# Wishing to emigrate to USA/ Canada from UK- Advice required



## Calez (Aug 12, 2010)

Hi all,
I currently live in the UK with my partner and son. My partner and I work in IT, both for global IT companies (there may be a possibility of moving through them- although I haven't done much research yet). I own a property, which I plan to sell and put towards a house in our new country. The reason for wishing to emigrate is for a new life, new experiences and a place my partner and I can settle and extend our family. I have visited America three times; I have never visited Canada.
I have been researching a number of topics and appreciate that emigration is a long process, but I am willing to dedicate the time to it- we aim to emigrate by autumn 2012. If you can give some advice on the areas below that would be great, I will take it all into consideration when I continue with the research... 
I need help in the following areas:
Location- The following points are important: Good schools, open spaces (parks), we are into music- so somewhere there are ample gigs/ shows, good areas which are safe for children, groups for children (is it little leagues?!), lots of family events, restaurants/ pubs to eat out... you get the idea. We are all ‘outdoorsy’, my partner is seriously into football and plays to a high standard in the town we currently live in, so this is also important when relocating. We will consider anywhere. I personally want to live somewhere large (maybe on the outskirts of a city) and completely submerge myself in the cultures of our new home.
Housing- Is buying a house in America/ Canada like it is in the UK? What are the processes? Can an immigrant get a mortgage- what are the requirements?
Education- My son will be due to start his secondary school by the time we hope to emigrate, what are the options? My son is on target to attend an all boy’s school, which I 67th best in the UK, what is the likelihood of getting him into a decent public school?
Healthcare- My son is deaf in one ear and my partner is diabetic- how we would manage this in America / Canada?
And any advice on the following please all 
Cars/ insurance
Dentists
Opticians
Retirement options
Vets
Mobile phones
Sorry this post is lengthy, but i can keen to be as thorough as possible to ensure we ‘get it right’.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

Calez said:


> Hi all,
> I currently live in the UK with my partner and son. My partner and I work in IT, both for global IT companies (there may be a possibility of moving through them- although I haven't done much research yet). I own a property, which I plan to sell and put towards a house in our new country. The reason for wishing to emigrate is for a new life, new experiences and a place my partner and I can settle and extend our family. I have visited America three times; I have never visited Canada.
> I have been researching a number of topics and appreciate that emigration is a long process, but I am willing to dedicate the time to it- we aim to emigrate by autumn 2012. If you can give some advice on the areas below that would be great, I will take it all into consideration when I continue with the research...
> I need help in the following areas:
> ...


I assume you've discovered that getting emigrating to the USA is a most difficult task, well Canada is not much easier. There are two basic ways into the country. The first is to have occupation on THE LIST of occupations that Canada deems in short supply. Your occupations in IT were on THE LIST until a couple of months ago, but no longer. The second way is with pre-arranged employment. This entails finding an employer willing to hire you and willing to apply to Gov't of Canada for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) to ask for permission to hire you because the job(s) cannot be funded from within. If the LMO is granted that would give you a two-year Temporary Work Permit (TWP).
Given your living requirements you should be looking at cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Buying a house in Canada is easier than doing so in the UK. A contract is just that here. A buyer or seller cannot just walk away from the deal without a possible penalty. Immigrants can get mortgages but given their new/no credit history status it is not quite as easy.
I assume by public school you mean "not" private which is how we mean it here. The public school system is regarded as very good and quality of a school, as in the UK, is often determined by the area in which it's located. All public schools are comprehensive. If you do mean a private boy's school there are quite a number around and at the appropriate fees.
Your partner's and son's health concerns should not present a problem to admission, provided that both situations are under control and will not be considered a drain on the Canadian health system.
New cars are, for the most part, less expensive than in the UK whereas used vehicles slightly more expensive. Car insurance is regarded as expensive vs UK. Gasoline is a good deal cheaper here. At present about 70P a litre your money.
Dental care is regarded as considerably superior to that in your country. North Americans are much more conscious of their teeth. There's a standing joke that we can always tell someone's a Brit before they speak by the condition of their teeth. However dental care is not covered by the health care system so can seem expensive. Many companies, as a benefit, provide dental coverage to employees.
I don't know what to tell you about opticians except they exist is good supply. Eyewear is as expensive as you want it to be, just as in the UK.
Just as where you are, one can purchase retirement investments, have employer pensions to enhance the Gov't of Canada pensions.
The mobile 'phone market is regarded as "behind" here and expensive compared to many other countries. There are moves afoot to force suppliers to bring it more into line, cost wise.
I have two dogs and receive super vet care and I have heard/read no reports of anything other than this.
Hope the foregoing is of help to you.


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## Calez (Aug 12, 2010)

Thank you for your response.

I must be ‘mad’ as despite realising the extent of research required/ upheaval on my family and stress it is likely to cause me (this is before we are even accepted into a new country)… I am excited by the prospect of starting a new life, and in a place ‘we’ choose to be. 
I still have much research to do and at the moment I am hitting a roadblock- ‘location, location, location’… I would like to get an idea of ‘whereabouts’ we would like to live before I start looking at the roles available (or not). We currently live in a medium sized town (by UK standards that is) which is central to a number of cities and large towns, this said, I would like to live somewhere larger. My family and I have lived here for around 23 years (I was only a toddler when we moved by the way), so we know a lot of people in the town as we have grown up here. It is important that, while we will be alien to our new area- we are accepted. Although we may be living in a larger town/ city, the people must be warm (my worse fear is living somewhere like London, a place where no one seems to have time for anyone else)… 
I currently help with the local council whether it be gardening in the town or baking cakes for the town carnival- which I love and would like to be able to do in the new town (if I am able to do so). As I said before my partner plays for the town football team who are of a high standard, so it would be great if he would continue with this if possible. We are a musical family (we both play and like to see shows), so a musical area would be fantastic… 

Having said all this, I suppose my question is ‘Can you recommend any States/ Territories?’

A brief summary of states/ territories would be ideal (if you have time) 

Again, thank you for your time. 

(Autumn 2012 may be a little ambitious me thinks!)


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

Calez said:


> Thank you for your response.
> 
> I must be ‘mad’ as despite realising the extent of research required/ upheaval on my family and stress it is likely to cause me (this is before we are even accepted into a new country)… I am excited by the prospect of starting a new life, and in a place ‘we’ choose to be.
> I still have much research to do and at the moment I am hitting a roadblock- ‘location, location, location’… I would like to get an idea of ‘whereabouts’ we would like to live before I start looking at the roles available (or not). We currently live in a medium sized town (by UK standards that is) which is central to a number of cities and large towns, this said, I would like to live somewhere larger. My family and I have lived here for around 23 years (I was only a toddler when we moved by the way), so we know a lot of people in the town as we have grown up here. It is important that, while we will be alien to our new area- we are accepted. Although we may be living in a larger town/ city, the people must be warm (my worse fear is living somewhere like London, a place where no one seems to have time for anyone else)…
> ...


I must be brutally frank with you but unless your company(s) transfer you to Canada you have no chance of getting in without pre-arranged employment, and I believe the same applies even more so to the USA. You ask if someone can recommend any States/Provinces? Both Canada and USA are immense with considerable regional differences across both nations. There are huge/medium/small cities and towns in terrain from mountains to oceans to plains. From what you have described you would need to locate in a dormitory town outside a large city. That should give you the small town atmosphere but the proximity to all the cultural/musical events in the larger centre.
You should know that football, or soccer as it's known in NA, is only reasonably popular, so your husband finding a team playing at a high level, while not impossible, may prove difficult.


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## coyne20 (Aug 3, 2010)

I reckon you stand a better chance with Canada than with the US. 

1. After speaking to some relatives in the US, the impression they give seems that its very much a heavily work related culture, long hours, underpaid and tipping the work to personal life balance. Not having the time for yourself or your family.
2. Canada, to certain extent, is a bit like the UK (laidback environment with all the related benefits) but with a hint of an american influence.
3. Its taking alot longer (5-8years) to obtain a greencard these days than it used to for the US. With Canada permanent residency, your looking at 2-3 years.
4. With Canada, they is a shortage of professional IT people around.
5. The only drawback with Canada is its very cold winters and the US can be no different in certain places. Other than that, its a beautiful country.

I hope that helps your decision


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

I live in the US and have also lived in Canada. I agree that it is probably more difficult to emigrate to the US. However, many foreigners do get US visas to work in IT.

It is very difficult to tell you where is the best location as there are many excellent locations in the US. There is a much greater variation in the US than in Canada. What kind of climate do you want? Do you want mountains, oceanside, desert, etc? I have lived in many different areas, climates, etc in the US from coast to coast. I far prefer living in California.

Generally speaking, the cost of living is considerably lower in the US than Canada and professional salaries are generally higher.

The first thing you have to do is find out if you can emigrate. Then you need to decide what type of environment you want . What you have specified, you can find in most every state.


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## matt_allen1 (Nov 15, 2010)

Getting into Canada without a job is possible but from my knowledge you ideally you need to be a professionally qualified person (Canada do suffer from a shortage of certain skills), having family already resident helps and a certain amount of cash helps as it shows you can be self-sufficient for a certain time period.

The best possible way (and the easiest) is to already have accepted a job offer from a Canadian company and then (as has happened with me) the company will cover all your relocation, as well take care of getting you and your family setup for entering Canada VERY quickly on Temporary Work Permits. I was offered a job in Jun 2010, by end-July I had my work permit, by start of Sep 2010 I had moved out here and working in a permanent job. With regards to buying a house, I had a 25% downpayment ready and within 3weeks of arriving I had been approved for a mortgage and now have a house being built which will be complete in Feb 2011. So with respect to being able to buy a house, as long as you have a good credit history in the UK, a downpayment and a permanent job you should be fine. Benefit for me was I had a HSBC UK bank account for many years so I went straight to a HSBC Canada bank, opened an account and then they have immediate access to HSBC UK to get my credit history and can see I have been a good customer.

Good luck with your move, it can be an easy process as long as you can cope with the temporary living while you get yourselves settled more indefinitely.


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## Annie01332 (Nov 12, 2010)

Your original post sounds very similar to the post I would write!!

We are looking to do the same, my partner works in IT so our application will be based on that. 
We got LOADS of info from attending the Emigrate2 expo last year. When we went in we were just seeing if emigrating tickled our fancy - we came out almost desperate to move to Nova Scotia. We got so much information and from real people too, not just companies trying to sell something. They covered pretty much everything ; work, money, shipping, accomodation, locations, climates, activities - you name it, they covered it.
Have you been to Canada before? May I suggest a research trip over there so you can see for yourself what it is like - treat it as a research trip for your potential new life and not a holiday. 
Good luck - keep us posted


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## coyne20 (Aug 3, 2010)

Annie01332 said:


> Your original post sounds very similar to the post I would write!!
> 
> We are looking to do the same, my partner works in IT so our application will be based on that.
> We got LOADS of info from attending the Emigrate2 expo last year. When we went in we were just seeing if emigrating tickled our fancy - we came out almost desperate to move to Nova Scotia. We got so much information and from real people too, not just companies trying to sell something. They covered pretty much everything ; work, money, shipping, accomodation, locations, climates, activities - you name it, they covered it.
> ...


I have 3-4 months work experience in Toronto while working with Symcor.


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## Pecosa (Nov 29, 2009)

Hiya,
I was just reading your post after posting a thread a few minutes ago..I was wondering if you had the time to share with me some of the information you gathered from your personal search on information about Canada?
Have you started the process of moving to Nova Scotia and what was it you ended up loving about Nova Scotia?
We are in the very early stages of the topic of 'moving to Canada' so we have much to learn yet!
Thanks,
Beth


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## Annie01332 (Nov 12, 2010)

Hi Beth - is your post aimed at me or the OP?!


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