Immigration Services / Lawyer?

subscriber

Hi everyone,

I am looking to immigrate to BC in approx 6 months time to work full time. I have 4 years previous experience as a Paramedic and almost one years additional experience as a Health and Safety Adviser on a large scale industrial energy plant.

On checking my eligibility on the Canadian immigration website, It would appear that I am not eligible to avail of Express Entry for permanent residency nor am I eligible for a skilled work visa.

I would be able to avail of the IEC (International Experience Canada) visa which is essentially a "working holiday visa" but I am very very unsure about this as I went to Australia last year on a the "working holiday visa" and had an impossible time finding professional based work and ended up going broke and throwing in the towel after 6 months. In my experience from this, I reckon employers just don`t consider working holiday visa holders for professional based work as they see them as backpackers, and generally an unreliable candidate.

Judging on how I got on in Australia, I really want to obtain a job before leaving for Canada but don`t know if this is truly realistic or not?

Two questions:

1. Has anyone used any immigration services or lawyer to obtain a professional work visa for Canada? Are they worth it? I see an assessment can cost anything up to 600 euros which is completely crazy and this doesn`t guarantee any success.

2. Has anyone ever obtained work before departure for Canada? Through a job agency or similar? If so.... Does anyone have the names of any job agencies that may be useful in assisting in this?

Thanks for the help...

circular flexing

subscriber wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I am looking to immigrate to BC in approx 6 months time to work full time. I have 4 years previous experience as a Paramedic and almost one years additional experience as a Health and Safety Adviser on a large scale industrial energy plant.

On checking my eligibility on the Canadian immigration website, It would appear that I am not eligible to avail of Express Entry for permanent residency nor am I eligible for a skilled work visa.

I would be able to avail of the IEC (International Experience Canada) visa which is essentially a "working holiday visa" but I am very very unsure about this as I went to Australia last year on a the "working holiday visa" and had an impossible time finding professional based work and ended up going broke and throwing in the towel after 6 months. In my experience from this, I reckon employers just don`t consider working holiday visa holders for professional based work as they see them as backpackers, and generally an unreliable candidate.

Judging on how I got on in Australia, I really want to obtain a job before leaving for Canada but don`t know if this is truly realistic or not?

Two questions:

1. Has anyone used any immigration services or lawyer to obtain a professional work visa for Canada? Are they worth it? I see an assessment can cost anything up to 600 euros which is completely crazy and this doesn`t guarantee any success.

2. Has anyone ever obtained work before departure for Canada? Through a job agency or similar? If so.... Does anyone have the names of any job agencies that may be useful in assisting in this?

Thanks for the help...

1. Used a lawyer for PR application but my company paid for it. You are correct that they can't guarantee success and if you are not eligible they can't click their fingers and work magic. Lawyers are good for if you need to overcome criminal convictions or have strange circumstances. What reason does it give for you not being eligible for Express Entry?

2. I got a job with a company in Ireland that had an office in Canada and got a transfer. That's probably the easiest way. If you are serious about moving, you need to get over there for a trip and network with people.

I think you have valid concerns about the IEC but the restrictions on work are not as bad (you can work for the same employer for any amount of time). I'm aware of plenty of people who got professional jobs through IEC.

subscriber

circular flexing wrote: »

1. Used a lawyer for PR application but my company paid for it. You are correct that they can't guarantee success and if you are not eligible they can't click their fingers and work magic. Lawyers are good for if you need to overcome criminal convictions or have strange circumstances. What reason does it give for you not being eligible for Express Entry?

2. I got a job with a company in Ireland that had an office in Canada and got a transfer. That's probably the easiest way. If you are serious about moving, you need to get over there for a trip and network with people.

I think you have valid concerns about the IEC but the restrictions on work are not as bad (you can work for the same employer for any amount of time). I'm aware of plenty of people who got professional jobs through IEC.

Thanks for the response. No criminal convictions are unique circumstances to worry about. I am a 30 year old single male with a professional qualification therefore I thought I would be a shoe in but it seems I am ineligible as one of the requirements is to have a open ended job offer from an employer in Canada before visa application which is immensely difficult to obtain before travelling over. It`s also a barrier that I have changed careers and currently have less than one years experience within my new profession, they look for two years minimum. I don`t think that one is as big as not having a job offer, it could be gotten around relatively easily, I could potentially go on my previous profession which I have 4 years experience in. Alas, unless one is working for a company here in Ireland with Canadian connections, it seems far stretched to be able to obtain a job offer from anyone before travelling....

That`s the biggest advice I need from people really.....how to go about obtaining this? I could go over on the IEC and I take on board about what you said in relation to less restrictions in comparison with Australia but to be honest Australia worked out such a disaster and cost me soo much money that it turned me clean off taking any risks of a similar nature again when attempting to immigrate....

circular flexing

subscriber wrote: »

Thanks for the response. No criminal convictions are unique circumstances to worry about. I am a 30 year old single male with a professional qualification therefore I thought I would be a shoe in but it seems I am ineligible as one of the requirements is to have a open ended job offer from an employer in Canada before visa application which is immensely difficult to obtain before travelling over. It`s also a barrier that I have changed careers and currently have less than one years experience within my new profession, they look for two years minimum. I don`t think that one is as big as not having a job offer, it could be gotten around relatively easily, I could potentially go on my previous profession which I have 4 years experience in. Alas, unless one is working for a company here in Ireland with Canadian connections, it seems far stretched to be able to obtain a job offer from anyone before travelling....

You don't need a job offer to qualify for Express Entry. It does give you more points however. For a temporary work permit outside of Express Entry then you do need a job offer backed by LMIA which is not an easy process.

It doesn't matter than you changed career, you'll still get points for any skilled work experience, regardless of whether is related to your current employment.

That`s the biggest advice I need from people really.....how to go about obtaining this? I could go over on the IEC and I take on board about what you said in relation to less restrictions in comparison with Australia but to be honest Australia worked out such a disaster and cost me soo much money that it turned me clean off taking any risks of a similar nature again when attempting to immigrate....

You can look for a job while on a tourist visa.