Up in arms! Guidance Please.

[Thorns]

Hi,

Could someone please give me some guidance?

This is my situation:
We would like to move to Canada. my problem is I would like to study further at a university but have not yet decided on which one as my husband would need to find work first so we would need to be in the same town more or less. I have heard so many different options on how to apply its really confusing and not sure how to go about everything. A few members on another forum told me that he would have more success finding a job once in Canada, Is this true? If so do I fist apply for a visitor visa and once he has a job offer there apply for a working permit?

I would also like to know is it better to apply for a visa first and later once settled in the town of choice, start the process for PR or first apply for PR? If I apply for the PR first do I also need to apply for any other visas?
We have two small children age 4 and 10 what type of visas would they need? As I understand it they can go over on visitor visas and attend school. As mentioned above I cannot enroll them in any school until we know which town we will be living in so a study permit for them would be impossible at the moment.

For the first month or so we plan to travel through Ottawa and see which areas will be more central for us. We will not be coming over with no capital as we have planed for the worst case scenario thus have enough funds for min 3 years stay if my husband cannot find work immediately or if his permit takes a while which I suspect would be the case.

My last concern is a battle for me I have no other living family besides my grandmother who is 76 would she qualify for a visa? She has no medical condition and has not needed to see a Dr in well over 20 years. She is currently living with me as I am not willing and do not have a need to place her in a home. The problem with her tho is she has lost her husband and all 3 her children in 15 years which has taken some toll on her mind. Which I am worried about when it is time for the medical exams. I love my grandmother dearly and cannot just pack and leave her behind with absolutely no one to be there for her. What are her chances?

I know this is a mouth full and thousands of topics about it but I have spent a few hours going through this forum and cannot find a concrete answer to my questions. If anyone could please shed some light and point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it.

Thank you

 

[scylla]

Obtaining a job as a foreign worker in Canada is quite difficult. You not only need to find an employer who is willing to offer you a full time job. That employer also need to obtain an approved LMIA (permission to hire the foreign worker). To obtain an approved LMIA, the employer first has to advertise the job for at least a month to prove no Canadian could be found for the role, then the employer must pay a $1,000 fee and submit the LMIA application for processing (processing typically takes 2-4 months). if the LMIA is approved (not all are), the foreign worker can then apply for a work permit. Since the process takes so much time and costs money - many/most employers are unwilling to hire foreign workers.

It would be better if you obtained a study permit first - your spouse would then qualify to apply for an open work permit which would allow him to work for any employer with no LMIA required. However note that you having a study permit only makes your spouse eligible to apply for an open work permit - this by no means guarantees that the open work permit will be approved - plenty of people are refused. Something you need to remember is that regardless whether you are applying for a study permit or a work permit or a visitor visa - CIC will be looking to see that you have strong ties to your home country and have no plans on remaining in Canada long term. If it looks like you're using one of these visas to immigrate - it's entirely possible you may be refused.

If you are all here on visitor visas your children will not be able to attend school without paying international student fees (which would be around $14,000 per year for public school). Your children will only be able to attend school without paying fees if one of you is either a foreign worker or an international student. So that's something to consider. Also note that if you decide to all come to Canada as visitors, make sure it doesn't look like you're moving to Canada when you arrive (since you're not allowed to do that). If it looks like you're trying to move here, you could be refused entry and sent home.

You should probably assume it will be difficult to bring your grandmother with you for any length of time. The only visa she could qualify for at this time is a visitor visa and to be approved she'll have to show she has strong ties to her home country. If you and your family come to Canada based on a study permit or work permit of several years you should assume your grandmother will not be able to accompany you for most of this period and will have to return home at some point (if she's approved for a visitor visa at all). Unfortunately the choices for her are very limited. If / when you apply for PR, you cannot include your grandmother in the application since she is not classified as a dependent for immigration purposes. You may be able to sponsor her later - however this will take many years.

 

[Thorns]

Thank you Scylla for your speedy response.

Could you please clarify the strong ties to home country? as this is the first time I am reading about it.

Lets assume I am accepted to a university as the program I am looking at is 4 years, I would qualify for permanent residency correct? If my grandmother arrives on visitor visa and my application for PR is approved would it not be possible to obtain a super visa for her? or request an extension on her visa? Sending her back for any amount of time while going through a process is unfortunately not an option as she would have no where to go (no other family)
I do not mind paying school fees as long as my children can attend school I am willing to pay what ever amount.

I want to do this the right way the first time and not have the fear of being deported or refused entry but I am certainly not willing to pay the ridiculous high fees our lawyers are charging.

Would also like to find out if I can apply for the study permit and PR at the same time?

 

[Leon]

Thank you Scylla for your speedy response.

Could you please clarify the strong ties to home country? as this is the first time I am reading about it.

Lets assume I am accepted to a university as the program I am looking at is 4 years, I would qualify for permanent residency correct? If my grandmother arrives on visitor visa and my application for PR is approved would it not be possible to obtain a super visa for her? or request an extension on her visa? Sending her back for any amount of time while going through a process is unfortunately not an option as she would have no where to go (no other family)
I do not mind paying school fees as long as my children can attend school I am willing to pay what ever amount.

I want to do this the right way the first time and not have the fear of being deported or refused entry but I am certainly not willing to pay the ridiculous high fees our lawyers are charging.

You can not just move to Canada on visit visas, even if you have funds to support yourselves for 3 years. You would have no rights to health care and no right to send your kids to school and you can only stay 6 months at a time. You can do a re-con trip to get to know the country, for your husband to scout the job market and for yourself to scout out colleges.

If he finds an employer who wants to hire him, getting a work permit will take some time and if you find a college, you will have to apply there and get accepted and then you can apply for a study permit. Meanwhile, you can go home and pack your bags. If you get a study permit, you can apply for an open work permit for husband and TRV's for the kids. If your husband gets a skilled work permit, you can apply for an open work permit and TRV's for the kids.

As immigration would not consider your grandmother a part of your immediate family, you would have to apply for a visit visa for her separately. Strong ties to home country means your grandmother would have to show that she is only visiting Canada and will return home at the end of her visit and not stay in Canada permanently.

If she gets a visit visa, she can stay for 6 months at a time. You can apply to extend her visa every 6 months but there is no guarantee that they will keep approving it. However, if you show that you can support her and that she has private medical insurance, you have slightly better odds.

There is no automatic PR for taking a 4 year course. You can your husband will have to look into which immigration class you may qualify under in order to apply for PR. Your husband if he gets a good job, may qualify to apply for PR before you do in which case he can of course apply for you and the children too. You will not have to pay for the children to go to school if you have a study permit or if he has a work permit.

If you get PR before your studies are completed, you will not have to pay international tuition fees anymore but can pay PR fees which are cheaper. In order to get a super visa for your grandmother at that point, you need to show that you have income to support her for the past 3 years in a row. Your husband can co-sign for you. You can also sponsor her for PR once you are but it is getting very hard to sponsor parents and grandparents these days. There are limits on the number of applications etc.

I think it is unlikely that you can pull it off taking your grandmother with you and having her stay with you the entire time.