1 year fellowship posting - is it worth trying to get on register?
 

Hi,

my partner is a doctor has applied to complete a one year fellowship at sick kids in Toronto as part of his medical training. He will only get definite confirmation of his place around 12 weeks before The start of the fellowship. I am an ICU nurse with 10 years experience and hoping to accompany him. I know the process of getting registered and being able to work is a lengthy and costly one. Given the likely short notice of departure, Is it worth going through the registration process for the sake of a one year stay? Do I start the process now with the risk of financial outlay without him having a confirmed place, conversely leaving it any later would likely mean I Wouldnt have finished the application process in time to actually work there!

Would I be able to get a working holiday visa instead and do an unrelated job?

Any advice would be much appreciated and welcomed, as I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place!

thank you

Re: 1 year fellowship posting - is it worth trying to get on register?
 

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Personally, I can't see the point in spending up to £10k and waiting 18 months to be able to work as a nurse, just for a year! So you may be best to look at another job during that year, but only you can decide how much you'd want to stay working as a nurse and if it's worth it.

When you say 'partner', are you either married or have you lived together for a year or more as husband and wife? If so, you'll be able to go as a dependent on his visa. Do you know the visa he'll be on? Again, depending on that, you may get a spousal open work permit for the same duration, so no need for an IEC.

How soon is he likely to be going? IEC's are on hold at the moment for everybody other than those with confirmed job offers. And I can't see that changing this year, so if you do need your own visa, then IEC may not be an option anyway unless you can find a job offer before moving.

Re: 1 year fellowship posting - is it worth trying to get on register?
 

Hi! And thanks so much for your quick reply!

we’ve been together about 3 years, not married and we don’t live together.

His fellowship is due to start July 2022. I’m not sure what visa he would get, but he’d be going to a job so guess would be pretty straight forward for him?

I am happy to have a year away from nursing, I’d be glad of the break! I think I agree I’m not sure it’s worth the massive financial outlay. I’ll be 34 when we go, so I think that makes me too old for an IEC?

Re: 1 year fellowship posting - is it worth trying to get on register?
 

Ah, ok. That does make things quite a bit trickier. Are you Irish by any chance? If not, then the age limit for UK citizens for IEC is 30, so that's not an option.

Re: 1 year fellowship posting - is it worth trying to get on register?
 

Ha No I’m not Irish.

is this looking completely unlikely that I’ll be able to accompany him? :unsure:

Re: 1 year fellowship posting - is it worth trying to get on register?
 

In all honesty, yes. The only possible visa from what you've said is a 'normal' work permit, but for that you need a sponsoring employer and job offer, realistically no employer is going to go through all the hassle & paperwork, plus pay $1000, to hire you just for a year. Plus you wouldn't have your nursing registration sorted by then, so your only option would be to find a job offer and sponsoring employer for another type of job, which will make it even tricker.

Only two options that I can think of, one is that you go over on a study permit, if you have any interest in further studies, a masters for instance? Not a cheap option, but would get you over there with him at least, and you could work part-time on it. The other option is marriage before he goes……………..??

Re: 1 year fellowship posting - is it worth trying to get on register?
 

So just to summarise, my only options are study visa or go on his visa as a dependant/spouse.

there are no other options for a working holiday for an English 34 year old?

Well! Some important discussions to be had it would seem!

thank you so much for your help and advice

Re: 1 year fellowship posting - is it worth trying to get on register?
 

The working holiday visa is the IEC visa, and that's got the upper age limit of 30. There are no other work visas that you can get without a sponsoring employer or spouse, so yes, study visa or go on his visa as his dependent are the only options I can think of. You can double check it yourself here and see hit the official eligibility tool says though - https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...nada-tool.html

I'll get my hat. :lol: