U.S PR want to obtain PR in Canada. Please Help !

[JWB]

I am 45 years old and have been living in the U.S as a PR for 40 years. I am also married but have been legally separated from my wife for 3 years.
My question is, can I apply to relocate as a PR to Canada while still living and working in the U.S (while I apply for employment opportunities in Canada) ? and should I file a divorce before or after the process, since I would be relocating alone anyway? My uncle is a citizen of Canada and he says he would sponsor me.

I have experience working in the Telecom industry and I am currently studying for the Security Certification exam in case that would earn me some points with the qualifications.

 

[JWB]

Oh well ! so much for the newcomers welcome.............................

 

[umairz]

Sorry to inform you that your uncle will not be able to sponsor you for almost next 2 years provided the rules will change by the end of that two years period. Canada has put a temporary pause on sponsorship application for relatives and even for parents and grandparents but not your suppose or dependent children. Apparently they did that to clear the backlog of cases. You can read it here;

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/family.asp

Apart from that, your only option would be skilled worker category and that you have to read the whole guide and see if you fall in this category and can apply;

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who.asp

And here is a link for all the immigration streams available... You can probably find out which one is the best for you. But this whole process will take time. Even if your uncle will sponsor you after 2 years it will take another probably 3 years for your case to be finalized.

Good Luck!

 

[scylla]

Oh well ! so much for the newcomers welcome.............................

No reason to be rude. You need to give people an opportunity to respond. We are all volunteers here trying to help each other.

1) Yes - you can apply to immigrate to Canada while still working and living in the US.
2) No - you don't need to file for divorce first.
3) There's no guarantee your uncle will be able to sponsor you. What province does he live in? Does he have any immediate family (i.e. wife, children, parents)? Answering these two questions will help to determine if he can act as your sponsor or if you have to qualify to immigrate independently. If you can let us know what the situation is - we should be able to tell you what's possible and what's not.

If you haven't done so already, you may also wish to walk through the CIC's online questionnaire that will assess if you have the required qualifications to apply to immigrate. It's a pretty good tool although it doesn't cover absolutely everything. Here's the link:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/app/ctcvac/english/qc100

 

[scylla]

Sorry to inform you that your uncle will not be able to sponsor you for almost next 2 years provided the rules will change by the end of that two years period. Canada has put a temporary pause on sponsorship application for relatives and even for parents and grandparents but not your suppose or dependent children. Apparently they did that to clear the backlog of cases. You can read it here;

His uncle may be able to sponsor him if he lives in the right province.

 

[JWB]

Hi everyone, I apologize If I came off as sounding rude it wasn't my intention.

My uncle lives in Montreal, if I landed on my own and only used his address as a reference point can I still apply for residency and return to the U.S to continue making preparations ?

Again, my wife and children will not be joining me because they are very happy with their arrangments.

Would skilled worker be my best option?

 

[scylla]

Your uncle doesn't qualify to sponsor you since he's living in Quebec. However assuming he's actually living in Canada (rather that a citizen living outside of the country), you will get additional "adaptability" points if you apply as a skilled worker. To get these adaptability points, you will need to supply proof that he is in fact your uncle and evidence that he is living in Canada (bills, tax returns, etc.). So you'll need his involvement / assistance to get these points.

I'm not sure what you mean by "landed on my own and only use his address as a reference point". Your first step will be to determine which immigration category you qualify under (I would look at federal skilled worker and the provincial nominee programs). Once you've done this and determined how to apply, you will submit a completed application for processing. This is something you would do from the US (no need to be in Canada). Even if your wife and children are not accompanying you, they will still have to be medically examined as part of the application process (this is mandatory). If you want to claim adaptability points for having family in Canada, you will need to work with your uncle to include the required supporting documentation in your original application package.

Once your application has been processed and presumably approved, you will then land in Canada as a permament resident.

Note that to qualify for the federal skilled worker program, your occupation must appear on the following list:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/complete-applications.asp

If your occupation does not fall under the following list or if it does but that category has hit the cap - you will need a job offer in Canada to apply to immigrate. The cap is reset each year. If you are interested in NOC 1122, you should be aware that this occupation reached its cap in 7 days this year (i.e. cap was reset July 1st and 500 applications were received by July 7th). If this occupation remains on the list for 2012, everyone is expecting it to cap even faster.

The provincial nominee programs have different requirements and you'll have to research each of these independently. Information can be found here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp

Finally, note that you will have to take a language test as part of this process (it's mandatory for applicants regardless of their country of origin).

 

[scylla]

Sorry - I forgot you and your wife were separated.

Your wife will not need a medical. However your kids will.

 

[JWB]

Thanks for all the info. I see this process may take awhile. The reason I bought up my marital status is because I see thre are additional points given for families with young children, I thought it may help. But honestly speaking we haven't lived together for almost 3 years and are ready to file for an official divorce.

My uncle is retired and lives full time in Montreal. I work as an I/P Telecommunication Analyst and I don't see that specialty listed on the skilled worker list. I am weighing all of the options to hopefully relocate this coming spring. Again thanks for all the help !

 

[scylla]

Thanks for all the info. I see this process may take awhile. The reason I bought up my marital status is because I see thre are additional points given for families with young children, I thought it may help. But honestly speaking we haven't lived together for almost 3 years and are ready to file for an official divorce.

My uncle is retired and lives full time in Montreal. I work as an I/P Telecommunication Analyst and I don't see that specialty listed on the skilled worker list. I am weighing all of the options to hopefully relocate this coming spring. Again thanks for all the help !

I don't know of any immigration streams that give additional points to families with young children. However you can get additional points for your spouse's education if you apply as a skilled worker and they are coming with you.

You're correct - your occupation does not fall on the federal skilled worker list. This means that if you wanted to immigrate via this stream, you'll need a job offer in Canada to qualify. Given current processing times, I would say that hoping to relocate this spring is too ambitious. Putting the application together will probably take at least a month alone. Processing times can be anywhere from a number of months to several years (just thought I'd warn you now).

Good luck.