So I’m interested in moving to Toronto for a bunch of reasons. I was born in the U.S. and have been along the central-northern east coast my whole life. My wife’s Canadian and her entire family’s in Canada with the far majority of them in the GTA.
We don’t have any kids right now (well, minus our cat) so it would be a rather simple move. Her family’s already offered to let us stay with them for as long as we’d like while trying to get settled in, but I’d prefer to have all that worked out before moving.
Currently I work as a Business Systems Analyst (IT stuff) for one of the top financial firms in the country. My wife has a lot of experience in property management which is easy to find a job for anywhere.
So my plan is to move to the GTA in a couple years once I get a bit more experience under my belt in hopes of landing a secure job there.
I’m just looking for tips or other things I should look for to help me move. Should I apply for a visa early on? A work permit? How is the IT industry in the GTA? How about for contractors? Is it as difficult to get your greencard/work employment card there as it is in the U.S.? Is there a downside to having dual citizenship?
The logistics of moving here should be relatively easy because your wife is Canadian. Your wife should be able to sponsor you as a permanent resident, which takes around a year (I believe) as applications for the spouses of citizens are prioritized, and requires her to prove intent to move back with you (don't know how that's done). As a permanent resident, you have all the same work rights as a citizen.
I know that immigrants from outside North America often have job application issues with employers not recognising work experience outside Canada. I don't think that the same problem applies with US experience, but I'm not sure.
When you wife sponsors you and it gets approved, you will have a less than a year before you have to enter canada (for your Landing). After Landing, in order to maintain your resident status, you would need to prove that you were either in Canada or accompanying a Canadian citizen abroad.
You would ideally need to get legal advice, but what might work is:
1) Getting your wife to sponsor you by claiming that guys are looking to move back to Canada
2) After a year, the sponsorship is approved, and you enter Canada. You give your in-laws address as where you will be living, and 3 months later your Permanent Resident card (PR card, equivalent to a green card) will be mailed to there.
3) In the mean time, you return to your job in the US with your wife.
4) Once your PR card arrives at your in-laws, you send your wife back to pick it up (or trust a courier to bring it to the US for you)
5) Your PR card is valid for 5 years, allowing you to freely reenter Canada. If you have not moved to Canada within the 5 years, you can renew your PR status on the basis that you were accompanying your Canadian wife while abroad, meaning you will need to provide proof that you were living together.
Note that once you become a PR (permanent resident), you can only enter Canada as a Permanent Resident, ie by showing your PR card. If you try to enter as an American tourist (ie with your US passport only), you would be technically committing an immigration violation.
Awesome. Thanks for the advice - certainly gives me a lot of direction on the legal/immigration aspect. I only just recently learned whatever I know about immigration to the U.S. after paying an arm and a leg for my wife's immigration here, but I'm still a newbie.
How about any Canadian laws or policies I can take advantage of there? Preferrably things that I can't get here in the U.S., but that'd require someone to know both Canadian and American policies well. I know about free healthcare and I know the Canadian government offers a lot more assistance to its citizens than the American government does.
one of my friend just got married in December and his wife moved with him to Alberta in January (within a month). For him things were pretty easy. I can ask specific details with him and get back to you if you are interested.
Check the professions listed under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). If your is listed, then you can enter the country on a TN visa, which you obtain at the airport after you land. This has to be renewed every so often (a year I think) so you will still have to apply for permanent residency but the TN visa is an easy way to travel for some professionals.
Please note that the TN visa requires that you already have employment in the country that you're moving to.
hey- if your wife is to sponsor you (im assuming she is a canadian citizen) you will have to showcase in the application that you have a real intent of going to Canada and living there- therefore a job offer, a lease, family support and the likes have to be included in the application. If not, get a work permit from outside (you will have to have a job offer in order to get one) and once in Canada, your wife can apply to sponsor you from inside Canada.
Awesome. Thanks for the advice - certainly gives me a lot of direction on the legal/immigration aspect. I only just recently learned whatever I know about immigration to the U.S. after paying an arm and a leg for my wife's immigration here, but I'm still a newbie.
How about any Canadian laws or policies I can take advantage of there? Preferrably things that I can't get here in the U.S., but that'd require someone to know both Canadian and American policies well. I know about free healthcare and I know the Canadian government offers a lot more assistance to its citizens than the American government does.
what do you mean about assistance? health care yes..medication is usually covered by private insurance.
I know about free healthcare and I know the Canadian government offers a lot more assistance to its citizens than the American government does.
And that is because brother..we pay arm and legs full of taxes here in this country. I mean Alhamdulli'lah..it is great to have free health care and enjoy other government perks. But i tell you..i personally think..we pay too much taxes here.
that is similar to my situation only my husband lives there and i am trying to move there. If you are a US citizen your paperwork should go through in 59 days acoording o the Canadian immigration website. And if everything is fine you will get called for an interview in your US state at the canadian consular office and you could even get your pr card in 6 months. for me it is very important as i have not had health insurance in many years and i cant wait for the free healthcare....
so how did you go about your wife's paperwork to come to usa? i am in this process now and dont really know where to start? we have a legal marriage certificate from usa, since we got maried here but now he is in canada and i am in states. so, what steps did u take and is your wife accepted now? how long did it take? and what do u mean cost an arm and leg? like you had to pay lots of money?
I also heard from a friend whose husband moved from US to Canada. She said that a US citizen loses the citizenship if he applies for another citizenship. However, I found the following:
" U.S. citizen may acquire foreign citizenship by marriage, or a person naturalized as a U.S. citizen may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth.U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one citizenship or another. Also, a person who is automatically granted another citizenship does not risk losing U.S. citizenship. However, a person who acquires a foreign citizenship by applying for it may lose U.S. citizenship. In order to lose U.S. citizenship, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice, and with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship."
You should look on the job boards, i.e. Workopolis, talk to recruitment agencies who specialize in IT field to find out what is the job market like in your field and how hard or easy is it to land a job with US qualifications.