Immigrating to Canada from Britain

March 11, 2005 10:18 AM

I have a friend who lives in Canada while her boyfriend is just finishing up a psychology degree in England. He wants to move to Canada in the summer but there is the problem of not being able to get a job as a UK citizen. What are the requirements for British citizens to be able to work and live in Canada for an extended period of time (say several years at least)? They are not willing to get married yet. Any advice or previous experiences would be extremely helpful!
posted by degnarra to Law & Government (12 answers total)

He can get a temporary work permit (valid for a year, but easily renewable) if he gets a job offer from a Canadian company and the job is approved by HRDC (in my experience, it was just a rubber-stamp deal, but I suppose it may depend on the job he gets). He is legal to stay in Canada for I believe six months (not working) while he looks for a job. He can apply for permanent residence when he has built up the required job experience (at least a year) under his temporary permits. That would be the easiest path IMO, but as I said, much will depend on what kind of work he is planning to do.

Also, I don't think healthcare is covered under the work permit; he'll want to get private insurance.
posted by transient at 10:43 AM on March 11, 2005

Also, here's info on permanent residence applications; the process generally takes a year at least. And, IANAL, YMMV, etc.
posted by transient at 10:45 AM on March 11, 2005

Me = American ---> Canada

I'm married to a Canadian citizen (which is the easiest way to get into Canada). It takes a lot of money and a lot of time (three years for me to become a Landed Immigrant). I applied from inside Canada, which they don't like to do, but will allow in certain circumstances. There will be fingerprinting, background checks (local and whatever passes for Federal in the UK), doctor appointments, etc. Your friend will have to dig back ten years for information (where he worked, lived, etc.).

Although Canada and the UK are both Commonwealth countries, I don't believe they take that into consideration.

Go to the link transient posted. That's the place to start.

Tell your friends good luck!
posted by deborah at 11:55 AM on March 11, 2005

Canadian here, who has seen many people run afoul of the process. It's very hard to get a job offer without already having the work permit, but that's the best way possible to make it happen. That involves coming and going. Visiting, getting someone to make a job offer, going home and applying FROM the home country, with the job offer documented.

I'll add.. good luck. We joke about being able to buy your way in, but it's true. If your sweetie has 250,000 CN$ (ish) they can start a business that guarantees to employ Canadians, and will be welcomed with open arms.

Deborah has it right.. follow that link to Immigration Canada.
posted by reflecked at 1:29 PM on March 11, 2005

They don't necessarily have to get married. Canadian immigration law treats spouses no different from common-law spouses and conjugal partners. See details here, but to be common-law partners you have to have set up a common-household. Conjugal partners are people who would be common-law partners were "exceptional circumstances beyond their control" not preventing it. Perhaps your friends could qualify as conjugal partners.

Note that being married (or common law, or conjugal partners) to a Canadian citizen or resident (no distinction is made for these purposes) doesn't get you any automatic right to immigrate. Your spouse/partner etc. has to agree to sponsor you. In other words, they have to take financial responsibility for you for three years. Essentially this means that should the new resident ever end up on social assistance, the government will get that money back, dollar-for-dollar, from the sponsor. Even if the couple divorces/seperates/breaks-up, sponsorship continues and the sponsor is still financially responsible.

IANAL.
posted by duck at 1:29 PM on March 11, 2005

You might also try asking on the canadian_immigration Yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canadian_immigration/

The focus there is on spousal applications, but they are often quite helpful for other situations.


You might also look at the Student Work Abroad Program if that works for your situation:
http://www.swap.ca/

I'm in the process of sponsoring my American wife for Canadian permanent residence. She is inside Canada during the process, which CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) is fine with. She can't legally work in Canada during the application process, though (but luckily she can legally continue telecommuting to her old job in the US).
posted by Emanuel at 2:05 PM on March 11, 2005

If your friends are young-- I think it's under 25, you can get a youth employment visa. Your friend might try working for a British company in Canada. They might be more open to helping him.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 3:04 PM on March 11, 2005

I'm not sure how old he is, but if he's under about 30 then he should be eligible for the Canadian Working Holiday Visa. They have a quota, and I have no idea of the current situation, but he could contact the Canadian Embassy in London (website here.
posted by different at 3:06 PM on March 11, 2005

I can't for the life of me find the information, but I'm almost certain that Canada and the UK have a reciprocal agreement for working holiday maker visas. This visa class allows you to work legally for a limited period of time. Canadians going to the UK apply through the British embassy in Ottawa so I would imagine that British citizens would apply through the Canadian embassy in London.

[On preview - different found it. I managed to find an entirely different and unhelpful Canadian embassy in London website]
posted by lumiere at 3:13 PM on March 11, 2005

I also suggest researching whether your friend can be sponsored as a common law partner. They main requirement is that they will have to prove that they lived together for a year. The list of what documents might be asked for as evidence is here.
posted by Staggering Jack at 3:45 PM on March 11, 2005

Another route: is the boyfriend interested in pursuing graduate studies or a postdoc? Most universities will pay for tuition and a stipend for grad students, including a few international students as well. After graduation, one automatically gets a work permit for a year, and after that, application for permanent residency becomes possible..
posted by greatgefilte at 9:08 PM on March 11, 2005

they have to take financial responsibility for you for three years

My husband had to swear to support me for 10 years. (muahahahaha!)

She can't legally work in Canada during the application process

I'm not sure why she can't. I got a temporary work visa (costs more money) and was able to work without a problem (signed up at a temp agency as a clerical flunky).
posted by deborah at 12:08 PM on March 12, 2005