Important question to Canadians here

[Gerrit]

As some who spoke to me per PM already know, I am a very pleased and fanatic traveller, moving from country to country. And wanting to continue this way, as travelling is really my biggest passion.

Now I need some advice. I normally will be in Berlin for a while, my target is to stay until the summer which would mean I'd have in total spent 8 or 9 months here. After summer I hope to realise my maybe biggest travel dream (and childhood dream): moving to the far north, an area which has fascinated me since I was a young kid.

Now I have friends in Canada, in the Yukon in the very north of Canada. They live near the polar circle and not far from Alaska. In other words, the sort of destination I wanted to spent some time in since I was a child. The childhood dream may come true, as my friends made me the offer to move in with them for a while should I ever want to move to Canada. Of course I would want that! :sold:

Unfortunately, being from Europe, this means I would need to get a working visa for Canada. I know there are several Canadian members very active on this forum, so I was wondering if they could give some advice. I know there are different types of visas allowing to live and work in Canada. My friends in Yukon told me the easiest is a special visa program for people under 30 (I am 26 years old, 27 after summer) which allows to spend approx a year living and working in Canada. As Canada is a very big country to explore and as the semi-arctic has been fascinating me for all my life, I would really like to have the option to stay longer than 1 year. 2 or maybe 3 years preferably. This means another type of visa would be needed.

Can somebody who knows Canada well, briefly explain my options? Then I can contact the Canadian embassy and start an application procedure (I want to start this 5 or 6 months before planned departure, as I know from experience in other countries that visa requests can take a while). I would need a visa that allows me to live and work in Yukon , preferably for longer than 1 year and with freedom to accept the job I prefer (of the ones available).

I should give some more information that may be important:
- I have no university degrees as I started travelling and emigrating, which interested me more than getting a degree.
- I have some financial funds available, but housing would not be a problem anyway since I would be living with my friends in Yukon.
- I speak English and French fluently
- I have EU citizenship and turn 27 later this year




So, my Canadian fellow forumers, any advice on which type of visa I should request and how the procedure goes?

Also, I have Belgian citizenship but officially reside in Germany right now. Do I need to contact the Canadian embassy in Belgium or Germany?

 

[whitebark]

Why not just apply for permanent residence status? You will have to get into Canada first though. Then you can come and go as you please, stay as long as want, and don't have to worry about renewing visas. The easiest way to do that is to show that you have a job skill that is in demand and/or are willing to live and work where other immigrants are not - like the far north. Heck - most Canadians won't venture up there!

You should just drop in at the nearest Canadian embassy to you and get them to show you the way. Immigration, visa etc rules keep changing.

 

[Deaol]

Problem with that question is that most of the Canadian users on this forum have been born and raised in Canada, never having to go through the process of applying for landed status, or applying for a working visa. But what whitebark stated above is pretty much going to be your best way for receiving the information first hand that you will need.

You can goto the nearest Canadian Embassy to gather information. And if you haven't already done so, go here : http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/ and read the faq and help sections for detailed info.

Currently living on the North West Coast of Canada and once worked in the Yukon for 3 years all I can say is your in for a treat :tu:

- Qizd.

 

[mis_chiff]

Problem with that question is that most of the Canadian users on this forum have been born and raised in Canada, never having to go through the process of applying for landed status, or applying for a working visa. But what whitebark stated above is pretty much going to be your best way for receiving the information first hand that you will need.

You can goto the nearest Canadian Embassy to gather information. And if you haven't already done so, go here : http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/ and read the faq and help sections for detailed info.

Currently living on the North West Coast of Canada and once worked in the Yukon for 3 years all I can say is your in for a treat :tu:

- Qizd.

About the citizenship process:
I was born in Scotland and moved to Canada when I was 8 years old with landed immigrant status until the rules changed (I was 41 then)

It took 2 years (and 250 bucks) to complete from start to finish to get my citizenship card. Apparently delays are also like this for permanent residence applications so you might want to apply as soon as possible to be safe.

The info and website mentioned above will get you started, Good Luck!

 

[commes]

I don't know much about the topic, so all I can say is you better have some warm clothing, otherwise your going to be cold!

-Commes

 

[Gerrit]

Thanks for the info.

Permanent residency sounds good. I am not sure if I have much chance because I have no university degrees. I speak 4 languages (including Canada's 2 official languages) but that is probably not really considered a special skill?

But is it true that for areas with a tiny population, residence status is easier obtained? Because I am aiming for the Yukon, this may be my ticket in if that's true. Is there a sort of regional program for Yukon where I can ask for residence status, or is it all organised through one nationwide program through the Canadian embassy?

I will get in touch with the Canadian embassy ASAP. One question though: I have Belgian citizenship but live in Germany. Can I deal with the Canadian embassy in Germany then (as this would save me the hassle from a trip to Brussels... I live in Berlin right now and that is where all embassies are, at only 15 minutes from my front door)

 

[Gerrit]

OK, in a week I have a day off of work and visiting the Canadian embassy. I probably will enquire about permanent residency if it's the case indeed that for regions like Yukon these permits are easier to be obtained. It would be easiest for me to go for permanent residency as, if I indeed move to Canada, it will be Yukon 100% sure.

Also, I heard about provincial/state-specific programs... I am not sure how that works, but does Yukon have any interesting program that I could use to get an easy permit?

As I said, no interesting degrees to offer But I speak English and French fluently, so maybe this is interesting to local employers if few Canadians want to move up north? Maybe that is sufficient then to convince local employers to hire a foreigner who speaks both languages and who desperately wants to live really far north?