Hi JC,
It is nerve wrecking indeed. and while waiting, the anxiety distracts you from your day to day work and responsibilities (e.g. I have been spending sleepless long nights at my pc on forums like these)...listening to others - feeling happy at their successes, and sad on the ones who are delayed. As if the universe has shrunk to Canada immigration and any related bytes. and many a times getting discouraged by stories of many who have landed and have been struggling (see posts from CharlotteJ) at the same time being inspired by their grit and determination. But if one has a settled life in middle east with wife and kid and financial responsibilities back in home country where the only driver for immigration being the quality of life, security in old age, a western passport which will provide (in my current belief) a secured bright future, solid education (all round not just academic) for our daughter - one constantly struggles to find the right judgement. Should we or should we not - is the financial dip (surely in comparision to middle east`s tax free income) really worth it. Is the maple leaf `passport` really that magical, the upbringing so much more better in Canada that it is worth taking all the risk and getting uprooted in a currently well settled job, in a world class organisation. Pray tell. Then again - middle east itself is no retirement venue anyway. The economic development, fantastic growth of India etc is all very very impressive - at the end of the day we still cannot wait to return to UAE soon after the vacation time in India. The pollution, the under-civilised attitude of the masses (not essentially your work enivironment etc - but really the masses who touch you every single moment) are all things that make you think repeatedly -IF I DO NOT take the immigration step today in a few years time EVEN the OPTION will no longer exist (will be too old). Will our daughter be happier when she grows up that we took the step. Perhaps. Who knows. The Asian economies are obviously booming - perhaps that is where one needs to be. But then again as many seniors on this fortum have pointed out well - immigration decision is not a purely economic decision for many (perhaps most). (ref posts from Qorax, Leon etc - which puts it very well).
Anyway - sorry got a little carried away at your invitation to vent. Feels better so thanks for starting the thread. Best wishes to you and all forumers.
Nav