[feijoa]

Hi there,
I am new to all this so I apologise in advance if this is in the wrong section/forum.
My husband and I have recently applied for permanent residency in Canada and have received our file number (from Sydney) with a letter stating not to expect anything for another 36 months which is REALLY disappointing.
Is there anyone who has been through the process that can say if this is accurate. We realise future processing times aren't necessarily determined by past times but an idea would be nice. I find it hard to work with "pie in the sky" kinda stuff!
My husband has also thought of trying to get a work permit but one needs a job offer and he is finding getting even an interview is impossible. We don't know if it is where he is looking for jobs (and we have been told most employers won't hire internationals) or what butwe keep coming up against brick walls. The area of work my husband is in... IT security/management.
Any suggestions, advice etc would be much appreciated!!
We look forward to hearing what others have to say :)

[gil]

Hi Feijoa, absolutely no idea of the norms for Canada; I do remember a friend of my daughter in the UK - her family applied to emigrate to Canada just before we applied to NZ, and they are still in UK. (We got residency in Nov 2005....). I remember them saying how hard the Canadian process was, and how they had to demonstrate they were learning French, too.

Sorry I can't be of more help. Is there a more Canadian slanted forum you can ask on?

Gil

[feijoa]

Hi Gil,
Many thanks for your reply.
I did wonder if I have posted my thread in the right section! Are there more Canadian slanted forums on this site?
:)

[JandM]

I googled and found what seem to be the Canadian equivalents of NZ immigration, law firms offering to help people immigrate, and THIS. http://www.discovervancouver.com/forum/immigrate-Canada-t4658.html It's a thread where there seem to be some helpful people, some businesses touting, and some hostile idiots! But scroll down, and you'll find one post which gives several links to other possibly helpful websites.

[dusk]

ouch! that is a long time frame. best of luck with everything :)

[migratory birds]

I bet if one of you had a substantial job offer in an area of high need, you'd move thru a whole lot quicker.

[cani]

Try googling sites for Canadian expats or British expats in Canada and you may find something or if you know where in Canada you want to go google that place and you might find forums or links where you can get information.

[calixfornia]

Not sure this is much help to you, but from acquaintances who've moved to Canada, it took them about 2 years. I thought this seemed like a long time, and it is! Hopefully you can find a Canadian immigration forum like this one.
But in any case, best of luck to you!

[Tui2too]

Hi feijoa!
My husband and I are Canadians hoping to become Kiwis! Too bad we just can't do an exchange! I checked out the Canadian immigration page recently wondering what it was like for people wanting to come here, it looked easy with the points etc. I didn't realize there was such a wait.

There are certainly alot of high tech companies here in Ottawa, where we are. I don't know much about it though as husband is in government and I'm a stay at home mom. I'd love to be of any help I can...if you have any questions about life here etc or need a place to stay if you come job-interviewing or whatever (if we haven't move to nz yet!)

you can pm me if you want (I think you have to make 5 posts for pms to work)

Best of Luck!!!/Heidi

[James 1077]

Hi Feijoa

I know that Canada recently started a big drive in the UK to persuade people to move to Alberta (there is a big oil boom there at the moment) so have a look at the UK sites to see if you can piggy back on that drive.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2225860/Canada-wants-British-workers-to-emigrate.html


That said Alberta isn't the most interesting part of Canada (other than the eastern foothills of the Rockies) and it does get proper cold in winter. To be fair I like proper cold but I'm not sure how many other people feel cozy at -30 degrees!

[Tia Maria]

Hi,

Check out this site, for a Canada specific forum:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/

Although its for British expats, it has a Canadian forum, which will have plenty of information for you, and I'm sure they won't mind a Kiwi posting on there!

My main understanding is that the Canadian process can be a long one - up to 4 years for some. But as others have suggested, I suspect if you have a job offer from an employer willing to support your visa, your application will go through a lot quicker.

Also, if you work in something like IT, you could look for a NZ company, that has a Canadian office, start working there and ask to be transferred after about a year. My friend, (in the UK), did this as it was a quicker way, plus he had relocation expenses paid.

If you are looking for general information about Canada - places to live etc, we have quite a few Canadians on the forum who I'm sure would be happy to help. Just post a question in the 'Leaving NZ' section. This is a relatively new part of the forum, but does already have some threads about things like, 'which shipping companies to use to leave NZ', which may be of use to you!

Good luck

Tia

[feijoa]

Hi there,
Thanks for that. Will check it out and try to avoid the hostile idiots! :).

[feijoa]

Hi tui2too,
Thank you so much for your offer. When I have posted 5 posts I will be in touch via PM (does this mean personal message?). Wouldn't it be nice if we could trade places... especially since Ottawa was one place we are considering. And if your hubbie needs a place to stay if he gets an interview over here, let us know! (My husband works in government also). What we have found is employers over in Canada won't even consider your job application if you haven't already got residency which is annoying to say the least. We would love to get to Canada before 3years and the Canadian government has brought in new legislation to speed up the whole process but it won't really have a full effect for a couple of years because to speed the process up, they need to get rid or the backlog first. Anyways, thanks for the post and I look forward to sending a Pm soon! :)

[feijoa]

Hi Tia,
Thanks for that. I had already looked at the britishexpat site and thought it only related to Britain so didn't search further (Like I said I am new at this) so I will go back and have a good hunt around.
We had thought of trying to piggyback to Canada with a Canadian company in NZ (esp. if they pay moving costs!)but that is proving neigh impossible, just as trying to get a job offer from a Canadian company over there. They all want you to have residency first.
Thank you once again for your suggestions... I will be busy on the PC tonight :)

[feijoa]

Hi James 1077,
Thanks for your suggestions. I know a couple who have just moved from Alberta and they were pleased to give up the cold and cozy lifestyle! :0

[feijoa]

Hi Cani,
Thanks for the suggestion. Will give it a go!

[Caniwi]

Hey Feijoa

Don't know if this is much help, or even relevant anymore......I came to Canada, alone, in 1992 on a work visa. I was required to have the job in place before they issued it. After my 2nd year (and work visa) I was eligible to apply for Landed Immigrant statis. If I recall correctly, it took approximately 8 months to come thru (having had to apply for a further work visa to keep me current). After that, I was eligible to apply for citizenship, which required me to have been in Canada for 3 out of the last 4 years. The policy has been changed slightly, and after I became a citizen (2000), Landed Immigrants were required to apply for photo ID card, so when travelling out of the country, they didn't face the possibility of not being able to return. My only experience is from within Canada, and so if you count having to be on a work visa first.....it probably took me about 2.5 years to become a Landed Immigrant. Unfortunatley, I don't know what is required if wishing to apply for Permanent Residency right from the outset from New Zealand.
Have you checked out this site?? http://www.canadavisa.com/
or maybe this one?? http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
I'm on my way back to NZ to live, so if you don't mind me asking, am curious to your location choices, and interest in coming to Canada.......
Cheers
Tanya

[Jo Jo]

Hi feijoa,

Here are some forums that deal with emigration to Canada that you might find useful:

http://forums.canadiancontent.net/coming-canada/
http://www.immigration.ca/discussion2/default.asp
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/index.php

The last one in particular looks pretty good at first glance, although I'm very much judging the book by its cover!

But I'd avoid this one: http://www.notcanada.com/forum/ (although it might be interesting to read!)

Jo Jo

[feijoa]

Hi Tanya,
Thanks for those websites. We would love to be able to get a work permit and then apply for residency as a matter of course but noone in Canada that we have talked to is willing to offer a job without residency. it is a catch 22 situation. You want a job to be able to get a work permit so you can work but you can't get a work permit until you have a job offer. It is rather frustrating.
As to location choices we thought of Ottawa and Vancouver Island but we are open to wherever there is work (within reason of course!).
Our reasons for wanting to leave?
Lifestyle and to have better opportunities available to us and our children. Their education and health systems great from what we have read and heard (and the cost of living in NZ is going through the roof).
I know things always look better from the outside so any advice, suggestions etc. would be much appreciated! Out of curiousity, why are you returning to NZ? :)

[feijoa]

Hi Jo JO,
Many thanks for taking the time to look up sites for me! That is wonderful.
Will have a look at them have a good read! Thanks again :)

[greenchilli]

Hi
I'm afraid the processing times are incredibly long for Canada, we started our application in Sept 2005 and have still not heard whether we are in or not, luckily for us we aim to be in NZ by Christmas. Friends on a similar timescale have just heard they are in.
Hope this helps