Many of our compatriots today live with the dream of a happy life in the Land of the Maple Leaf. But due to stricter immigration requirements for knowledge of English, some are at a loss: overcoming the language barrier seems unlikely. Yes, there is still the province of Quebec, but that French... However, it is not for nothing that we were always taught to fight for our dream.
In a small village, 50 km from Chernivtsi, lives a family - father, mother and a nine-year-old daughter. The head of the family, Stepan, a 32-year-old history teacher, had been persistently thinking for a couple of years about trying his luck in Canada. But calling around Kiev immigration firms and telling about himself, he heard one thing in response: he had no chance of immigrating to Canada! But one day, turning to the company ILS (1993), he heard: 'Why, you are just an ideal candidate!' And that was when he was taken aback...
Honestly, when we learned about this story, we were also taken aback. And we went to the director of ILS (1993), Oleg CHERNYAVSKY, for clarification.
- Oleg Igorevich, does our history teacher really have real chances to immigrate to Canada?
- Yes, we know this man well. Stepan is immigrating to Quebec. We have already opened a federal file for him, he successfully passed the interview, received a selection certificate, passed the medical commission. Now his workplaces are being checked, and he and his family are slowly getting ready. But let's go through everything in order.
So, today many of our compatriots have indeed faced the fact that under Canadian federal law, professional command of English is required for immigration. But according to the legislation of the province of Quebec, immigrating there is much easier. And, by the way, afterwards it is not at all necessary to live in Quebec. You can immigrate to this province in three ways.
The first is as a highly qualified specialist for whom a Canadian employer sends an application. Let's face it, this is unlikely.
The second path, on which many of our immigration companies base their activities, is the so-called list of required professions. For example, this list includes programmers, but, naturally, no history teachers. So it turns out that a large number of those wishing to immigrate are left out in the cold or forge documents.
But there is also a third path, the so-called bonus one. Each applicant is assessed according to a whole range of parameters - from age to work experience. This takes into account a second education, the presence of children, knowledge of foreign languages and similar factors. On this immigration path, profession is not important; the total number of points matters.
The hero of our story, Stepan, has very good chances. First, his age; second, two educations: he has a diploma from a technical college in a technical specialty and a diploma from a pedagogical institute. Third, experience of qualified work. And finally, good data of dependent applicants - his wife and child. That is why we gave him hope. The problem was one thing - not knowing French.
- Why didn't any of the other firms manage to help him?
- The fact is that our company has been dealing with immigration to Canada, in particular to Quebec, for a very long time. We have representative offices in Moldova and Russia. We have been working in Kiev since 1997. And we know Quebec legislation, without false modesty, very well. Plus excellent translators, which is important in business correspondence and document preparation. Therefore, we assess each client's chances very scrupulously and comprehensively.
- And how did the hero of our story proceed?
- Stepan came to Kiev, signed a contract with us, got a job, and went to French courses.
- And how did he master this 'terrible' language?
- To pass an interview with an immigration officer, it is enough to know the language at the level of 'I speak and understand with an interpreter.' This check takes about 15-20 minutes, then the officer gives a score for language knowledge, and then you can communicate in Russian or Ukrainian. The ability to write and read in French is not tested. This level of language proficiency can be achieved in six months of intensive study. Our record is 4.5 months: that is how long one of our clients, who left quite recently, studied. In our courses, the main emphasis in teaching is precisely on quickly getting a person to speak French. Stepan, by the way, studied in these courses, and then found a very original way to improve the language. In Kiev, he met a Moroccan family whose child had problems with the school curriculum. And so, for our Stepan tutoring the boy in history, mathematics and other subjects, his father gave him French lessons. As a result, he passed the interview very easily.
In general, Stepan's story is an example of what results can be achieved through perseverance and persistence. Acquaintance with someone in Canada gives additional points. So, having first encountered the Internet at our office in Kiev, Stepan began visiting forums and communicating with the Ukrainian diaspora in Quebec. That is how he met someone in Montreal, made a report for these people about the French Cultural Center in Kiev, and now he has a letter of gratitude from his new Canadian friends!
- What would you advise those who have not given up hope of immigrating to Canada?
- First of all, do not be afraid of either real or imaginary difficulties. The most important thing is a firm desire to immigrate, that is, to start this complex and rather lengthy process and see it through to the end. Second, correctly assess your chances. Despite the fact that there is a lot of information on the Internet, people, unfortunately, cannot figure it out on their own. For example, quite recently a woman came to us and asked to review her documents. So, planning to immigrate to Quebec, she copied federal application forms from the Internet and filled them out. And this despite the fact that she is an English teacher! That is, knowing the language is not everything; you also need to have a good understanding of the legislation. That is why we provide free consultations for everyone interested. And finally, stop being afraid of the French language!
I would also like to warn everyone: do not under any circumstances forge documents! Sometimes some firms strongly recommend that clients who have a diploma in a specialty on the list forge their work record book. But our engineer is not an engineer under Canadian law!
All immigration officers who have been traveling to Ukraine for years know perfectly well that we do not have the required specialists. And the embassy has many ways to verify the authenticity of documents, including through our tax inspectorate. So this is very dangerous.
Under the bonus system, only recently people with seemingly unfavorable specialties such as school librarian, tax inspector, and expert in assessing damage from traffic accidents left us. A higher education degree is not necessarily required either. For example, if you have two technical college diplomas, that is excellent. If you have a certificate from professional courses with a training duration of more than a year that allows you to lay foam blocks, that is also good. So think it over, consult with specialists, realistically assess your chances, and believe me, you will find your way to Canada!