Almost Canadian

The issue is earning income during that time if, for whatever reason, it is not possible to continue to work for the employer. The employer is fully aware of this and, essentially, has you over a barrel. There have been many threads of disgruntled immigrants that were led to believe by the employer that life would be very different to what it turned out to be, with very little redress possible against the employer.

januarymix

AC - Ahh I see, gotcha. That would be a sad situation to be in, I agree. Thanks for the clarification.

Cheers.

januarymix

Aqua - thanks for your relay of a cool success story. That helps. The FSW route does seem to be a bit slow.

MarylandNed

I'm also in IT. I moved from the UK (Manchester) to Canada (Toronto in 1989) to the UK (London in 1996) to the US (Washington DC area in 1998). The last 2 of those moves involved moving kids around.

I enjoyed living in Toronto. I also enjoyed living in London. In the end though we decided we wanted to return to North America. The slight preference was for a return to Canada but I was open to the idea of moving to the US as I had traveled around the US quite a bit while living in Canada. I ended up getting job offers from the US first and accepted one of them.

I don't regret any of the moves. We obtained Canadian and US citizenship along the way and my 4 kids all have 4 citizenships (UK, Ireland, Canada and US) which may open some doors for them later in life. In fact, my eldest daughter is already taking advantage of the lower tuition fees available to Canadian citizens by attending university in Canada.

I can't advise you what to do specifically. I will say this though - life is short so make the most of it. Follow your dreams - don't put them off for another day that might never come. If you make a move that doesn't work out, don't be afraid to make another one.

Becoming a Canadian PR won't help you get into the US but if you eventually become a Canadian citizen, you will be eligible for the TN visa. More info here:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1274.html

As for working on TWP, that's what I did when I went to Toronto. We intended to stay for a year but loved Toronto so much that we ended up staying 7 years (obtaining PR, citizenship, and 2 kids along the way). I did the same thing when we moved to the US. I started on a H1B visa (basically a TWP) and eventually became a PR and US citizen. Obviously obtaining PR up front makes life a lot easier in terms of freedom of movement but it's not required and the TWP route is something to consider.

Having said all that, I am glad to be done with the immigration process - particularly in the US. Obtaining Canadian PR is something you can handle yourself - but an employment-based PR application in the US is not something that should be attempted without a good immigration lawyer.

Good luck!

Steve_

So say you move to Canada on a work permit, company goes bust or you fall out with them, you go looking for a job and can't find one (e.g. thin Canadian resumé). I see that as being a risk myself. Or what if the law changes. Or what if the quota fills up. Or...

Clearly it's more risky than staying in your home country.

Steve_

This point about TWP being valid if you get laid off - the American guy I mentioned, his employer basically strung him along until it was too late. As I recall he got the one year extension and they still didn't apply for his PR.

Anyway another "home truth" about immigration - once you become eligible for citizenship, get it. I see lots of threads in the US section, people moaning about tax laws and so on. Look at the removal criteria if you break the law.

There was a case I think in Georgia, adopted girl was made subject to removal proceedings because she had been in a fight with another girl and pulled her hair. She was convicted of assault and given a one year suspended sentence. That technically made it a crime of violence punishable by a year or more in prison, so an "aggravated felony" and removal proceedings were started against her. She only got out of it by getting a pardon from the governor.

Jason Kenney is on a war path to deport people at the moment, e.g.: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...n-ngoc-ho.html

Yeah okay the guy is a gangster but he's lived in Canada since he was a child, doesn't that make him our problem?

Novocastrian

Sorry, who is "they"? An employer can't directly apply for anyone's PR, you have to do it yourself.

MarylandNed

I've lived in both and could happily live in either. There are pros and cons to both. It really depends on your requirements for a happier life.

acer rose

I've lived in both (LA area and Vancouver area) and will take Canada all day long. I will agree that it depends what makes a family happy. There are advantages and disadvantages to both - LA is great for niche high tech manufacturing for example, whereas Vancouver is great for real food and mountain biking. My impression, based on brief visits to Toronto is that there is more of a US any-city feel to Toronto and I get more of a PNW-specific feel to Vancouver (this ad could apply in Vancouver as easily as it plays in Seattle).

orly

I think an important thing to remember, wherever you end up, is that it won't be like home and you'll gain and lose. You have to do your homework and preferably visit each country at different times/seasons.

I've never lived in the USA but have visited it quite regularly in recent years (always New York state though) due to proximity to Ontario. I always come back to Canada feeling glad. It's somewhat irrational as both countries have a lot in common but overall Canada just feels "better" to me. In many ways Canada and the UK would be more similar than the US and UK.

I've found I miss a lot of food and drink from back home that you just can't get here. That seems obvious but plenty of people have posted on this forum griping about it. I find CBC to be a very poor imitation of the BBC too. Again...hardly a big deal. I obviously have friends and family back home who I see irregularly. I don't hear my accent where I live and once in a while it probably would be nice. But hey...in Canada I get to enjoy Ice Hockey being centre stage on the TV and get to enjoy delights such as poutine. Those are small plus points to help counterbalance the things I gave up. Before my immigration processing pushing me into unpaid leave from work I was earning more than I ever did back home which is obviously an important advantage for me personally.

If you go in open minded, willing to integrate and adapt to the changes it'll be fine. If you come expecting it to be "Everything from the UK but better" you'll be in for a let down.

mrthoth

I all honesty I wouldn't bother, I'd stick with the UK, I was in a similar situation. My driver was a didn't want to have anyone "sponsor me" so it was a toss up Australia, New Zealand or Canada or sell up and do a US E1.

For Canada (as a normal educated guy) you'll need to seriously lower your expectations, where you thought of technology projects as 10's of millions, your now looking at 3/4/500,000. People tend to just recreate mini ghettos of "Cultural diversion"

Just my opinion but Canada will destroy your career, so unless you want to die there, pick somewhere else. The whole place is mediocre at best and has been spoiled by the pacifist approach to immigration. I'd go for the US at least they consider themselves American, every Canadian I speak to talk about their mum/dad/granddad, "home", almost like they're ashamed to be there.

Before anyone says anything, I applied was screened and went through the whole independent PR process, has a bunch of skin in the game. Britain is better overall, the tax is worth the healthcare, and unarmed police. Dip your toe in the waters but unless you can afford to live somewhere nice on day one, you'll probably walk away like 80% of the other properly skilled immigrants do. I tried it for almost 2 years, just never worked.

I'm told the Canada I wanted was in the 80's, pity I missed it.

But hey I'm Scottish, we have free university, school milk, open spaces....and I don't like Tax so I moved back to Saudi

Steve_

Which you can't do if the employer declines to give you a permanent job offer. What I meant was sponsorship.

red_onion

Hmmmm very strong views mate. I wonder if many people share your views or experience. Because things like what you describe could be a major factor in deciding whether to go for it or not.

christmasoompa

Yes, you can, it depends on the visa route.

dbd33

FWIW, Canada has not destroyed my career, it is however rife, rife I tell you, with immigrants. These immigrants do typically have older relatives who are not in Canada. And, you know what, so do I!