US-based applicants, let's connect here

[moose17]

TrumpRefugee, what are some of your biggest fears/concerns about the move?

I'm not trumprefugee but it's a good question for all of us. My main fears are difficulty finding work and dealing with the change in lifestyle. We've lived in single-family homes for years and going back to apartment life will be an adjustment (we won't miss snow shoveling and yard work though!), and if we move to Toronto it'll be a huge change from our current life in a small city. That's a big part of why we're looking at the Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge area, but if Toronto has more jobs we'll go there to be safe. We do love big cities - we just haven't actually lived in one!

And, of course, I share trumprefugee's fears related to application problems. I would love for everything to go smoothly but life is never that simple so I'm bracing myself for some inevitable issue and I just hope it's something fixable!

 

[systix]

You don't need the PR card for land journeys. Technically you do not need it for air journeys too if you are from a visa exempt country (like the US), however since visa exempt countries now need preapproval to fly and PRs cannot get pre approvals (since they don't need it), it leads to a situation where you will not be let on a plane if you do not have the PR card.

So land journeys should be fine for air travel, you would need to apply for a PRTD.

Thanks ...

I am finding myself in a situation where:

1. When I get CoPR, intend to do a soft landing via land border, stay for about a week or two while I figure out my work / stay / rent situation. Complete all landing formalities including apply for PR card (can give friends'/relatives' address for PR delivery).

2. Come back into the USA, spend a little while there (this is the uncertain part, I am not sure how much time).

3. Since I am not from a visa exempt country, re-enter Canada with either a.) PRTD (anybody have experience how much time this takes?) OR, b.) If a PRTD is not required, just enter with CoPR OR c.) if the stay in US is long enough, get PR card from friends/relatives before going

3.a. When doing landing ... most of my stuff would be within the US, will only be declaring major things as 'Goods to Follow' ... and bring in step 3.


Anybody with similar experiences??, especially, PRTD vs just CoPR while re-entering?? I am from a visa non-exempt country (i.e. typically I would need a Visa).

 

[Adrouault]

I'm not trumprefugee but it's a good question for all of us. My main fears are difficulty finding work and dealing with the change in lifestyle. We've lived in single-family homes for years and going back to apartment life will be an adjustment (we won't miss snow shoveling and yard work though!), and if we move to Toronto it'll be a huge change from our current life in a small city. That's a big part of why we're looking at the Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge area, but if Toronto has more jobs we'll go there to be safe. We do love big cities - we just haven't actually lived in one!

And, of course, I share trumprefugee's fears related to application problems. I would love for everything to go smoothly but life is never that simple so I'm bracing myself for some inevitable issue and I just hope it's something fixable!

Yes, my question was open to all.

A lot of fears and worries about this process. It's a big deal!

 

[moose17]

Yes, my question was open to all.

A lot of fears and worries about this process. It's a big deal!

Ah, good I figured as much but you never know!

It was kind of funny, when we started this process (in January), the CRS numbers were so high we thought it was a long-shot and maybe we'd just get lucky and get a provincial nomination or maybe even a job offer to pull our score up but figured we were looking at at least a year for anything to really get going. We paid no attention at all to the CRS score situation and went along with our IELTS tests and ECAs and suddenly in June we got on EE, caught up on the recent CRS scores, and they had been so low we realized it could be days to an ITA! At first we were scared and felt like things were moving too fast and we second-guessed ourselves but when we got so disappointed on our first potential draw day where nothing happened we realized how much we wanted this. Then we got an NOI from Ontario and were so thrilled and that confirmed it. It was quite the roller coaster progression!

 

[Adrouault]

It'll be interesting in 18 months or so to look back and see if there was an increase in actual American immigration to Canada.
By which I don't count FB posts of empty threats, but actual migration.

 

[picklee]

Thanks ...

I am finding myself in a situation where:

1. When I get CoPR, intend to do a soft landing via land border, stay for about a week or two while I figure out my work / stay / rent situation. Complete all landing formalities including apply for PR card (can give friends'/relatives' address for PR delivery).

2. Come back into the USA, spend a little while there (this is the uncertain part, I am not sure how much time).

3. Since I am not from a visa exempt country, re-enter Canada with either a.) PRTD (anybody have experience how much time this takes?) OR, b.) If a PRTD is not required, just enter with CoPR OR c.) if the stay in US is long enough, get PR card from friends/relatives before going

3.a. When doing landing ... most of my stuff would be within the US, will only be declaring major things as 'Goods to Follow' ... and bring in step 3.


Anybody with similar experiences??, especially, PRTD vs just CoPR while re-entering?? I am from a visa non-exempt country (i.e. typically I would need a Visa).

You will apply for the PRTD at the nearest Canadian embassy in your country. Can take a while, weeks to months from my understanding, depends on workload of that embassy. If you are in U.S. and wish to re-enter Canada, you can do so at any land crossing with COPR and passport. If you are in the U.S. for 2-3 months, then you could drive to Canada to pick up your PR card (assuming your friend/relative is reasonably near the border). Flying or taking a bus/train/ship will require PR card.

 

[moose17]

It'll be interesting in 18 months or so to look back and see if there was an increase in actual American immigration to Canada.
By which I don't count FB posts of empty threats, but actual migration.

Agreed! My husband and I actually just saw a segment on the news about this recently. I think it was CBS but this has the same info: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/us/immigrating-to-canada-stats-trnd/index.html

We were like "Seriously? That doesn't even tell you anything!" We started this process in January and may not submit a PR application until October (assuming we get an ITA soon)! It would be far more interesting to look at data on who's taking the IELTS, since even data on Express Entry profiles won't account for the time taken to get IELTS tests and ECAs arranged.

On that note, how were people's experiences with those tests? We each had, we believe, one other American at our tests (separate days because baby, and my husband did 2 tests because he got mixed up during the listening section the first time). But when I was waiting for my spoken portion next to someone from (I believe) India, he asked why I was there and it turned out he was also applying through the FSW program also to make sure he and his wife had a backup option. I suspect there's a lot more movement happening than may be visible in the current statistics from CIC. I really wish we could get IELTS ones though. That would seem to me to be the most telling at this point.

 

[canada_eagle]

Agreed! My husband and I actually just saw a segment on the news about this recently. I think it was CBS but this has the same info: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/us/immigrating-to-canada-stats-trnd/index.html

We were like "Seriously? That doesn't even tell you anything!" We started this process in January and may not submit a PR application until October (assuming we get an ITA soon)! It would be far more interesting to look at data on who's taking the IELTS, since even data on Express Entry profiles won't account for the time taken to get IELTS tests and ECAs arranged.

On that note, how were people's experiences with those tests? We each had, we believe, one other American at our tests (separate days because baby, and my husband did 2 tests because he got mixed up during the listening section the first time). But when I was waiting for my spoken portion next to someone from (I believe) India, he asked why I was there and it turned out he was also applying through the FSW program also to make sure he and his wife had a backup option. I suspect there's a lot more movement happening than may be visible in the current statistics from CIC. I really wish we could get IELTS ones though. That would seem to me to be the most telling at this point.

Not sure if we will see a statistical difference. Mostly because Canada is already a very popular destination and being a US citizen does not give any kind of CRS boost. So a bunch of US folks may want to move but CRS requirement and the sheer paper work and process involved would dissuade a whole bunch.

If you look at the 2016 report http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/reports/ee-year-end-2016.asp, US was already the 5th most by nationality after India, Philippines, China. And also US and was the 3rd most by residence after Canada and India.

 

[Adrouault]

When I went into the testing centre in Toronto to take the CELPIP there were quite a few Americans and Brits.

 

[moose17]

Not sure if we will see a statistical difference. Mostly because Canada is already a very popular destination and being a US citizen does not give any kind of CRS boost. So a bunch of US folks may want to move but CRS requirement and the sheer paper work and process involved would dissuade a whole bunch.

If you look at the 2016 report http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/reports/ee-year-end-2016.asp, US was already the 5th most by nationality after India, Philippines, China. And also US and was the 3rd most by residence after Canada and India.

Table 13 there is pretty interesting though, even though based on the timings it wouldn't be directly election-related. Well, at least election-result-related.

Another factor, like the man I met at the IELTS, would be people from other countries wanting to immigrate to N. America but choosing Canada over the US in larger numbers than before. We've already seen those reports about Canadian universities seeing more international applicants, and that's a figure that like IELTS stats would reflect changes more quickly than submitted PR apps and subsequent admissions.

Depending on how things go I could see a noticeable increase in Americans moving north. Yes it's an expense and the paperwork takes time and effort but compared to years ahead of insurance issues and expenses? I've been saying since we started this that it's expensive but still comes out to about the out-of-pocket maximum for one person on our insurance! In that context, it's not such a bad investment, and while the IELTS was a pain it was less so than endless insurance phone calls. More might come to see it like that too.

@Adrouault - that's interesting. I probably would have felt much less self-conscious had my experience been like that! Though at my husband's second test, one of the workers who recognized him from his first asked if he was trying to escape Trump-land lol (and, according to him, seemed to hold no negative thoughts or judgments if that were the case *phew*).

 

[picklee]

These are all fair points for Americans, but the reality is that you need a job to successfully settle in Canada. This is really the biggest obstacle. Unless you work in banking, energy, or materials sectors, which make up more than 75% of the Canadian economy, good luck finding permanent employment. I have lived in Canada for 6 years now, 4 years as a graduate student and 2 working on year-to-year contracts in the forestry sector (materials). Still I wonder where the funding for my next contract will come from or if a permanent position will present itself. I have actually been applying for more positions state-side as there seems to be more opportunity for permanent positions.

 

[canada_eagle]

These are all fair points for Americans, but the reality is that you need a job to successfully settle in Canada. This is really the biggest obstacle. Unless you work in banking, energy, or materials sectors, which make up more than 75% of the Canadian economy, good luck finding permanent employment. I have lived in Canada for 6 years now, 4 years as a graduate student and 2 working on year-to-year contracts in the forestry sector (materials). Still I wonder where the funding for my next contract will come from or if a permanent position will present itself. I have actually been applying for more positions state-side as there seems to be more opportunity for permanent positions.

The scale of economy plays a big factor too. US economy and population are much larger then Canada leading to significantly more (diverse) opportunities.

 

[Emilie]

Honestly, your'e lucky you have the luxury to do that. I have submitted my application as well. You know how the OPT works, so its a race against time. The US has better pay, more jobs, but if you're not going to sponsor, then technically, those weren't 'jobs' for us in the first place. So much for having a US degree and all that.

The job search is a little tricky in Canada, or so I hear, but at least you will have more controllable factors in your hands. Hope it goes well for you and hope I make it in the next month or two as well.

Thank you. I am scared, but the prospect either to be expelled, or to be stuck into the sponsoring job forever made my decision. My OPT ends in October, so the timing is good. I would have prefered PR now, beacuse I will be obliged to pay insurance for 2 years just to enter, but all in all, I am lucky.

 

[kynno]

Hey guys,

I'm not a US citizen but I've been living in the US for the last 12 years. My future in the US doesn't look like it will pan out how I'd hope so I'm taking a plunge and looking at immigrating to Canada hopefully on a permanent basis. Now, I already received my ECA and I'm expecting to get my IELTS result tomorrow (the online version anyway) and I'm planning on creating my profile then. Not really sure where I'll end up in terms of CRS score but I'm hoping it will be in the 410s - 420s or higher. That said, I started living in the US a couple of months before I turned 18 so I'm thinking the PCC from the FBI is the only one I will need. My question is how do non-US citizens go about getting the fingerprints taken and get them processed? I checked the site and it got me a bit confused talking about channel and whatnot. Do I just go to a police station and ask someone to help me with that?

The other thing, has anyone used their 401K as proof of funds? Does it matter if you are 100% vested? My plan is to use both my 401K and my savings as proof of funds. That said, if CIC looks back at the last 6 months, I've slowly built the funds to where I now have the required amount and a little bit extra, would that cause an issue because the funds weren't all in the account over the 6 months period?

Let me know your thoughts please.

 

[canada_eagle]

Hey guys,

I'm not a US citizen but I've been living in the US for the last 12 years. My future in the US doesn't look like it will pan out how I'd hope so I'm taking a plunge and looking at immigrating to Canada hopefully on a permanent basis. Now, I already received my ECA and I'm expecting to get my IELTS result tomorrow (the online version anyway) and I'm planning on creating my profile then. Not really sure where I'll end up in terms of CRS score but I'm hoping it will be in the 410s - 420s or higher. That said, I started living in the US a couple of months before I turned 18 so I'm thinking the PCC from the FBI is the only one I will need. My question is how do non-US citizens go about getting the fingerprints taken and get them processed? I checked the site and it got me a bit confused talking about channel and whatnot. Do I just go to a police station and ask someone to help me with that?

The other thing, has anyone used their 401K as proof of funds? Does it matter if you are 100% vested? My plan is to use both my 401K and my savings as proof of funds. That said, if CIC looks back at the last 6 months, I've slowly built the funds to where I now have the required amount and a little bit extra, would that cause an issue because the funds weren't all in the account over the 6 months period?

Let me know your thoughts please.

If you are a permanent resident you can use a channeller. They would do everything for you including getting fingerprints. The one I used also got the results back on the same day. I got to the channeller from the FBI site, do not remember the details. If you are not US PR then look at some other threads in this forum, there are a bunch of other folks getting it. Your city police will provide a fingerprinting service (mine only does it on certain days). They will either do actual ink or a electronic one or provide you options of doing either.

No ideas about 401k. There are other POF threads on the forum you should check out.