Canadian Immigration Processing Times

[spookylight]

Hello All,

We are a married couple both of British Citizenship and we would like to know the possible processing times for an application to Canada from either the UK, which we are currently resident in, or from within the Philippines respectively.

The reason being my wife was a Filipina and now has British status, so we can move to the Philippines to apply to Canada instead (and visit family) as we believe the processing time in the UK could be far too long for us.

In other words, which is the best place to apply from?

Regards,
Wilf.

[Kayalami]

1. What class is your application under i.e skilled, business etc?

2. Where in Canada are you going i.e the province of Quebec or others?

[spookylight]

Thanks for the reply.

Answer to your question as follows:

1. We're both skilled and passed points system.

2. We are targetting North of Toronto/Toronto, or Newfoundland province.


Please advise.

Thanks
Wilf

[Kayalami]

1. Skilled worker applications in the Federal Sub Class (Non Quebec) processed through London take 15-24 months depending on obtaining an interview waiver.

2. Processing times in Manila approximatley twice as long at 30-48 months. Apply in London.

3. Depending on your occupation it may be that you can enter Canada on a work permit whilst your immigrant visa is being processed.

Good luck

[guest 000]

What are the requirements for getting a canadian work permit. Does one need a sponsor or a job.

[Kayalami]

Both - likewise the job must be confirmed as bona fide and that no suitably qualified Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident exists to undertake it by Human Resources and Development Canada.

[Quantum]

I'm a US citizen in Texas, and when I first went through CIC's website I gathered that for the general public, the wait was 14 months for permanent residency. And for skilled workers it was 3-4 months.

But in checking the status of my application for permanent residency I found statistics for prior years' processing times, and was shocked to find that for the Buffalo office, average processing time last year for skilled workers was 24 months! Yet in another forum I read someone's took 6 months.

I am 50, and every year this takes counts points against me. Plus I need to get on with the business I'll be establishing in Canada. So I'm very concerned, and I need to plan based on expected time.

I want to establish a telecom company in southern B.C.
I'd considered applying as self-employed, but business-class processing times are even longer, for some reason.

So Question 1 is, can anyone give guidance on recent actual Buffalo processing times?


Well, I can't wait 24 months or I'll lose my business opportunity, so I looked into temporary residency. Seems like for a work permit, one must have a job with a sponsoring company. In my experience it's next-to-impossible to get a job remotely, and anyway this isn't what I really want to do.

So I looked at NAFTA, and it appears I could operate there temporarily in the Trader or Investor class. But this seems to imply that I promise the visit is only temporary, which it will be obvious is not the case, from my permanent residency application. Investor class must be evaluated by Buffalo, but Trader does not. However if I live there as a Trader, CIC would probably not like this.

So Question 2 is, how can I move to Canada before permanent residency and begin operations, without offending CIC?