Emigrating to Canada
EMIGRATE OUT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO A MODERN, ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRY, NOT TOO FAR AWAY.
Emigrating to Canada. Where do you start? What do you do?
ISN'T IT TOO DIFFICULT? - DOESN'T IT TAKE YEARS TOGET VISASAND ALSO INVOLVE MOUNTAINS OF COMPLICATED FORM FILLING? IS THE SUCCESS OF AN APPLICATION RANDOM, LIKE A LOTTERY? WHAT IF I AM NOT HIGHLY QUALIFIED?
When we decided we wanted out from the United Kingdom to go and live in Canada, I must admit that some of the above thoughts certainly came tomind. Prior to the move, we spent a lot of time going around in circles trying to establish the facts about emigrating to Canada - do we qualify, how long will it take, what exactly must we do beforehand, to make it happen?We were looking for something or someone to show us, step by step what we should do at the start of the process andwhat we should do in order to progress the Emigration process. We wanted something there in black and white. Do this, do that, complete this form, send it there, wait for this reply from these people then submit those documents over there. It soon became apparent that to find out what to do, wemay have to pay a 'knowledgeable expert', skilled in the arts of unravelling the "Emigrating to Canada conundrum", namely, an Immigration Lawyeror an Emigration Consultant. There are plenty out there, who can take the effort and mystery out of the whole procedure, but not necessarily any of the anxiety. We entered into discussions with a few Consultants/Lawyers and one even gave us some free advice. Wewent to some Emigration Fairs and Seminars in England to get more key information, but we still felt that little of importance was forthcoming.Also, application processing times taking three to four years were commonly bandied around.
To appoint an Immigration Lawyer or an Emigration Consultant involves fees to the tune of thousands of Dollars. One Guy in Ontario actually wanted $750 per hour plus taxes to handle our case/application.In actual fact, 'Representitives' have no preferential treatment when dealing with the Immigration process or Governmental Departments and cannot jump the queueor artificially speed up your application. The only advantages of hiring such a representative therefore would have been (a) the assumption that he knew what procedures to follow and (b) that he would have submitted the correct forms to the right places on our behalf.
Eventually, after searching for direction, we found a way of getting our application expedited legally and efficiently, getting Visas and Work/Study Permits and so on. This information along with many other aspects of the whole emigration process, has been brought together to create the Canada New Life Manual for those wishing to follow in our footsteps.
Before you decide to emigrate, it's worth considering a few thoughts on the matter though. You have to be convinced that you want out from the place you live now.Consider what the realities are of coming to live and work in Canada. Would you be able to 'assimilate' mentally into this new culture? It is very important to research the place you are intending to emigrate to before preparing for the move. For us, we found the move from where we lived is akin to having escaped bedlam to find ourselves in a place of relative stability, fairness and order.
OKAY. So you have decided you really do want out from where you are now. What's the 'low down'? Maybe you don't want to pay large sums of money to a Consultant at this point, but you may possibly do this at a later date if that makes you feel more comfortable. You might have been on Government Websites but find all the jargon and references too much. You just want an easy to follow document that sets out in a clear and simple format what is required. What are your hopes and anxieties about your current life? Would you like to learn more about emigrating to Canada? We know quitea bit and we would like to help you.
