Lookng to move to Canada, some questions.....
Discussion
My Fiancé has just given me an offer to move to Canada with her if I want. So no pressure just an offer there.
Thing is I don't know where to start for wether or not we're eligible; we're both 20, 21 in feb and march been together 2 years in jan and engaged a year next month. She has a canadian background - dad's side from there and has family members living there. She is self employed (not allowed to tell you what
) and I work security with future plans of doing strongest man (was going to do Britain's but would be Canada's if I moved)
Not sure we have much to offer but we would have more than enough money to 'retire' over there.
So question is do I take up her offer and secondly do you think we could get in/ become a resident.
Our parents have always said if you get chance move out of the UK do it and now the offers there is it easier said than done?
Cheers
Thing is I don't know where to start for wether or not we're eligible; we're both 20, 21 in feb and march been together 2 years in jan and engaged a year next month. She has a canadian background - dad's side from there and has family members living there. She is self employed (not allowed to tell you what
) and I work security with future plans of doing strongest man (was going to do Britain's but would be Canada's if I moved)Not sure we have much to offer but we would have more than enough money to 'retire' over there.
So question is do I take up her offer and secondly do you think we could get in/ become a resident.
Our parents have always said if you get chance move out of the UK do it and now the offers there is it easier said than done?
Cheers
I would give it a go in your position, have a look on the canadian immigration website www.cic.gc.ca
you should find all the info you need.
if your fiancee is a canadian citizen, you might find the process is easier for you. You would need to become a permanent resident or citizen to gain full rights and be able to take any job, although it is possible that you might get an open work permit as you are accompanying a canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Would you be committed to any particular province or area? you should research the area well to make sure it suits you, canada is a huge country and can be very different.
have a look at www.britishexpats.com
there are some good resources there, but some odd characters in the canadian forum
you should find all the info you need.
if your fiancee is a canadian citizen, you might find the process is easier for you. You would need to become a permanent resident or citizen to gain full rights and be able to take any job, although it is possible that you might get an open work permit as you are accompanying a canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Would you be committed to any particular province or area? you should research the area well to make sure it suits you, canada is a huge country and can be very different.
have a look at www.britishexpats.com
there are some good resources there, but some odd characters in the canadian forum
sawman said:
I would give it a go in your position, have a look on the canadian immigration website www.cic.gc.ca
you should find all the info you need.
if your fiancee is a canadian citizen, you might find the process is easier for you. You would need to become a permanent resident or citizen to gain full rights and be able to take any job, although it is possible that you might get an open work permit as you are accompanying a canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Would you be committed to any particular province or area? you should research the area well to make sure it suits you, canada is a huge country and can be very different.
have a look at www.britishexpats.com
there are some good resources there, but some odd characters in the canadian forum
Cheers for all thatyou should find all the info you need.
if your fiancee is a canadian citizen, you might find the process is easier for you. You would need to become a permanent resident or citizen to gain full rights and be able to take any job, although it is possible that you might get an open work permit as you are accompanying a canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Would you be committed to any particular province or area? you should research the area well to make sure it suits you, canada is a huge country and can be very different.
have a look at www.britishexpats.com
there are some good resources there, but some odd characters in the canadian forum
We were looking at alberta (shes already decided on the place as shes been there before)
Off to look at links now
smiffy180 said:
Cheers for all that
We were looking at alberta (shes already decided on the place as shes been there before)
Off to look at links now
no sweat buddy, We were looking at alberta (shes already decided on the place as shes been there before)
Off to look at links now
Calgary is a decent sized city with good facilities. Plus its close to the mountains if you like that kind of thing. You will know that it gets pretty cold during the long winter, but tbh I find the canadian winter easier to deal with than the UK winter. I haven't been anywhere else in AB apart from Bannf so cant comment on much else.
Have fun researching, you might want to take a trip to get a feel for the place
sawman said:
no sweat buddy,
Calgary is a decent sized city with good facilities. Plus its close to the mountains if you like that kind of thing. You will know that it gets pretty cold during the long winter, but tbh I find the canadian winter easier to deal with than the UK winter. I haven't been anywhere else in AB apart from Bannf so cant comment on much else.
Have fun researching, you might want to take a trip to get a feel for the place
Appreciated, going to go see OH's family there soon Calgary is a decent sized city with good facilities. Plus its close to the mountains if you like that kind of thing. You will know that it gets pretty cold during the long winter, but tbh I find the canadian winter easier to deal with than the UK winter. I haven't been anywhere else in AB apart from Bannf so cant comment on much else.
Have fun researching, you might want to take a trip to get a feel for the place
bearing in mind most folks live in wooden houses, its not so much of a departure.
If you are looking at some kind of out of town plot of land with a cabin on, one thing you might want to consider is how the drainage stands up to all year use, specifically is it going to freeze up in the winter? I know of an expat in manitoba who on arriving thought he was living the dream out of town, but halfway through his first winter found that his services froze up!! he moved back to the city pretty quick.
If you are looking at some kind of out of town plot of land with a cabin on, one thing you might want to consider is how the drainage stands up to all year use, specifically is it going to freeze up in the winter? I know of an expat in manitoba who on arriving thought he was living the dream out of town, but halfway through his first winter found that his services froze up!! he moved back to the city pretty quick.
sawman said:
bearing in mind most folks live in wooden houses, its not so much of a departure.
If you are looking at some kind of out of town plot of land with a cabin on, one thing you might want to consider is how the drainage stands up to all year use, specifically is it going to freeze up in the winter? I know of an expat in manitoba who on arriving thought he was living the dream out of town, but halfway through his first winter found that his services froze up!! he moved back to the city pretty quick.
Thats interesting, deffo going to have to look deep into this. May even live with OH's Aunt whilst we find somewhere. Thanks for helpIf you are looking at some kind of out of town plot of land with a cabin on, one thing you might want to consider is how the drainage stands up to all year use, specifically is it going to freeze up in the winter? I know of an expat in manitoba who on arriving thought he was living the dream out of town, but halfway through his first winter found that his services froze up!! he moved back to the city pretty quick.
If you are going to live in Canada I would recommend renting for a couple of years, even if you can afford to buy.
Britain has a very temperate climate - doesn't get cold, doesn't get hot. Not so in Canada. And a 6 month winter where you need to spend the best part of an hour removing the snow from your driveway may be your thing, and then again it may not be. So get a couple of years living in a couple of rented houses assessing the good and bad aspects of those houses, the area, how long it takes to clear the snow, proximity to supermarkets, malls, places to eat, schools and everything else.
If you want to look at where the good places to live are then find out where the new luxury car dealerships are.
I'd read up about Canadian visa rules and get to understand whether or not the fiance is immediately eligable for residency or not, and whether the OP would be required to be married to her (as is the case in the USA) to get residency.
Britain has a very temperate climate - doesn't get cold, doesn't get hot. Not so in Canada. And a 6 month winter where you need to spend the best part of an hour removing the snow from your driveway may be your thing, and then again it may not be. So get a couple of years living in a couple of rented houses assessing the good and bad aspects of those houses, the area, how long it takes to clear the snow, proximity to supermarkets, malls, places to eat, schools and everything else.
If you want to look at where the good places to live are then find out where the new luxury car dealerships are.
I'd read up about Canadian visa rules and get to understand whether or not the fiance is immediately eligable for residency or not, and whether the OP would be required to be married to her (as is the case in the USA) to get residency.
Make sure you visit Alberta before you commit to move there. It's really mind bendingly big, and remote. It's fine on a holiday, you see the mountains and the big skies and the weather is good and it all looks amazing, but you need to consider how you are going to LIVE there, especially considering that the winters are harsh and you can become very isolated. And if you're not in calgary in Alberta, then you really are in the middle of no-where. The UK doesn't have anywhere to touch it in terms of "It'll take you an hour to get to the nearest shop, and 2 to get anything fresh". You won't be "popping over to friends" and everything you thought was a constant in your life, except your partner, will change outside of your normal realm of experience. This can be an amazing liberating feeling, or it can feel like you've just turned your whole being upside down and you have no idea what you're doing with yourself.
Personally, I felt after visiting Calgary that I couldn't stomach living there. It was just too remote, too wild, and too isolated. So I moved to Perth. Go me.
Personally, I felt after visiting Calgary that I couldn't stomach living there. It was just too remote, too wild, and too isolated. So I moved to Perth. Go me.
GavinPearson said:
Again, speaking as an expat, don't underestimate the difficulty of moving abroad. It's like somebody from Devon move to the Isles of Arran only with a different currency, no vote and a 12 hour time difference in the case of NZ.
Not for the feint of heart, that's for sure.
I second this input and would add Not for the feint of heart, that's for sure.
It can be costly, depending on how long it takes you to be "up and running" again.
Your first purchases will be some insulated Carharts and a snowmobile. Good luck
Hi,
The above is all excellent advice, so please do keep it all as part of your evaluations. On the higher level, you are both young and this kind of chance I think is excellent. I worked previously for one of the largest Canadian IT employers here in the UK offices, and also wanted (still want to!) to move over with them some years back - but it didn't happen.
From a financial and quality of life, standard of life and cost of living perspective, Canada beats the UK in all respects consistently. If you both do get yourselves into good careers/jobs you'd be much better off overall than if you stayed in the UK. I'm not saying that's totally guarantee'd to be the case, but overall, it's very likely.
This leaves the practical aspects as mentioned above. It IS cold, however if you are in one of the bigger cities you'd adjust fairly quickly. I have relatives and friends all over Canada, visited a number of times but not really on 'holiday' mode as such - more family related and business aspects. With a network of friends locally, you'd be fine, but as mentioned above, you won't be able to pop over to see friends in other cities etc by driving at the drop of a hat. You'd most likely fly. Distances as the crow flies from place to place - such as Calgary to Edmonton, seem quite short but in reality are in mountain ranges etc and take multiple hours to do.
I'd definitely recommend Canada overall as you have the opportunity, plenty of information on the CIC site and much more on the internet as well. Canada's financial system was/is more robust than the UK's and they had lending practices which meant they've not suffered the recession anywhere as near as badly as the US and UK like we have. Property can be cheap as well, however the differential for a 'fantastic' place in one of the major cities whilst considerably lower than in the UK, is still quite expensive in Canadian terms. The good thing is, within those various cities, there are plenty of choices which are much more affordable as well - so you won't be as stuck as you would be perhaps here in the UK where practically nothing is available without mortgaging yourself very deeply.
All the same sorts of evaluations you'd need to do with NZ as well and of course substituting various aspects such as weather for it being a different place of course. Various jobs and careers are in demand in both countries etc, so compare both and see which suits you both best.
Cheers, Dennis!
The above is all excellent advice, so please do keep it all as part of your evaluations. On the higher level, you are both young and this kind of chance I think is excellent. I worked previously for one of the largest Canadian IT employers here in the UK offices, and also wanted (still want to!) to move over with them some years back - but it didn't happen.
From a financial and quality of life, standard of life and cost of living perspective, Canada beats the UK in all respects consistently. If you both do get yourselves into good careers/jobs you'd be much better off overall than if you stayed in the UK. I'm not saying that's totally guarantee'd to be the case, but overall, it's very likely.
This leaves the practical aspects as mentioned above. It IS cold, however if you are in one of the bigger cities you'd adjust fairly quickly. I have relatives and friends all over Canada, visited a number of times but not really on 'holiday' mode as such - more family related and business aspects. With a network of friends locally, you'd be fine, but as mentioned above, you won't be able to pop over to see friends in other cities etc by driving at the drop of a hat. You'd most likely fly. Distances as the crow flies from place to place - such as Calgary to Edmonton, seem quite short but in reality are in mountain ranges etc and take multiple hours to do.
I'd definitely recommend Canada overall as you have the opportunity, plenty of information on the CIC site and much more on the internet as well. Canada's financial system was/is more robust than the UK's and they had lending practices which meant they've not suffered the recession anywhere as near as badly as the US and UK like we have. Property can be cheap as well, however the differential for a 'fantastic' place in one of the major cities whilst considerably lower than in the UK, is still quite expensive in Canadian terms. The good thing is, within those various cities, there are plenty of choices which are much more affordable as well - so you won't be as stuck as you would be perhaps here in the UK where practically nothing is available without mortgaging yourself very deeply.
All the same sorts of evaluations you'd need to do with NZ as well and of course substituting various aspects such as weather for it being a different place of course. Various jobs and careers are in demand in both countries etc, so compare both and see which suits you both best.
Cheers, Dennis!
GavinPearson said:
Again, speaking as an expat, don't underestimate the difficulty of moving abroad.
Not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.
Lots of good advice here. Not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.
The above goes for Canada as well. Canada, Australia and NZ are THE popular world destinations and immigration is not easy. For Canada at least, you must make your application and wait for a response from outide the country. An example: A son of a nearby friend of mine fell in love with a girl from Dijon who was visting for the summer. She became pregnant and they happily married, but they had to return to France for more than a year while she applied for Canadian immigant status for herself.
Unless your wife is a Canadian citizen already, the biggest thing you have going for you is your youth. Canada has no need of rich immigrants..they just inordinately add to the weight on the infrastructure and increase the demand (and price) for homes. On the other hand, Canada is not reproducing itself baby-wise so young immigrants are needed to help support the pension schemes.
In return for all your patience and hassles inherent to the immigration process, if all goes as it does normally, you will get what has been promised you above, namely a much higher standard of living and possibilities for you and your eventual offspring than what the UK can provide. That difference increases each year.
Outside of Vancouver, (which is warmer and wetter than the UK) the country west of Toronto is a cultural desert, very US Mid-West and Republican Tea Party. Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City are great, the latter two being incredible places to be your age.
Quebec controls Quebec immigration, not Canada. They have a special accelerated program for young entrepreneurs regardless of French language ability, and once in Quebec, you can move anywhere in Canada.)
P.
We moved to Calgary in 2007 (When the pound still had some value lucky). All my friends and relations have come over and said they love it here, but some times you think did I do the right thing ???? Then I visited the UK last year only to realize that it was the best move I've ever made. Rugby was just not the same anymore, Coventry and Birmingham just felt depressing...
A chance to move here in my 20's yes Sir. Come here for 3-4 years get dual Citizenship experience a different life stile, then you can come and go as you please Dual Citizenship is Nice... But I cant see me ever wanting to live back in the UK, Visit yes go to some of the Car events yes LIVE NO....
Why would I swap this for my poky little 3 bed I had in the UK....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpGTjIhYH4U&li...
Just turn the volume off as It was a Video to show my Dad how the new extension was coming along.
PS I'm a Millwright (Fitter Industrial Mechanic) and there's more work here than anywhere in Briton right now, the Oil industry has gone nuts again in Alberta so lots of opportunities for work in all fields..
A chance to move here in my 20's yes Sir. Come here for 3-4 years get dual Citizenship experience a different life stile, then you can come and go as you please Dual Citizenship is Nice... But I cant see me ever wanting to live back in the UK, Visit yes go to some of the Car events yes LIVE NO....
Why would I swap this for my poky little 3 bed I had in the UK....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpGTjIhYH4U&li...
Just turn the volume off as It was a Video to show my Dad how the new extension was coming along.
PS I'm a Millwright (Fitter Industrial Mechanic) and there's more work here than anywhere in Briton right now, the Oil industry has gone nuts again in Alberta so lots of opportunities for work in all fields..
matthias73 said:
i moved to canada with my girlfriend (im 20 shes 19) and she broke up with me last week so she could f
k every autralian on a holiday visa.
aside from that, feel free to pm me regarding Nything to do with moving here aside from women
Ouch bad luck k every autralian on a holiday visa.aside from that, feel free to pm me regarding Nything to do with moving here aside from women
Don't think we're moving now, the money in the banks are tied into a contract so cant access until 25, 30 and 65
well my fiance did the smart thing to be fair so atleast at 25 we can buy a house hereThe key is whether your fiancee has or can get Canadian citizenship. If one of her parents is a Canadian citizen then I believe she is eligible to apply for citizenship. You need to check this. IF so, she should get a canadian passport forthwith and is automatically entitled to live and work in Canada. If you marry her then she can sponsor you to canada. If neither of you has any citizenship then you have to apply as outlined previously here, and if you do not have relevant skills it is going to be a bit of a challenge.
matthias73 said:
i moved to canada with my girlfriend (im 20 shes 19) and she broke up with me last week so she could fk every autralian on a holiday visa.
aside from that, feel free to pm me regarding Nything to do with moving here aside from women
Ouch bad luck k every autralian on a holiday visa.aside from that, feel free to pm me regarding Nything to do with moving here aside from women
Don't think we're moving now, the money in the banks are tied into a contract so cant access until 25, 30 and 65
well my fiance did the smart thing to be fair so atleast at 25 we can buy a house hereGassing Station | USA & Canada | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff