PMM, Leon, BC Guy can you help me please?

[Brown eyed girl]

Since it looks like our application for FSW has been rejected, my husband is still wishing to explore other options and one of the possibilities is for me to enrol in a Canadian college/uni as an international mature student (if I read correctly my husband would be able to get an open work permit for the duration of my studies?). Can you give me some advice please?

- Will the fact that I applied for FSW (and failed) be a reason for CIC to refuse me a student visa? (I mean I can appreciate it will look a bit suspicious me applying to go as a student after I was rejected for FSW. How can I get round this?)

- Assuming I were successful and managed to get a student visa, would we be allowed to buy a house/apartment in Canada or is it a requirement that a buyer has to be a PR? Once we sell our house in the UK we would probably have enough capital to buy an apartment/condo outright without a mortgage in Canada.

- Is it true that I would eventually be able to apply for PR under the Canadian Experience class? Can this be done after my first year as a student or would I have to wait for my course to finish.

- I know that as a student I would have to take out private medical insurance as I would not be covered under free health service. Once my husband finds a job would he be eligible for free health service, or would he have to get private insurance too?

-Finally, do you think I need a lawyer/consultant to file my application for student visa or should I save my money to pay for college? I am just a bit wary now since the fiasco of the FSW application....

Sorry to ask so many questions but I know you guys are always so helpful and obliging. Also I wanted to wish you all Happy Holidays to you and your families.

 

[black haired guy]

If you don't mind can i ask why you are trying so hard to go to Canada? Is UK so bad?

 

[claxtonCT]

black haired guy if you don’t mind me answering (hehe) I don’t like the UK, specially here in London. Its nice to come visit for a week but life here is too hard and expensive.

Brown eyed girl: having your application turned down because you don’t qualify does not make you inadmissible in Canada. You will only have to show a very good case and prove STRONG TIES TO THE UK.

Lets wait on comments from Leon, PMM and BCGuy...

 

[Brown eyed girl]

Hi Black Haired Guy

It's not the end of the world if we don't go to Canada, I mean we're not starving or homeless here in the UK. The UK is in a very deep recession, there is also a lot of crime here and all you hear about is stabbings, gun crime and burglaries in the East London area where we live. Last October we visited our friends in Grimsby, ON and were amazed at how quiet and safe the town felt, people can walk outside after dark and don't need CCTV to check who's at their front door! Suffice to say that a lot of Eastern Europeans who flooded UK after the EU expansion are now going back to Poland and their home countries because they found they cannot afford to live here. It's just too expensive!

 

[black haired guy]

Thanks, i did not know it so bad out there. I always thought it was a nice place to live in the UK. I understand about the recession its the same pretty much anywhere in the world. But its not worth risking your life living in lawless and crime ridden place like UK i guess.

 

[BCguy]

Actually We have lots of British people coming here and We are recruiting British People for BRITISH Columbia.Couple of corrections are in order,You would be eligible for coverage under MSP or medical service plans of most provinces after a waiting period except for RICH Alberta with no waiting period.After graduating from any Insitution,you qualify under that Province s PNP as an international graduate.Dont sell your home as proof you will return to the UK and Good Luck

 

[Leon]

You can apply as a student and your husband can get an open work permit.

It might be hard to explain to Canada immigration that you applied as an FSW but now want to apply for student visa promising to go back to the UK at the end of your studies. Still they will consider you less likely to overstay since you are from a western country. It's not like the UK is all that horrible of a place to live in.

You would be able to buy a house/condo in Canada even though you are not a PR. You would need 25% down payment instead of 5% but if you have the money, that doesn't matter. Hold on to your house in the UK until after you secure your student visa because it is your proof that you will be returning. You can leave it with an agent to sell when you move and rent for the first little while in Canada. Even make a 1 year lease in Canada while renting out your house in the UK. Whatever works. You can see houses at http://www.mls.ca/ but beware of condo's. Many houses in Canada are not that well built. You can even have a conversation with the neighbours in some of them through the walls. It's not much privacy and only takes one loud neighbour to ruin your life. Houses are ok because they have that bit of air space between your house and the neighbours but make sure you get it inspected before you buy and go with a bigger inspection company. Then you can sue them if something goes reallly wrong.

If you had enough points for FSW, you can apply for FSW after one year in Canada as a student even when you are not on the list of 38. You can also after you graduate and get a job offer apply under a Provincial nominee program depending on where you are. For CEC, you need to do a 2 year recognized program and then work for a year before you can apply.

In Ontario if you choose to go there, you would not get health insurance as a student and spouses with open work permits have a problem getting it too since they make it a requirement that you are on a work permit tied to a ON employer. If you go somewhere else, it depends on where you are. In BC, you pay a monthly fee for your healtcare but you would both be covered after a 3 month waiting period. In AB you pay nothing and you would both be covered starting day 1 but then again it is -25C here now and in BC they cry when it goes below 0

I think you can manage to apply for a student visa by yourself but first you need to get accepted to a school.

 

[BCguy]

Thats correct,Get yourself accepted at at College or University and then your spouse has a open work visa.We also are howling because its a white Christmas this year,Normally it snows only 4-5 times during winter.-8 right now and the shut the roads down,send people from work early and call it a snow day in schools.Thank Goodness Alberta is richer then us or else the Albertans would all move here and Alberta would have the population of Nunavut.Look up the websites of University of Victoria,Simon Fraser University,Kwantlen University,Capilano University,BCIT,University of British Columbia and consider relocating to one of the best places on Earth to live in,Sorry But thats really our provincial logo "The Best Place on Earth" and We use "Beautiful British Columbia" on our license plates unlike the Albertans"Strong and Free" and rich and COLD

 

[Brown eyed girl]

Ha ha you guys cracked me up with your quips about the weather, noisy neighbours, badly built condos and the rich "Albertans"...thank you so much to all of you (and for cheering me up too!).

The information you gave me is really, really good and will help me make an informed choice. I agree that it would be foolhardy to sell the house in UK until we have landed safely in Canada and made it through immigration. To your knowledge, has anyone been refused admission by the Immigration officer at the point of entry despite having the correct visa/documentation?

Wow I was not aware that I could apply for FSW after one year of being a student there without requirement of being on 38 List. That is awesome. I guess CIC are going to be expecting an influx of new students and surely they must know that some of those students will apply for FSW or CEC.

Oh well time to start researching some colleges and uni's. Thanks BC Guy for the suggestions, I will check them out although my cousins and friends all live in Ontario. But I must admit BC does sound like a very nice place to live....