Usmaan.W

Hi All,

So late last year I put a post up indicating my intention to relocate to Canada during Spring 2019. Well time has whizzed by and now in a position to start gathering information about the application process etc.

I get married in August but as we are both under 30 we plan on applying for the IEC visa, so the first question is... is it likely we will both be granted the visa as understandably we will want to be relocating together?

A bit more about us... I currently am 26 and work as an IT Test Consultant and from my research Guelph/Toronto/Kitchener-Waterloo are the hubs for this. The wife to be is 24 and a pre-school teacher. We will have £20k+ to take with us to Canada.

So a few more questions:

1) From my understanding the IEC entitles me to continue working as an IT Consultant in Canada and is it correct that if I gain 1 year professional experience I can apply for PR?

2) If I apply for PR would the wife need to qualify separately or would she be entitled to it too as she's my spouse?

3) If we happen to have a baby whilst out their - would this be detrimental to gaining PR?

4) Is the IEC visa a difficult one to get with many restrictions that may not be obvious?

5) Do employers in Canada look down upon IEC Visa's?

The plan is to live on rent whilst I factor a month or two to obtain a job (will try from the UK however have heard this is near to impossible). Once I have a job we may want our own house. Any additional advice from those that work in IT would be appreciated and location advice would be great too!

Thanks all,

Uzzy!

Zoe Bell

People will corretc me if i'm wrong

christmasoompa

1) You can do pretty much any job on an IEC. You don't need to work for a year first though for most visa routes, so you might want to apply for PR sooner if eligible. Would you need a year's work experience in Canada to score enough or could you apply for PR now?

2) You'd put her as a dependent on your application, and both get PR.

3) Nope, it will have no effect.

4) As Zoe has said above, it's not difficult, but it is a lottery. It's unlikely that you'll be relocating in spring 2019 unless picked very early on in the process, applications for 2019 aren't likely to open until early next year or spring anyway, and then it takes around 8 weeks once you get an ITA. You may of course, not get an ITA until late next year.........or at all. I would recommend you both apply for IEC's to double your chances, and then whoever gets the IEC gets a skilled job, so the other can get an open work permit.

5) Not that I'm aware of.

HTH.

Vulcanoid

If you don't have a medical exam, you won't be able to work with children or in healthcare. In any event, you won't be able to work as a stripper or in the sex trade. There are no other formal restrictions. Any employment which requires licencing, you would need like anyone else working in Canada. The only 'difficult' things about getting an IEC permit is the random draw, where twice as many people want the permit as can go.

Employers are unlikely to 'look down' on an IEC permit as though it were inferior to other types - some jobs require PR or citizenship, and it is intrinsically time-limited, so an employer might be concerned about that (less of an issue now they're two year permits instead of one year). Immigrants generally often find it harder to find work (as employers are less familiar with overseas qualifications and experience).

dbd33

Stuck behind a desk then, dreams shattered.

Usmaan.W

Thanks for your reply we plan on applying as soon as the applications open, although I can't find any exact dates online I'm sure the IEC applications have opened in the Autumn or am I mistaken? Yes plan on both applying for the IEC to maximize all chances. would you think the route I'm planning to take is a good one as described in the OP?

Thanks,

Uzzy

Usmaan.W

Haha think this may be a good thing, don't want folk being scarred for life after just taking off my shirt!

Usmaan.W

Thanks everyone for your detailed replies, I do qualify for PR now as a skilled worker but even though the IEC is a lottery based system I just think it's a lot easier to go down that route and have a stronger PR application after working in a professional role (lots of points that can be added to my PR!).

Seeing you've all agreed the IEC isn't looked down upon I don't see many negatives with it - me and the wife would both apply for the IEC as soon as applications open increasing our chances of both being selected.

Seeing I work in IT does it make sense to rent a place close to Downtown Toronto to maximize chances of landing a job (I'm factoring in a 3 month window from landing to obtaining a job). I have been told Guelph is pretty decent for IT related work so would this be commutable from the downtown Toronto area?

I think my main concern is work, it's unfamiliar territory and I'm all for taking risks however wouldn't want to return to the UK after running out of money!

Regards,

Uzzy

DigitalGhost

Unless you really want the downtown lifestyle, living in downtown Toronto and commuting to Guelph every day would be expensive, time consuming and likely unnecessary. You'd be looking at a 120 mile round trip commute every day and doing that on the GO Trains would cost a fortune. Plus downtown core rents aren't exactly cheap by Canadian standards.

From my experience of working in IT on an IEC permit, recruiters will not look down on it because they simply will not know what it is. They will perceive it as any other Open TWP like the type given to the spouses of sponsored workers and international students etc. If you were planning on being a ski bum for 12 months then those employers would know what IEC is. Otherwise it will likely never come up. They will just want to prove that you're legally allowed to work in that part of Canada.

Zoe Bell

seriously look into this rents are horrific in Toronto at the moment

DigitalGhost

I have been looking on Kijiji and Craigslist recently and 1 bedroom condos are now going for around $2k per month. The last time I was living in Toronto you could get a 2 bedroom for less than that.

Usmaan.W

Thanks for your reply! OK my worries have been alleviated i.e. the IEC visa and as you say it seems there will be no issue with me gaining employment in a professional position with this visa which is great!

120 mile trip would be excessive - Guelph is growing on me more and more and I think the way to go would be to find somewhere closer to Guelph to rent and then commute to Toronto if needs be. Do you have any experience of living in Guelph or the surrounding areas?

dbd33

I commuted to Guelph from the Beach by car and work with someone who does that now. I hated it then and he hates it now. A more sensible colleague who lives in Don Mills has an apartment in Guelph for the weekdays. It's a long commute but I know of several people who do it by GO bus from Union. There's a car pool from High Park, one from Markham, one from Richmond Hill, one from near the airport. People find a way.

Usmaan.W

I come from a pretty small town already so living in Guelph wouldn't phase me. I guess the reason why I was considering the central Toronto area is for the increased exposure to job opportunities. That being said if Guelph is already an IT hub (which it seems it is!) it doesn't make sense to commute daily. I would rather live in Guelph or a surrounding area and then commute to Toronto as and when needed.

Novocastrian

What, though, if your wife gets the IEC and you don't? Unless she gets a skilled job you wouldn't be issued with an open permit. You say she's a pre-school teacher, which needs a licence and a medical. It is well-known that getting teaching credential equivalency ratification in Ontario can sometimes take up to a year, leaving you with a major problem.

If you qualify for PR already, I'd do that route in your circumstance.