Yankashire

I'd like to pose a quick question... I imagine it's been asked before, but I'm looking for updated info...

I know there are multiple people here who are British citizens, who have lived in both the US and Canada. I'm curious as to how (comparatively) you found the different visa and immigration experiences. I have European friends and acquaintances who have said they found Canada much easier to deal with than the US, as well as easier to qualify, but as a (native-born) American (and German) who has never lived in Canada, I've never gone through either process.

Any thoughts?

Yankashire

I'll add that one reason for my interest is that, when I was a kid in the '90s, crossing the border was easy enough that you could be excused for thinking of it as one country. Nowadays the situation is, of course, entirely different, and you are well aware when you cross that border than you are moving from one regime into another...

scrubbedexpat091

Canada is no doubt easier to qualify for, Canada is actively trying to grow the population as since natural born Canadian's tend to not have enough kids (too expensive to have kids in Canada really) immigration is the most viable way to get more people to Canada to grow the population.

I suppose the US being 10 times the population roughly is not as in need of growing the population and can be more selective about who to accept immigration wise.

I came to Canada via a spouse and the process was incredibly easy, time consuming because they processed at that time really slow (maybe they still do?) so it was a lot of waiting for something, but certainly wasn't difficult.

The US seems a bit more complicated for spousal, well a bit more confusing.

Yankashire

So interesting, thanks. I have heard from acquaintances that the US laws on this subject are relatively vague, and so you are in Big Brother's hands from the very beginning. Perhaps it is a bit more cut and dried in Canada...

Pulaski

I have no experience of the Canadian immigration system, but I found the American system to be quite straightforward. The forms were easy enough to complete so long as you can read English and follow simple directions. I was applying on the basis of "assets" and so we didn't need to get into the income levels and job documentation issues.

scrubbedexpat091

Another way Canada differs a bit, the financial requirements to sponsor a spouse is pretty basic, US requires a bit more there.

Pulaski

How is Canada "pretty basic"? The US requirements seemed pretty basic to me 25% over federal poverty for income, or 3x federal poverty for assets. You either met the requirements, or you didn't.

Or are you saying the requirements are lower in Canada?

scrubbedexpat091

"In most cases, there isn’t an income requirement to sponsor your spouse or partner or dependent child. "

That's what I meant.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...igibility.html

Former Lancastrian

Canada allows people to work remotely without the need for a work permit so a UK citizen working for a UK company and being paid by a UK company is allowed to carry on working. We also let relatives look after children of Canadians for short periods of times and longer if they apply for the Super Visa and again no work permit required. Drinking and driving in Canada is now a serious criminal offence and not a right of passage. Permanent residents can now be deported if convicted of DUI. Marijuana is legal and we don't care if you smoked a joint 25 years ago we will allow you into the country. As a Canadian citizen we don't force you to enter Canada or leave Canada using a Canadian passport if you hold dual citizenship. We just politely remind you to carry one as proof of Canadian citizenship if travelling on another passport.
There might be one or two more differences.

robtuck

If Canada could just move itself about 1,500 mile South, I'd love to give it a go.

iaink

My experience, based on employment both times is that Canada is much more laid back regarding the paperwork and processing, although my experience in Canada is now pushing 15-20 years old, my last encounter was gaining Citizenship in 2004. US bureaucracy is stupidly complex and repetitive and I suspect thats based on the false assumption that "everyone must want to live in USA#1". I'm glad my employers lawyers have been there to streamline things.

Really the main attraction for me of the staying in the US (2.5 years now) is the lack of a 4 month snowy winter, that said, I enjoyed the contrasting Canadain seasons, skiing and skating outside and all that, up to a point. But I kind of like not shovelling snow and lounging by the pool most of the year too. As far as society goes Canada is miles ahead. Public health care, education, and welfare provision are pitiful here, the cost of living is not great, and so many people seem to lack any thought for others or have the ability to see a bigger picture than just themselves. Dont even get me started on health care, even with a decent benefits package.

Yankashire

It's interesting. I don't want to get political here, I'm not passing judgment. I have heard people with different priorities say different things. I have a friend in Toronto with relatives in California, and he has traveled around in the US. He remarked that the US is a markedly wealthier society, from his perspective, but it's certainly true that the Canadian welfare state is more coherent and more generous than what passes for it in the United States. Of course, very high quality healthcare is available in the US, but we all know the challenges in accessing healthcare in the US from a whole-society perspective.

What he also said is that the Canadian employment immigration system is much more generous than the American, although of course the American system is primarily geared toward family migration as we know.

iaink

Have to remember that the US political/ social landscape is far more fractured and localised than Canada where the extremes of government are not near as wide. Here there are big differences at a state and even local county level, so maybe SC is not a shining beacon of liberalism that California might be. There is undoubtedly a lot of wealth in the US, but the juxtaposition of that with the grinding poverty of battered old trailer homes with broken down trucks right next to gated communities of millionaires is something that still jars with me. The poor in the US are far less well off than the poor in Canada.

I have good benefits through BCBS, but the level of actual healthcare provision here we are finding abysmal. Trying to find a doctor who wants to cure a condition rather than milk the insurance for every penny is actually driving my wife back up to Canada to seek treatment from doctors she can trust to do the right thing. So much money is wasted here getting repeated appointments that serve no purpose but to collect $100. Its sad, should be so much better.

Yankashire

It's interesting you mention the idea of growing the population... I know both Canada and Australia (where I spent a semester in college, but with which I otherwise have little experience) have an immigration dialogue along the lines of desired population growth.

That always seemed a bit strange to me... I'm certainly not opposed to immigration per se, but I guess when you grow up in a country with 300+ million people, you think, why would one want to set a goal to increase the country's population?

Yankashire

Ha. I lived in California for many years, and I find it hard to think of it as a shining beacon of very much. 😅 But I take your point. My impression from the numbers is that the median American enjoys a somewhat higher standard of living than the median Canadian, but I agree... in my (limited) travels in Canada, I have not seen the type of extreme poverty, by developed world standards, that I have seen in my (much more extensive) travels in the US.

Again, I'll say that I always enjoyed very good healthcare in the US, but I imagine I was in a privileged position.