Good morning all...new to this page and hoping I can get some of the answers I’m lookkng for.
My sister lives in Canada (Cochrane, Alberta) with her husband and children. They have their permanent residency (can’t remover the proper name for it), have purchased a house over there and both have good jobs. I’ve visited many times and am totally in love with Canada.
For ages I’ve wished I could move out there but I have an 8 year old daughter whose dad I have split up from so it wouldn’t be fair (or allowed) for me to take her away permanently. With this in mind I am hoping he will agree to let me take her away for one year on the basis I bring her back for visits and he can visit whenever he wants. That is obviously my main hurdle but I’m hoping he will see it as amazing opportunity for her. Before I ask him I want to make sure I have all the facts so that’s where I’m hoping you can help...pretty please 🙂
We would live with my sister. I have two job offers, neither massive earners but would be more than enough to support my daughter and I, and give my sister keep for bills etc.
Can anyone help with what kind of visa I will need?
How much money would I need to have in my account in order for me to be allowed to stay for a year?
My daughters school here in the UK are willing to hold her place for one year and I’ve been in touch with the school my nephews are in and there doesn’t seem to be any major issues with her joining the school for one year.
And can anyone else give me any tips/info/advice. I need to be armed with all the information I can possibly get.
Thanks in advance
Alexandra 🙂

Hi, welcome to BE.

Visa first, before worrying about schools etc. How old are you? What are the job offers you’ve received and when you say ‘not massive earners’, what kind of salary are we talking?

Hi there
Thanks for your response.
Yes I would sort visas first of course, I just don’t want to leave any stone unturned.
I’m 38. One job offer is a personal assistant to a professional couple (admin, banking etc) and the other is in their coffee shop (mainly serving but also some of the admin too). I can take one or both jobs and work them around each other.
Salary wise, it would work out around £18-20k

You could only take one job, your work permit will be tied to that role and you won’t be allowed to do another alongside it.

I’m not sure either job is likely to get an LMIA granted tbh, but are the couple happy to pay the money and sponsor you to give it a try? The jobs are very different, but remember that to get the LMIA granted, you’ll need to show you have experience of a similar role and suitable qualifications etc, so which of those two roles have you done before in the UK? Or have you done both?

Sorry to sound daft but what is the LMIA?
ok thanks...in that case it would be the PA job I’d go for as that’s the kind of job I have most experience in here in the UK.
They could potentially sponsor me, didn’t think we would need to consider that route with it only being for a year but will look into it. Do you have any idea how much it would be?
Apologies if I’m sounding dumb, it’s all new to me so it’s great to find people with more knowledge!
Thank you 🙂

An LMIA is something the potential employer has to apply for, to prove they have advertised the job across Canada and been unable to find a Canadian willing, or able, to do the job. It costs them $1000, is quite a lot of paperwork for them, and usually takes about 3 to 4 months to be processed. Once you’ve got the LMIA, you can then apply for your work permit.

Just checking, this couple isn’t your sister and her husband is it? It’s just that the LMIA wouldn’t be granted if you’re related to the applicant.

Yes the couple I would live with is my sister and her husband...so does that mean I won’t be able to get a work permit?
Thank you

I didn’t mean the couple you’d be living with, I meant the couple hiring you.....or are they one and the same?

Apologies. No, the job offer is from someone independent to my family members.

OK, that’s good. Are they aware of what’s involved in hiring a foreign worker and are they happy to do so? Seems a lot of cost and hassle just for a year tbh.

This is the description for your NOC code (they’ll need to make sure the ad matches this) - NOC 2011 - 1241 - Administrative assistants - Unit group

It’s not looking great for getting a LMIA granted for that NOC code tbh - https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketrepo...on/24789/22310 But they need to advertise it nationally and see who applies first, if they haven’t already done so.

Salary wise, it’s far too low and you won’t get a LMIA granted at that level. See above for info, for a LMIA to be granted the job must be paying at least the median hourly rate, which is $25ph - roughly $49,000 (£29,000) based on a 37.5 hour week.

Thanks for all the responses so far, it’s all been very helpful. It looks like the job offer may not be straight forward so one more question...does anyone know how much money I’d need to have to be able to go for a year and support myself in that way? I’ve tried to find answers online but finding varied answers...anything between £12-200k.
Thanks again