Other half and I are considering moving to Vancouver or Calgary. Goal is for a change of climate for a year or 2 with the obvious benefit of being close to the resorts! Anyone know of visa options once your too old for the working holiday (we are just over the 31 threshold)? Has anyone been successful applying for a highly skilled migrant visa in Canada? I am a qualified accountant. Any tips appreciated. Tips on securing a role in accg + finance also appreciated!
If you want to go for that long probably best to get permanent residency I would think. Your +1 would also need to qualify also and reach the number of points you need. It's all on the website and then get an immigration lawyer...that's what we did and 'almost' made the move but bub came along as a surprise.
I'll be doing mine from in country. With the work permit I have, I can wait for 12 months & apply for residency while still here. It's a much faster process as I'll already have demonstrated ties to the country & be set up. Getting the permit in the first place was the tough part...... Corporate sponsorship was needed for that & even then it was a rocky road....
heheheheheee looseygoosey have you checked out the gov website?. You can get Canadian permanent residency whilst still in Aus as long as you meet the points section. Also I think the lawyer is ~ $500 or so and they do the hard work for you. I have just been through all this for Africa...now that has been a tough road.
LG, I too am a qualified accountant (CA) and gained permanent residence of Canada about 10 years ago under the skilled immigrant rules- as a CA was capable of pulling it all together myself for the family (wife and 2 kids) without the need to engage a lawyer and in under 12mths had it completed/signed off. Bascially, you have to prove your professional life (letter from all employers verifying employment etc) and document everything else (university, professional qualifications etc etc). Canada immigration website specifys what you need to do. As an Oz CA you must do a shortish conversion course and a few exams to qualify as a Canadian CA which I completed without too much fuss. Spent 3 great years in Whistler and my son was born there so 1 canadian citizen in the family! Bear in mind however that Canadian wages and conditions are generally poor in comparison to Oz, but the lifestle is magnificent.
Hi there - combed through all the old threads and dug up this one that is relevant.... Anyone know of anyone that has got a sponsored visa to work in Canada for anything other than instructing? Husband and I are too old for a working holiday visa (33 and 34) but would love to spend a year or two in Vancouver/Whistler/somewhere in Canada that we can snowboard in winter and ride downhill in summer. I'm a Masters qualified teacher (Bach of Phys Ed and Masters in English as a Second Language) with an aussie passport and husband holds a european passport and is a qualified shipwright/vehicle builder but could do anything with his hands (carpentry etc). We'd do anything though (cleaning, dishpigging etc) if we could get a sponsored visa from someone. From the above it sounds like getting a skilled visa is the way to go though? Any clues, knowledge and personal experience of how to work in Canada even as an old fart would be appreciated. I've done some reading on the Canadian immigration website but not sure how that hoo-ha actually works in reality. Loosey goosey - did you end up getting permanent residency? Cheers!
@looseygoosey has not posted since 2011 so may not answer your question. Still worth asking though as other here may be able to help.
I went through the process, work holiday visa --> temp work permits --> permanent residency --> citizenship. But... I got my residency 22 years ago, not exactly current experience. I got going as a ski instructor while I had the WHP visa, then convinced the resort to do the paperwork for 3 consecutive seasons of temp work as an instructor. Then I got married and saved them some paperwork... The temp foreign worker visa got a huge beat up in the media in 2013/14, fast food outlets found running complete rotating shifts of 'temp' workers, but not employing any Canadians. Outrage was loud, govt response was swift: program was shrunk almost to the point of shut down. Certainly it is now more difficult for employers to be allowed foreign temp workers and especially the standard of proof they must supply regarding attempts to find Canadian employees is much higher than it was. Everything will need to be done by the book and I'd hazard a guess that most employers wouldn't bother unless they knew you already or if you possessed some very specific skills and credentials.
