Move to Canada - questions

[worldtraveler666]

Hello, my wife and son are Canadian (dual actually - US & Canadian) and I am just a U.S. Citizen. It's been a goal of ours to have us all move to Canada for some time now. We decided to do this, but are wondering what the best path would be. We have up to five months before we are going to move, that is if I don't get a job offer before then. (I am currently applying and realize that I would have to have a special permit for any type of work in Canada if I was hired right away) But if that doesn't happen, we were wondering if it's better to apply for permanent residence now, and then in five months, I should have a work permit and then I can look for work right away. Or, since we are both in the US now, we should just move to Canada and apply then. Just ride out the time until I get a work permit and then look for work. We just want to know what would the best route be, in terms of my ability to look for work as soon as I can.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[shmuhahaha]

Hello, my wife and son are Canadian (dual actually - US & Canadian) and I am just a U.S. Citizen. It's been a goal of ours to have us all move to Canada for some time now. We decided to do this, but are wondering what the best path would be. We have up to five months before we are going to move, that is if I don't get a job offer before then. (I am currently applying and realize that I would have to have a special permit for any type of work in Canada if I was hired right away) But if that doesn't happen, we were wondering if it's better to apply for permanent residence now, and then in five months, I should have a work permit and then I can look for work right away. Or, since we are both in the US now, we should just move to Canada and apply then. Just ride out the time until I get a work permit and then look for work. We just want to know what would the best route be, in terms of my ability to look for work as soon as I can.

Any help would be appreciated.

To the best of my knowledge(Thanks to PMM and co), applying from US is much faster than doing inside Canada.
If everything goes on well from start to end, you could even get immigrant visa within 3 months if you apply from U.S. Our case is kinda similar to yours. Myself being Canadian and my kids are dual Canadian/US and my wife non Canadian/US .

But before you apply, try to finish up your FBI clearance process(could take nearly 8 to 10 weeks) + state police clearance certificate and any other police clearance certificates(if you stayed more than 6 months at each place). If I were you, based on your 5 months time frame, I would start my police clearance process right today.
IN the mean time, just 2 to 3 weeks before your wife applies for sponsorship, do your medicals.
Our timeline is Nov 17, 2009 I applied for my wife sponsorship and she got her visa Feb 10(Could have been Feb 2 if we had went in person ).2 months and 23 days and I guess we were lucky..

Plus, this forum is the best and you'll find many wonderful souls to help you.

 

[Leon]

Why waste 5 months now so you can wait again once you get to Canada? Apply now. To apply from outside Canada, the wife will have to prove that you have plans to live in Canada when you get your PR. This could be something like having arranged housing, being accepted to college, job offer etc. If you have none of those, at least write up your plans, show evidence of job search, get supporting letters from her relatives/friends who know of your plans and get a letter from somebody who says you can stay with them while you look for a place.

It takes about a month to approve your wife as your sponsor in Mississauga although some people get it faster and after that, your file goes to the US where the average processing time is around 6 months. Last poster was extremely lucky getting it in 3.

 

[AllisonVSC]

I agree with the advice of other posters. Apply now, do the clearance stuff first so you can work on the app while waiting for those docs. Hopefully, you will be able to find a designated medical practitioner near you (I had to wait until I was in Canada for that). Best wishes for a swift process.

I also got my PR in less than 3 months applying outland as conjugal partners (I'm American, he's Canadian) through Buffalo.