Hi guys. My name is Tony. I'm 26 years old and live in Glasgow, Scotland. I'm new to this forum and was recommended to join by a friend.

I have dreamed of living in Canada since I was 16 years old and visited for the first time on a family vacation. It seemed like a distant dream back then but I think I am now at the point in my life where I can start taking some action.

I was recently at an Immigration event. The "Brazolot" migration group were there and I signed up to have a 1 and a half hour meeting with them in a few weeks time for the fee of £25. I seem to have enough points according to the brief meeting I had with a lady there. I have an honours degree in Computer Networking, 5+ years experience in IT and family over in Canada.

I've read that using companies like Brazolot are really expensive and it's more advisable to do it your self. I just don't know where to start.

I would like to try the "Federal Skilled Workers" visa way of entering Canada. Am I right in saying this type of Visa allows you to enter Canada without having a job already lined up? As well as allowing you to work any type of job and not just in your chosen field when initially arriving in Canada?

I think I'll just go to the Brazolot meeting in a few weeks but not have any further dealings with them after it. I just need pointed in the right direction. It all seems daunting and I am not sure how to best go about getting the ball rolling. Any help, tips, advice would be very much appreciated. Thank You

1) Avoid brazolot.
2) Read the wiki paying particular attention to the IEC visa. Quick Guide to Canadian Immigration : British Expat Wiki

Do a search for your chosen consultant on this forum.
Digest the opinions expressed.
Then decide if you are still planning on attending!

If you think they will point you in the direction to help you do it yourself, you may be disappointed. The whole point of the initial meeting is to sign you up as a client not help you help yourself.

I think the most important thing to establish is if you are eligible for a FSW Cat1 visa or not. If you are, then you can indeed come to Canada without a job to go to and work in any field you choose. You will be a Permanent Resident from day one. However, it's really important to be absolutely objective regarding whether you meet the criteria and have the necessary points; if you haven't, they won't let you in. I know of a couple of cases (one was an optimistic (sort of) friend of mine) where they added a duty here, or a grade there, to enhance their application. I get the impression CIC check EVERYTHING and if you've gilded the lily in any way, they can - and probably will - return your application. They didn't get approved and it wasted a lot of time and money.

If you're only 26, what about the IEC working Visa? It would give you the chance for a 12 month taste of Canada (with, I believe, an additional discretionary 12 month option) without going through quite such a lengthy and costly process as the FSW route?

Good luck anyway. There are some extremely knowledgeable bods on the subject on this forum who are always glad to help if your questions are genuine and well researched.

This. Once you're here on the IEC visa (aka working holiday visa) it's fairly easy to land a corporate job, especially in IT (depending on where you plan on moving to). Once you have that, and you still want to stay, it's fairly straightforward to get Provincial Nomination or some other route to Permanent Residency.

Agreed.

Lots of computer networking jobs in Toronto.

Get out here. Get a job and apply for PR.

I'd also be surprised if your occupation was not on the skills shortage list so you probably can persue that from there if you are in no rush and don't want to end up tied to an employer here.

I visited family in Canada when I was 15 and loved the place.I moved here from Edinburgh in 2007 and now Im a permanent resident .You will find good advice on these forums,good luck with your move.

Another vote for an IEC visa, I think you'll have left it too late to apply for FSW unfortunately if you haven't even started getting your application together.

But although it wouldn't give you the security of PR straight away like the FSW route would have done, it would at least be easier and quicker.

Good luck.

def try out the IEC route for sure as you are still under the age of 30. it will give you 1 year to suss out if Canada is really for you, and another year on top of that if you are still unsure like mentioned above - however at this point you should hopefully know by then and by which you could apply for PR...

You have to be quick tho with IEC as they have limited space per year, they literally go within minutes once the program is open. this is definitely the quickest route.

with regards to the FSW program, it is a more 'secure' route but a very lengthy one. you will need a lot of patience and the application process is a pain in the back side! We went with this route (as im unfortunately over 30), and I think we were the lucky ones as it took us 8 months through and through. mind you, this is including a slight set back when they returned the whole application to us as we didnt submit the 'right part of the birth cert' - doh!! dont ask.... :/

anyways, good luck with what ever route you decide!!

8 months was incredibly quick. When we came through FSW our 2.5 years was considered speedy!

we were preparing ourselves for 18+months wait, and we were very surprised when we were asked for our medicals 6 months in! its is crazy to think that we came to Vancouver to visit friends and to suss the place out and we are now back after 1 year and 3 weeks as PR! in that space we managed to get PR, quit our jobs (well, my employer still wants me to work for them on a consultancy basis!), sell most of our possessions, rent our house out, say our good byes, and everything in between!! we just landed on saturday and we still cant believe we are here...

i posted on another thread, horror stories about people handing over up to $20,000 to agencies ! Please treat them with extreme suspicion and DO NOT sign anything if you meet with them ! Lots of good advice on this forum so keep plugging away and it'll happen but don't throw away a pile of cash for something you can do yourself !

Do it yourself mate, the "specialists" just want your money.

Bottom line is this: you have the points to get in or you don't. It's pretty easy to figure it out from the cic website. If you have the points, you can apply for a visa and pay the landing fee after they approve you. If you don't get approved, well, nice try.

That's basically the route I took more than a decade ago.

Which is why your advice is very out of date.

There are over 50 routes to a visa, only one of those is the FSW program that you're referring to, but now just having the requisite number of points isn't enough for that program - applicants also need a job on the list of eligible occupations to qualify.

That's now anyway, the whole system is completely changing in January, the FSW will be an 'expression of interest' system after that date where applicants get picked from a pool by the government and/or potential employers.

HTH.