British Royal Marine Commando wishing to immigrate to Canada with family

[Chris_Davies]

Hi all,

I am currently serving as a sergeant in the British Royal Marines. After years of talk and decision making we have decided that now is time to hopefully immigrate to Canada. We are looking to start the process of getting our PR Visa, and possibly looking at moving to British Columbia or Ontario. I specialise in communications and have Diplomas in management and my wife is a registered Dental Nurse and Practice Manager. We are also moving with our two year old daughter Alice.

Any advice on great places to live and work, areas with low crime and decent schools etc would be highly appreciated. Also any advice on the use of an attorney, real estate agent and any career/job/head hunting agencies.

I thank you very much in advance fore your time and effort.

Chris, Katie and Alice.

 

[Leon]

First worry about getting the PR visa, then you can think about where to live. It would not be a bad idea to look at the job market online to see where you think you might have the best job opportunities in your field. You can also immigrate via job offer, that is if you get a work permit and turn it into immigration later.

 

[scylla]

I agree with Leon. Your first focus should be determining if you qualify to immigrate and through which stream - and then putting the paperwork together.

Unfortunately it looks like neither of your occupations are on the desired occupations list for the Federal Skilled Worker program:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/complete-applications.asp

If neither of your occupations appear on this list, this means that one of you needs to secure a job offer in Canada in order to qualify to apply through the Federal Skilled Worker program. (Note: There's a chance you MIGHT qualify under NOC 1122. You would have to read the detailed description to confirm. This occupation has hit its cap for the year and CIC is no longer accepting new applications. The cap will reset on July 1st and it's assumed this occupation will still be on the list - no guarantees. Last year this occupation hit its cap in about 5 business days. If you fall under this occupation and want to apply when the cap resets on July 1st, you'll have to make sure your completed packages arrives at the processing office on the first or second business day of the month to have any hope of making the cap.)

Other immigration streams you may wish to read up on are here (especially the provincial programs):

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp

As Leon mentioned, another option would be to secure a temporary work permit here (you would need to find an employer first and obtain a job offer and approved labour market opinion to make this happen).

Long story short, right now it's not clear if you and your wife qualify to immigrate. Determining this and putting your application together if you do in fact qualify should be your first focus.

Good luck.

 

[scylla]

Just to add... You mentioned your wife is a Dental Nurse. Is she an actual nurse or possibly a dental hygienist?