hi!
i am in the process of emigrating but still have the choice of either going to canada or the usa!! i know! what a choice!
what do you people say to this? obviously, everyone and his auntie want to go to the usa, but hang on a minute--isn't canada a pretty cool place too? places like vancouver, bc and calgary. ok, so you may pay a lot more tax in canada and goods/services cost a little more there, but at least there's none of the "if youre not a gc holder, you cant have this, you cant have that..."! i am intending to emigrate on an e2 visa to the usa and hope to open a business there, but now i hear that my kids will not be able to study at the colleges or universities at the same fee level as citizens, ie, they will have to pay full international fees, which i hear are FOUR times the fees for PR people!!! what the hell! and then, i will need to renew my e2 visa every 2 years and will never be able to become a usa citizen!! jeeeez!! i cant believe it!! anyhow, let me know what you think. thanks.

Canada, easily.

For a start there is the reason you mentioned of the difference between a CAnadian Permanent Resident status and a Green CArd holder. The only difference in Canada between a PR and a citizen is a PR cannot vote, cannot hold certain federal jobs etc and youc an lose the status if you dont meet residency requirements and commit certain crimes etc and the residency requirements are very generous (2 years in any 5).

On the tax issue it really depends where you live in the US or Canada as taxes vary widley. There are areas of the US where depending how much you earn you can pay more tax than in Canada and I believe if you compare the highest tax area in the US with the highest in Canada you pay more in the US, it's just that the US also has a ot more lower tax areas. So that depends where you live.

Personally i think there isnt much differenc ein the standards of living, availability of commerical goods and services etc. If you have the money you can get pretty much the smae stuff in Canada as the USA.

There is a *big* difference if you are poor/low income etc though. Canada has a much better welfare system (whether you agree with welfare or not) and while the healthcare might be better in many US areas, in Canada it's 100% available so you do not have to worry about say losing your job and therfore your health insurance or when your etire having no health insurance etc.

Also for me personally the main problem I have is political. So that all depends on the kind of person you are. For me Canada is not too far left and socialist like many places in Europe but also isn't as far right as the US. I find the US would be too much of an oppressive place for me to live, but it depends how much you enjoy that kind of government intervention in your life. I also dislike the number of radical groups in the US from the crazy religious right that seem to dominate in many areas to other militant pro life, pro animal, klan type groups that seem to have so much influence.

For the land of the free i find it very fascist and backward, but thats jsut personal opinion, you might find that kind of thing your ideal country ,so it's a bit of a subjective point.

It all depends what you are looking for really. Canada is very much a small country in a large land. Only 3o million people so you have 10% of the Us population so the job market is smaller and it doesnt have the same giant economy and so forth. Once you get outside the main cities of Toronto,Vancouver and Montreal you have tonnes of space and not many people. The cities are very similar to US cities just less crime and so forth but outside the cities you find less in common. Then you have Quebec which is just completely different to everywhere else.

I suppose you are gonna find people who prefer CAnada in a CAnadian migration section of this palce cos we have all chosen to move to Canada over anywhere else. If you go to the US migration parts you probably find everyone there thinks the US is the best and in teh same way if you go to the Australian section they probably tihnk thats the best.

The truth is everywhere is different and i don't think really once place is so much *better* than another, just *different* and you should live where you feel most at home.

If you haven't seen the Michael Moore documentary "Bowling for Columbine" then I suggest you do before making a decision.

Methinks Wizzard provided some wonderful insight as to why Canada would be the best option. Not sure whether "us people" can actually provide an answer to what doesn't appear to be a genuinely soul-searching question. You answered yourself in the last few sentences of your own posting...if you can never become a US citizen why would you bother considering the US over Canada?

Don't want to appear overly sanctimonious, but an awful lot of good folk don't have the opportunity of immigrating to one country, let alone a choice of two. And many of those folk would love the opportunity of pledging allegiance to the flag of that country and upholding the ideals, values and core-beliefs of the country of their choice. Which country do you believe you can best serve?

Hard to have a unbiased opinion on the matter having not lived in the US, but if you want to hear both sides, perhaps you should also post this question in the 'USA' section.

The question is about what we want.

a. a good job that pays your bills. America may have all sorts of jobs possible.
b. safe society: I don't know in Canada. Here in US, we afraid to walk on foot in the evening or early morning. Crimes are rampant everywhere.

c. values for your children: Americans agree in at least in this point that they are losing whatever moral values they had.

d. politics: don't be fooled. America is not a free society. It is one of the most oppressive regimes. After 9/11, any kind of oppression is legitimate. Also, here, you don't have any privacy. And if it bothers you to see the political hypocrites in everyday. you would not like here too. Too much hypocrisy and fooling to people.

I don't know but American people themselves also worry where they really are heading to in many social issues. So called civil liberty is no more in US.

e. diversity: America has everything: New York to San Fransisco, Los Vegas to Disney World, Harvard/MIT to community colleges; Nobel laureates to Oscar winners; serial killers to Timothy McVeigh. I mean America has the best and worst things.
f. health care: don't rely on American health care system. It is very fine until your work provides insurance. The day, when you don't have job and if you fall sick, your life time saving is exhausted.
g. The good thing in America: if you have work permit in hand, you'll get at least something to work and fill your tummy.

h. I chose Canada. I am in the process of immigrating, hopefully, i'll get passport request soon. But I am sure I will miss few things of here. But I don't want my son to live here.

Hi ,

I had recently got a first Initial assesment and my interview was waived off.
1) Can someone reply to my questions??They have asked for recent paystubs & recent W2 returns but I am on leave since May2003 so Can I just Aprill2003 paystub ( is only one paystub ok??)
2)Also now that I will have to pay the fees too, if for any reason I decide not to go to canada after I receive the final landing papers, can I still be eligible for refund for RLOF??
3) They had asked for transcript along but in India no one gives or has transcript can someone tell me if this is mandatory???
4)Now that they had waived off my Interview, Can I still submit my medical within six months or do I have to send them along with other supporting docs asked by them?? If I dont sent the medicals immly and sent the other docs immly, what will be their stand?? Will they send me a letter asking me to send the medicals??
5) Once they get all papers, I guess they ask passport for stamping so is it ok, if I send my passport by some means or do I have to be physically present in the country??
Replies Appreciated !

Thanks