Got Canadian Visa: To Go Or Not

I know the merits and disadvantages of living abroad are being treated in other threads, but i want to ask specific question on behalf of my friend.

He is a well read happily married man. He works with an oil service company with good prospect and takes home about N400k every month. He recently obtained Canadian Permanent Resident Visa for his family. He is not too sure now if he still wants to go out there to make a living and is seeking advise from some of us close to him on what to do.

Since Nairaland has proved helpful to me personally on some of my issues, i feel opening a thread to pick advises for my friend would be worthwhile. Should he go or stay.

This is my view. If he finds a comparable job in Canada, he will probably earn about 2-3 times that amount. But at the same time he will also have huge expenses. He will also have to deal with the other issues like settling down in a new country etc.

To put it briefly, I will advice him not to bother, unless he has a ‘nailed’ job in Canada. His current position will count for nothing if he has to look for a new job from scratch.

Hmmm,

Making 400K a month, unless his oil company employers are sending him over for training, I would tell him not to go. If he just has regular visa which means he has to start from the bottom, I would tell him to just use it to get in, bring in stuff to sell, get out and take stuff home to sell. Also, use it to perhaps get his kids there for education.

I don't live in Canada and so really can't say much about them, but I am in the US and assume there are some similarities. 400K is a lot of dough.

Finally, I have a friend here who used to work at mobil. He came here on training and stayed back so he could marry his long lost girlfriend from university in naija. Sure, he lives a good life; good wife and 2 kids, but he now works doing stuff that has no bearing on his degree or that matches anything he told me he enjoyed while in naija.

Just something to think about.

I would advise that his family goes and he stays in Nigeria and continue to work for his company, because you might not be able to get a Job that pays that hig immediately over here. And for you to make that amount of cash in Nigeria you are lucky. That is what alot of people do.

only his children to go

Just for the sake of good education

Every other person should stay including him and his wife should stay

PS: I meat for UNIVERSITY , POST SECONDARY OR ANY OTHER HIGHER INSTITUTION EDUCATION

that's ma 23rd cent


He could decide to take leave to he can settle his children's ass down

But to leave a good job just for the sake of some freaking dirty job in Canada

NO WAY

besides, do you know how much we are missing Naija



I wish you knew

By the way

Any of his wayward children should stay in Naija for a bit of sense



OUTSIDE NAIJA AINT A BED OF ROSES

Tell you friend to travel to Canada for vacation, or perhaps take some time off work (like an extended leave), move to Canada for three to six months. then hustle for a job and then weigh the pros and cons of working a menial job. 400 thousand Naira is too much money for one to give up for Canada.

@Nuru

You did say he got a Resident Permit Right also called a Green Card here in the USA. I will advice him to take a leave of absence without pay from his Job and go to Canada. I think that by Law he has to travel and stay for a while or else he will lose his Green Card. Canada is going through an economic boom, and he will be able to work with the Visa and will be able to send his kids free, free health care and many other benefits. But yeah i think he should at least go and get his SSN and then come back if things do not work out.

he just needs to come to canada about 15days every year and he wont loose it

ya'll don;t know what it is to keep distance from loved 1s

on this kind of stupid abroad issue ( I mean )

People leave their peaceful homes to come and suffer abroad

CRAP

Settle with what you have

There is no place like home

It is not about money

There are various other things involved

As a matter of fact

By God's power

by age 30

I am moving back home



To train ma kids

The way it should be

The moment you step on the other side of airport ( I mean here in abroad)

You have the greatest tendency not to go to church on sunday

Not even during week days

You drift from God

this is bad

But in Naija, you always want to go to church

Even on weekdays



If the man comes abroad

The stress of settling down would always leave him to tired to wake up on Sunday and go to church

I have a Bible Passage to read and meditate on tonight 

I have been postponing it for ages now

Why, because I am always tired at nights after a long day of work

That is UK & US ( & many other over the seas countries for you )

I suggest the man stays at home

Afterall , he has a good job

He should be paying here a visit

If he was a bachelor , or he was engaged or without a family

Then , yer , why not

But he has laid his whole foundation in Naija

Let him just stay there

& maybe send over his matured children to start a life over in Canada

Yes. Since he's educated he will/should earn enough in Canada to support his family and help his family back in Nigeria. Also, his children will have a great (fee free) education. Lastly, if he does not like it he can return but if he does not take this opportunity it may not come again!

Best wishes for your friend!

Please O! I will tell him to[b] DEFINITELY NOT [/b] come to live in Canada, fine he should fulfill the 15 days a year minimum commitment so they do not withdraw his perm res and all that. Maybe him children and wife should move but he should not leave him job and move, WHY? I live in Canada and can confidently tell you that well qualified people come here and can only find jobs as cab drivers or telemarketers, they do not respect non-Canadian experience AT ALL, I know tooo many people who have fallen into this trap, the only alternative is if his company has a presence in Canada and can allow him transfer, same goes for yankee,

He should not, he should burn the green card and never get near an airport at any time.

davidylan:

He should not, he should burn the green card and never get near an airport at any time.

Says David from NYC, USA.

Why speakest thus, Davidlylan?

chinani:

Says David from NYC, USA.

Why speakest thus, Davidlylan?

When you get a green card to a foreign country, that is when you start wasting time asking if you should go or not. Was the green card just sent to him. Who applied on his behalf, the canadian government? Why has he now gotten what he wanted and is now asking us if he shld go or not? Considering that the application was definitely not free.

He should not go o! pls burn the green card o, but don't complain if ur children curse you for denyiing them the opportunity to be yankee based big boys!

davidylan:

When you get a green card to a foreign country, that is when you start wasting time asking if you should go or not. Was the green card just sent to him. Who applied on his behalf, the canadian government? Why has he now gotten what he wanted and is now asking us if he shld go or not? Considering that the application was definitely not free.

He should not go o! please burn the green card o, but don't complain if your children curse you for denyiing them the opportunity to be yankee based big boys!

I'm confused. Are you saying that his reluctance means that he really does not want to go?

If it's guaranteed that he's gettin a job n a home n everything all set up n stable for him, i would gladly ask him to move over, but if he has to go to school for wtv reason n he isn't sure of a job n all d necessary stuff, abeg make im just siddon jeje for nija o. Occasionaly, he can come for a visit, canada's fun during d summer sha

he can retain his job and come here and bring over his family and he comes regularly and he will get it, my aunty did it, her husband is based in nigeria and shez here with da kids and he comes ones in a while and they r getting their Canadian citizenship next month ot july, itz worth coming, he can ask his job to transfer him 2 their office in canada and i know a man who did da same, it is worth coming esp. for his children, when they get da citizenship, they can now all move back 2 9eria if they want and the kids come back 4 uni. and pay as citizens and with da passport, they r free to enter any country except for africa i presume without visa.all am saying is dat alot of dem bring their family and come once a awhile, another example, a family friend of my aunty, they just came 4 months ago and da man is a medical doctor who owns a hospital in Nigeria, the just brought his family here and went back and comes once in a while so in 3 yrz time, they can get da citizenship and decide where 2 live etc, itz a nice thing to do esp. now canadian immigration policy is good and canadian citizenship is a hot cake now

lmao, na craze ? you want to leave 400k per month for canada,

finding an equivalent job with all your education/experience in nigeria will be hard. Unless they see you have graduated from a north american school, you will probably have to go to school for a few years again, and then compete with people that are your children's age for entry level jobs.

Even if you get a job that pays as much as the current one, tax and cost of living will eat it up.

Bottom line, mving to Canada will set your career back by about 7-10 years, if you are lucky.

Like others said before, the best thing you can do with this is use it to get your kids in good Canadian schools.

Thanks everybody,

I can say from your opinions, i have a lot to tell my friend now. Ultimately, he has to take the decision but i think the discussion has been worthwhile. Most people seem to agree that he keeps his job here, settles his children there and visits only once in a while. I think that is fair enough.

Once again, I thank all of you my friends in the forum.

That is not to say the thread is closed o.

OK, guys, I will comment from experience.

First of all, where did you get the 15 days jist to keep your residency? To keep your residency you need to live in Canada 2 years out of every 5 years. Which means your friend can stay out of Canada for 3 years and then he must stay for two years without stepping out.

If he has kids, he should think of their future and  education, if they are Canadian residents/citizens they get to pay like $3-5k a year, non citizens pay more than $15k a year for university, not to talk of the other benefits and advantages he will give them, also think of the advantage of having dual citizenship, I have seen 60-70 year olds yelled at by teenage looking oyinbos at the French and German embassies in Lagos and I just felt so bad for them having to come line up, shoved and yelled at just to travel abroad…. My 2 cents

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." - André Gide

If I have a job that pays that much in my village, I will not even get close to Lagos not to talk of flying abroad. 400,000 thousand naira a month is no joke! (about $2800) some of us here (America, UK, Canada) don't even make that a month! so my guy, tell your friend to think twice! the devil you know they say is better than the angel you don't know! I'll advise him to go only on one condision! if his company have a branch there and will allow him to transfer and keep all his benefits! but if na to move here come dey find job! maybe finally end as a cab driver (no offense) he will still make money but his quality of life will drop! Another thing is how secured is your friends job? if he's in a position where they can wake up one day and tell him his services are no more needed! he might as well move to Canada now! but if he's in a good position, men tell him to sit his blk behind back home! As for the kids, they can move/live with families or friends in Canada if he have any while him and his wife can visit them from time to time! All the same, Good luck to your friend.

Thanks Ajadudu for commenting on that 15 days thing! in America you must be physically present for 6months every year for five years and 6months every year for 3yrs if married to a US cityzen to be eligible for citysenship! How do you pay your tax which is part of the eligibility if you only spend 15days a year in a country?

you say Ajadudu, and you are giving example from the US, Your family is already present here and paying taxes under your own the family name while the wife is working, anyhow sha am out. b4 i say something i know and start choping insults,

This topic gives me a feeling of deja vu,  I have been in this very position. Initially, my wife and kids were in the US while I was shuttling ( about 4x/ yr) but it was very, very tough.  The psychological trauma, the stress and riks of frequent travels, the cost involved.  I have seen that kind of set up destroy marriages and split families.

My advice will depend on a lot of things. Pray and seek information. What is the average age of your kids? Are you ready to temporarily give up your ''big man'' status to become a ''common man''. What kind of opportunities are there for you and your wife in Canada or Naija? I know there seems to be a growing opportunity in the Canadian Oil and Gas sector right now. How many years do you have left with your Naija employer before you are due for any kind of early retirement? Can you afford to take up to 1-2 years of leave (usually without pay) to test the waters? Do you have reliable friends or family who could provide you with the initial foothold in Canada? So many questions, It could be extremely frustrating if you have to do odd jobs to survive.

I was writing all the relevant exams and seeking opportunities while travelling up and down - I'm also a Healthcare Pro. Thank God, I eventually had to take some time off the Naija Oil job ( I yr unpaid absence) to really look for a comparable job which I found and then had the courage to quit the Naija job to stay with my family. Sometimes its not only money, but the future benefits to your kids and the desire to be a global player among other reasons inform the current wave of emigration from Africa.

Good Luck and best wishes to your friend !!

Thanks to everybody again for the insights. It really beautiful to have a forum where problems can be shared and solutions found together. My friend really has to read your posts himself.
Let's keep the flag flying.

N400K as salary. Go get other details from him. He obviously gave you his gross income. Ask him how much he pays as tax, monthly deductions by the company for car loan taken, monthly deduction from his cooperative society, Union dues, etc. He probably goes home with about N200K! He has to pay his rent, fuel his car, stock the house with food stuffs, give his wife a monthly allowance, pay the childrens school fees. If he's already building a house, then he's in more shit. My brother, when you work in an oil company, people think you are in heaven: big money big problem!
One other thing, the fact that he works for an oil service company whose future depends on the amount of business they get from the core oil companies, may be one of the reason he intends leaving. When the core oil companies sneeze, the oil service companies catch cold. They are like the banks. No customer, WAHALA don happen!

He knows his options. let him weigh them and take a decision.

my brother, I would tell you this, I have lived in canada, DO NOT GO THERE. trust me on this,  NO job for the place,  Your chidlren may go and wife,  you may visit, but do not go live there, you would never find another job, they do not pay well too. you would make more money in Nigeria than canada,  PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF GOD,  Do not leave Nigeria, this is the mistake most of us made,  Not dey abroad, except if you be ole and you can jump wall and enter people house. we are better of that most of this country, 

Abroad, God would never let you miss your way,  PLEASE DO NOT GO THERE IT IS A DEAD END,  your future would be destroy. get the resident , so that you can use it to travel,  but do not leave your job, 



MY BROTHER, you have only one option, that is do not leave NIgeria, Please do not leave NIgeria, I beg you, it would take you 15 years to make 60k canadian, and you would pay 45% tax on that 60K so you only have 35k, and you still have to pay 15% GST and PST, so you have like 25k , which is about 2.5 million naira after 15 years of working in canada as physical cash, you would pay rate, for a 3 bedroom , it is about N130 k a month, so remove that from your yearly 2.5 million naira which remain, and you see you have less than N700k you can affort a car, and other basic things of life. man you would do two jobs or drive taxi, PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR OIL JOB. I made the same mistake, some years ago. if I get an oil company , that want me, in nigeria, I would leave abroad , and join them, Even if you work here, they would never promote you, it is just commmon sense,, can you be governor of Sokoto state, if you can't been, your life would never amount to nothing leaving abroad, but in nigeria , you would be somebody,



another problem is housing canadian do not own their houses, it is the banks that owns it, you would not be able to leave anything for your children because you would never be able to pay of the mortage on the house in your life times, Please I beg you, do not leave,, I beg you, I am really beg you, Please for the sake of your children and children future,

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hmm, so much hate on Canada, i wonder y. and as per da houses, my bros/sis u can own ya house, biko pls, abi is Haterade on sale? i no get time to type jere, but abt 50% of wat u typed don't sit well with me.

@Scorpio

More like 70%. I am sure he had a bad experience.

He must have had a really bad one at that, prolly came in without papers n ish. n e hoo, daz his opinion n he is entitled to it, i don't agree sha!