Question about Immigration from EU > CA

[Oria_Xu]

Hello,

My wife and I would like to immigrate from Luxembourg (EU) to Canada (permanent resident), but our situation is somewhat special and I am not sure how to apply. I wanted to apply as Self-employed, but I am not sure if that would be the correct way.

Here is our situation:
I am 35 years old and I am a Gov. Employee already in retirement (since 09/2015).
My wife is 34 and works in a supermarket as cashier and shelf storage.
My pension is high enough to provide well for my wife and I (CA$4500/month, climbing by CA$150 each year). We also have over CA$500.000 in savings to start our life in Canada.
Therefore we do NOT plan to work in Canada. We want to move to Canada, buy/build a house and live there. We would most likely move to British Columbia, but we are not 100% set yet as we don't know yet if we can even move to Canada.

We will NOT require any kind of monetary support from the Canadian Government, not now or in the future... My pension is paid by the Luxembourg state and even after my death, my wife will receive a widow's pension equal to 80% of my last payment.

My wife speaks English (read 4/5, write 2/5, listen 4/5 talk 2/5) and German (all 5/5).
I speak English (all 5/5), French (all 5/5), German (all 5/5), Luxembourgish (all 5/5) and Spanish (read 3/5, write 1/5, listen 3/5 talk 1/5).
My wife will of course be taking an English course before moving to Canada.

Under these circumstances, is it even possible for us to move to Canada?
If so, what form should I use for our application?
Would it be easier if we just come to Canada for a few weeks, to do the language tests, maybe talk to someone in person about our situation and apply right there and then?

I have contacted canadavisa.com and the Canadian immigration by email, but I only get pre-written replies that do not answer anything or help me in any way.
Thank you very much for pointing us to the right place/application forms,

Regards,
Steve.

 

[scylla]

Self employment is not the way to go. You don't actually meet the requirements for self employed and the processing times are extremely long. You should look at applying through the Express Entry / Federal Skilled Worker program or one of the Provincial Nomination Programs. Detailed information for all of this here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp

Being in Canada gives you no advantage. I would strongly recommend applying from your home country.

 

[Oria_Xu]

Hi and thanks for your reply!

You should look at applying through the Express Entry / Federal Skilled Worker program or one of the Provincial Nomination Programs.

Isn't the Express Entry completely processed by computer? Meaning if I enter that I "don't have a valid job offer" on the form, I will be automaticly declined?

Being in Canada gives you no advantage. I would strongly recommend applying from your home country.

Ok good to know. Even though it's a shame we can't just go to an office and talk with an actual person to help us figure this out.

 

[Oria_Xu]

I checked the Express Entry form, by selecting "no" on the question "do you have a valid job offer in Canada" I end up with "you are not eligible for Express Entry at this time".

I then continued to the full application, but I am pretty sure it will be instantly declined because of the 2 sections in the "Work history" part.
-Intended work in Canada:
Q: Does Steve XXXXXXX have a job offer in Canada?
A: No.

-Research:
Q: Have you looked for a job in Canada in your primary occupation? What best describes the last action you took?
A: NO - I do not plan to work in Canada.

There is no option to add information, to explain WHY I do not have a valid job offer or not plan to work in Canada.
The only place where I could point out that I am in retirement is in the Work history section, in the "Job Title" field (there is no NOC code for retirees).

So if the express Entry application is fully automated, which I guess it is, I will be automatically declined.

 

[scylla]

Isn't the Express Entry completely processed by computer? Meaning if I enter that I "don't have a valid job offer" on the form, I will be automaticly declined?

No and no. You need to do more research about Express Entry.

There is no requirement to have a job offer in Canada. It helps and gives you more points. But definitely not a requirement.

 

[scylla]

I checked the Express Entry form, by selecting "no" on the question "do you have a valid job offer in Canada" I end up with "you are not eligible for Express Entry at this time".

If you aren't eligible, it's not because of the job offer. Again, having a job offer isn't mandatory. You may not meet other criteria. For example, you need to have at least one year of full time paid work experience within the last three years. That one may be a problem for you depending on when you required. (FYI - this work experience requirement is pretty much mandatory for all of Canada's economic immigration programs. If you don't have a full year of work experience in the last three years, you'll have to look into your wife being the primary applicant - although this will disqualify you for Express Entry and many other streams since her work experience isn't skilled.)

There's no short cut to doing extensive research to understand what it takes to apply (apart from hiring an immigration lawyer to do this work on your behalf). You're going to need to do a lot more reading.

 

[Oria_Xu]

Thanks for the replies and the provided information!
Ok I will look more into this, I was scared to get instantly declined and doing so lower our chance to successfully move to Canada.

 

[Rob_TO]

My pension is high enough to provide well for my wife and I (CA$4500/month, climbing by CA$150 each year). We also have over CA$500.000 in savings to start our life in Canada.
Therefore we do NOT plan to work in Canada. We want to move to Canada, buy/build a house and live there. We would most likely move to British Columbia, but we are not 100% set yet as we don't know yet if we can even move to Canada.

We will NOT require any kind of monetary support from the Canadian Government, not now or in the future... My pension is paid by the Luxembourg state and even after my death, my wife will receive a widow's pension equal to 80% of my last payment.

Unfortunately all this is 100% irrelevant to being eligible to move to Canada. Canada does not care what your financial situation is or ability to support yourself, basically all the non-family immigration streams are aimed at getting skilled workers to come and work here. There are no programs at all for people wanting to retire here.

Your first step should be to check if your work fits into the NOC code that would qualify you for express entry or some other economic program (like PNP), You can start here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/noc.asp

If your job with recent work experience (so assuming you didn't retire too long ago) is not a match, then that means there is probably no realistic chance to immigrate here.

 

[Oria_Xu]

Hey!

Unfortunately all this is 100% irrelevant to being eligible to move to Canada.

I just explained this to have a better picture of our situation.
Else it would look like: "hi, we want to immigrate to Canada, not work and live on social assistance, help plz!"

Your first step should be to check if your work fits into the NOC code that would qualify you for express entry or some other economic program (like PNP), You can start here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/noc.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/noc.asp
My (old) Job does have a NOC number and i did list it in my work experience in the application draft.
I also listed it as my current Job, since there is no NOC for "being retired". It is the truth too, since my status/working class (not sure how you call it in Canada) didn't change, I still have the same paycheck, issued by the same administration, as I did when working.

then that means there is probably no realistic chance to immigrate here.

Should that apply to us, it would be a shame. For us of course but also for Canada, since we would spend all our money there while not costing Canada 1 cent.

We will do our language tests in a couple of weeks, my wife in English and I in English and French. Once we have those I will try to submit the Express Entry and hope for the best I guess.

Thanks for the info!

 

[scylla]

Here's what it will come down to most likely...

It's highly unlikely your wife can be the primary applicant since her job is unskilled and Canada's immigration programs are really aimed at skilled immigration and trades.

This means you will need to be the primary and will need to meet the primary applicant requirements. Meeting these requirements means you have to have recent work experience (at least a year of full time paid work experience). For many/most immigration programs, you need to have this one year of work experience in the last three years at the time you apply. If you retired September 2015 - you are cutting it insanely close and might as well cross Express Entry off the list now - as well as any other immigration program with the experience in the last three year requirement. You don't have enough time to complete the language tests, have your education assessed formally, submit a profile and be selected before your work experience drops to less than a year in the last three. This is really your main challenge as I see it right now. It's a shame you didn't start three months ago - that would have given you more runway.

Good luck.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hey!
I just explained this to have a better picture of our situation.
Else it would look like: "hi, we want to immigrate to Canada, not work and live on social assistance, help plz!"

Whether you have a comfy pension and tons of savings, or are heavily in debt with no savings and minimal income... the chances of being qualified to immigrate is basically 100% equal between the 2.

My (old) Job does have a NOC number and i did list it in my work experience in the application draft.
I also listed it as my current Job, since there is no NOC for "being retired". It is the truth too, since my status/working class (not sure how you call it in Canada) didn't change, I still have the same paycheck, issued by the same administration, as I did when working.

You must have recent actual working experience (i think 1 in the past 3 years). So if you've been retired too long (basically 3 years or more) that on it's own would make you ineligible to immigrate under express entry.

For us of course but also for Canada, since we would spend all our money there while not costing Canada 1 cent.

Again this is 100% irrelevant to whether you qualify to immigrate or not. Your current financial situation, is not taken into account.

 

[scylla]

You must have recent actual working experience (i think 1 in the past 3 years). So if you've been retired too long (basically 3 years or more) that on it's own would make you ineligible to immigrate.

Small correction. It's retired for 2 years or more (not 3). The 1 year of full time work experience has to fall within the last three years. So if someone has been retired for more than 2 years - they no longer have 1 year of work experience in the last three.

 

[Oria_Xu]

This is really your main challenge as I see it right now. It's a shame you didn't start three months ago - that would have given you more runway.
Good luck.

Thanks for your reply, it was very informative!
Yes I will be retired 2 years now in a week or two... meaning I won't have 1 full year work in the past 3 years!
Do you recon it's useless to even bother applying then if I cannot meet that criteria?

On a side note, how silly is it that i need "work experience" when I am retired and will never work in Canada!?

 

[scylla]

Thanks for your reply, it was very informative!
Yes I will be retired 2 years now in a week or two... meaning I won't have 1 full year work in the past 3 years!
Do you recon it's useless to even bother applying then if I cannot meet that criteria?

On a side note, how silly is it that i need "work experience" when I am retired and will never work in Canada!?

The one year work experience in the last three is a mandatory requirement for Express Entry. Your profile won't even be accepted and/or you'll be automatically refused. There's no point applying through Express Entry. You will need to look at the Provincial Nominee Programs to see if you can meet their requirements (each is a bit different).

It's not silly at all. You're trying to apply through an economic immigration program which is founded on bringing skilled workers to Canada who plan to work when they arrive here - so logically that's how applicants are assessed. Canada has no retirement immigration class.

 

[Oria_Xu]

Ok thanks a bunch! I will check out the Provincial Nominee Programs then!