UKDanny92

Hi All,

I'm wanting to move from the UK to Canada. I've travelled to a few provinces in Canada several times and love it there.

I'd be moving by myself and at present don't have a job there yet but my plan is to apply for jobs, get interviews and book them for within a 2 week period. Then fly to Canada and attend the interviews and hopefully be successful.
In the UK I work in medical administration. I admit patients into hospital on specific wards, do admin for all community services, referrals into the service, referrals to other services, take calls from patients and medical professionals, look after emails x3 inboxes and action all tasks via the NHS system..... sounds easy but most people can't handle it after 2 months.

I'm wondering realistically, how much financially would be needed to sustain me at least for my first month there, including rent... for 1 person? I'm thinking £3,500 would cover rent and food and amenities and been overly social (basically to meet people and make friends)... Probably sustain me for 1.5 months.

I'm also considering going to study a medical degree in Canada too but that's something I'll be looking into in more depth soon.

Thanks

Former Lancastrian

Slow down a bit. You just can't apply for jobs, go for interviews and then expect to be hired without going through the Immigration process.
How old are you and perhaps to start off with you might want to consider applying for the IEC working holiday that if picked gets you a 2 year work permit.
I doubt without that work permit any employer will pay the $1000 to attempt to get a LMIA for you unless they can prove there are no qualified Canadians to do the job and they have advertised the job and had no suitable applicants.
To get PR as a skilled worker you 1st need to ensure you score 67 or above for the FSW 6 selection factors found in the link below

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...d-workers.html

Then after that you would be needing to score around 438 or above on the CRS as found in this link below

Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) tool: skilled immigrants (Express Entry)

You can try to find a Province to sponsor you for Permanent Residency as found in this link

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...-nominees.html

A lot more information about you is required before anyone can guide you as to the best way of applying.

Failing all of the above get yourself on a dating website and find a Canadian or a Permanent Resident of Canada to marry providing you are not getting married for the sake of the visa.

christmasoompa

Yep, as said above, you need to sort your visa out as the first step.

But you're not likely to get interviews if you're applying from the UK, it simply doesn't happen that way. If you do somehow qualify for a visa without a job offer (such as IEC, or scoring enough to go directly for PR without a job offer), then be prepared to spend more than 6 weeks job hunting. I'd say the amount you've mentioned is far too low if you don't have a job to go to, but it does depend on what you'll want for that money i.e. just a room in a shared house, or an apartment?

I'll leave this thread where it is for now as visas have been mentioned, but once you let us know if you've got the visa sorted, I can move it to the main forums if you wish, where you may get more responses.

Good luck.

UKDanny92

Hi Former Lancastrian and Christmasoompa,

I understand that I'd have to go through the Immigration process. I was planning to do the CELPIP-G and the TEF tests. My French isn't fantastic but I can communicate well and I have quite a few more month to get even better. I used the CRS tool and considering a low points score for the TEF, I still come out as getting 461 points total.

The 6 selection factors for Federal Skilled Workers - without scoring my French language and without employment already arranged, I would score 67.


I wasn't aware that Provinces' sponsored for Permanent Residency, thank you for that link, is it common to get sponsorship?

Hahaa I wouldn't go down the dating side of things

What other information would be good to know about me, to find the best way for me to apply?


Personally, I would like an apartment but for the first few months, I wouldn't mind doing an apartment share. I tend to cook my own food, I don't drink alcohol so my socialising is generally quite cheap (in the UK at least).
I will be trying to get job interviews prior to moving (but not prior to taking the tests), with the view to moving there within a week or 2, if accepted for the job role. If I move without first getting a job, it will be harder but I have an additional £5000 saved plus the £3500 I previously mentioned, so I think I'd be okay.


One thing I'm a bit confused about is, if I qualify for the Federal Skilled Workers Program, do I have to move to Canada straight after being accepted?

OrangeMango

The score is still 67? When I first applied for PR in 2001 the requirement was 75 which I hit exactly, but during the PR application process the lowered it to 67. In the end, I waited nearly 2 years for the PR, but back then, there was no express entry. Been a citizen now for many years.

Aviator

I would have at least 6 months monetary reserves, with our without a job. Even if one has secured a job prior to moving, what happens if it suddenly comes to an end, you may not qualify for employment insurance payouts. I would be more comfortable at $20,000 reserves if it were me.

Medical school in Canada is not cheap, especially for foreigners https://afmc.ca/node/256

As has been mentioned, if you qualify IEC is likely the easiest way in. Without it, you would need a high demand skill, that few Canadians are qualified to do.
To get a job offer, employers have to try and hire Canadian first, if there are no suitable candidates (they have to prove that there aren't), they can stump up $1000 and apply for a LMIA and if approved a foreign worker could get a work permit in the basis of that.

If you have specialist skills in the medical field, it might be worth contacting regional health boards to find out the likelihood of getting a job.

Siouxie

Regarding working in 'medical secretary/ medical admin' type of positions in hospitals, a lot of the time hospitals appoint from internal candidates - they often have a pool of admin clerks who are on part time / temporary contracts all vieing for the jobs as permanent employees. With that in mind, many hospitals require you to have certifications for that job (or even degrees) - if you don't have them you would be unlikely to get an interview. It's a competitive market unfortunately.. I know experienced medical admin staff who have been trying to get a permanent job for years in a hospital, locally. There is little point in applying from the UK and do bear in mind that often the recruitment process is very long... so it wouldn't be a matter of weeks... nor would your getting Permanent Residency in order to be allowed to work be a matter of weeks - think a minimum of 6 months once you have been invited from the Express Entry pool and submitted your full application for PR... unless you were very lucky and managed to get Provincial Nomination allowing you to get a letter of support for a work permit whilst your application for PR was being processed.

What Province were you considering?
Medical administrative assistants (NOC 1243)

https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketreport/summary-occupation/25791/ca

christmasoompa

OK, so you can take the CELPIP test, although do note it's not available in the UK. If you're in the UK you'd need to take IELTS for your English exam. Your French doesn't need to be fantastic, although 'basic' level (for the minimum points) is about A Level standard to give you an idea, as long as you're above that or higher you'll be ok.

461 is a good points score, and you would get an invite to apply for PR with that. If you get cracking, you could have PR by the end of the year or early next year.

That's just about enough to qualify you for the Federal Skilled Worker program, although you wouldn't have enough for visa fees, ECA, IELTS, medical, flights, etc on top of that, so you will need more (you must have the proof of funds amount in your bank account both when you apply and when you land in Canada). And remember that most say the proof of funds amount is very low, and won't sustain you for long in Canada. This thread has some useful figures in for the costs of moving and setting up life in a new country to give you a bit of an idea at least - cost of moving to canada

I'd aim for about double what you've got, but you'll have time to save before you go.

No. You have a year from the date of your medical to 'land' and activate PR, but you can return on the next plane if you wish. Once you've landed, you have to spend 2 years out of every 5 in Canada to maintain your PR status, so in essence you have a couple of years before you have to move (best not to cut it too fine).

HTH, good luck.