An2

Hi there,

We are in very first steps of applying for NS immigration through the Community Identified Stream (CIS). And for our first 2 weeks recce trip in this May to (Halifax, Kings, Lunenburg, Hants and Yarmouth), I have e-mailed to their RDAs to ask for more detailed requirements of each county so that I could narrow down the places to go this May. I just received the responses from Halifax and Kings , so I am wondering normally how long would RDA reply your e-mail? I have been waiting for a week, should I be more patient or resend my mail?

This is a bit of us. We both have degrees and experience of environment engineering. I am an environmental engineer and have excellent experience of civil project management. My OH is senior consultant on cleaner production and quality management. We are 40 and 37 with a lovely 2-year-old daughter. English is our second language.

We are very serious about taking this stream, I therefore would love to hear any advice, recommendation or comment of people who have experience of CIS.

With warmest regards,
An2

Kaye5

We currently have a skilled worker application, but are also going down CI route.

From our experience, the RDAs will usually respond to emails - but not always - you could chase them up with a phone call. We too looked at different areas (during initial research) but only considered two areas after our first visit to NS (Colchester and Lunenburg & Queens). We knew after the first visit which area we wanted to settle in - and so revisited it the following year. L&QRDA required at least 2 visits - other RDAs may be different but what they have asked for in the past can change.

Each RDA has different requirements - you should make an appointment with the immigration officers in your chosen area(s) before you go in May. They are very helpful and will guide you through their requirements, although you can find this on the websites.

They will want you to demonstrate commitment to their area - you will also need to make contacts with local people who will provide you with letters of support. Some people find this easier than others! Not a problem if you already have family or friends in your chosen area.

Once you have made the required number of visits, you then have to get your letters of support and put in a letter of intent to your RDA, along with any other supporting documents they need (one will be a statment of the amount of funds you have and also resumes). They will usually have indicated to you when you met with them, if they will support you.

Once you have their "letter of identification" you then have to gather supporting documents and fill in your Provincial and Federal applications. Your Provincial application and a copy of your Federal one then goes to Halifax who decide if they will give you a nomination. If they do - then your original Federal application goes off to Sydney. Then you wait.....

This is by no means a cheap nor easy way in. We have so far spent somewhere to the tune of £20,000 on our immigration journey (which includes 2 visits there (not counting earlier visits to Canada), cost of getting supporting docs, application fees, etc etc) and we still need to keep about £15,000 in funds for our settlement. Having said that, we have 3 kids and you only have 1, so it will be cheaper for you all round.

Good luck for your visit in May - but make your appointments first so you are guaranteed of seeing the immigration navigators in your chosen areas. Believe me, 2 weeks can pass really fast if you don't plan ahead and you can return home having not achieved half of what you hoped to do.

PS - your main consideration should of course be where you can find work - sorry if stating the obvious but it's easy to fall in love with a particular place and then find there is no work there.

engineer80

Eveyrthing that Kaye5 has said is great advice I hope you enjoy your reccie!

An2

@Kaye5: thank so much for your very informative advice!

Actually, I was shocked a little bit to hear your amount of £20,000 Could you please explain about the "cost of getting supporting docs"? Is this including "cost of the letters of support"??? Is there any such kind of cost?


@engineer80:
One of the criteria that helps us to narrow down the place is our employment opportunities. Besides, we are having a detailed plan of our reccie in May to NS


I do not have neither family nor friend in NS so hopefully I can still get help here.Thanks for all the advice!!!!

Kaye5

Don't panic! Most of that was the cost of 2 trips to Canada (in the peak of summer - OH a college tutor, could only go at the most expensive times), plus spends, hire cars, touristy stuff to keep the kids amused etc - all mounted up.

Our FSW1 fee was about £1,000 which we might not get back if we withdraw that application (obviously you won't pay that) - we now need to pay another £1,000 for CI stream if we get nominated. Then there's the cost of police certificates (which we have from more than one country so cost of translations as well), cost of university transcripts, courier costs, cost to certify photocopies, non-standard sized photographs....) - it all adds up. BUT there are 5 of us and only 3 of you, so your costs should be less. Our kids are older so we are mostly not getting child discounts any more.

Don't forget you need to show your available funds (assets and liabilities) meet the level required (this is on the website).

The letters of support you obtain from contacts you make in Nova Scotia. These people could be friends you make, work/business contacts, community contacts (for example, church leaders) - no-one will charge you for these, they are just letters saying they know you, how you met, how you will fit into the community and supporting your application. You need to network like mad while you are out there, especially if you don't know anyone yet. The CI stream is meant for people who have some connection to the area to which they apply - but this could be that you have stayed there several times (requirements vary from RDA to RDA).

The letter of intent - you write.

The letter of identification - this is written by your RDA to the Halifax office of immigration (who approve your nomination). It is free and written in response to your letter of intent, plus letters of support.

The nomination letter comes from Halifax. We are nervously awaiting ours! Up until this point the process is free (except for minimal incidential costs such as couriering or posting your application to Canada). Once you have your nomination you then have to pay the processing fee to Federal, but not until this point. If you don't get nominated there is no charge.

All the information is here:

http://novascotiaimmigration.ca/immi...ity-identified

Have a read through and come back if you need any more help.

CI stream is only one way to immigrate to Canada - have you considered all the other routes? We all have different circumstances and you may find there are more cost-effective/faster/suitable routes available to you.

heading-west

I know for a fact that the Lunenburg and Queens RDA are well motivated. If email response is a little slow perhaps try the telephone approach. I also know they moved office quite recently so maybe they are catching up with the paperwork etc.

Have fun with the reccie trips and my suggestion is to leave the kids at home while you check out the different areas. You may be more focussed that way.

Kaye5

I second both of these, though for us leaving the kids behind wasn't possible.

It certainly held us back (networking and research is so, so boring for teens and pre-teens) as we "wasted" valuable time and resources entertaining them - and obviously the trips cost us a lot more.

The attractions of the beach and lido were great, but not so good for achieving what we wanted to achieve.

An2

@Kaye5
Your post was very detailed, it's been extremely helpful, thank you!
I was in a panic about £20,000 because I am from a poor country, it's really big amount and made us think a lot of an "economic" recce plan.
Good luck for the nomination letter!

@heading west: we do understand that we must focus very much during our recce. However, I have never left my little girl over 10 hours and she also attached to me... so leaving her behind for 2 weeks is impossible for both of us uh, it's my weak and strong point!

Again, thanks all for your advice, it's very much appreciated!

christmasoompa

You'd be surprised how quickly the costs mount up - most people on the forum say that it will cost between £20,000 - 40,000 for the average family to emigrate. I'd put it at the lower end of that scale, but others have spent £40,000 or so.

I don't want to be negative, but do work out if you can afford it - this recent thread may be useful reading. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...cost+of+moving

Good luck.

heading-west

Thats good advice Christmasoompa, its shocking how expensive it is to move out here. the link you gave is very informative.

An2

Hi there,

Thank you all for your advice especially things regarded to financial matter.
Could you please tell (or PM) me more your case so that I can grasp how and where my money would "fly" to I plan for 2-week-recce, how's about yours? Is it longer (3-4weeks or more)?

It's for updated, my 2nd email has been sent but no response from Lunenburg and Yarmouth received yet . Have you got any other suggestion besides a call?

Thanks and best regards,
An2

izzi81

Hi An2, we've successfully completed the CIS PNP process going through Kings. We've not moved out there yet, but the visas are in our passports and we've landed! Feel free to PM me with any questions; we managed it thanks to the help of people on here so I'd be happy to help with some advice!

(while I've never actually added up the total costs yet, I have to say £20000 to £40000 sounds an awful lot to me! But we have no kids, so I'm sure that makes things cheaper...!)

montpro

lol, welcome to the real world! It's not the UK where everything is handed out on a golden plate.

But seriously, work out a figure you think will cover it - then double it. I dread to think what we have spent on this journey, but it was worth every penny.

Kaye5

Oh, yes, three kids definitely makes it a shocker financially. Much of our getting on for £20,000 has gone on 3 trips to Canada - two trips at peak times due to school holidays and yes, we went for three to four weeks at a time.

May is definitely a much cheaper time to fly - if only we could... had it been just the two of us, we wouldn't have spent anywhere near what we have.

And we still have another processing fee to come up with if we get nominated, funny-sized photos, police certs, then medicals (x5).... hopefully PR fees - this is several thousand £s. I think we probably will hit £40,000 if you include 6 months settlement money to cover cost of cars, insurance, deposits, day to day living with no jobs initially.....

An2

@all: thanks so much for your advices and info. More advice/tips you can give would be very much appreciated!

I've tried to estimate and compute roughly and yeap, it's costly! I fell in love with NS and really want to live there, I therefore will have a detailed plan and think very carefully to afford , find a job, network building and so on...

I have a question.. normally, will you start to contact with community when you visit there? or before the recce?

@izzi81: congratulation! surely I will PM you to ask some question

Updated: I just received an email from Lunenburg