Immigrating to Canada from Australia (or anywhere, really)?
Looking for any advice/help/information anyone might be able to offer. I've spent the last few days scouring the Canadian government website on immigrating but it gets overwhelming fast. I think I understand most of it but I have a difficult situation so anyone with experience would be very appreciated!
My SO in Australia doesn't have much by way of work experience and nor does he have particular qualifications (no university degrees or what-have-you) so I don't think a working visa is a possibility. I don't know who would hire him ahead of time without any certificates besides a high school diploma. But I don't know much about what they'd want in the first place so it's hard for me to research.
A study visa MAY be possible, but he's not sure if he wants to go through the study courses yet. Would he even be allowed a student loan from the Canadian government to pay the tuition? I can't seem to find that out. Either way, the website says he'd need $10,000 on top of his tuition costs. The $10k is manageable but on top of potentially $15k tuition... that won't happen before 2014. We've been together almost 4 years already and we want to close the distance badly.
Ideally, we'd want to go the way of a family sponsorship visa. I've looked into this the most and I believe we have to be married before this. Neither of us mind one visiting the other and getting legally married, then applying for that visa. The issue comes from the fact that I have to have a job to show I can support him for 3 years -- true? Problem is, I live in a town with a population of only a few hundred people and the only place I could potentially work would be the convenience store or maybe the post office. My family has no vehicle so I can't realistically get a ride to and from work every day. I suggested applying at the convenience store to my SO but he said that likely wouldn't count to the government as a good enough income to support us. I honestly have no work experience so that really goes against me as well. (I don't know if it makes a big difference in applying for this visa -- and I'm afraid it might -- but he's only visited me once.) He has about $9k in savings from his job at the moment and steadily growing it for our sake, and I'm doing what I can to contribute. I don't suppose him having a lot of money would make for some kind of exception? My mom's suggested me applying as self-employed by setting up a store where I sell my crafts, but I can't see the government taking that well either... The income would be low and my customers few and far between. Certainly not reliable. She thinks it'd be fine though. I just don't know.
I guess my biggest question is, is there any way around this? Or do we really have no choice but visiting back and forth until my family can save up enough money for a car, then apply anywhere I can and work for another year+? I really don't want to have to do this. I feel like my life is on hold until we can be together because my living situation is really complicated and he's kind of my way out, with us moving together to our own place here in Canada.
A side question would be, is it even possible to visit another country without having a job? My SO said the customs officers made very sure he had a job to go home to so he wouldn't overstay in the country. I want to visit him very badly and see what his life is like there before he has to leave it, but I don't think they'd let me through in my current situation.
Sorry this is so jumbled up, but thank you if you read it. I'm just really stressed out trying to figure everything out and I'm absolutely heartbroken at the frustrating situation we're in. It sounded so easy before I started looking it up, but doesn't it always?
My SO in Australia doesn't have much by way of work experience and nor does he have particular qualifications (no university degrees or what-have-you) so I don't think a working visa is a possibility. I don't know who would hire him ahead of time without any certificates besides a high school diploma. But I don't know much about what they'd want in the first place so it's hard for me to research.
A study visa MAY be possible, but he's not sure if he wants to go through the study courses yet. Would he even be allowed a student loan from the Canadian government to pay the tuition? I can't seem to find that out. Either way, the website says he'd need $10,000 on top of his tuition costs. The $10k is manageable but on top of potentially $15k tuition... that won't happen before 2014. We've been together almost 4 years already and we want to close the distance badly.
Ideally, we'd want to go the way of a family sponsorship visa. I've looked into this the most and I believe we have to be married before this. Neither of us mind one visiting the other and getting legally married, then applying for that visa. The issue comes from the fact that I have to have a job to show I can support him for 3 years -- true? Problem is, I live in a town with a population of only a few hundred people and the only place I could potentially work would be the convenience store or maybe the post office. My family has no vehicle so I can't realistically get a ride to and from work every day. I suggested applying at the convenience store to my SO but he said that likely wouldn't count to the government as a good enough income to support us. I honestly have no work experience so that really goes against me as well. (I don't know if it makes a big difference in applying for this visa -- and I'm afraid it might -- but he's only visited me once.) He has about $9k in savings from his job at the moment and steadily growing it for our sake, and I'm doing what I can to contribute. I don't suppose him having a lot of money would make for some kind of exception? My mom's suggested me applying as self-employed by setting up a store where I sell my crafts, but I can't see the government taking that well either... The income would be low and my customers few and far between. Certainly not reliable. She thinks it'd be fine though. I just don't know.
I guess my biggest question is, is there any way around this? Or do we really have no choice but visiting back and forth until my family can save up enough money for a car, then apply anywhere I can and work for another year+? I really don't want to have to do this. I feel like my life is on hold until we can be together because my living situation is really complicated and he's kind of my way out, with us moving together to our own place here in Canada.
A side question would be, is it even possible to visit another country without having a job? My SO said the customs officers made very sure he had a job to go home to so he wouldn't overstay in the country. I want to visit him very badly and see what his life is like there before he has to leave it, but I don't think they'd let me through in my current situation.
Sorry this is so jumbled up, but thank you if you read it. I'm just really stressed out trying to figure everything out and I'm absolutely heartbroken at the frustrating situation we're in. It sounded so easy before I started looking it up, but doesn't it always?
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