Hello Friends,
Last week I shared my PR news with my colleagues at work in USA, and to my surprise, I came to know that three people left my client last year in pursuit of Canada dream. They were in this project for 3 years, and in US for 6 to 8 years before moving to Canada.
I found their contact and spoke to them. Here are their experiences. I hope this will help someone, and I will try my level best to put their experience without any bias or my view. Please consume and use the information responsibly.
All three people are senior java developers with 10+ years' of experience. They have been working in us for past 6 to 8 years. Two people I-140 was approved, and waiting for priority date to be current, and other person moved because of 6 year limitation and his PERM was not applied by that time.
If they wanted to continue with current client, they would have settled here itself because of the job security. Two people are doing job in US and staying Canada, and other person completely relocated to Canada.
Their Experience:
Moving to Canada (Background and Views):
With good technical background, they didn't have any trouble getting job. They all got jobs in CANADA within 3 days, in fact two people applied form US and did the interview from here itself. The problem was not with the job. The problem was with car, school and adjusting to new customs and culture. But the time will pass very quickly, and by no time you will get accustomed to Canada. If you are already in US for more than 2 years, then it is a peace of cake.
Two of them decided to do the job in Detroit and commute from Windsor. They are doing it now. It takes 30 to 35 minutes to commute on normal days, and 1 hour on busy days to cross the border. They have applied for nexus card, and they don't have any problem with commute.
The person who settled in Toronto is a bachelor, and having time of his life. I really felt his happiness of freedom in his voice. He sold off everything in US and bought everything in Canada. Period.
After little bit initial struggle, all are settled now, and enjoying their PR status without any problem.
Their Views, Suggestions and Mistakes to avoid:
1) The main problem was with moving CAR from US to Canada. Canada MVA department is totally different. For car registration, you need all the details, such as car manufacturing location, and initial import location, and where car was purchased all those details. Get them from your Dealer before moving. Basically you need all your car history.
2) Car Insurance is a big deal in Canada because they want to avoid any problems with liability, so without any prior insurance, you will end up paying huge in the beginning. As your insurance years accumulate, so does your insurance levels go down. To avoid this issue, take a proof from your current insurance that you have at least insurance for 3 YEARS. This last 3 years proof will save at least 50% premium.
3) Schools are good, but their kids could not make to same class as they were in US. After taking the standard knowledge test, they have been admitted to one class lower. So this point proofs that US schools give high grades for their compensation (at least their schools, there are lots of websites with this information). Don't forget to take your kids immunization, school, sports and extract achievements proofs from the current school.
4) Two of them are in Windsor, and the rent for 2B/2B apartment is 500$ and 600$ for full furnished home. They are working in Detroit so they get US salaries, and pay US tax, and include these details while paying Canada Tax.
5) To count the days towards the PR, you have to be present in Canada every day, there is no rule of exact hours. As long as you present in Canada every day, that should be ok. So purchasing something ($1) item every day in Canada by person using your debit or credit card should suffices for that purpose.
6) The main difference is in population density. Apart from major metro cities like Toronto, Vancouver most of the towns like Windsor have pretty less people. Once you are out of main city the roads are deserted. There will be no body on either side of the road for miles, but the beautiful nature. It is just like Texas but with trees. Everything is huge.
7) As most of the people have already read over the internet, this is a very safe country. Very Safe. As most of the Indians stay in metro cities in US, they know the kind of dangers and kind of neighborhood to avoid. You don't have that problem in Canada. People are friendly, in fact If you are in H1 you know the difference people show to you in US, they won't be explicit, but you will understand by their actions and looks. This won't happen in Canada, it is straight forward, and more multicultural.
8) Yes, jobs are scarce, but not all type of jobs. As you know neither Canada is a world no one economy nor it has any problem keeping it spot. Canada cares about its people. Remember this point always when you are in Canada. Because their tax, health and education systems are tied together. Everyone pays high taxes so that you all can live a safe live as collective society.
9) Neither US nor anybody in US care about you if something happens to you. But Canada is different. It will take care of your healthcare, and also your children education, and what's more, from Day 1 with PR, you are eligible for retirement benefits from government. So your old and retirement age is pretty much secured with healthcare, and retirement pension (do research, you will be amazed with retirement benefits you get in Canada). This is one of the main reasons motivated these people to change the jobs (even though they were very secured and long term).
10) If you get Canada citizenship and US green card, you can work in US and when you retire, irrespective of your location, you will get the Canada retirement pension. So assume, you got both Canada and US citizenship, then in old age, you will get two incomes. How many people really get it? You deserve it, because you have put thought, energy, time and money to get a PR and Canada citizenship, so don't lose it.
11) Start looking for a job as soon as you get the PPR request. You can do it online using the job sites. Submit your resume, and also plan for an interview when you do the landing process. (Disclaimer: I already did an interview like this, so I can tell you that it works)
12) Weather is not a problem as long as you are not moving from southern or western states of US. If you have already been living close to border or in states above Atlanta, then it won't be a problem. Did you think about weather in New York, Boston or New Hampshire when you initially planned to move to US? You didn't you were ready to work anywhere in US. Talk to people who are working in north east states about weather, it won't be much different in Canada either. I think you got the point.
13) One more drastic paradigm change is in the people attitudes. In US, you see a rush kind of attitude towards work. In Canada, the view is towards more life and work balance, and with bias towards more comfortable life. It takes some time to adjust for that culture. This philosophy is reflected in their every policy, and rule from healthcare to school education. Everyone matters.
14) After their 1 year stay in Canada, their bottom line view is, Don't compare US and Canada. They are different apart from common traffic rules, and share a border. People want Canada citizenship for easy entry and exit to both US and Canada. You can earn more money in US at the cost of lots of things. Basically you run behind a mirage in US, and in Canada you relax and enjoy the mirage view sitting in your balcony. But eventually you have to settle in one location, so give preference to your dreams, aspirations and motivations.
I will be adding more and more points as my research finds out more info ... Please you also share your views and thoughts so that we all could make a collective good decision.
Note 1: I wanted to add these points to my main post, but this forum could not let me edit that post, so if this post is not editable after two days, then I will post remaining information as separate post. Thank you guys!
Note 2: There are lots of people on this forum who are working in Canada or settled down. So I encourage and appreciate you people sharing and correcting these points and feel free to share more info. Thank you!
