AINP... so many questions!

[Jamopy]

Evening all. I'm a 45 year old British man looking to move to Alberta. I've visited and travelled in Alberta and love the place, i know its where i want to move to and i've played with the idea for years but various (family) reasons have always stopped me. This last year i've really been looking more closely, but the multiple options, streams, and the multiple contradictory pieces of advice and opinion can be quite overwhelming.

I'm a qualified carpenter here in the UK, and according to using the express entry tool and asking Grok that puts me borderline for either EE or AINP unless i get a solid job offer. But applying for carpentry jobs from the UK and asking the employer to sponsor me and do a LMIA without even having met me seems unlikely to succeed (please tell me if i'm wrong). Grok suggested flying to Alberta on a holiday visa and using the time to ask around and try to get a job offer that way, but not sure on the legality or likelihood of that working?

Otherwise i was thinking of retraining into cybersecurity. I have some qualifications from when i was younger and worked in IT for a while, and have done some research and picking up a handful of certs (A+, network+, security+) would take me less than a year and be affordable and attainable. Again, i'm dubious of how likely that would be to get me a job offer, but Grok was adamant that it would boost my chances massively and be more likely to succeed than applying as a carpenter.

Any thoughts or opinions?

I'm throwing myself to the crowd here and asking for any feedback or opinions at all? Is anything above completely wrong?

Any help at all would be appreciated.

 

[Naturgrl]

You are not eligible for a working holiday visa as that is only for people under 35. I don't think you are even eligible for Express Entry based on your age, education (ECA), language skills and work experience. Taking a cybersecurity program will not get you a LMIA as you have no experience in the field and competing against Canadians who can do the job. Do you know French? Do you have a degree?

Your only AINP option is through Express Entry and you need to figure out if you even have 67 points to submit a profile.

Honestly your profile is not strong.

 

[scylla]

Stay away from grok and research yourself through the IRCC web site. Grok throws out too much wrong information.
- Working holiday visa is not possible. You are too old.
- If you want to come on a closed work permit you need a job offer from an employer in Canada and an approved LMIA which requires the employer to prove no Canadian could be hired for the role.
- The cyber path doesn't make sense. The job market for that is terrible here right now and Canadians with work experience in the field and master's degrees are having trouble securing employment.
- You will not score enough points to be selected directly through Express Entry unless you learn French fluently.
- The PNP programs are only going to be feasible if you manage to get a qualifying job offer in Canada.

 

[Jamopy]

You are not eligible for a working holiday visa as that is only for people under 35. I don't think you are even eligible for Express Entry based on your age, education (ECA), language skills and work experience. Taking a cybersecurity program will not get you a LMIA as you have no experience in the field and competing against Canadians who can do the job. Do you know French? Do you have a degree?

Your only AINP option is through Express Entry and you need to figure out if you even have 67 points to submit a profile.

Honestly your profile is not strong.

Hi!

I didn't mention a working holiday visa. Grok's suggestion was to take a holiday and use the opportunity to do some job searching while over there and see if i could get a job offer. Its argument was that it would be easier to get an offer talking in person rather than applying online, which makes sense to me.

I thought an LMIA was something you took not something you got? Would the cyber route not be viable without a certain amount of proven experience?

I have a degree. I don't speak French.

Going off of my carpentry quals gives me a marginal profile, swings yes/no depending on how much money i bring and/or my French score. Getting a job offer seems to be by far the biggest factor.

 

[Jamopy]

Stay away from grok and research yourself through the IRCC web site. Grok throws out too much wrong information.
- Working holiday visa is not possible. You are too old.
- If you want to come on a closed work permit you need a job offer from an employer in Canada and an approved LMIA which requires the employer to prove no Canadian could be hired for the role.
- The cyber path doesn't make sense. The job market for that is terrible here right now and Canadians with work experience in the field and master's degrees are having trouble securing employment.
- You will not score enough points to be selected directly through Express Entry unless you learn French fluently.
- The PNP programs are only going to be feasible if you manage to get a qualifying job offer in Canada.

I've done both, Grok was throwing up suggestions i hadn't considered though, and lurking forums was giving me so many contradictory opinions i thought i'd ask directly.

As above, i didn't mention a working holiday visa. And i know the job offer is the biggest factor, that was mainly what my post was about. Applying online for construction jobs thousands of miles away seems to probably have a low chance of success, hence throwing up the option of going in person to talk to people to see if i could get a job offer that way.

Grok was adamant that going to cyber route would improve chances massively and potentially even qualify for an open permit, but i take all of that with a pinch of salt and was looking for real opinions instead.

 

[Naturgrl]

Hi!

I didn't mention a working holiday visa. Grok's suggestion was to take a holiday and use the opportunity to do some job searching while over there and see if i could get a job offer. Its argument was that it would be easier to get an offer talking in person rather than applying online, which makes sense to me.

I thought an LMIA was something you took not something you got? Would the cyber route not be viable without a certain amount of proven experience?

I have a degree. I don't speak French.

Going off of my carpentry quals gives me a marginal profile, swings yes/no depending on how much money i bring and/or my French score. Getting a job offer seems to be by far the biggest factor.

If you don't have a degree and don't speak French then due to age you are not eligible for Express Entry and then not eligible for any Alberta PNP programs unless you study, work and get a job offer in the province.

Cyber route is not an option without experience and a degree. No way getting a LMIA when there are so many Canadian IT workers out of work who have Masters degrees. It will not give you PR.

A LMIA is filed by your Canadian employer proving no Canadian has the education, work experience and language skills to do the job. With a LMIA, you apply for a closed work permit with experience letters, ECA and language test results.

 

[scylla]

I've done both, Grok was throwing up suggestions i hadn't considered though, and lurking forums was giving me so many contradictory opinions i thought i'd ask directly.

As above, i didn't mention a working holiday visa. And i know the job offer is the biggest factor, that was mainly what my post was about. Applying online for construction jobs thousands of miles away seems to probably have a low chance of success, hence throwing up the option of going in person to talk to people to see if i could get a job offer that way.

Grok was adamant that going to cyber route would improve chances massively and potentially even qualify for an open permit, but i take all of that with a pinch of salt and was looking for real opinions instead.

Why did grok think cyber would give you access to an open work permit? I would go back and ask that specific question and ask grok to point you to the specific rule or program that would give you the OWP. Grok should be able to give you that info if it's real and not a hallucination. IMO the cyber route will be hard because of the market conditions here and the candidates you'll be competing against. But that's just my opinion.

Tech job market is absolutely horrible here right now which is why IRCC isn't conducting any stem draws.

 

[scylla]

I've done both, Grok was throwing up suggestions i hadn't considered though, and lurking forums was giving me so many contradictory opinions i thought i'd ask directly.

As above, i didn't mention a working holiday visa. And i know the job offer is the biggest factor, that was mainly what my post was about. Applying online for construction jobs thousands of miles away seems to probably have a low chance of success, hence throwing up the option of going in person to talk to people to see if i could get a job offer that way.

Grok was adamant that going to cyber route would improve chances massively and potentially even qualify for an open permit, but i take all of that with a pinch of salt and was looking for real opinions instead.

Just another thought... Wonder if the open work permit was connected to getting a nomination through a PNP program. That would be potentially feasible but of course a job offer would be needed first at a minimum. I would ask grok for more specifics. Good luck.

 

[canuck78]

Realistically your age closes most doors to PR right now and likely for the foreseeable future. Would not make sense to take the risk even if you are able to secure a WP unless you are ready to return to the UK.

 

[Jamopy]

If you don't have a degree and don't speak French then due to age you are not eligible for Express Entry and then not eligible for any Alberta PNP programs unless you study, work and get a job offer in the province.

Cyber route is not an option without experience and a degree. No way getting a LMIA when there are so many Canadian IT workers out of work who have Masters degrees. It will not give you PR.

A LMIA is filed by your Canadian employer proving no Canadian has the education, work experience and language skills to do the job. With a LMIA, you apply for a closed work permit with experience letters, ECA and language test results.

I did just say i have a degree.

 

[Naturgrl]

I did just say i have a degree.

You still will not be eligible for Express Entry based on your age unless you learn French. ECA must be equivalent to three year degree and max language scores but age gets you almost no points. Being eligible doesn't mean invitations but just to get in the pool.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...-apply/federal-skilled-workers.html#selection

 

[Jamopy]

Why did grok think cyber would give you access to an open work permit? I would go back and ask that specific question and ask grok to point you to the specific rule or program that would give you the OWP. Grok should be able to give you that info if it's real and not a hallucination. IMO the cyber route will be hard because of the market conditions here and the candidates you'll be competing against. But that's just my opinion.

Tech job market is absolutely horrible here right now which is why IRCC isn't conducting any stem draws.

Having reasked it looks like it was assuming i'd get entry via the tech pathway in AAIP. But i'd agree, i think it's being vastly over optimistic that i'd get on that with less than a year of relevant experience.

That does put me back towards having a job offer being my best bet. Any tips on maximising the chances of that? I have a suspicion online applications from abroad would have a low success rate.

 

[canuck78]

Having reasked it looks like it was assuming i'd get entry via the tech pathway in AAIP. But i'd agree, i think it's being vastly over optimistic that i'd get on that with less than a year of relevant experience.

That does put me back towards having a job offer being my best bet. Any tips on maximising the chances of that? I have a suspicion online applications from abroad would have a low success rate.

If your goal is to move to Canada permanently in the end your profile will make that extremely difficult. If you are happy to work for up to a few years and then go back to the UK then you can try to find a job and secure a WP. It may be quite difficult to get a WP unless you have specialty carpentry skills that fairly rare in Canada and in demand or in a region where there is a shortage of carpenters.