Hi,

I am interested to moving to Canada (Ontario/Toronto area) later this year to be with my boyfriend. I currently live in Oregon.

I have been looking into the immigration websites for Canada and it seems like we either have to be married, common law or have $10,000 in my savings to come into the country legally.....(when I move up I will need to start working right away).

Can I apply for a work permit to move into the country and start the permanent resident status once I'm there? The money in the account to apply under skilled worker really concerns me as of course I don't have those kind of funds in my accounts.

Any advice would be greatly appeciated as I seem to be hitting a dead end everywhere else I look.

Thanks!
Christina

Christina,

You can seek a work permit first, and then apply for permanent resident status while you are working here; the case may need to be submitted to a visa office abroad. A work permit would typically require that you have a job offer prior to submission of an application, however.

It should be noted that the requirement for settlement funds would still exist in an application under these circumstances. The fact that you would have employment income in Canada at that time, however, may allow you to make an argument for exemption.

Hello
My family and I hope to relocate to canada (nova scotia area)
Once we have sold our house.
We will have sufficient funds to live on.
But can it be possiable to obtain a work permit and permantent resident status when we are there.
I am a fully qualified carpenter and joiner and a ships carpenter.
Thank you
Harry

You may apply for permanent resident status now, while you reside abroad, or while you are a temporary resident in Canada. In either case, it would generally be necessary to submit the case to a visa office outside of Canada.

In order to be eligible to apply for a temporary work visa, it would be necessary to have a job offer from a Canadian company. You may seek such a visa while you have a permanent resident application in process.