heading-west

my friends wish to move to NS. They have sold their house in UK and plan to move to NS this summer.

They have applied for NS PNP through CIS (community identified stream).
The plan is to

• receive nomination letter from province
• arrive in NS
• find an employer who will make job offer
• go to border and apply for TWP with provincial letter and job offer letter
• live and work in NS whilst PNP is processed at federal level
• educate school age child in NS

lots of mis-information is being fed to them. can anyone clarify what needs to happen?

nikki dreaming

I guess the main question is if and how long they will be admitted for as visitors, no one can answer that question except the CBSA officer on the day they arrive.

christmasoompa

Just checking, but they've already applied then?

heading-west

yes they already have their PNP app in at provincial level :-)

christmasoompa

Phew! I thought that was the case but as the CIS is being changed just wanted to check.

As Nikki said, the problem will be trying to convince the immigration officer that they should be allowed in as visitors, unless they've got their nomination letter by then. As long as they don't turn up with all their worldly goods and can show that they can return to the UK if needed, then they should be ok, but it's a risk.

heading-west

thanks Chris, I thought that might be the case ;-)

nikki dreaming

do they have school age kids?

heading-west

Yes just the one, she is primary school age

nikki dreaming

Are they prepared for her not to be in school until one of them gets a work permit?

heading-west

I don't think they had thought about it until someone mentioned it to them recently. It came as a shock that they may have to pay for her education.

others have suggested that a study permit could be sought from within UK, its not clear if the parents would need to enter as TWP or PR for this to happen though.

Kaye5

Hi S

We know someone who did just this. I think they found it very hard as they ended up waiting a couple of years for the process to be finalised. I think part of it was the not knowing if they would get PR (but then you know all about that bit yourself...) and they have kids, so I guess that makes the thought of perhaps having to return to the UK even more stressful.

It also took them a long time to get work - so the visitor visas kept expiring, they had to keep leaving and hoping they would be let back in etc. Living off savings, every trip over the border ate into that money substantially. Then when they finally got PR, they of course had to flagpole - so that was the cost of another trip over the border!


Yes, they had to pay school fees until one of them got a job, which had to be approved by NS office of immigration and then a work permit issued restricted to that job. The person's other half then got an open work permit. I don't think the school fees are huge (not like the level in UK public schools) - your friends could ask the school board maybe. I think they also ended up being told to get study permits in additional to paying school fees.

This is all from memory of conversations from a few years ago, I should add!

We considered it, but knowing their experience we decided against it. Seemed like a lot of stress, money and hassle to us, just to get to NS a few months earlier. If your friends have work in the UK, I think I would consider renting a house close to where they are now, and sit it out - minimise disruption if they aren't successful - and maintain the savings pot. A standard 6 month tenancy should take them well into the process.

I guess it depends on their attitude to risk, demand for their occupations, and the amount of money they have behind them (and the amount they are prepared to risk).

Have they actually got the nomination letter from Halifax or just the letter of support from the RDA? As Christmasoompa said CI stream is all changing.