Been living in Canada for 10+ years, still a student

[WalterD]

Hi, first time on this forum, well met ladies and gentlemen.


Well, some background first.
I'm a South Korean national born in the year of 92 and I've been in Canada since 2003.
I've attended elementary through high school and I'm in college now.
I'm 24 now, on my last year of college for Biomedical Engineering Technologist Co-op
I've worked 2 work terms but was not paid, so it doesn't count as working.
The Post secondary Advanced Diploma program which is 3 years including co-op, 2 years without co-op will finish next year April, 2016 April.
Only my aunt and cousins are here, no immediate family to sponsor me in.
Also, I am a forever alone...No wife here to sponsor me in.

I require express entry for PR or Citizenship but not sure if I actually am eligible for any of that as since I've been called back to Korea for mandatory military service for 24 months plus the wait time.
My passport expires around dec 2016 and it won't be renewed unless my time served.

I've been living here for almost 11 years, and everyone at the school asks me why I haven't applied for a citizenship yet but I believe I'm not eligible unless I meet specific category?

Someone spoke about PNP but I feel like that depends on the luck doesn't it? There are thousands of people applying for that and I heard they only pic handful a month, so that's out of the question.

It just feels weird because I've been in Canada all my childhood and I'm still considered an immigrant, while some guys fresh off the boat who can barely speak English is considered citizen more so than I am just because they have family here...

Is there any way for me to get a PR be the end of next year?

Thank a whole lot.

Also please move my thread if it's in the wrong section, but I need express entry that's going to take less than a year, so I thought it might be relevant here.

 

[dobes]

You're kind of in a bad place. Your best option would be a post-grad work permit, which would allow you to work in Canada for three years and then apply for PR as someone with Canadian experience.

If you truly cannot put off your military service (and I would do whatever I could to accomplish that), then probably your best option is to do it, then work for at least a year in Korea in a job that would be classified as NOC 0, A, or B. Then you can apply to come back to Canada as an FSW applicant. Obviously, your English scores would be high, and your degree would be Canadian, and that would give you an advantage in the EE pool.

So sorry I can't think of anything else. Maybe someone else can.

 

[WalterD]

You're kind of in a bad place. Your best option would be a post-grad work permit, which would allow you to work in Canada for three years and then apply for PR as someone with Canadian experience.

So sorry I can't think of anything else. Maybe someone else can.

Thanks for the reply, Yeah I'm kind of between rock and a hard place right now.
It's not that I'm scared of serving the military it's just too much time going towards something that isn't going to help me in the future. 2 years + almost 6 months of wait time to serve.
Also I'm not a very proficient Korean speaker, I think in English alright.

My score for the express entry is around 400 or 390.

I'm not looking to work in Korea, don't think just because I was born there that I would be all 'Korean' and would get along fine there, but I digress.

Would Korean Military count towards NOC?
It just bothers me because if I go military, I'm looking at returning to Canada damn near 30, I'll be finishing school at 24/25, then go back to be in line for military and serve I'll be out around 27/28.

27?! 28?! That's 2 year shy from 30!! I spend my entire 20s spent in school and in military?

Would you suggest spousal sponsor to be better? Maybe since it's Canada and they allow same sex marriage, my friend will do it for me? Ha.. ha....
I'm sorry but I never thought I'd be dealing with stuff like this.

Thanks again by the way.

 

[dobes]

Thanks for the reply, Yeah I'm kind of between rock and a hard place right now.
It's not that I'm scared of serving the military it's just too much time going towards something that isn't going to help me in the future. 2 years + almost 6 months of wait time to serve.
Also I'm not a very proficient Korean speaker, I think in English alright.

My score for the express entry is around 400 or 390.

I'm not looking to work in Korea, don't think just because I was born there that I would be all 'Korean' and would get along fine there, but I digress.

Would Korean Military count towards NOC?
It just bothers me because if I go military, I'm looking at returning to Canada damn near 30, I'll be finishing school at 24/25, then go back to be in line for military and serve I'll be out around 27/28.

27?! 28?! That's 2 year shy from 30!! I spend my entire 20s spent in school and in military?

Would you suggest spousal sponsor to be better? Maybe since it's Canada and they allow same sex marriage, my friend will do it for me? Ha.. ha....
I'm sorry but I never thought I'd be dealing with stuff like this.

Thanks again by the way.

Yes, if you are in a position for spousal sponsorship - that is, if you are or can be married to a Canadian, or if you can prove you have lived in a common law relationship for a year or more, then of course that would be better. It's unlikely to be processed completely in the next few months, however, so you would have to look at inland vs. outland sponsorship and choose the one that fits where you will have to be. Is there truly NO WAY to avoid that military service? Because without it your path would be clear.

 

[bnanaslp]

Hi, I'm glad to find someone who's in my shoes finally.

I am also a South Korean living in Canada since 2001. I also went to elementary through university here and I have been working in a small company for a year now on PGWP (NOC B). I am here all by myself- no relatives, no immediate family. I also do not plan to go back to Korea because I feel like I've become acculturated to Canada so much and I just don't think I will be able to adapt the Korean work/life style anymore. (do you know what i mean?) The only difference from your situation to mine is that I don't have to deal with the mandatory military service because I'm a female.

the only thing that I can think of right now that will help your situation is finding a company that will provide you a LMIA after your graduation. I know getting a LMIA is not easy but i think you can at least postpone your mandatory military service if you get the LMIA.

I've looked into the CIC website many many times and spoke to several people but it seems like the number of years lived in Canada does not increase the chance of getting a PR (i.e., it does not affect EE CRS at all). This frustrates me because I've lived + been educated in Canada more than half of my life here and yet I am still a "foreigner" - whereas someone who doesn't even speak a word of English/French is often a PR or a Canadian citizen. I think I deserve at least a few points on the scoring system but the CIC considers someone who's got more work experience + more degrees OUTSIDE CANADA more potential to be successful in Canada than somebody who actually spent more than half of his/her life IN CANADA.

sorry i couldn't be much of help but hopefully someone else can help you with your situation.
good luck with your studies.

 

[kateg]

Maybe since it's Canada and they allow same sex marriage, my friend will do it for me? Ha.. ha....

If you're willing to go that route, you might as well legally change your gender. You can have PR denied for a sham marriage.

 

[Jcgo9355]

I am in the same boat too..... I am from Taiwan and I can't renew my passport which expires Nov 2015 until I have served the mandatory military services........

I have been to Canada since 2005, did my secondary school and undergrad here, then started working at one of the big four accounting firm last year.

It's really frustrating to see all those people who barely speak English or have never been to Canada getting an ITA because of the LMIA which my employer can't really assist me with because we are a big four.......

 

[kateg]

JCGO, do you not qualify for CEC?

 

[Jcgo9355]

JCGO, do you not qualify for CEC?

Hi Kateg,

Yes, I am qualified for CEC; I am just really frustrated with the Express Entry program.

The goal of Express Entry is supposed to select candidates who are more likely to achieve an economic success; however, the 600 LMIA points seem to be contradicting and undermining that objective after all. Considering how many of them scored less than 300 points without LMIA....

 

[kateg]

The LMIA objectives don't contradict nor undermine that at all. If the number one factor in success is having a job, then giving the highest priority to jobs makes sense.

You're also looking at it from the perspective of the individual. If the point of the TFW system is to benefit Canadian employers, then giving priority to those with job offers also makes perfect sense. If it's also supposed to benefit the Canadian public, then requiring proof that no Canadian was suitable also makes perfect sense.

Immigration is seen as a necessary evil, not a good thing. The government wants only the immigrants necessary to help the Canadian economy (as the economic system based on debt requires consistent growth).

If you're a student who has graduated recently, you're not likely to have a whole lot of work experience. Unemployment is high, and there are many Canadians who are likely just as qualified as you. If that's the case, the conservative government doesn't really want you here.

It's not an accident, nor a mistake. It's by design.

 

[Suryak86]

Hey Walter,
First of all, I completely sympathize with you. I am in the same situation here in the US with absolutely no hope of getting my greencard within the next 7 years. I have been living here for about 9 years and because of how immigration rules are structured, they are very repressive towards people from India and China. So yes, I can definately understand what you are going through.

But, here is what I would do. If you have stayed in the same province all your life in Canada, try getting an appointment with the local PNP office, and explain to them your situation. And what you have contributed to Canada and their province, and what you can in the future. They might be able to bend the rules for you and just issue you a nomination. Everything is possible. After all, the whole point of a PNP is that they select people who are most likely to contribute to their province economically. If you are already suited to do that, there is no reason why they would not do it.

Good luck.

 

[ZingyDNA]

Yes, PNP is the way to go. Some provinces are very kind to people who gets a degree then have a job in their province. Once you can get the nomination, with those 600 pts it's a piece of cake to apply for PR through EE.

 

[Jcgo9355]

I understand what you are saying. I think the question here is, do and will the people scoring less than 300 points without a LMIA be able to create a lot value to Canada on the long term basis that really deserves the extra 600 points? After all, the fact that they scored 300 points or less on a personal level indicates that they are either super old and won't be able to contribute to the economic on a long term basis, or they lack the necessary English proficiency to thrive in the Canadian market (I wish they could, but the ugly truth is that you won't be able to even feed yourself in most cases, since most things are in English), or they do not have the necessary education create much value to the Canadian economic (I understand education doesn't represent competency in delivery exceptional works, but only a handful of people without necessary education were able to pull that through).

This being said, how much economic contribution could the people with less than 300 points possibly make to the economic on a long term basis? I am skeptical about it.

Turning to the unemployment issue. Personally, I believe that when you go through the job screening process and succeed, the result supports that you are better than the rest of the people in the pool, in most cases. Therefore, they have fundamentally proved the fact that they are better than the Canadians who can't land on a job, despite their natural advantages such as the English proficiency and cultural proximity (I think this is applicable to the most higher economic value creating jobs). Therefore, I think the ideas of saying that there are many Canadians as qualified as the foreigners who can beat them in a fair competition is fundamentally flawed. Advocate of this kind of idea is more likely to have an entitlement issue in my opinion, of course, I could be biased too, so it's just my 2 cents.

Regarding the number of years of experience you have, I don't think the quantity of work experience should be the only measure of how many points you can get in the work experience category. A person who demonstrated their excellence in their trade, even though he might have as little as one year experience, shouldn't be placed in a disadvantages against a person who didn't demonstrated the same level of excellence in their 30 years work history, as the former is more likely to have a brighter future than the later from a statistic and economic perspective.

Above is just my 2 cents, I am open to any other ideas, if it offended anyone, my apologies in advance.

The LMIA objectives don't contradict nor undermine that at all. If the number one factor in success is having a job, then giving the highest priority to jobs makes sense.

You're also looking at it from the perspective of the individual. If the point of the TFW system is to benefit Canadian employers, then giving priority to those with job offers also makes perfect sense. If it's also supposed to benefit the Canadian public, then requiring proof that no Canadian was suitable also makes perfect sense.

Immigration is seen as a necessary evil, not a good thing. The government wants only the immigrants necessary to help the Canadian economy (as the economic system based on debt requires consistent growth).

If you're a student who has graduated recently, you're not likely to have a whole lot of work experience. Unemployment is high, and there are many Canadians who are likely just as qualified as you. If that's the case, the conservative government doesn't really want you here.

It's not an accident, nor a mistake. It's by design.

 

[ZingyDNA]

PNP is basically a deal between the provincial governments and the federal government. If some provinces are granting nominations too easily, then you might say it's unfair for them to get 600 pts. But still, those provinces may desperately need people to immigrate there so the federal government will not interfere with their nomination. In that sense the nominees are deemed valuable to their provinces, thus worth the 600 pts.

As for the LMIA, you should realize it's very hard to get nowadays, and those who can get approved are very much needed by their employers. So the LMIA holders are contributing to the economy for sure and deserve the 600 pts as well... In fact, I think it's so hard to get LMIA that some who deserve it are not getting it.

I understand what you are saying. I think the question here is, do and will the people scoring less than 300 points without a LMIA be able to create a lot value to Canada on the long term basis that really deserves the extra 600 points?

 

[mattaz]

Hi Walter,

Just wanted to say... I hear you. I'm exactly in the same place as you are...
Expiring passport, extending military, getting the passport renew and getting visa to renew... (it's so complicated... haha)

I'm a South Korean national born in the year of 1989.

Came to Canada in 2002... I've attended elementary through high school and University.
I worked here and there after I graduated from Bachelor of design.

Have a hope. Also I wanted to tell you that you can renew the military services until age of 27 so you've got little bit of time.
(If you like I can tell you more information on this)

My visa will be expires soon and need to find someway extend the visa to stay in Canada. And I can't stay in South Korea for no more than 2 months because if i do, they can put me into army. I can still can extend the military service one more year and that's it for me... so I hope I get the invitation by this year so I can get the PR next year. (The timeline is very tight for me... )

Let me know how it goes.

Wish you all the best and luck!