Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
Jul 20th 2018, 9:58 pm
#1
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Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
Hello. My partner, myself & young son (7) are from the UK and looking to emigrate to Vancouver (preferably asap). She (38) is a qualified solicitor but would be looking for paralegal work. I (44) am a published author with a steady client base in the UK/US. I can continue working for my clients remotely & it's also possible that my partner can work for her current employer remotely.
In terms of visa applications she almost certainly makes the better primary candidate (PS we're not married - not sure if "spouse" refers to any partner or is more literal and refers only to married couples?)
We've only just started trying to get a handle on our options - there seem to be a few possibilities so I'm hoping to get some advice here that enables us to focus in on the better / most realistic ones.
As far as I can see:
Option 1: We apply for immigration visas via normal channels (not sure if paralegals qualify for express entry as the test keeps asking for language test results and we've not done those yet).
Option 2: We get 6 month visas and continue working remotely for our UK employers (if that's allowed? I think a visitor visa covers that).EDIT: can't do this as we need to put our son in education! Can't believe we overlooked that - head is spinning with all these options
Option 3: We apply for self-employed visa and continue working remotely for our UK employers - but not sure if that is what they're intended for (i.e. we would not necessarily be looking to set up Canadian companies or have Canadian clients, at least initially).
Out of these, Option 2 perhaps appeals the most as it would allow us to experience Vancouver first without totally committing, and I believe would allow my partner to look for work in Canada - but also comes with its own set of questions/problems of course, such as what happens after 6 months, and is it easy enough to rent somewhere furnished for 6 months, etc,
Any help appreciated
In terms of visa applications she almost certainly makes the better primary candidate (PS we're not married - not sure if "spouse" refers to any partner or is more literal and refers only to married couples?)
We've only just started trying to get a handle on our options - there seem to be a few possibilities so I'm hoping to get some advice here that enables us to focus in on the better / most realistic ones.
As far as I can see:
Option 1: We apply for immigration visas via normal channels (not sure if paralegals qualify for express entry as the test keeps asking for language test results and we've not done those yet).
Option 2: We get 6 month visas and continue working remotely for our UK employers (if that's allowed? I think a visitor visa covers that).EDIT: can't do this as we need to put our son in education! Can't believe we overlooked that - head is spinning with all these options
Option 3: We apply for self-employed visa and continue working remotely for our UK employers - but not sure if that is what they're intended for (i.e. we would not necessarily be looking to set up Canadian companies or have Canadian clients, at least initially).
Out of these, Option 2 perhaps appeals the most as it would allow us to experience Vancouver first without totally committing, and I believe would allow my partner to look for work in Canada - but also comes with its own set of questions/problems of course, such as what happens after 6 months, and is it easy enough to rent somewhere furnished for 6 months, etc,
Any help appreciated
Last edited by ZestyOrange; Jul 20th 2018 at 10:01 pm.
Jul 20th 2018, 10:49 pm
#2
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
Hello. My partner, myself & young son (7) are from the UK and looking to emigrate to Vancouver (preferably asap). She (38) is a qualified solicitor but would be looking for paralegal work. I (44) am a published author with a steady client base in the UK/US. I can continue working for my clients remotely & it's also possible that my partner can work for her current employer remotely.
In terms of visa applications she almost certainly makes the better primary candidate (PS we're not married - not sure if "spouse" refers to any partner or is more literal and refers only to married couples?)
We've only just started trying to get a handle on our options - there seem to be a few possibilities so I'm hoping to get some advice here that enables us to focus in on the better / most realistic ones.
As far as I can see:
Option 1: We apply for immigration visas via normal channels (not sure if paralegals qualify for express entry as the test keeps asking for language test results and we've not done those yet).
Option 2: We get 6 month visas and continue working remotely for our UK employers (if that's allowed? I think a visitor visa covers that).EDIT: can't do this as we need to put our son in education! Can't believe we overlooked that - head is spinning with all these options
Option 3: We apply for self-employed visa and continue working remotely for our UK employers - but not sure if that is what they're intended for (i.e. we would not necessarily be looking to set up Canadian companies or have Canadian clients, at least initially).
Out of these, Option 2 perhaps appeals the most as it would allow us to experience Vancouver first without totally committing, and I believe would allow my partner to look for work in Canada - but also comes with its own set of questions/problems of course, such as what happens after 6 months, and is it easy enough to rent somewhere furnished for 6 months, etc,
Any help appreciated
In terms of visa applications she almost certainly makes the better primary candidate (PS we're not married - not sure if "spouse" refers to any partner or is more literal and refers only to married couples?)
We've only just started trying to get a handle on our options - there seem to be a few possibilities so I'm hoping to get some advice here that enables us to focus in on the better / most realistic ones.
As far as I can see:
Option 1: We apply for immigration visas via normal channels (not sure if paralegals qualify for express entry as the test keeps asking for language test results and we've not done those yet).
Option 2: We get 6 month visas and continue working remotely for our UK employers (if that's allowed? I think a visitor visa covers that).EDIT: can't do this as we need to put our son in education! Can't believe we overlooked that - head is spinning with all these options
Option 3: We apply for self-employed visa and continue working remotely for our UK employers - but not sure if that is what they're intended for (i.e. we would not necessarily be looking to set up Canadian companies or have Canadian clients, at least initially).
Out of these, Option 2 perhaps appeals the most as it would allow us to experience Vancouver first without totally committing, and I believe would allow my partner to look for work in Canada - but also comes with its own set of questions/problems of course, such as what happens after 6 months, and is it easy enough to rent somewhere furnished for 6 months, etc,
Any help appreciated
Hello and welcome to BE!
I've moved your post to the Immigration forum so that you get more responses that are accurate.
When you use the CRS tool for Express Entry etc., put down / assume you have top marks for English Language Testing (IELTS) - no point in paying for them until you have ascertained that you have sufficient points to be likely to get an invite from the pool. Have either of you had your Education assessed - and if not, what is the highest level of education you both have?
If you would care to post the breakdown of your points - using first your wife and then yourself - as lead applicant, there's many here who will be able to offer you some advice.
With regards to your option 2 - I'm really not sure it would work You can enter Canada as a visitor - and be given UP TO 6 months to remain, but there are no guarantees. You would have to have a return ticket, ties or obligations to your home country - jobs / housing / college course for example - and you need to be able to prove that you are a bonafide visitor - even if it's coming over for a 'recce' and a job search, but basically a holiday, with no intention to remain and not leave.
Finally, as you mentioned, you would have to have some kind of status in order for your child to attend school... unless they are of further education age, in which case they would need a study permit!
It would be ok if you were on holiday or here waiting on your PR application, perhaps, and wanted to do a bit of remote work for a UK / US company whilst here, there wouldn't be an issue with that.. but you re unlikely to be able to rent anything other than a high cost short term let - most rentals are for a minimum of a year.. if you can find one for less than that, it's possibly not going to be in the most salubrious area or else an exorbitant rent or a sublet!
Self Employed Permanent Residency applications take years. It is not a visa.
If you were intending to start a business in Canada then possibly it could work if you have sufficient finances to support an application - unless you were to go through one of the angel investers (and qualified for one of the streams). If everything was in place you are still likely talking 3-5 years before you would be moving across. As a self employed writer, you may qualify under 'the arts' stream.
Have you looked into what your wife would require to do in order to become licensed / certified to work as a Paralegal in BC? That should perhaps be your 2nd step, after working out your CRS points.
Last edited by Siouxie; Jul 20th 2018 at 10:53 pm.
Jul 20th 2018, 11:14 pm
#3
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
If both parents have Visitor status, your child would need a Study Permit applied for in advance to attend school (and would be subject to international fees). They would also need an acceptance letter from the school in order to apply for the Study Permit. The exception is if the parent has a Work Permit or Study Permit: then an acceptance letter is not required.
Jul 21st 2018, 10:28 am
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
Yep, as the others have said forget the self-employed option if you want to get there quickly. You can check current processing times for all visa routes here - Check application processing times – Immigration and citizenship It's currently at 24 months for that visa route
EE is definitely the way to go if you're eligible. What are you both scoring on the CRS? Unfortunately your ages will be against you but if you can get high enough scores in other areas i.e. have good post-secondary education, then you might just score enough.
EE is definitely the way to go if you're eligible. What are you both scoring on the CRS? Unfortunately your ages will be against you but if you can get high enough scores in other areas i.e. have good post-secondary education, then you might just score enough.
Jul 21st 2018, 10:30 am
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
Thank you Siouxie & Snowy560
Really helpful answers - just what I was hoping for
THE TEST
My partner just ran the test (assuming top marks in IELTS).
It appears that if we bring $17-23k CAD into the country then she qualifies for express entry (any less and she doesn’t).
She says she didn’t get a breakdown of the marks, just a note that she qualifies for express entry along with the code.
We’ve not had our education assessed. She has a 3 year LLB honors Law degree & a postgrad diploma in legal practice (during the test she selected the 3 year degree option, as she wasn’t sure whether the postgrad would be included in the other category, but if so it would further increase points). I am educated to higher-secondary level (A-levels in the UK) - as a self-taught programmer I have worked many jobs that usually require a degree - including for clients such as Cambridge Uni, but I guess that’s not going to be considered at any stage.
STUDY PERMIT
I was looking on Canada.ca last night and it sounds like my son can attend a school if one will agree to take him in advance, and then we obtain a study permit. It didn’t mention paying school fees so I couldn’t get an idea of what they may be but thanks for clarifying as it left me unsure. If we do the travel thing then we’re considering coming over in December-May, avoiding the core summer holiday season so perhaps there is an option to pick up a holiday place at a decent longer-term rate. I guess I can post another thread about that if needed.
The ability to get an express permit is good though - throws up more questions, too! I know the FAQ suggests not asking questions about VISA costs because they vary so much, but I don’t suppose Express Entry is more of a known factor is it? It would be handy to get a rough ballpark. I appreciate it may not be possible.
Really helpful answers - just what I was hoping for
THE TEST
My partner just ran the test (assuming top marks in IELTS).
It appears that if we bring $17-23k CAD into the country then she qualifies for express entry (any less and she doesn’t).
She says she didn’t get a breakdown of the marks, just a note that she qualifies for express entry along with the code.
We’ve not had our education assessed. She has a 3 year LLB honors Law degree & a postgrad diploma in legal practice (during the test she selected the 3 year degree option, as she wasn’t sure whether the postgrad would be included in the other category, but if so it would further increase points). I am educated to higher-secondary level (A-levels in the UK) - as a self-taught programmer I have worked many jobs that usually require a degree - including for clients such as Cambridge Uni, but I guess that’s not going to be considered at any stage.
STUDY PERMIT
I was looking on Canada.ca last night and it sounds like my son can attend a school if one will agree to take him in advance, and then we obtain a study permit. It didn’t mention paying school fees so I couldn’t get an idea of what they may be but thanks for clarifying as it left me unsure. If we do the travel thing then we’re considering coming over in December-May, avoiding the core summer holiday season so perhaps there is an option to pick up a holiday place at a decent longer-term rate. I guess I can post another thread about that if needed.
The ability to get an express permit is good though - throws up more questions, too! I know the FAQ suggests not asking questions about VISA costs because they vary so much, but I don’t suppose Express Entry is more of a known factor is it? It would be handy to get a rough ballpark. I appreciate it may not be possible.
Jul 21st 2018, 10:59 am
#6
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
That's because the proof of funds amount for 3 of you is $19,093, so you must have at least that in the bank to qualify.
We’ve not had our education assessed. She has a 3 year LLB honors Law degree & a postgrad diploma in legal practice (during the test she selected the 3 year degree option, as she wasn’t sure whether the postgrad would be included in the other category, but if so it would further increase points). I am educated to higher-secondary level (A-levels in the UK) - as a self-taught programmer I have worked many jobs that usually require a degree - including for clients such as Cambridge Uni, but I guess that’s not going to be considered at any stage.
I was looking on Canada.ca last night and it sounds like my son can attend a school if one will agree to take him in advance, and then we obtain a study permit. It didn’t mention paying school fees so I couldn’t get an idea of what they may be but thanks for clarifying as it left me unsure. If we do the travel thing then we’re considering coming over in December-May, avoiding the core summer holiday season so perhaps there is an option to pick up a holiday place at a decent longer-term rate. I guess I can post another thread about that if needed.
If you qualify for EE, then you would get PR within about 6 months once you've actually applied, so it's quite quick and would be much better than risking going over on a visitor visa. As Siouxie has said, it's not ideal particularly with a child, as you may not be allowed entry, plus there are other practical considerations like not being eligible for healthcare, etc.
You can get exact figures for the visa costs, that's no problem all all. It'll be $2230 for your visa fees (Fee list), then add on maybe $2000 for your ECA's, IELTS (assuming both of you do the IELTS and get an ECA, may not be necessary depending on her points though) and medicals. For other moving costs, this thread has some useful figures in - cost of moving to canada. It's quite old now so you'll need to increase them a bit, but gives you an idea at least.
HTH.
Jul 21st 2018, 2:27 pm
#7
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
I looked at the international school fees for the school district where my children have attended. It's about $14,000 for a year. I have heard of cases where even a worker/student's child has been charged fees. It's up to the individual school district.
Jul 21st 2018, 2:32 pm
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
As your wife is a solicitor, she will get points for having a professional degree not just a three year bachelors. Get both the LLB and LPC assessed - it is an academic qualification not vocational (I know as my wife did this too) and is assessed as a post grad diploma.
If she wants to work as a lawyer again, she will need to requalify. It is a lengthy process costing a few thousand dollars but can be done. Some of the exams can be taken in the UK but she will likely need to obtain a training contract (known as articles) which is the tricky part. Happy to point you in the right direct if you want any info.
If she wants to work as a lawyer again, she will need to requalify. It is a lengthy process costing a few thousand dollars but can be done. Some of the exams can be taken in the UK but she will likely need to obtain a training contract (known as articles) which is the tricky part. Happy to point you in the right direct if you want any info.
Jul 21st 2018, 2:39 pm
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
As your wife is a solicitor, she will get points for having a professional degree not just a three year bachelors. Get both the LLB and LPC assessed - it is an academic qualification not vocational (I know as my wife did this too) and is assessed as a post grad diploma.
My guess is that she won't score enough due to age, but hopefully the OP will check and let us know her score.
Last edited by christmasoompa; Jul 21st 2018 at 2:41 pm.
Jul 21st 2018, 3:54 pm
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
Hi, I had both my LLB degree and my postgraduate legal practice diploma assessed by WES at the beginning of the year. I was given 119 points for "2 or more diplomas or certificates, one of which is 3 years".
Good luck!
Good luck!
Jul 21st 2018, 4:01 pm
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
Aug 16th 2018, 11:43 am
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
This is fantastic advice thank you - sorry for the delay in replying, the “new reply” notifications were ending up in spam!
Aug 16th 2018, 12:39 pm
#13
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
I’m not sure if prospects get better as the scores get higher?
Our IELTS were strong so I don’t think we can improve it from that angle (HER: 9 8.5 8.5 8) (ME: 9 9 9 8.5)
Aug 16th 2018, 4:12 pm
#14
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
She just scored 432, so lower end of your rough-guide, but still within it. Hopefully this is enough.
I’m not sure if prospects get better as the scores get higher?
Our IELTS were strong so I don’t think we can improve it from that angle (HER: 9 8.5 8.5 8) (ME: 9 9 9 8.5)
If you have a lower score you may have to wait for up to a year to be selected (if the points drop low enough) - or may not get an invite at all. EE is essentially a pool of candidates - with points ranging from very low to very high!
You can see the last round of Invitations (and the number of people in the pool for each range of points) - the last round
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...vitations.html
August 8, 2018 CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 440
It would probably be advantageous for you to read about Express Entry in it's entirety.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ess-entry.html
You are not that far off with the points, so ensure that you have the most points from ECE and IELTS that you can - and perhaps look into whether any of the Provinces have Provincial Nomination Programs either of you could qualify for... https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...igibility.html
I know you favour the Vancouver area from a climate / scenic point of view, but you may need to go wherever you can get work or nominations, if that is what you need in order to get PR! Keep your options open at this stage..
Last edited by Siouxie; Aug 16th 2018 at 4:19 pm.
Aug 17th 2018, 3:37 am
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Re: Immigration question - can you help me narrow down these options?
Yep, as Siouxie has said you're at the lower end of the scale, so with a chance but the last time the points went to that level or below for FSW was May 2017, well over a year ago. So definitely worth applying in case they drop again, but you probably wouldn't get an ITA anytime soon. When does she turn 39? As her points will drop then due to getting another year old sadly, so I'd recommend you apply ASAP.
And again, ditto what Siouxie has said - don't focus on a location for now, sounds like you might need a job offer to get a visa so will need to be prepared to go anywhere!
Best of luck.
And again, ditto what Siouxie has said - don't focus on a location for now, sounds like you might need a job offer to get a visa so will need to be prepared to go anywhere!
Best of luck.