Oh my God! Everything you have shared in this forum really made my head spinning.
Me and my family are soon moving to Canada from KSA. We are both architects so we applied under FSW. Me and my 2 kids are under my husband's sponsorship, having good position in his work, good salary and benefits, medical insurance,yearly vacation in our home country with free airfare. Same goes with me, being employed in a private office with good salary and benefits...though technically, girls aren't allowed to work in KSA unless you're a nurse, teacher, or beautician. In other words, we are living a comfortable life here.
Our Canadian dreams are for the fact that living here is not suitable for growing children like ours...because of the place, the culture, our safety....if you know what i mean...But money matters...we are making more than what we need..in fact we got our dream car here, never we imagine that we could buy such thing in our home country.
Now we are having double minds of whether to stay there in Canada for good right away upon landing some months from now. I fear for our financial stability there...We are weighing options, kindly advise which one is applicable or suitable once we are to fly to Canada.
OPTION1: My husband will leave Canada 2 months after we land and settled then go back to KSA to continue working while me and my kids will stay.
OPTION2: We will just use our visa to land in Canada, then go back to KSA after 2 months to continue living there. Then go back to Canada once we are financially stable enough to support living there for good.
Honestly, application process made our minds in the state of euphoria...as we go near our flight..the more we get excited...doubts are normal, and we do not entertain negative thoughts...actually this negativity made a commotion between me and my husband..im the negative one..why? because i have children to protect...I want guarantee that upon landing there asap, we will live comfortable for our kids' sake...
But now that i have read your insights...i feel worried...this is the very thing that worries me the most..not able to find a secured job right away, or that we have to look for survival job, things like that....
All our career lives, we both worked in a comfortable place, airconditioned office wearing corporate attires, my husband holding a critical position in his work, been able to travel to Europe for trainings...We have to give up all of these..is it really worth?...but this is the point of no return for us....
The least we can do is look for other options related to our landing...backing out is not one of the options....
To Sodapop,
I'll be advising you from my own experience...and hopefully this will brighten up your perspective.
I was exactlyin the same boat as you are almost a year ago in UAE
I am an IT professional with family status having good position at work, good salary and benefits, medical insurance,yearly vacation in our home country with free airfare.
Going to Canada needed a lot of research in your own field and being organized. Here is what I did.
1. I know I will be migrating to Canada so I need every cents I can save up (You really need load of cash...precautionary as well as being proactive).
2. I landed in Canada in 2010, applied for SIN and go back to UAE to continue working (SAVE UP) go back permanently in Sept 2011.
3. Apply for a Canadian drivers license!! - A handy MUST have thing for me (Need to research for it how I can obtain it as quickly as possible. (Got in it 1.5 month!) October 2011.
4. Bought a second hand car to be used when applying. ( I attend job fair 2 weeks after arriving in september and I also did walk in to drop off resume's.
5. I know that IT jobs are not regulated although I have an engineering degree. Nonetheless I researched and compile paper works to have my degree assessed just in case. Good thing about IT is that certifications are globally recognized (Cisco and Microsoft) + experienced counts.
6. Have a backup Plan. PLAN A, B, C... My Plan B is to upgrade my skill-set and go further study. (so far my Plan A was awesome!) Plan C...(Go back to UAE) <- don't burn bridges i think.
7. I know which Province I will be living so I totally focus and concentrate my search in terms of my career. ( I get the top 100 firms)..I applied close to 30 application. I got my 1st Canadian job after 2.5 Mo's (Nov 9, 2011) signed my offer letter.
8. So far I'm very satisfied on what I did to be successful in Canada. I got good position at work, good salary and benefits, 100% family medical insurance coverage which is huge! (medical+ dental + vision).
I thinks its not too late for you guys to prepare..If you think you guys are not yet ready
go with
OPTION2: land in Canada, then go back to KSA to save up then go back to Canada once financially stable enough to support yourselves living here + any road blocks you might encounter as others do.
PR status is valid for 5 years but for you to renew it you need to be able to accumulate 2yrs physical stay in Canada. So you are good at least 2.5 yrs out of Canada just to be safe =)
GOOD LUCK!!
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