British Columbia Immigration
Moving to a new country for better living opportunities? What better option than a British established colony on the pacific coastline with enchanting geographical features like the Canadian Rockies, with surplus opportunities for economic growth and not to forget, a great cultural diversity. British Columbia is the westernmost province in Canada, with Victoria as the capital, and home to Canada’s third-largest city, Vancouver. Its vast cultural diversity results from migrations from various parts of the world through the 18th and 19th centuries. The economy is mainly focused on the natural resource sector and the international trade facilitated by the major pacific trade ports on the coastline.
All of the above make British Columbia a highly sought-after destination for prospective immigrants. The Canadian Government realizes the high demand for Canadian VISAs and resultantly, they constantly update their Federal and Provincial laws and programs to facilitate immigration in a way that suits best, both for the country and for the would-be citizens. If you belong to the working class, the best option from among more than 60 programs currently available for immigration to the province is British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program, commonly known as BC-PNP. If you have the necessary skills and experience, this program provides you with a Provincial Nomination Certificate which enables speedy processing of your application for a Canadian Permanent Address. Broadly speaking, this program is divided into two main streams namely Skills Immigration and Entrepreneur Immigration.
Skills Immigration is for individuals who wish to settle and work as “employees” in Canada, particularly British Columbia. This stream is further divided into sections like Skilled Worker, Health Care professional, International Graduate, etc. Each of these sections has its own requirements and eligibility criteria for nomination. Entrepreneur Immigration is for businessmen who wish to invest in British Columbia. If you own a business or if you are a key managerial employee of a foreign company, and want to set up a base for investment in BC, you can apply under this stream.
Another way of efficient immigration to British Columbia is the Express Entry Process. It’s not an immigration program in itself but it helps make the process faster and more convenient. You either already have a Canadian employer offering you full-time indeterminate employment or you find one! Next, you fulfil the requirements of one of the Federal Express Entry programs as well as those of the British Columbia Express Entry Scheme (categories under BC Express Entry are Skilled Worker/ International Graduate/ International Post Graduate). Upon fulfilment of the above three criteria, your application has a great probability of acceptance since the number of applications selected under this scheme is significantly more and if you have a PNP application too, the processing is also prioritized for your application.
Furthermore, if you have already studied or worked in Canada earlier, you can apply to the Experience Class program. If you have a family member or a close relative already living there, you might want to consider the Family Class program. There are several other options (programs) available to suit the needs of every prospective immigrant, and hence, the path each individual takes towards settling in Canada is unique. In the end, your need and your situation at the time of applying for immigration decides how it all goes.