canadian questions!

danotroy

Hello, a few quick questions for all you Canadian based boardies. For all intents and purposes I’m Irish with both an Irish and American passport. I am currently on the working holiday visa programme in Australia with a Canadian girlfriend I have been seeing for the last year although we only got a joint bank account in January. I have a Masters degree in urban planning and I will have a years’ experience in the field by the time it comes to leave Melbourne in November. I think I might go to south east Asia in november for a few months to volunteer as a planner. So basically my question is what should my approach be to getting a visa for Canada? Should I apply for the IEC or should I go about getting a defacto visa with my girl or should I go to Canada on a tourist visa and apply for defacto? When is the next IEC or the 2014 IEC intake is it in my best interest to register now? We shall be moving to Vancouver would anyone know what the urban planning market is like ?

Thanks in advance!

D

Mrs McSweeney

Your post has so many different things going on in it! Maybe separate your different questions, then someone might be able to help.

danotroy

i appreciate your concern but its not necessarily correct.

i asked what should my approach be to getting a visa for Canada? S

hould I apply for the IEC or should I go about getting a defacto visa with my girl or should I go to Canada on a tourist visa and apply for defacto?

When is the next IEC or the 2014 IEC intake is it in my best interest to register now?

againstthetide

You cant register for the next IEC til it opens in January direction.

Common law is a slow process and you cant work while it is in process
as far as I am aware

IEC might be a better to get started in Canada

Requiremnts are here

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5289ETOC.asp#5289E3

danotroy

thanks for the advice against the tide.

Gonna have to have a look into this! If i could ask some more questions,

If I apply for the IEC what are the chances i would get it and when is the earliest possible i could get into Canada?
Assuming that I apply the second they go live.

Is there a massive increase expected next year? I've read elsewhere on this thread that they were all filled in 2 days this year.

againstthetide

Yeah all went in a couple of days but there will be 10,000 next year how long they last is anyones guess.

Should take around eight weeks end to end

danotroy

oh right! looks like ill have to vanish into asia for a few months so. I dont want to go back to ireland as i willl not be able to afford to stay there for 3-4 months as my visa in australia ends in november. thanks for your info!

Chris12

Can your gf or her family sponser you under the nomination program. http://www.welcomebc.ca/pnp You could start the process now and maybe have your nomination by November

montreal2011

You could check out the processing times of the various immigration options here.

To Visit, study, work temporarily.

For Economic Classes (Canadian Experience Class, Entrepreneur Class, Investor Class, Start-Up Visa Class, Provincial Nominees, Self-Employed Class, Skilled Workers, Live-in Caregivers).

For Family Class Sponsorship.

The IEC visa is a great one to start off on in Canada. I thinks it's for 24 months now.

You should have all you need ready, such as Garda certs when the time comes. Check back through last years thread on it should detail all you need.

I think they go fast, and the exact opening date varies each year, by weeks only I think, but if you are ready to complete the application (correctly) on the opening day or two, you should be fine getting one.

danotroy

thanks for your help guys! My main issue is that my visa in australia finishes in late november and i do not want to go home to ireland for a few months to wait for a visa to canada. thanks again this has given me food for thought.

r1_2010

Hi,

I've a Canadian girlfriend and unfortunately we are in the same boat.

Canada is probably one of the hardest countries in the world to migrate to. Probably even harder to get into than getting a green card for the states.

There are a bunch of options...

You could go over on the WHV and hope that a company could sponsor you through an LMO (labour market opinion). However, this is a pain to get (unless you are a doctor or senior medically qualified). The company doing the LMO has got to prove that they were not able to find an equivalently qualified person within the region already.

I went over on WHV and at the time I figured I was fairly qualified from an IT perspective. Most companies did not want to talk to me unless I had a permanent residency visa as the WHV made them understandably nervous... you could almost read their faces in interviews ... will this fecker just up and leave after a few weeks and travel to another part of canada....

Another option is to go in as a dependant on your GF. In that case you cannot work for a year so you may need to get a lot of savings to keep you going for the year. That puts a lot of personal pressure on a relationship and I really would highly advise against doing this unless absolutely necessary. We are trying to go every other avenue and see this as a last resort, not that my gf isn't fantastic and wouldn't support me, but from a relationship point of view I want to pull my weight as well.

Unfortunately when I last looked into this, it was extremely complex and you may need to speak with a canadian immigration lawyer first (They are expensive)!

One option, is that she would find it easier to come to Ireland than you going to Canada.
She could come here and live with you for a year as a common law partner, then I believe if you can show adequate proof (and believe me they dig very deep for proof) you may then be able to enter canada as a common law partner with a waiver a number of months. Your time together in Oz wouldn't count as it would have to be in your resident country.

danotroy

Thanks for your help R1, I shall be applying for the IEC this time around, Hopefully I get it and hopefully attitudes will have changed towards the IEC worker. I do no consider myself a traveller/backpacker I am currently in australia and I am getting some great experience interning and temping with some great firms/advocacy bodies. However my WHV visa is limiting me here, no full time employer has even given me an interview mainly based on my visa status. I do not want to go to Canada and end up having the same problems. I would rather go somewhere I have longevity in, i.e the States. As for my girl surely she could just keep sneaking over the border and work illegally :eek: wishful thinking

againstthetide

Number one don't call it a whv call it a 2 year open work permit on your cover letter.
Or else say I am legally entitled to work in Canada until x date 2016 or whenever

danotroy

againstthetide wrote: »

Number one don't call it a whv call it a 2 year open work permit on your cover letter.
Or else say I am legally entitled to work in Canada until x date 2016 or whenever

I think its called IEC in canada anyway. I have never used WHV on my CV here in OZ its just that the WHV program is so established that they ask anyone of WHV age with an accent what their visa status is. The Council I worked for are reluctant to hire me full time as they have had cases of WHV people working for them earning 90k a year going home for a "holiday" and never coming back.

I think in Canada it would be easier to state that I have a visa until 2016, I have a qualification and I am here to stay. This approach is worn thin from over exploitation by backpackers here.

retalivity

Hang on a second I have to take issue with some of this:

r1_2010 wrote: »

Canada is probably one of the hardest countries in the world to migrate to. Probably even harder to get into than getting a green card for the states.

No it's not. In fact, its easier now than it was when i came over in 2011.
I'm not even that bothered about staying here but it seems the easiest thing to do at the moment than move elsewhere.

You could go over on the WHV and hope that a company could sponsor you through an LMO (labour market opinion). However, this is a pain to get (unless you are a doctor or senior medically qualified).

That is rubbish....LMO is only one way of staying, and im prettys sure that there are no doctors looking for LMOs. There are plenty of other options.

I went over on WHV and at the time I figured I was fairly qualified from an IT perspective. Most companies did not want to talk to me unless I had a permanent residency visa as the WHV made them understandably nervous... you could almost read their faces in interviews ... will this fecker just up and leave after a few weeks and travel to another part of canada....

I have no idea why you are looking at an LMO when you are in IT. One years experience here in canada working in IT and you are eligible to apply for residency yourself, independent of any LMO. I'm in IT and had >10 months left on my WHV when i was hired...once i informed them I planned on staying they were grand. I am not supremely skilled or have vast experience either, nor am I an a place that is heaving with IT work.

montreal2011

retalivity wrote: »

Hang on a second I have to take issue with some of this:



No it's not. In fact, its easier now than it was when i came over in 2011.
I'm not even that bothered about staying here but it seems the easiest thing to do at the moment than move elsewhere.


That is rubbish....LMO is only one way of staying, and im prettys sure that there are no doctors looking for LMOs. There are plenty of other options.



I have no idea why you are looking at an LMO when you are in IT. One years experience here in canada working in IT and you are eligible to apply for residency yourself, independent of any LMO. I'm in IT and had >10 months left on my WHV when i was hired...once i informed them I planned on staying they were grand. I am not supremely skilled or have vast experience either, nor am I an a place that is heaving with IT work.

+1