blondebecky

Hiya all

I really need some help from those of you in the know! My husband and I are both teachers and are looking into moving to Calgary. We are paying an immigration agency to help us with this (not payed the big one yet though)

Well basically, the more i read about the possibility of my husband getting a teaching job in Canada the more i'm beginning to realise that its unlikely...atleast initially anyway. I'm thinking of backing out of the immigration agency before we pay the big lump some because i don't really trust it. They have told us from the start that we would have absolutely no trouble with the whole thing but the more i think about it the more i think they would say that because the get their £2500 whether we find a job or not!

Anyways i want to know what other options i have? My husband is willing to have a career change ppermanentlyor temp. Would we be able to go over in another way????

Sorry this has ended up being really long
Pleeeeeaaaaaasssee help!

iaink

What exactly are the agency doing for you? Are they sending you through some provincial nomination route, or is regular Federal skilled worker?


If its just the federal skilled worker there is nothing to stop you using your teaching education and experience to get here, and then doing whatever job you can find once here, there is no obligation to work in that field.

Teaching is not that easy to break into, it takes time. It can be done though, its just a question of surviving the transition! If the agency told you anything other than that I would be very sceptical of them.

The pros and cons of using an agency have been discussed often, and the wiki article pretty much sums up the two camps.

blondebecky

Hey
They said it would be through the skilled worked route but would need a job before being allowed to go there.

AmyDavid

If you are going through the skilled worker route then you need to have a job on the magic list of 38 (or had a job in the past 10 years which is on the list). You then also need to gain 67 points from a number of differing factors. If you have both of these thing, you can apply under the federal skilled worker route.

You can apply for a work permit which is just a temporary visa and for this you would need a job before.

Either your immigration consultants have told you the wrong info, or you have the wrong end of the stick!

blondebecky

We were told that our jobs (secondary school and primary school teacher) does not come under the list of jobs that allow you to move there without an arranged job first. They said, however that out profession allows us to qualify under the skilled work route but we would have to have a job arranged first.

AmyDavid

Okay. So the reality of you two finding work that way, is in all honesty, with your types of jobs, quite slim. Where in Canada do you want to move?

blondebecky

We are looking at Calgary.

So do you reckon we could get there in some other way? Perhaps by looking at different jobs?

AmyDavid

Have you both been teachers for the past 10 years?

blondebecky

No, 6 years.

My husband is a PE teacher and also does alot of coaching. He is a British internation Ice Hockey player too (i know that wouldn't be that impressive to anyone in Canada) He has quite a few connections through hockey in Canada and lived there for a year working at the Okanagan hockey school. The immigration agency told us that his past involvement in Canada makes no difference to our application.

AmyDavid

Have a look at this link - http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/...ons.aspx?val=5 - go to the bottom - read the four noc code descriptions under 525 - does he fall into any of these?

christmasoompa

Would you consider Nova Scotia instead of AB? If so, check out the Community Identified Stream which gets you PR but doesn't require a job offer.

Or a study permit if either of you have ever fancied any further education? The spouse of the person on the study permit gets an open work permit, and once you've been there for a year on a study permit you can apply for PR.

And if I were you, I'd demand your money back from the 'agency'. It's appalling that they took your money when they knew you had next to no chance of finding a job offer, and even if by some miracle you did get a job offer, you'd have to go over on a Temp Work Permit anyway (no employer would wait the 6-12 months it would take for you to get PR as a Skilled Worker), and that's a 2 page form so you wouldn't have needed their help.

Good luck.

Edit: just seen your post about your husband's job. AD may have hit on something with the self employed option, but also do check out 'Vocational Instructors' under the 38 Skilled Worker occupations, as he may just be eligible for that if he has done at least half of the 'main duties' listed and then you wouldn't require a job offer. Probably not, but worth a look just in case!

blondebecky

Hiya

Yes i think he would come under

5252 coaches

and

5254 programme leaders and instructors

He has all the relevent coaching certificate also in Ice Hockey and a number of other sports due to being a PE teacher. Do you think this could be a possibility?
Thanks for your help by the way

AmyDavid

Take a look at this - http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...oyed/index.asp - he may be eligible to apply under this route.

Almost Canadian

You will need to look at the terms of the contract you signed with them to ascertain what your liability will be if you cease your application now. Most of these agencies operate a "No visa, no fee" arrangement where if you don`t qualify for a visa, they don`t charge you. However, if the reason that you don`t qualify is because you withdraw, I suspect you will be liable for their full fee.

No-one will be able to advise you until you provide info about the terms of the contract.

blondebecky

Hiya christmasoompa

Thanks for your advice...i'm new to this forum, where could i access the community identified stream?

I now feel that i really dont trust agencies after our experience because
it would have cost us a fortune