UK2USA2CA

Hello

I need some clarification on the NS CI Stream. First a little about me. I have for the last 3 years been living in the USA with my family. We have looked into staying permanently but it is just not possible. See attached: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...errerid=132828

Canada has always appealed to us and we would like consider the possibility of moving there permanently. Having read through the articles on the BE forum it now appeals even more so. We have visited Niagara and Toronto and plan on visiting Nova Scotia later this year. Firstly could someone check that my understanding of how the NS CI Stream works is correct?

• Must have long established links to NS community.
• Approach RDA and convince that want to make NS home and settle permanently.
• RDA writes letter of identification for you based on community connections / economic benefit.
• Application goes to Provincial Government for rubber stamping.
• PG send to CIC
• Pay CIC relevant fees etc, then PR process kicks in.
• All being well PR can be obtained in 6-8 months

I have another 18 months remaining in the States before my tour finishes and I must return to the UK. Obviously being here makes recce trips to NS a lot easier and I’m sure I can squeeze in several trips before my time is up.

The reality is that I do not have any long established links to NS community (yet). Having read through the discussion forum many seem to indicate that you simply need to visit a few times. How does that work, you simply go on holiday beg someone to be your friend who will then act as your connection to the community? I can’t see how this would work? Then if you are able to obtain the letter of identification you can ultimately apply for PR and go live in NS and look for a job? Surely you would need a job offer first?

I have many questions but, we’ll start with the above. I have been reading the BE forum a great deal. It’s just a lot of information to try and take in. I’d be grateful for any constructive advice and clarification on this.

I must stress our intentions would be to settle permanently in NS. Having read through the forums this seems to be exactly what we are looking for. I guess I’ll know more after we visit later this year. If you read my previous thread on immigrating to the USA it may seem that Canada is 2nd choice for us. In a way that’s true. Obviously it would have been easier for us to stay in the US as we are already here and settled. However, based on the research I have done lately I think we would enjoy life in Canada, particularly NS. Possibly more so than we have in the US.

Looking forward to your responses.

loser40

Hey...

I'm no expert, and I'm sure others with more knowledge than me will post later , but my understanding is that;

visiting the Provence is a must - the amount of visits deemed needed varies, some visit just once, some many more times before applying.

buying a home (or alternatively taking a 2 year+ lease on a rented home) is usually considered the best way to satisfy the RDA that you have desire a real to establish a permanent home in the Province.

job - no job offer is needed... your RDA will help you look for work to satisfy the 'economic benefit' criteria... or you could buy a small, cheap business ?

and don't forget there is a minimum financial requirement - you have to have provable assets to demonstrate you can survive until you find an income.

Established links include the above, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to build some bridges and make some friends there too... from what I gather this shouldn't be difficult, Nova Scotians are famed for there friendliness

Good luck.

M

UK2USA2CA

Thanks for your reply. Visiting the Province will not be a problem. I'm just wondering if several visits to NS will count as long standing community links? Also, what you say makes sense about buying / long term renting to show my commitment. Would this mean that I would have to buy / rent before I have obtained legal status to stay? I have aprox £20000.00 saved towards this. I also own property in the UK and have about £60000.00 in equity on the house. My intention was to rent first then buy once/If I establish PR.

I'd love to here from anyone who has dealt with the RDAs?

christmasoompa

Might be worth sending Paul Wildy a PM - he's one of our regular forum experts, an immigration consultant, and I know he has somebody in his office that deals solely with the NS CIS and with arranging 'connections' with the community etc.

Good luck.

Flogger

I came through coRDA. Did not need to buy, or rent before PR came through, though other RDA's may differ. What jobs you do, how easily you could obtain work, and would you be a benefit to the community, were all deemed more important than buying before you land.

The NS CI stream has come along way in the last year or so. Indeed folk that slated the scheme not so long ago, now have people that deal solely with this. Good to see progress

UK2USA2CA

Thank you all for the advice and support. I will send Paul Wildy a PM later today top see if he can help any further. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Paul Wildy

Thanks for your PM but I'll try to answer the questions here so that other readers can benefit from the answers too.

First some background to the Community Identified Stream. One of the reasons it was created is because the Nova Scotia government were concerned that people who wished to move to the region and who were skilled and highly employable were unable to do so because they couldnt convince an employer in NS to offer a job to a foreigner. Its the old catch 22 that the employer says "we'll offer you a job once you have a visa" but you couldn't get the visa unless you had a job offer. So the CIS was partly designed to help overcome that problem. It was also partly convert people who were seasonal residents (i.e. with holiday homes here) and people with business interests here but who didnt live here into permanent residents. Unlike a previous PNP program that effectively allowed you to buy your way in and get PR status, the CIS stream was concieved to try to capture people who would actually stay in NS once they gain their PR status (whereas the previous program where people paid $128k to gain PR status had an extremely high incidense of people saying they wanted to settle in NS but then just buggering off to another Province). So theoretically if you have "strong ties" to NS then you are likely to stay.

Officially there are three groups of people who are deemed to have the required ties to NS:

1) People who have relatives/family here
2) People with business interests here
3) People who have been making repeat visits over a prolonged period

But underlying all of these the scheme is really trying to meet two objectives. Firstly that people have genuine connections and some sort of support network here that will make them likely to stay. Secondly that the people are employable and have suitable skills/experience for the area they are moving to since if they arent able to find work or successfully establish a business/self-employment then obviously they will leave. So in practice if the connections to the area and intentions to stay in that area are genuine and the person is employable or has business experience then the application would be given serious consideration.

Some RDAs require that the applicants connections to the area have existed for a certain period. For example in Halifax letters of support must be from people who have know the applicant well for at least 12 months. But other RDAs dont have this requirement and are more focussed on the persons future chances of successful integration into the area than on their history.

So going back to your original questions:

That process is more or less correct except that the Provincial Government are doing much more than a rubber-stamping excercise. They will assess the application to ensure that the applicant meets the criteria (a common requirement that applicants are rejectied for not meeting is having at least one-year post secondary education) and also that they are themselves convinced that the applicant has the required community connections. In fact there have been some cases where even though an RDA has issued a letter of identification the NS Immigration office has still not approved the application (much to the frustration of the RDA).

You'll find that you dont need to beg people to be your friends. In NS especially people are very friendly and genuinely keen to assist someone who wants to move to their area. It's very flattering to many people that, out of all the places in the world a foreigner could have moved to, they want to settle in their home town. By going to networking events, turning up to meetings for clubs/societies that you have an interest in, volunteering to help out at events in the area, speaking to potential employers or trade associations and getting a little involved in the community during a visit you will likely find you do make genuine friendships and those people will be more than happy to help you by writting a letter of support.

I should add as well that some RDAs are tending to place less importance on actual letters because of the problems with validating the authenticity of them. But if you have a convincing story to tell about how you've got involved, who you know in the areas (and in many areas of NS everyone knows everyone so they will likely know the names you are dropping) why you want to move there and why/how you believe you will be able to make a successful go of it and become economically established then you should be okay.

No, you don't need a job offer first for this particular program. In fact if you do have a job offer this isnt the program you should apply under - there are much faster and less complex routes for gaining PR status in those cases.

Hope this helps.