Questions about getting Permanent Residency status

This forum deals with all aspects of immigration to Canada, landed immigrant status, work permits, etc.

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Etta
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2006 3:19 pm
Location: USA

Questions about getting Permanent Residency status

Post by Etta »

Hi Ron, my husband and I are US citizens who are interested in possibly immigrating to Canada. I have looked into this a bit and have taken the self-assessment test. With my husband being the primary applicant for a skilled worker class, permanent residency, we score about 68. If we are to immigrate once I finish my college degree, it would be even higher. So, that said, I have a few questions:

-Do we have a pretty good chance of getting permanent residency (w/o a job offer)?

-With my husband as the primary applicant, does the PR status apply to all of us (we have 2 kids)? In other words, am I also, under this visa, legal to work? Would we all qualify for government health care, etc?

-I have heard the process could take up to 2 years. What if, once we receive PR status, we are not yet ready to make the move (due to job circumstances in the US)? How soon would we need to come to Canada to keep the PR? Or, do we need to be in Canada already?

Thanks for your patience with all my questions (I am still trying to understand it all!) and any help you can give!
Ron Liberman
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Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 4:23 pm
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Post by Ron Liberman »

Hi,

if you have a solid 68 points, then you should be accepted without a job offer (provided of course you meet the mimimum funds requirement).

You would all be applying for permanent residence - your husband as the principal applicant, and you and your children as accompanying family mermbers, so you would be able to work or start a business when you take up your residence. Healthcare is available - some Provinces have a waiting period of 3 months, so you should have coverage to bridge the gap.

Once you arrive in Canada to take up your permannet residence if you are not really ready to stay you can go back home for a while, in fact the requirements to keep your residence are fairly generous at the moment: for instance, provided you spend at least 730 days out of each 5 year period physically in Canada you would retain your permanent residence.
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