Wish to immigrate to Canada after Trump won, my chances, and best strategies?

[yingnan]

Unlike many in the south who joke about this, I’m serious. I want a better place for my family, especially my kids. After a little research, I’m under the impression that I might get permanent residence sooner in Canada than in the US.

Background
• Citizen of China
• PhD in political science from an American university
• Now an assistant professor at an American university
• Estimated CRS: 456

I already began to look for jobs in Canada, aware that faculty jobs in Canada are few and preferences are given to Canadians. My questions are:
• As things stand, is the idea of Canadian immigration realistic or a waste of time?
• Should I apply for the Express Entry before having a job in Canada, or should I wait to apply until I land a job?
• Are there better ways I have not considered?

 

[DelPiero07]

1 - Considering that the most recent draw was 447 you have realistic chances.
2 - Yes
3 - I wouldn't say "better" but provincial nomination is also an option.

 

[andrewhl]

Unlike many in the south who joke about this, I’m serious. I want a better place for my family, especially my kids. After a little research, I’m under the impression that I might get permanent residence sooner in Canada than in the US.

Background
• Citizen of China
• PhD in political science from an American university
• Now an assistant professor at an American university
• Estimated CRS: 456

I already began to look for jobs in Canada, aware that faculty jobs in Canada are few and preferences are given to Canadians. My questions are:
• As things stand, is the idea of Canadian immigration realistic or a waste of time?
• Should I apply for the Express Entry before having a job in Canada, or should I wait to apply until I land a job?
• Are there better ways I have not considered?

Why not going through eb1
US is way superior compared to Canada.
I came here from the States because I don't have a PHD degree so eb2 is way too long for me. But speaking of career and market, US has way more opportunities.


If you really would like to do this, I think you should try to find some employer who can help you get a LMIA based closed work permit. I came here with one of them (LMO at my time), this is the fastest way for one without Canadian degree to enter Canada as foreigners.
Not sure if you can just apply through ExpressEntry right now without any kind of Canadian experience.
And I suggest you get the ECA for your US degree and Chinese degree as soon as possible, which would take 1-3 months and they will be good for another 5 years.

 

[TimeLord18]

@Yingnan With a score of 456 you might get an ITA. Luckily the score dropped below 450 this week. Applying through Express Entry is the best option for you. You have to decide whether you are really interested in moving to Canada.

Even though creating an Express entry profile is free, you still need an IELTS score and Education evaluation results to create the profile. Once you get an ITA there's the cost for Medicals, Police Clearance certificate, and finally the fees for the PR. All of this takes considerable effort and money. Take everything into consideration before making your decision.

 

[omarimam]

Why not going through eb1
US is way superior compared to Canada.
I came here from the States because I don't have a PHD degree so eb2 is way too long for me. But speaking of career and market, US has way more opportunities.


If you really would like to do this, I think you should try to find some employer who can help you get a LMIA based closed work permit. I came here with one of them (LMO at my time), this is the fastest way for one without Canadian degree to enter Canada as foreigners.
Not sure if you can just apply through ExpressEntry right now without any kind of Canadian experience.
And I suggest you get the ECA for your US degree and Chinese degree as soon as possible, which would take 1-3 months and they will be good for another 5 years.

You can apply even if you dont have any Canadian experience, as long as you have 1 year of skilled experience anywhere in the world!

Thanks

 

[andrewhl]

You can apply even if you dont have any Canadian experience, as long as you have 1 year of skilled experience anywhere in the world!

Thanks

Then the OP would have no problem if the CRS scores keeps going down
But for him ECA for Chinese degree would usually take a longer time (I assume he has one)
And FBI clearance is a headache which usually take another 3 months

 

[thepilot]

Don't know why you want to move to Canada, USA is still great.

 

[andrewhl]

Don't know why you want to move to Canada, USA is still great.

Agreed
The only problem for Chinese born applicant in US is the waiting period is ridiculous long.
Usually it took 4-5 years for a master degree Chinese national h1b holder to begin the process of green card application
let along the time for the employer to sponsor the applicant for H1b documentation and PERM documentation(kind of like Canadian LMIA)
Applicant born out of China and India are usually processed much faster, almost same time frame comparing to Canada.
For us, U.S. is not considered as an ideal immigration country anymore. It probably takes a Chinese-born applicant almost 10 years from start a master degree program in the States to the point where he gets a greencard.

 

[yingnan]

1 - Considering that the most recent draw was 447 you have realistic chances.
2 - Yes
3 - I wouldn't say "better" but provincial nomination is also an option.

Thanks for your answer. Just took a look at provincial nominations, too much information there. Will spend some time navigating it.

 

[yingnan]

Why not going through eb1
US is way superior compared to Canada.
I came here from the States because I don't have a PHD degree so eb2 is way too long for me. But speaking of career and market, US has way more opportunities.


If you really would like to do this, I think you should try to find some employer who can help you get a LMIA based closed work permit. I came here with one of them (LMO at my time), this is the fastest way for one without Canadian degree to enter Canada as foreigners.
Not sure if you can just apply through ExpressEntry right now without any kind of Canadian experience.
And I suggest you get the ECA for your US degree and Chinese degree as soon as possible, which would take 1-3 months and they will be good for another 5 years.

Thank you a lot! My reason for moving is more complicated than I've described. Meanwhile I don't consider myself desperate to move. If odds and everything else are against me, I'll just wait for opportunities to present themselves.

 

[yingnan]

Don't know why you want to move to Canada, USA is still great.

Thank you. What I fear is "America will be made great gain." ;D

 

[yingnan]

Then the OP would have no problem if the CRS scores keeps going down
But for him ECA for Chinese degree would usually take a longer time (I assume he has one)
And FBI clearance is a headache which usually take another 3 months

So ECA is required for all degrees, not just the highest one, correct?

 

[thepilot]

In that case, FSW is the way to go.

 

[andrewhl]

So ECA is required for all degrees, not just the highest one, correct?

If you do not have Canadian degree as your highest degree, then yes.
I did ECA for both my Chinese bachelor and US master degree.
Chinese one took nearly two months since you have to send it to TsingHua University to do the verification in Beijing, then they will send the document to WES for Canadian ECA process.
US master degree took about 20 days to process, pretty fast and simple.
Remeber to get your original Chinese degree translated and certified(I did it in Canada, using an ATIO translator, not sure where you can get it done in the States, you need to check with CIC to see what kind of translation agency they will accept.), you will need them in your EE application once you get an ITA

And I think you can prepare to get your FBI clearance right after you applied for your ECA process, it would take them more than 3 months to process your request. If you suddenly get an ITA, you only have 90 days to submit all your documents, so the timing is tricky here.

 

[Alexios07]

People is acting up like Trump is the new Hitler or Stalin who will round up all the non-white citizens in the US and shoot them from the back. Last time when Clinton wanted to tighten the immigration and started deporting people, no one was calling him a racist at all.