Hi,

We have been here since February. I am homesick, have a new baby, struggling to make friends and just want to go home. My husband has said to give it til Feb and if I am still unhappy we will go home.

To keep PR status I know we have to be resident for equal to 2 years in a 5 year period, which we won't be. However it I stuck it out for 2 years here and then we went home what then? When would we lose PR status or would we keep it as we would have been resident for 2 out of the first 5 years? If we kept it would we have it indefinitely or need to return to Canada at a later date etc..

I would like to give my children the option of coming to live in Canada when they are older even if we do return to the UK but not sure of the best way of doing this, other than applying for Citizenship after 3 years.

Thank you
Melanie

You need to be resident for at least 2 years in any 5 year period. So how you will fare will depend upon when you landed. We need more info to be able to provide you with a more accurate answer.

If you don't like it that much, go home. There is no point wasting your life on the assumption that your child may thank you for it later.

If you only do 2 years and leave, you'll lose PR if you don't come back. The clock is ticking everyday and it is two out of the 5 preceding years, which keeps rolling forward. So if you lived here 15 years as PR and left for 5 years you'd lose PR status.

You would need to have 3 years residency (time spent out of Canada in the 3 years does not count) to get citizenship then retain the right to return. This is the only way of retaining the right to return unless you work for the Cdn. Govt or a Canadian company overseas.

There have been a few on here recently who lost PR and are now trying to get back. There have also been kids of parents who took the family back without getting citizenship and these kids, now adults want to return and have to apply the same as everyone else.

It takes was more than 6 months to feel settled. For many it takes up to 3 years to begin to feel at home and more to feel like a fixture. It may not help much, but most people have been though what you're going though, some have stuck it out and others have given up.

Hi there.
I have no comments to make about the PR thing but I would like to make a comment in general. I am not trying to be patronizing so apologies if to comes across this way.

You have an 8 week old baby and 2 other kids. It is perfectly normal to struggle with life, wherever you are. Being back in the UK may be no easier, it would just be more familiar. Moving house, new babies and new jobs are all very stressful in themselves, let alone do them all in a year!
Cut yourself some slack and just stick with it. Don't give yourself till February - it will still be winter and cold. You have to give it till at least next summer before you make a decision. Life can be tough wherever you are.

I moved with 2 pre-school toddlers (12 months apart in age) to a non English speaking mainland europe country and then 4 years later moved to CA. I struggled in a daze for years! Seriously!

Integration and friendship does come. You will get out more and meet more people, it just takes a while. And people struggle for years to get out to Canada, so just give yourself a break and don't be hard on yourself. It is an achievement to get through every day with young kids. And again, apologies if I sound patronising -it really isn't meant that way.

BTW, very happy here, kids very settled, me and OH settled. Much better quality of life IMHO.

Maybe trying somewhere else in Canada, its a big country.

where in ca are you now?

I second what she says......well said misplacedheidi (and BTW it didn't sound patronizing)

Give it some time, and don't give yourself a time limit to decide (like Feb), it will only add to your stress/worries. Try and see out all four seasons before you even start to make a decision.
Best of luck

Thanks for your opinions. It didn't sound patronising at all, made a lot of sense really. My OH is happy and my kids love it here, they are having a life we couldn't afford to give them back home.

We are in Ottawa, the Glebe, and are thinking that even a change in area might be beneficial for us.

I've come to the conclusion that the only way to give the kids the chance to come back if we did leave was to obain Citizenship, apart from little Madeline who is our little Canadian Citizen already!

Melanie

Just wanted to give you some support.

It really is SOOOOOO hard with little kids sometimes no matter where you are, let alone having just recently had another baby shortly after emigrating.

I'd second what some of the others have said. You need to give it longer before you pack up and leave.

Perhaps you could try networking and forming that supportive circle of other mums with young kids so that you can vent, moan, laugh and cry when you need to. It really could make all the difference.

Plus one for that idea, if things dont come around where you are. The first year is the hardest though, you can seldom replace friends made over a life time in just a few months.

Hi Melanie,

As other people have said you've been through such a lot it's only natural to feel how you do especially with a new baby......

Are there any mother/toddler groups in your community? I bet there are lots of other new mums who would love to meet up?

Take care and hope things get better for you,

Biiba xx

Love this comment. I'm getting a real sense of your determination to succeed with a smattering of 'stickability' here...