Fastest way to immigrate to Alberta from USA?

[Adela24]

My husband & I are interested in permanently settling in Canada.
But our case is very complicated. So we’re not sure which way to apply & under what program.

My husband came to the US in ‘98 as a war refugee and has been permanent resident since then. He never applied for US citizenship, as he always felt like he wouldn’t stay here.
I came to the USA from Serbia as a F1 (international student) visa holder. Been here 6 years.
We have a son who was born in the USA 3 years ago.

We would like to immigrate to Edmonton, Alberta.
My husband has relatives there, but we’re unsure if they could sponsor him for permanent residency? Him & his relative are first cousins from his mom side (so kind of related by the blood).
But I can’t find any info if they’re close enough relatives or no.

Also, I’m getting confused about Alberta Opportunity Stream & Alberta through Express Entry. And nomination program.

Are you required to already be in Canada to apply for this? How do you find a job if you don’t know how long it’ll take for the whole process to finish?

What is the first step? Doing my English test? What after that?
I want to be a main on the Permanent residency application, as I have a Bachelors degree from the USA ( does that counts comparable with Canadian system? ), my English is better & I’m only 24 years old. I have 4 years of experience as working in construction.

If someone can help with which program would be the best for us, I would really appreciate it.

Is it possible for any of these programs to go straight from USA & receive permanent residency card on the first landing in Canada?

Thank you!

 

[scylla]

My husband & I are interested in permanently settling in Canada.
But our case is very complicated. So we’re not sure which way to apply & under what program.

My husband came to the US in ‘98 as a war refugee and has been permanent resident since then. He never applied for US citizenship, as he always felt like he wouldn’t stay here.
I came to the USA from Serbia as a F1 (international student) visa holder. Been here 6 years.
We have a son who was born in the USA 3 years ago.

We would like to immigrate to Edmonton, Alberta.
My husband has relatives there, but we’re unsure if they could sponsor him for permanent residency? Him & his relative are first cousins from his mom side (so kind of related by the blood).
But I can’t find any info if they’re close enough relatives or no.

Also, I’m getting confused about Alberta Opportunity Stream & Alberta through Express Entry. And nomination program.

Are you required to already be in Canada to apply for this? How do you find a job if you don’t know how long it’ll take for the whole process to finish?

What is the first step? Doing my English test? What after that?
I want to be a main on the Permanent residency application, as I have a Bachelors degree from the USA ( does that counts comparable with Canadian system? ), my English is better & I’m only 24 years old. I have 4 years of experience as working in construction.

If someone can help with which program would be the best for us, I would really appreciate it.

Is it possible for any of these programs to go straight from USA & receive permanent residency card on the first landing in Canada?

Thank you!

You can apply from the US - you don't need to be in Canada.

His relatives cannot sponsor you. If you wish to immigrate to Canada, you will need to qualify on your own based on your level of education, work experience, funds available to settle yourselves in Canada and other factors.

One option is the Express Entry program which is a points-based program. Those with the most points are selected and you must have around 460 to be chosen. I would recommend you start by calculating how many points you have to see what your chances are of being selected. Based on the information you've provided, I suspect you don't have enough points - but you should certainly look into this. More info in the link below:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/works.html

If you're falling short on points for Express Entry, then you will need to look into the Alberta Provincial Nominee Program. There's really no short cut to dedicating significant tiem to reading through the details on how to immigrate. If you end up finding it too overwhelming, the the best bet is to hire a Canadian immigration lawyer to assist you.

https://www.alberta.ca/ainp.aspx

 

[Adela24]

Thank you so much for your response. I was pretty sure that his relatives can’t sponsor us because they’re not immediate family.
I calculated my points based on average expectations from my English Test (I have not taken any tests yet), but I did SAT & TOEFL when I was coming to the USA, so I put my reading on 8, listening on 7.5, speaking on 8 and writing on 7, just to see how many points I would get. It showed me 417.
Of course, I expect to get much better results on my tests, so hopefully I would have over 460 with better scores. This was just for information.

Can you give me any advice how to apply for nomination from alberta providence? Do I need to take english test first before doing anything else?
I tried to look up the closet testing center is 6 hours drive from me.

Does anyone know if it’s faster and less applications for Alberta trough EE ( which seems super popular, my class is B, 7272), or through Opportunity stream?