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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Moving to Canada (Part 1)

Are you a fellow Malaysian contemplating on moving overseas? I don’t claim to know all the answers but I do know that depending on your background, age and ethnicity, the answer and the reason to this question may differ.

Chances are, if you are an average middle class non-bumiputera (non-sons of the soil) person like me, you might share the same reasons. Is it worth it? I can’t answer that right now as I am still on this journey. For me, I feel strongly that I want a better future for my children and giving them a level playing field compared to what they would have should they be brought up in Malaysia. No matter what the reasons are, I am sure you can agree to some extend that some of the recent happenings in the political landscape in Malaysia have put off lots of people and that includes me myself.

Having made this move, I’d like to share the different avenues towards coming to Canada, a place I chose instead of the usual places which most Malaysians would prefer to go to (e.g. Singapore, Australia, New Zealand or the UK).

The easiest step of course is if you are patient and much younger (note this is for an average joe. of course it is always easier if you have a tard load of cash – then you could go ahead an apply for the business class PR). So, let’s assume that you are a fresh grad with a few years of working experience under your belt. One move is to try to get into a masters degree course here in Canada. Of course, money would be a concern. But if you had good results from your degree, then, chances are you can apply for a stipend from your faculty and hope to have part or all of your education funded (if you are lucky, you might even have enough for your living expenses). Rough it out for a year or two and when you are done. Go and apply for a graduate work permit. Work for a year and by then you are qualified for CEC (Canadian Experience Class PR). Yes, with the recent change implemented this year, you’d only need 1 year of Canadian working experience to qualify to apply for the PR under this scheme. Prior to that it was 2 years.

Coming next, I’ll furnish with other methods to get here and perhaps provide some links.