's no biggie. You have to give them a residential address: I gave them my hotel address and the photo card came within 2 weeks. I changed the address on a form included once we got our house-very easy and hassle free. I was lucky at the AUTO place and it only took 10 minutes but my wife got stuck for 2 hours.
OHIP: You're not eligible for OHIP health insurance for the first 3 months so make sure your travel insurance covers you for that time. Tip: go at the end of the day towards closing time as it seems to be emptier there. Again they take your picture ( you can smile on this one!) and ask for your address...pretty straightforward.
Renting: There's a lot of stuff available in Southern Ontario. The housing market has been hit but not as badly as the States or the UK. Get yourself MORE THAN ONE realtor and they will put together a portfolio of houses you need to see. We set a monthly budget and I would say that 80% of what was shown to me was absolute rubbish! Maybe I'm being paranoid but I got the impression I was shown a lot of expensive crap coz I'm a dumb immigrant.....dirty, old, unloved houses for big money. I eventually found a realtor who herself was an immigrant over 12 years ago and she showed me houses that were in my price range, brand new and in tip-top condition. I made an offer 15% lower than the asking monthly rental and we settled on a little more. I had to show a lot of proof of income and funds and rightly so I guess. Your credit history doesn't count for s**t here I found, and we have a very high score. Once you have the house youcan easily get the Hydro, gas and water sorted out-they will either ask you to pay a deposit or take it by direct debit. As for Tv, internet,phone there are a couple of companies here offering all-in-one packages much like SKY. We went with BELL who have a nice HD/interweb/phone package costing about 150 CAD a month with included calls to the USA, Canada and a couple of European countries.
Car and insurance: wake up call, cars are NOT cheap here! European cars go for a big premium so stay away from them. You have to pay Federal tax and Provincial tax on all sticker prices regardless of the car's age if you're buying from a dealer so add on another 13%. I think the Provincial tax is waived if you buy privately but don't hold me to it. Tip: go to www.leasebusters.com Many Canadians lease their cars but sometimes they run into trouble and will try to offload the lease for a discount. This is very common and in some cases they will offer you a cash incentive to take on the lease. You could pick up the last 6 months of someone's lease for a couple of hundred CAD a month on a family car. Obviously it depends on how the Leasing company views your credit history, etc etc.
Now for the biggest shocker: car insurance: that 20 years no claims you have back in Blighty? Forget it, you're back to being treated like a 17 year old hop-head again! I got quotes like 4000 CAD a year!!! We used a broker and he got us a 3 year no claims with ING. There were other discounts for taking out home insurance as well. Still not cheap but you have to start somewhere!
Mobile phone: Brits are spoilt when it comes to mobiles! Contracts here start at 2 years minimum and you generally have to pay for the phones including upgrades. If you get a pay-as-u-go you have to pay for incoming calls and texts too. Only Rogers is on GSM enabling you to use your quad phone as they use SIM cards. All the other networks are CDMA and don't have SIM cards....dunno how it works but that's what it is. I have found Rogers to be pretty useless but hey, it's a mobile phone company and they're all the same right?
Furniture/Electrical goods: Hardly any of our stuff is dual voltage but we took it all anyway. Stuff like fridges and kitchen appliances use a lot of wattage so you will need a heavy duty converter and they cost big bucks.... you might as well buy new stuff and start again. e.g. hairdryer, coffee machine, blenders, vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaners here cost about double than in the UK for some reason! Dysons are all about 1000 CAD! Most other household electrical stuff is comparable with the UK. E-commerce is no way as advanced as the UK and you will struggle to find competitive prices in online stores. Furniture is good value here, just remember to buy Canadian! Tip: Ethan Allen is a US furniture company, if you call the branches over the border they will COME to your home in Canada and give you a better deal than the Canadian branches..... cut-throat!
Groceries: They have big stores here like in the UK and maybe it's a Southern Ontario thing but food is not cheap! We shopped at Costco in London and continue to do so here as the prices are that much better especially fresh meat. Beef is a lot cheaper here so it's good news if you love steak.
That's all I can think of ...my impressions of Southern Ontario and Canadians: just get over here! It's everything we've hoped it would be, Canadians are so friendly and helpful and this place is crazy beautiful! This year is going to cost us big with the move but we're building for the future and this is the price of that investment. Once you start filling in those forms and hand over the money please, please, please make the commitment and take everything they throw at you as it will be so worth it I promise.
I apologize if some of what I've said may no longer be that accurate but this is just what's happened to us and maybe your experience might be different.
Thanks and good luck to you all
Morry
Mar 8th 2009, 9:53 pm
#11
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Calgary area
Posts: 200
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Thanx for sharing your experiences.
Mar 9th 2009, 2:19 pm
#12
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 487
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Thanks for your informative post.
I have taken on board using a lawyers address for my PR card and getting them to courier it to the UK. 6 weeks is quick.
Also, how long did you spend in the UK after you had landed before returning to Canada again?
I have taken on board using a lawyers address for my PR card and getting them to courier it to the UK. 6 weeks is quick.
Also, how long did you spend in the UK after you had landed before returning to Canada again?
Mar 10th 2009, 11:38 am
#13
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 10
Re: From Start to a new Start....
We landed in August 2008 and flew back after 2 weeks in Ontario. I came back to Canada in January this year. I tell you what, those months in between literally dragged by!
Thanks for all your well-wishes and I hope everyone gets to the position I'm in, it'll all be worth it in the end.
Thanks for all your well-wishes and I hope everyone gets to the position I'm in, it'll all be worth it in the end.
Mar 11th 2009, 1:37 pm
#14
Yorkshire Lass
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: Selby, in the Vale of York, North Yorkshire
Posts: 288
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Hi Morry
Just a question, you said if a person's points are borderline to learn French or something. I am absolutely no good at learning languages, tried and failed in the past - is there any other way of boosting points, as, from my calculations, i am around the 67-69 mark depending on what CHC think, which is a bit close for comfort.
I was thinking of taking some more qualifications/diploma etc? I have about a year maybe a bit more before CHC should say yes or no to my SK application (simplified process).
Emmjay
Just a question, you said if a person's points are borderline to learn French or something. I am absolutely no good at learning languages, tried and failed in the past - is there any other way of boosting points, as, from my calculations, i am around the 67-69 mark depending on what CHC think, which is a bit close for comfort.
I was thinking of taking some more qualifications/diploma etc? I have about a year maybe a bit more before CHC should say yes or no to my SK application (simplified process).
Emmjay
Mar 11th 2009, 1:47 pm
#15
Moderαtor Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Upstate South Carolina
Posts: 30,768
Re: From Start to a new Start....
Hi Morry
Just a question, you said if a person's points are borderline to learn French or something. I am absolutely no good at learning languages, tried and failed in the past - is there any other way of boosting points, as, from my calculations, i am around the 67-69 mark depending on what CHC think, which is a bit close for comfort.
I was thinking of taking some more qualifications/diploma etc? I have about a year maybe a bit more before CHC should say yes or no to my SK application (simplified process).
Emmjay
Just a question, you said if a person's points are borderline to learn French or something. I am absolutely no good at learning languages, tried and failed in the past - is there any other way of boosting points, as, from my calculations, i am around the 67-69 mark depending on what CHC think, which is a bit close for comfort.
I was thinking of taking some more qualifications/diploma etc? I have about a year maybe a bit more before CHC should say yes or no to my SK application (simplified process).
Emmjay
Given the revised qualification criterea, your best bet to boost points is to land a job...not easy in the current climate.