set321go

Hello,

My girlfriend has spend the past couple of years working out in Canada and loves it out there, she is unlikely to have any issues as her previous Canadian employer offered to sponsor her visa if she wants to return.I spent a couple of weeks in Vancouver this year and am pretty keen to go out there for a year at least to begin with.

I am a Java programmer and have joined up to a few mailing lists to see what the job markets like and if there is much possibility of me getting work. What i would like to know is what the lead time is for a visa? I would like to move out to van at the end of next year sept onwards really.

Does anyone have any experience of the it sector for Java out in Vancouver? your help would be much appreciated.

I Only graduated from Uni in 2010, but have been employed full time since, would this work in my favor?

thanks for the help
Alex

set321go

do i have persmission to move my posts? I cant work it out, This should really be in the imigration forum.

thanks

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

What kind of visa are you referring to? The timescales really will depend on that.

No, only a mod can do it for you, but it's in the right place now.

set321go

im not really sure, i thought i had to apply for a temporary work visa and then apply for a full work permit after that, but i think there are probably other options like the bunac, but i think that requires me to leave at the end of the visa period.

Can i get into canada without a job? I would prefer to go with one arranged.

I find the whole canadian visa website quite confusing tbh. I end up going round in circles ending up back where i started.

Aviator

here
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick_...an_Immigration
here
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Catego...Hunting-Canada
and here
http://www.cic.gc.ca/app/ctcvac/engl...come-to-canada

set321go

thanks, not really trawled this site yet so they are a great help

christmasoompa

There's no such thing as a 'full work permit', but perhaps you're thinking of Permanent Residency? You could apply for a Temp Work Permit, and then hopefully use that to apply for PR. For the TWP, you'll need a job offer and a Labour Market Opinion (something your employer has to apply for, to prove they've advertised the job across Canada and been unable to find a Canadian willing, or able, to do the job).

There is Working Holiday Visa (which you can either get through Bunac or direct via CIC), the program opens again in Dec/Jan for next year's visas. That would give you a years open work permit. Bear in mind that a normal TWP would also require you to leave at the end of it, unless you can extend it or get PR before that.

You can if you get a WHV, as that's an open work permit, or if you just go over on a visitor visa (max six months, and you can't work on it). But for most longer term visas, you'll need a job, but it does depend - some people are eligible for PR without a job offer, but you'll need to check and see if you are among them.

HTH a bit. Hopefully the links you've been give will help answer most of your questions, but do shout if you have any more and somebody will always try and answer them for you.

set321go

this is all really valuable info. If i apply for a WHV when it opens. Is that 1 year from date of issue or 1 year from entry to the country?

christmasoompa

A year from the date of entry.