Homesick Canadian

Re: cost of moving, I wanted to add my thoughts. People have said moving will eat up £50K (!) and I don't think that's accurate at all. For us, we moved to Canada from the UK, as well as from Canada to the UK, and it cost us around $10,000 Canadian both times. We didn't ship our belongings (took only clothes in-cabin, shipped some books and decorations, but nothing much). And it really didn't cost us much at all. Perhaps the 50K comment is in reference to using the remainder as down payment for a house, but if it truly cost that much then several of the expats I know never would have done it. Cost it yourself, don't take subjective opinions. Good luck.

christmasoompa

See the thread I linked to above, where people gave their costs. You didn't ship your belongings, but even so surely it must have cost you more than $10k? Visas would be approx $2k, medicals/police certs/couriers etc another chunk of change, flights another couple of thousand, insurance, downpayment of several months rent, buying a car, insuring it, replacing everything you didn't ship, etc, etc, etc. If you really did all that for $10k then I'm very impressed!

Also don't forget that the OP has a family of 5 to move - just visa fees and airfares alone for them would be in the region of $10k, never mind all the other costs.

Homesick Canadian

Yep, it was only around $10 k for us. We were a couple, not a fam of 5. I'm Canadian, my partner got PR through me, so there was no $2,000 fee. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you... but I've no motivation for lying. Just giving OP an alternative perspective. £50,000 is extreme, IMO.

SchnookoLoly

Pretty sure it would have cost you around $2k. The application is $1040. The medical is about $300-400. Postage $50. Police certificates $50. Paper, printing, etc call it another $50. Maybe it didn't cost you exactly $2k, but it would not have been much less than $1500.

I don't think you're lying, I think you're just leaving things out. Two plane tickets would have been in the region of $1500-2000.

What did you do when you arrived? You had to find somewhere to live, whether it's rent or a mortgage. You had to buy stuff - furniture, dishes, linens, etc - even if you moved into a furnished rental, you would have had to buy some new things. Did you buy a car? Did you insure that car? Did you buy private health insurance to cover you for the first 3 months before OHIP kicked in?

neneromanova

He has a National Diploma and Higher National Diploma in Software development, but does Web Developing daily. He has been working full time doing Development for 10 year, only recently going self employed last year with my dad. Is there any way to go over to Canada and remain self employed? He takes home £2k ($3686) a month which would obviously help a lot with living over there. Plus he could acquire Canadian clients for the business, not just clients in the UK.

I have seen a work permit where you can come over and work for a year if you are under 30. Is that 30 and under, or under 30. He turned 30 this year. (I'm 27)

christmasoompa

So your fee was approx $1100, but add on the additional costs for the app such as the medical, courier, police certs, photographs, etc = approx $2000 for your husband/partner's PR app.

There's a huge difference between moving as a couple and moving as a family, just to give you a comparison, the OP would have to pay $2500 in visa fees, then add on another $1500k or so for medicals, plus the other costs - probably around $4500 in total just for their visas because they're a family of five.

But also moving as a Canadian would make a difference. Perhaps you didn't need to pay several months rent upfront, or utility deposits, because you had a Canadian credit history?

If you re-read the response, you'll see that nobody said it would cost £50k, we simply said that most of that would go on the moving costs. And again, if you read the thread I've linked to above, you'll see that it's cost those people tens of thousands of pounds to move to Canada.

HTH.

christmasoompa

It's 30 and under for the IEC, so that could be an option, although you'd have to weigh up whether it's worth uprooting the kids and moving them over for potentially only a year or two.

There is a self-employed program for PR for Canada, but it doesn't sound to me like he would qualify for that, have a look though - Entrepreneurs and investors: Self-employed people

Best of luck.

Homesick Canadian

$1100 for my partner's PR? No way. It cost us $50. The medical was maybe a couple hundred quid. This was in 2005 so fees may have changed. I stand by £50k being an excessive estimate that will scare people off. Flights cost over $1,000, yes. In terms of possessions, we didn't buy everything all at once, but had all the basics (sofa, bed, towels, plates) by the time we moved into our new apartment. Yes, first and last month's rent. No car required in Toronto. You could perhaps say it would cost more than $10k for a fam of 5, obviously, but nowhere near £50k. OP, feel free to PM if you'd like.

SchnookoLoly

$50?!?!?!? HAHAHAHAHA. RIGHT. Okay then.

The current application cost is $1040. Somehow I doubt it's gone up $990 in 9 years.

iaink

The majority of the £50k is best saved to tide you over while you are establishing an income in Canada. When you first move there are a lot of expenses, deposits, stuff to replace, costs to ship your stuff. Car insurance alone is going to cost you maybe $3-5k a year with no canadian history. Credit will be hard to get with no canadian history, so lots of cash up front purchases.

The government will want to see proof of at least $24,920 for a family of 2+3 at the time you land under the skilled worker program unless you have a job lined up, and fees to apply and get medicals and all the rest done will add up to several thousand. Airfare for 5 will cost you, perhaps more than once if you have the sense to do a rece trip, then there is accomodation and transport for those trips and once you land, medical insurance etc etc etc. If you have pets you are considering bringing thats going to add a wack of expense too.

£50k is a decent enough safety net, but its going to drain alarmingly fast with a family of 5 to support.

iaink

In 2005? IIRC it was $550CDN, $465US back then.

A quick google found this...

SchnookoLoly

Following up on the application fees.

I've just searched around on CIC's archives, and here's what I've found.

In 2005, the cost to apply for PR through family class:
--Application fee of $550 per adult and $150 per child
--Right of Permanent Residence fee of $975 per person
(On 3 May 2006, the RPRF was reduced to $490 per person; those who applied before 3 May 2006 and landed after that date were entitled to the refund; anyone who landed before 3 May 2006 was not entitled to the refund.)

So if you were sponsored and landed in 2005, then your cost of getting PR was $1525... just the application, that does not take into account the costs for medicals, police checks, postage, printing, etc.

Sources, including the link iaink posted:
http://www.legit.ca/q_a.html
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/informa...fee/refund.asp
http://www.justlanded.com/english/Ca...nent-Residency
http://www.cilcan.ca/modules.php?op=...tid=117&page=1
http://www.canada-city.ca/canada-imm...messageid=8992

Howefamily

We went through a huge amount of cash when we first moved here 3 years ago as a family of four. We had to buy new electricals and even in the sale and no tax weekend, it was $8k (dishwasher, stove, washing machine, dryer, two TVS, microwave (free blu-ray chucked in). Yes you can get appliances included in buying a home but the home we bought had very old stuff in it.
And yes you can buy them second hand but they tend to hold their value here more than the UK and I didn't fancy buying a $300 second hand fridge that may or may not let me down in 6 months.

And then from Walamart etc - iron, toaster, coffee machine, hair dryer (cheapy one at that)

I got a job quickly but it was reasonably low pay - same number as I made in the UK but with a dollar sign in front of it, hubby took a while to get a job, so living sucked up some more cash.
We bought a wood insert (investment for cheaper heating) and had it installed - 2nd hand and it was still $1.5k after installation and wett certification and then 4 cord of wood - $800

We were lucky with car insurance but had to buy two cars and two lots of winter tires, and the matts so that your car doesn't rust away under you with all the salty slush that comes in on your boots. Two cars that need undercoating at $400 a go, if I recall correctly.

Its all initital first year outlay that sometimes you just are not used to.

Our medicals were done here so could claim some back on our taxes which helped but that's still a chunk of change.

I would say - you will see a lot of your money fly out the door and theres not much you can do about it.
Its worth it, but its expensive.

iaink

You dont have to buy new, and you can live without some of the luxuries at first while you figure out if you plan staying or not

Just as many people are moving away as are arriving and kijiji and yard sales are full of stuff newcommers can use at minimal expense. Having said that I bought all new stuff too, maybe its just part of that "clean break / fresh start" mentality

Its the drop in income while you get established that kills you, and thats why CIC want to see funds when you arrive unless you have that elusive job in hand.

Howefamily

agreed, especially the drop in income, that's a killer