Has one one from Sajha moved to Canada from US because of long and fraustating US immigration policy?  If so can you please share your experiences?

 

Dolphin, in general I'm asking to share stories and experience of people who moved to Canada after spending some time at US.  About my current situation, well I'm currently at US but thinking to move to Canada becaue of delay in US immigration.  I have master’s degree in IT and have 5 years of US experience, but since my company filed my GC on EB3 and with current date being 2002, I'm not sure how long I've to wait.  They said they can’t file on EB2 so that is out of the loop.  Also, since I'm married and my wife can't work (at least legally) and that is more frustrating than any.  Plus there is always a big fear of loosing job and loosing status.  So I want to know how life is and job market is for people like me at Canada before I make my move and I’ll appreciate any one who can share their experiences.  Thanks…

If you have a good degree and solid work experience in the US to back it up, I don't think you would find it difficult to get a job in Canada. You may find the winter a bit harsh though you may already be used to that deppending on which part of the US you cureenlty reside in. That may be a topic of discussion for another day. I have seen mainly two kinds of complaints from Nepalis in Canada.

1. From those who apply directly form Nepal and come to Canada as landed immigrants: This group usually have a local degree and local work experience and in most cases completely unfamiliar with the work culture and style in North America. Most folks end up in facotries and other physical jobs. They get very frustrated with the system as their degrees and work experience verified by immigration for PR application are absolutely worthless in their newly adopted country. While I can sympathise with this grievance, it is a market driven economy we live in. Employers seek human resources from what they are already familiar with, eg., local markets and probably from other western nations.

2. People moving from US: Regardless of their professional background, I find them very dissatisfied with a lot of things in Canada - Tax rates, relative lack of opportunity to work under the table for cash, weather, price level to name a few. Given the get an opportunity, most of them eventually move back to the US.

Hi Jonny,
I have exactly same situation as yours.
Lets us shere our experiences.
Did you file for I 485 and when and what is your priority date.
May be I can help u.
Mine is May 2006.
It is going to move faster in coming months .
Roman

Jonny,
I have exactly same situation as yours.
Lets us shere our experiences.
Did you file for I 485 and when and what is your priority date.
May be I can help u.
Mine is May 2006.
It is going to move faster in coming months .
Roman

Thanks newlnew for you feedback.  I have been living at north east part of the US so the weather is not my concern.  My main concern is the job market and how much difference tax is.  Which city are you currently at?  Roman, I have not filed 485.  If I have filed 485, I should not have started this thread.  My file is still somewhere at the labor dept. 

Any more experiences...

I understand Taxes are significanlty different. This link may be helpful to make an assessment. Open at your own risk as it has been known to induce heart troubles for US residents !!!

http://www.aurorainternational.net/Maximum_Personal_Marginal_Income_Tax_Rates.htm

Add Federal and Provincial taxes to get the total. On top of this, you have to add municipal taxes if you own your residence. Sales tax (GST + PST) is about 13% in Ontario, where I currenlty live. So, yes, we are taxed to the bone. Social services are good, eg., free health care, many different allowance for low income etc.

 

Canada is great if you do not earn.  If you earn, you are taxed.  The more you earn, more of it is taxed.  Freedom is you do not have to save for health because does not matter whether you are rich or poor, you still get same health care.  You get fully paid maternity/paternity leave from 35 weeks up to a year.  Holidays are more respected than in US and weekends are all family time.

 i m living in canada from last year, and i like it rather than other part of the world . If anyone really wanna come to canada  apply for pnp programme of any states u wanna come. That takes almost 3 month for the approval . After the approval of the PNP  you are gonna apply for the PR that takes 6 more month to get  PR card. I m living in BC and i already apply for the BCPNP . After 1.5 month i will be getting my PNP certificate and after almost 7-8 month i will be canadian PR. i came to canada through work permit and my company sponser me for fulltime work.This is the only fast track process for the PR in canada. Almost 5 friend got their PR within 1.5 yr they arrive in canada and few friend just got their approval of PNP. i just apply PNP before 1.5 month and waiting for the certificate now.hopefully i will get it soon.I used to pay more money for the health insurence when i was in aus but i m paying $57/monthly which cover my everything here. The social security is bette than other countries,people are so friendly, no need to worry abt work either cash or tax, world top university,and opportunity for everything. what i wanna say is best place to live in world is canada now. one of my friend just move from US to the place i am living. He told me that he was frustrated with US immigration policy and applied canada and got PR within 1 yr. Dont wait guys. The PNP programme is gonna end soon . may be next year.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.  Overall it looks like taxes are high in Canada than US but social benefit including health insurance are better in Canada.  Can someone share their experience on cost of living, like car insurance, rent etc on cities like Toronto or Vancover.  When I was at Boston, I used to pay $1,400 for 2 bedroom appt and about $70 on car insurance.  Food and other stuff are prettymuch same all over the US. 

Thanks.

Apartments are about the same but auto insurance is Ontario is ridiculously expensive. I paid over CAD 400 a month when I started due to the lack of "North American Driving Experience". You may be subjected to less due to your history in the US. If you have been driving for 5 years plus with no claims, I would think you would pay about CAD 150 a month in average as very rough approximation.

400/month for car insurance.  Man that's the total of my 6 month policy, whow that is expensive.  Newlnew, since you live at Ontario do you know what items are tax deductibale and if there is different tax bracket for married filing jointly like US.  I know in Cananda they just started giving 5K tax break for first time home buyers.  Any more deductions like that?  Thanks...

Not much. I always end up owing more during tax return filings. I think there are some deductions for dependents. I am not sure about 5K tax break. There has been crazy residential real estate boom recently in Toronto area. If anything, government is making at least 10% down payment for residential and 20% for commercial real estate purchase as of April.

The biggest break for me is contribution to retirement investment (RRSP). With certain limit, you get tax back on these. But when start drawing on them during your retirment, you get taxed but obviously at the lower rate.

Jonny:

I feel sorry to hear about your situation being Masters Degree holder in IT. I am too with Masters Degree in IT with many years of experience.

It was in 2006 when my company filed for me in EB2. It went very smoth and the complete process took less than 6 months.

What went wrong in your case? Why didn't you do in EB2?

Donald, the big thing is it is 2010 not 2006 when unemployment was @ 5%.  The company I work said that since the job I have doesn’t require a masters degree they can't simply advertise falsly and sponsor on EB2.  It is not a consulting company and they company lawyer follow the straight line only if you know what I meant.  Also, all the experience I have is though this company so the 5 years experience won't apply.  And like I said before it is 2010 with very few job opening with almost none willing to sponsor. 

Yes, you are right 2010 vs 2006 is a big different. It was not through a consulting company. I was in a big European company partially based in US. Company's lawyer was a thorough American Immigration Lawyer who agreed to go with EB2 based on my background and education.

May be it is a time oriented. Good Luck, you will get there sooner or later.

Sandesh20.............your post was very helpful to me. But I have one question. After you apply under PNP, the whole immigration process takes atleast 8-10 months, so is it possible to find employer, who are willing to wait for such a long time? I really didn't understand this point. Is it that I have to be extraordinarily unique at what I do (professionally)?

Also, if I apply under federal program, what employment documents do I need to submit? How would they know about my job duties?

Thankx in advance for any helpful information.

Thankx Sandesh20 and Jonny.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/provincial/apply-who.asp

This thread is very helpful.
If anyone could clarify the following:

if one is in work permit (valid for a year, say from x1/y1/2010 till x12/y31/2010; may or may not get extension after the validity pd.) in Canada and s/he falls into the category of Electrical/Electronics Engineering (Skill A in CIC), but this E/E is not among the list of 38 NOC and s/he having more than 4yrs of work experience as a Postdoct and will s/he be eligible to apply for PR immediately after arriving in Canada?

(University Professors coded as 4121 (which is among 38); whereas postdoc coded as 4122 is not among 38, and also E/E 2133 is not among 38.
However, E/E and postdoc are considered as Skill-A.

Can s/he apply in federal skill looking on present scenario?

Thanks.

Dear sajhafan, 

Since almost anyone can immigrate with PR in the canada with few years of experence which is not hard to manage, how hard is it to find the jobs? pursue career? isn't it like you're competiting to everyone in the world who has a degree and few years of experence and who wants to come to canada? is canadian market big enough ?