Moving to Vancouver (or
anywhere in Canada)
Vancouver.hm recommends
CanadaVisa.com, a highly
reputable firm of immigration lawyers & consultants, to assist you with
Canadian immigration.
It's not as easy to immigrate to Canada as it once was. If you are
young, educated and single, its easier, but you still have to go through
what can be a gruelling screening process, and have enough cash on you to survive
for 6 months. It's a lot easier if you have a promise of a job and it's
a lot easier if you use the services of an immigration lawyer like the
one I recommend on this page. Canada has always taken refugees, so that
is an option if you are resident in what would be considered a
politically repressive country. The definition of a legitimate refugee
is somewhat nebulous, but basically you have to prove you're under fear of death in your home country. This
means that people from places like Belgium, need not bother with this
classification. If you show up claiming refugee status, and the
government determines you are not, it is almost impossible to stay in
the country. Recently, several boatloads of refugee claimants from China
& Sri Lanka
have been showing up on the BC Coast. These boats are usually barely
capable of the voyage and are usually packed with people in appalling
conditions. Canada's generous refugee regulations, give these people a
better than even chance of remaining in the country. In the United
States, these people would be immediately deported. Unfortunately, our
relaxed refugee immigrant laws, can encourage this practice, generating huge
profits for the organizers. The cost to the Canadian taxpayer is high,
and legitimate immigrant applicants are understandably upset at people
who seem to be jumping the queue. On the other hand, one can argue that
this country was built by people fleeing oppression in their home
countries, so possibly nothing has really changed. In the past, various
war criminals, ex-dictators, etc. have managed to show up in Canada as
refugees. They seem to have more luck than the average Joe, but maybe
they just grab the media attention. We seem to have no problem accepting people if they have lots of money, even if they are criminals. The
ice-lady, the biggest female dope smuggler in Asia, opened up a chicken
franchise in Alberta until they caught on to her. She came in under the
investor program. Various Chinese Mafia types from Hong Kong have got in
the same way. We don't seem to care where the money came from as long as
they intend on spending it here. If you can play ice hockey, you also
stand a good chance of getting in. Try showing up at the airport holding
a hockey stick and speaking Russian. (that's a joke, but professional
hockey players do seem to be able to jump the queue) Your options of
successfully immigrating are considerably better if you are young,
professional, well educated and can speak one or both official
languages.
There are also options to be sponsored
by a particular province looking for certain types of professionals.
This is known as th Provincial Nomination Program, or PNP. This can be a
fast track into the country. This is one reason I recommend consulting
with a firm like CanadaVisa.
They can easily determine if this option is to your advantage. It could
save you at least of year of going through normal channels. Rather than
try to explain myself, watch David Cohen's informative video
HERE.
Do not think you can come to Canada on a visitors visa, find yourself
a job, place to stay, etc and then ask to remain here. It does not work
that way. Even Mother Teresa would have found it impossible to avoid
deportation under those circumstances. There have been several cases
where people have tried this. Until immigration Canada caught up with
them, some had become very good upstanding residents, sometimes even set
up businesses employing other Canadians. They are nearly always sent
back to apply through the normal channels. It takes a ministerial order
from the government to stay under these circumstances. The latest
example of this, I am aware of is that of a South African family who are
trying to remain in Prince Rupert, BC. Three members of this family have
a skin condition which means they cannot tolerate sunlight, hence Prince
Rupert is perfect since it is one of the rainiest places on earth. The
entire community is rallying behind them, they would obviously make
excellent citizens, some members of the government are supporting them,
however immigration Canada has ordered them deported nevertheless. (Note
as of Summer 2001, this family was finally granted permission to stay) A
hundred years ago you could just show up on these shores, set up house
and that was it. Those days are long gone.
Canada accepts a fixed number of immigrants each year under various
categories. A lot of people want to come here, especially from
underdeveloped countries, and you can't blame them. Canada is recognized
as one of the best countries in the world in which to live. If you are
planning to move here, check out the link to my "Neighbourhoods" Section
for information on which areas to live and Real Estate Links. You can
also browse current Real Estate listings for the Vancouver area by
clicking the link to my Real Estate Section. I also have links to custom
regulations in my Border Crossing Section. Most people have a view of
Canada as a non-racist country. While this is certainly the case,
compared to many other countries, racism has raised its ugly head here
on many occasions, and immigrants from different cultures and ethnic
backgrounds can expect to encounter a certain degree of it.
By the way, I recently came across this site geared mainly to Australian immigrants, but containing a lot of useful information. CanAussie.com. Another very useful site is this Forum.
If you are serious about immigrating to Canada, you
are advised
to retain an immigration lawyer to expedite the process or at least give
you some advice on the procedures to follow. It may save you a lot of
money & headaches. I have links to a few of them in my immigration
links page. The one I highly recommend, is Canada Visa.com. (click the banner at the top of the page). I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has had
experience with any of them or if you have used one you can recommend,
I'd also appreciate hearing about it. You can expect to pay between
$2000 & $4000 depending on your circumstances. Most reputable lawyers
will let you know up front if you do not have a chance. I might add that
a criminal record or serious health problems will almost certainly mean
rejection.
It is also interesting to note that the Province of Quebec handles
its own immigration. If you speak fluent French, especially if you are
of French origin, your chances may be considerably better than applying
to Canada itself. Since Canada has freedom of movement, there is
probably no reason why you cannot move anywhere else in the country,
although you may have to wait to attain full citizenship (3 years). I'm
not sure on that one.
There are groups who want immigration to
this country stopped or severely curtailed.
While they are entitled to their opinions, you have to remember that
Canada is a country that was built on immigration. The problem is,
because of our relatively small population, cultural influences by
newcomers are more obvious, and many people see it as a threat to
existing Canadian culture. From the perspective of the Native Indian, of
course, this already occurred a couple of hundred years ago, so there is
no doubt that large scale inflow of different cultures can change a
society. I don't think, however, that the current numbers are large
enough for this to occur to great extent, and most groups assimilate
just fine after a generation or two.
