Bugerov

Sorry as you guys are probably bored of this type of question but I recently had a meeting with Brazalot Management Group and was about to hand over the first payment, until after returning home, I ran a few checks on the internet and found this website. From what I could see the general consensus is to sort out your own immigration (as you'll end up doing the work anyway). It's not that I'm a tightwad but if I'm going to do all the work I see little point paying someone £5k+ to boss me around as part of the process.

I would appreciate a little advice on timing for application. Ideally we (family of 4) would like to move in Aug 2022. We could move earlier but that has financial implications. That would make me 46 and I appreciate time is not on my side. I've over 20 years in the UK Armed Forces (I assume this would be considered as equivalent of NOC 04, noting my service is not with the Canadian military, nor do I intend to transfer). I've a Masters degree and did 5 years of French at GCSE; although that was over 25 years ago. I suspect I'd need to bolster my points by taking (and passing) the French exams and would need to score high on the IELTS. I have no relatives, no work experience in Canada etc.

I believe if successful in visa application you have 4 years to make the permanent move - is this true? That being the case I'll look to commence the process next year (due to my age) and do some French revision early in 2019 via Rosetta Stone. I've just completed a test on the www.canada.ca website and it didn't laugh at me; in fact I was informed I may qualify for express entry. Of course I lied through my teeth about taking an IELTS test and note that is something my wife and I would need to look into soon.

I would be very grateful for any advice, pointers and clarification if my assumptions are wrong.

Many thanks and best wishes.

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Quite right. Those of us on BE will be happy to boss you around for free.

Note that to get any points in French, you'll need to be A Level standard as a minimum. For the few extra points it'll give you, it may not be worth it, you'd be better off applying sooner so that you get more points for age rather than waiting until your French is of that level.

Yep. Not exactly four years though. Basically you have a year from the date of your medicals to 'land' and activate PR in Canada, but you can then return to the UK. Once you have 'landed', the clock starts ticking on your residency obligations and you must spend at least 2 years out of every 5 in Canada to keep it, hence where the 4 years comes from, but in reality it's likely to be nearer 3.5 years, and you should allow some leeway so that you can return to the UK (or even just holiday abroad) if you wish, so personally I'd count on nearer 3 years to be on the safe side. But even if you're selected and invited to apply for PR straight away, it can take 9 months or so to get PR, so your timescale would be fine.

Qualifying for EE is great, but that's only the first stage. Once you're in the pool of EE applicants, only those scoring the highest are invited to apply for PR. Usually, you'd need above approx 450 for that to happen, so your next step is to check your CRS score (Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) tool: skilled immigrants (Express Entry)) and see what that is. Your age is definitely against you unfortunately, so if you do qualify now, you'll need to get cracking asap as you'll lose points with every birthday.

HTH, best of luck.

Bugerov

Many thanks for the advice and clarification, Christmasoompa.

christmasoompa

You're welcome. Once you've worked out your likely points now, and again in a couple of years when you'd have brushed up on your French, feel free to ask any other questions, there's usually somebody around to try and help.

Bugerov

I'm looking to book IELTS exams for myself and the wife. I've seen IELTS offer some online help with regards to taking the test. Understanding the use of the English language is one thing, but exam technique in order to maximise points is clearly important.

With this in mind could anyone offer any advice from their experiences re IELTS exam technique?

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated. I'm looking to book an exam for the end of Feb/early Mar and would hope this is sufficient time to prepare.

FromUKtoBC

I have been meaning to post about my IELTS experience but hadnt got round to it. I will do it now as a general post so that others can see it too

Siouxie

Do bear in mind that IELTS results are only valid for 2 years - so unless you are planning on entering the pool in the next 6-12 months there's not a lot of point in paying out for the tests now! Better to take your time on revision etc., - there's plenty of online free websites to take the mock tests, if you do a search here for IELTS you'll find many posts on the subject. It's IELTS General that you take, by the way, not Academic - so look out for the mock tests for them
Here's 2 to be going on with..
Got some study to do..IELTS
IELTS
Or a google search will bring up many links to free training/practice tests https://www.google.ca/search?q=IELTS...w=1488&bih=718

FromUKtoBC

See my IELTS experience IELTS Experience