, and to everyone who contribute to it.i am still s student at UOM and as many fellow here , we tend to have the grass-better-on-the-other-side syndrome..I wanted to move to canada after my undergraduate studies here, and wanted to know , if its easier to get a job and settle there after i complete a post graduate (MSc) course over there?Would it help get into the system quicker? (… but i know the initial years , specially during the studies and all these will be real difficult.)…could anyone share some ideas?
Keep it up guy!it really helps!

Thanks a lot for your advice. I also did a BTS Informatique de Gestion at the MCCI some 8 years ago. I would like to know if employers over there recognise the BTS and if I will be able to secure a good job or will I need to continue my studies?

Thanks
Zabeen

I will not tell u much cause i dont the way of getting into mtius.. But what i can tell is that thousands of people are leaving the country.. so think well..

As always
Noor

Ive been reading through all that you have written and must tell you whatever advices Noor, Dodo and Patrick have given you are true. Even i will say the same thing to you.
Concerning the fact that you have a fiancee, as patrick told me before there use to be a legal immigration way to bring in your fiancee, but this have changed now UNFORTUNATELY for you and all of us.
Well, i assumed that you must be doing the common law application for your fiancee. Right? And you have to do an affidavit before the supreme court that you and your fiancee have been living common law for at least 1 year. Well this is the only way to bring her in without having to get married religiously and civil.
One advice i would give you, at anytime the immigration authorities may ask you about proof that you both have been living as common law for such period of time. I think SAJ must have told you both to open a joint account, but this is not sufficient at all. I advise you both to buy things with receipts having both of your names on it, it may be valuable things or small things, just to show that you both are living together and sharing the expenses and doing things in common. Its a friend experience im sharing with you so take it as an advice ans ask SAJ they will tell you the same things but dont wait when the immigration authorities are asking for proof to do it. Hope i made this point clear to you. Its gonna help you.

If it doesnt work then im sorry to tell you that both of you have to get married civil law so that your application goes further.

Concerning weather, the province of British Columbia have the best winters of all Canada, but cost of living is high but you can both manage if you are working. Its always +5 degrees most of the winter days in Winter BUT BUT BUT it rains like hell, the sky may be cloudy for 1 week and it may rain for like 5 to 10 days in a row. But i did manage to get through this, i have lived there for 6 months and got through the whole winter. It does snow but only thrice a winter season and the rain washes out all the snow in a few days.

Im myself living in the province of Quebec in MOntreal for the past 1 year. I just came back from mauritius 2 weeks ago after 5 and a half months there. Im planning to move from this province very soon to settle in alberta or British columbia.

Well i wish you both good luck in your application and hope everything goes alright for both of you by the grace of god.

Take care and bye for now

Vijay
MONTREAL

Like Dodo said, it would have been better if you could have the legal document. But it seems that you already applied. True, there are a lot of unmarried couples in Canada living together as common-law partners. However, unlike them, you have not been living together. I may be wrong, but I don’t think anything prevents you from having your legal wedding in Mauritius, and then let immigration Canada know that your status has changed. You’ll have to check on http://www.cic.gc.ca. The problem with immigration laws is that they keep changing. Things have changed a lot since I applied for permanent residency.

Good Luck.
–
Patrick Ng

Don’t know your families’ constraints wrt the wedding but will it be appropriate to have a civil ceremony just for your papers. Mind you, in quebec the wife keeps her maiden name and most Quebecers are not even married ( they live as common law partners) but I don’t know how much this will impact your application (s).

Don’t know about the Empowerment program but i can assure that there is a big difference coming here as an Immigrant versus a “guest worker”. You won’t have the same rights because somewhere in that program there is a middleman who will be making more money than the salary you will be bringing home. At one point , the Alberta govt allowed some companies to bring in some Fijians to work as cooks. Poor fellows though that they will be working as assistant chef in 3/4/5 stars hotels - they end up working in the fast food industry like MacD and whoever the agent who brought them were charging them money for their airplane tickets and rent ( more than what an ordinary chap coming to settle would have paid)

Just a little note. Yesterday I was watching the usual “Journal Televisee”, and i saw that through the “Empowerment Programme”, the Mauritian government are sending 100-200 people to Edmonton to work in place to slauthering poultry and all that. For those who dont know the Empowerment Programme is like something set up by the Government to help people.As they say..
Anyways, i Just wanted to know, are these people really going to make it there. Or they going to like enslaved in those and be ‘a la merci’ of the employers there??

Cheers

Hassen

Thanks for your valuable advices. We are at the baby stage of our”demarche”here. We’ve still got so

much to do, that we don’t no where to start. Certificates to “certify”. The first little humps, that

we have to go through is the afidavit that we’l have to make. Since me and my Fiancee are not yet

married, and as such not living together, we’ll have many things to do, to prove and so on.. So and

so papers to show.. etc. It’s areal casse-tete, i Tell you and we are even thinking thats it should

have been better that we got married, before we had applied for immigration tp canada.But

unfortunately, due to some family constraints , we wont be able to do it.
Do you think that not being married , but already a couple, can be a thing that can make the

canadian people reject our dossier?? It’s a little thing that i Fear may arise……

Concerning the jobs.. It’s a harsh reality that we both shoud accept.. Before getting this cosy job

as you say, i have had to really strive.. Not much but for 5months. Even being a graduate, without

experience , the only jobs that were offered to me at that time, were those as Call Center Agents,

etc..It paid well,but i accepted to be salesperson in the IT Dept in a well-known retailing company

here in Mauritius. It paid less that Rs 6000 at that time,working 7 days out of 7!! and during the

peak season 12 to 14hours of work!!! But the job allowed me to get valuable experience in many

things.
Now that I have this job, of 40 hrs per week, i can look back and think on all the hardships gone

through. And I am ready, to go through all the hardships again working odd hours,etc..
I know its more easily said than done, but everyday I am trying and doing the maximum I can to

prepare myself to this harsh reality..

The most important reason why we both decide to move to canada, is because we are thinking for the

future. I mean we both had to strive a lot before we got our first job after graduating. Its not

easy to get a job even if you’ve got a degree back here in Mauritius, at the beginning of your

professional career at least.
Nowadays, Unless you have contacts here, you wont get that “secured government” job. People with

less good results can step up on you and your chance for even an interview just because they know

this or that “deputee” or minister!!
It’s still the case now in Mauritius, and i seriously doubt this “mentality” would ever change. Its

the politicians themselves who have implemented this system.
To put it in their language to “protect their people”.
But luckily there is still the private sector where you can get a good decent job.
Even that with life getting more and more expensive everyday here the amount of money you get,

example Rs 15-22 k is not enough to take a leap in life.
I mean to actually buy a plot of land and build a house on it is almost like binding yourself

indefinitely to the Bank. Building costs are now very very high in mauritius. Cement , iron bars

prices have sky rocketed!! you can almost say when you are building a house: Rs 800-1000 per square

feet, depending if you are someone who is very “debrouillard” in terms of saving on this or that.
Loans interest are around 12.75 % on home loans , on personal ones almost 16-17%!!!
We must be ready to pay Rs 5000-8000 per month for certain loans for several years if we want to

take the risk.

I mean life is not heaven in Canada also but is it much easier as its back here in Mauritius?? What

are the views of people who have just moved to canada.. What is it to gain coming to canada?? To

lose is the family and friends that we’l not be able to see and meet

Both me and my fiancee are starting life now.I mean professionally. We both have 2+ years of working

experience now.I know that if we both strive here after 4-5years (but i expect much more) , we can

live decently. But we’ve decided to start that life coming to canada.. Is it a good decision..??

Changing a country and life?? And starting again a new grounds??? Are there more things to be lost

than to be gained??

Thank you
Hassen

- Concerning time elapse for PR: Normally the application to the Federal Govt used to be faster, but since last year, the govt of quebec has decided to increase its entry per annum. So this is why the waiting time for the interview has decreased from an average of 2 years to one year. So, you should start counting as soon as you get your file number. Its not when you apply that counts. Then expect around 14-15 months before getting an interview. And if your lucky enough, you may even get the CSQ directly without any interview. Then you shall be left with the medicals and it will take another year to get your visa.

- Concerning jobs : You should tune your mindset that its gonna be hard the first few YEARS. And believe me, in 90% of all cases, its gonna be TRUE!So donot expect you will get your job straightaway. Be open, donot restrict yourself to what you did here in Mtius. Its not because you are a software developer, you can’t make your way to other fields of IT and why not in another career. Opportunities will come, but you need to be open minded and patient.At first You must take whatever you get.Its not just merely saying that, you need to be psychologically ready to do it NOW not LATER. One way you could test your determination is put yourself in a situation that in mtius itself for some reason or other, you had to leave your comfortable job of software developer and work at for eg. Mc Donalds. How you feel?? …If you cant do that, expect your life to be really tough. Of course if your lucky you can get your job straightaway, but what if not?? Always prepare for the worse. Thats my advice. And about your wife’s career, search on the web for how they employ teachers there. Each province have their own procedures. Be sure you read about it and see how she fits in. I dont want to make you afraid, but ive known teachers with 20 years of experience here in Mtius, have never got their job as Teacher again in Canada. AT midcareer level, you will always have that difficulty. But if im not mistaken, you’re a young couple. You have more time and courage.So the trick to get the job, is that you need not focus on your experience here, but rather find out what the procedure and qualifications needed in canada to work as a teacher. Then you work through that, study if need be and in a few years you shall succeed.

- Climate : Its not that because you come from port louis that you will find it harder to adapt to the low temperatures. In general, we all as Mtians will face the same difficulty cause we have a tropical climate here. Read about patrick’s advice about how to face the winter, it will definitely help.

Other provinces : Yea once landed you can move to other provinces. But its not advisable to leave Quebec without having got any ID cards and all required papers. Just imagine you have lost your passports and you dont have any other ID with you?? hehehe.. So be sure why you are leaving Quebec. If you have family waiting for you in other provinces, then its good moving. But if its just a mere choice, i would advise you to stay a few months in Quebec. It will help you get your papers and also lodging is cheaper.

So in general what you need is a really strong determination. You need to build that up. That applies to your wife too. Its gonna be a tough time, but be patient. As a couple, you should be ready to assist each other. Its not going to be a White paradise, but definitely on a long projection, its gonna be much better that the SUN , SEA , SAND ( and the newcomer SEX ) logo of mauritius.

As always
Noor