what route to permanent residence should we follow?
October 3, 2011 12:42 AM Subscribe
[YANMIL] Me and Mr. wowbobwow are living in Canada on my student visa. We would like to stay and we have what appears to be two or three different options for how we can stay here and eventually get permanent residency or citizenship. Help us figure out what plan is more sensible.
These are the two or three possible plans for getting permanent residency status, as far as I can tell.
1) My student visa can be extended/supplanted by the post-graduate work permit. With the post-grad work permit, I can work and earn time towards the Canadian Experience Class pathway to permanent residency. For this to work, though, I'd have to find a job in my field (librarianship; cataloguing ideally).
1a) I can also apply to the BC International Post-graduate Provincial Nominee Program, but would need a job offer in hand. Seems like jobs are really scarce in my field right now, but I could be wrong...
2) My husband, OTOH, works in a highly valued field and would have an easier time finding work. (Currently, he is working from BC for a company in the US, so he isn't earning work time towards the Experience Class.) Should he apply for the Provincial Nominee Program? We both work in fields that are listed in the strategic occupations class for this province, but the jobs situation is more favorable for his (front-end web development/web design). We could both apply for the Provincial Nominee Program, but that seems like overkill. This program also fast-tracks your permanent residency process, making it seem like the best option.
We'd prefer to stay in BC, but are open to other ideas if they are more practical. An immigration lawyer suggested (based on my work history) I apply to the Quebec Experience Class Program, but I'm not nearly fluent enough in French to get a public job there, I don't think.
tl;dr: Did you come to Canada from the states on a student visa and get a permanent residency card? Hope me do the same!
These are the two or three possible plans for getting permanent residency status, as far as I can tell.
1) My student visa can be extended/supplanted by the post-graduate work permit. With the post-grad work permit, I can work and earn time towards the Canadian Experience Class pathway to permanent residency. For this to work, though, I'd have to find a job in my field (librarianship; cataloguing ideally).
1a) I can also apply to the BC International Post-graduate Provincial Nominee Program, but would need a job offer in hand. Seems like jobs are really scarce in my field right now, but I could be wrong...
2) My husband, OTOH, works in a highly valued field and would have an easier time finding work. (Currently, he is working from BC for a company in the US, so he isn't earning work time towards the Experience Class.) Should he apply for the Provincial Nominee Program? We both work in fields that are listed in the strategic occupations class for this province, but the jobs situation is more favorable for his (front-end web development/web design). We could both apply for the Provincial Nominee Program, but that seems like overkill. This program also fast-tracks your permanent residency process, making it seem like the best option.
We'd prefer to stay in BC, but are open to other ideas if they are more practical. An immigration lawyer suggested (based on my work history) I apply to the Quebec Experience Class Program, but I'm not nearly fluent enough in French to get a public job there, I don't think.
tl;dr: Did you come to Canada from the states on a student visa and get a permanent residency card? Hope me do the same!
I don't think the CEC requires you to have experience in the field you studied; any work experience under the NOC 0, A, or B categories will do.
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 7:32 AM on October 3, 2011
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 7:32 AM on October 3, 2011
A TN visa is not intended to lead to PR, and I would strongly suggest not using it if you are aiming for eventual citizenship.
posted by jeather at 8:50 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by jeather at 8:50 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I did not do the Experience Class (I'm married to a citizen) but I have a colleague who did and will be happy to ask him specific questions about it if you like. The process of applying for PR status takes *forever*, even if you have lawyers working for you, so the *instant* you become eligible for the Experience Class (or whatever) start the process. It'll probably take at least a year and a half to two years to come out on the other side.
Good luck.
posted by the dief at 5:49 AM on October 3, 2011 [1 favorite]