Introduce yourself 🙂

@anon25417004 thanks! I do web development with Ruby, Python and JS

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Hello all,

Karthik here from the Bay Area. I got my PR recently and have been following movnorth and various other online forums in an incognito mode for the past 6 months. @anon25417004 inspired me earlier this year when I came across his post on Quora. I really thank him for that. I am happy to help anyone here with the process as such. My timeline goes like this,

IELTS - Mid april
ECA - Got it done with ICES cos they were the quickest at that point(Took about 2 weeks to get my ECA)

Got my ITA on May 17.
FBI summary check took about 100 days so I had to wait till the fag end of my deadline to submit my application(around end of august)

Got my Passport request for the PR end of last month(So took close to 2 months after submission of the app)

Hit me up for any queries with respect to the process

Cheers,
Karthik

2 Likes

Hi,

I’m Karthik from the bay area - currently planning to do a soft landing in Canada early in 2018, and start looking for jobs that work in my domain (data science/machine learning) around then. My wife’s also going to be looking for software engineering jobs in the web services/distributed systems/payments domains.

If anyone in the bay would like to connect and meet in the bay and discuss approaches on what works in terms of getting interviews in Canada, do send me a message and let’s try and meet sometime.

Best,
Karthik

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Karthik there are several companies hiring in both those groups of domains. For example I know Ecobee is hiring in data science and ml they are a pretty solid place and their products are more widely used than Nest. As for payments / web / distributed systems I would point to WealthSimple or Shopify both of which are hiring.

At this early stage I would say start looking for companies that would interest you. Remember to filter for location you don’t want to travel an hour since if you live in downtown TO then its fun to bike, walk or take the street car to work. Once you have the list ready reach out to people working there doing similar work. InMail is great and most people are open to chat.

At this point if you guys need introductions then I would be happy to make them or there is a standing offer from the director of venture at Mars to make them for you.

Finally if you just need someone else to do all this for you then there is a company I’m partnering with that is helping interview and bring in talent under the new accelerated work visa (2 weeks) or PR and connecting them with tech companies in Canada.

Links to to things I mentioned

Tech companies in Toronto
https://movnorth.com/companies/

Getting introductions to toronto tech companies
https://movnorth.com/get-introduced-to-toronto-tech/

Globalskills IO
https://movnorth.com/canada-tech-job/

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Hi,

I am Barik and living at Dayton Ohio. I am Peoplesoft consultant. I have scheduled ielts on Jan2018. If you can provide the step wise approach for express entry process and what are other way for PR in Canada.Thanks for creating the informative site and community to discuss .

Thanks
Barik

Hello all,

My name is Puneet Sharma and I am currently working as a principal software engineer in Gainesville, Florida. After a lot of thinking, I have decided to move to Canada. Thanks @anon25417004 for creation this page. I have already reviewed lots of information blog posts here. Now, me and my wife are preparing for IELTS.

I am 34 years old, with MS (CS) from UMD, and have 10 years of industry experience as a developer and team lead. I am hoping if I can get around 520 CRS score. What would be my chances for PR?

Thanks,
Puneet

Thats a very impressive score most people make it about 400-50. Looking at last years cut off stats with that kind of a score you will have no problem getting an invite to PR. Alternatively with the kind of experience you have you can start directly reaching out to companies here. Canada has introduced a new express work visa process (2 weeks) and once you have a Canadian job you get to claim extra points towards PR.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/reports/ee-year-end-2016.asp

Thanks for the quick reply @anon25417004. Let me start my job search too.

I read your post which cleared all of my doubts about moving to Canada. My motivation is similar to yours, to work with the startups and possibly build my own startup one day :). Seeing the current US immigration process, I don’t think i will get that liberty in next 10-15 years :(.

My wife is currently pursuing Associate of Arts (a transfer degree to bachelors) and will be finishing in summer 2019. However, I want to move before that time period. Is this the right forum to ask about credit transfers to Canadian universities or should I contact universities directly? Please suggest.

Thanks,
Puneet

At least in the US credit transfer is a very university specific thing, so best to ask the university. Additionally there are probably no students on here that would even know about that.

Hello… I am Prashant and I have decided to apply to Canadian PR after being in US for more than 8 years now. I am getting CRS score of 464, which i think will be good enough to get ITA

I live 2.5 hours from Toronto, near buffalo area.

My field of work is Supply chain and Industrial engineering, and i m looking forward to move to canada by end of 2018 if everything works out.

I am really interested in meeting like minded people who are interested in starting something of their own.

Thanks for creating this platform.

Cheers

2 Likes

That looks like a great score and according to the current statistics from CIC you would get an ITA. I would recommend starting out early building connections in your industry in Canada. If you have a chance to visit earlier for industry events etc do that. Thanks I hope a few people on here end up launching successful businesses in Canada or at the least use the freedom of PR to experiment with business ideas on the side :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes

Got it. I have asked my wife to check about credit transfers etc. Thanks :slight_smile:

I get a lot of email because of the site and honestly I try my best to answer them all. The one thing I learned from all these emails is that getting a Canadian Tech job is on everyone’s mind. Either it helps with the PR process or for others to setup a life here in Toronto. The big problem is finding the companies that are looking, connecting with them and working though the legal work visa process. Well long story short we’re trying to help checkout the link below.

Signup at this below link
https://movnorth.com/canada-tech-job/

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Hi ,

I’m actually a fellow LinkedIn alumnus and am kind of exhausted with the political and immigration situation here in the US. Before considering a move to Canada, I’d love to explore the tech scene and build a network. Would you recommend getting a PR even if I’m not sure of moving yet? I’m also super curious about compensation ranges and the differences between work culture.

Cheers,
Anurag

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Anurag, welcome I totally understand I was kind of exhausted myself with the wait when I applied for PR and moved. I’ve spoken to a lot of Ex-LI folk who are planning on going through the PR process. I would say Canada PR is heating up many more people in tech are applying and even moving then ever before. I would say go ahead and apply it does not affect your status in the US in any way. To maintain your PR you have to life in Canada 2 out of 5 years. So you have time to make up your mind and learn more about the place.

I wouldn’t say there is any difference in work culture between the US and Canada, especially in tech. I do feel Canadians value their holidays and work life balance a little more and protect it. There is almost no place on earth that can match the valley in terms of compensation but you have to keep in mind that Toronto is much cheaper and you get a lot more back for your tax dollars. For example people in the valley would think about saving for medical in later ears and kids college fees, in Canada healthcare is free and good colleges like Waterloo are not as expensive. Experienced people working in tech earn really well in Toronto and can have a great life. Additionally like the valley if your with a startup that becomes the next Shopify then theres that.

Anurag, I am in same boat. My i140 was done in 2014, and it will take 20 more years to get GC,

After a lot of research, I have decided to apply for canadian PR

After getting a canadian PR, you can always choose to stay in US or go to canada.

Cost of PR is also not that bad.

Once you get PR, you have 1 year to enter Canada and activate it. After you activate, you have to maintain it by staying in canada for 2/ 5 years.

Even though i dont have PR yet, I have been to canada several times, and i have always liked it more and more everytime i go. Especially Toronto and Vancouver

If harsh weather ( 6 months ) isnt a problem for you, you should really consider applying for PR. Worse case : you will never use it .

I have decided to choose Stability and mental peace over " little more money" and " h1b stupidity"

Thanks
Prashant

Hi

I’m Ashwin and I’ve been considering moving to Canada for a couple of Months now due to the restrictions/sanctions being implemented on H1-b and the lack of freedom it offers. My primary motivation is to work in an organization thats more focused towards development of a product than a service. And I feel Toronto has a growing tech hub where I can show case my skill sets and thrive as an individual.

Here’s a little more on my profile:
Education: Master in Industrial Engineering
Work Experience: 4 Years as a software test engineer(Manual/Automation of web based applications) in theU.S.A
Certifications: JAVA progmer/CTFL Tester/ Certified Scrum Master/ Entry Level Business Analyst.
IELTS: 9
Age: 29

I know it’s too early to conclude but what does the community think about what I have so far? I’m just trying to get the ball rolling on this application process. Also, I like the design of this website, the UI experience is really good!

Agreed with all of that. The more I research this, the lower risk it seems to be. I’m actually more tired of the politics in America as opposed to the actual GC wait, though the GC wait is one of the many symptoms of that. I’m applying for sure.

Seems solid, you will probably end up with a 480 ish CRS score. Apply soon, points reduce after you turn 30.