Visitor to Work Permit to PR for the Whole Family

I had long admired Canada, but the big trigger was our three sons studying in Canada. They studied abroad from high school, and then each went on to university, and the tuition became enormous.
We heard that tuition for permanent residents is half, so we began seriously aiming for permanent residence.

Besides finances, my husband and I had no language skills, and we searched for a very long time for a way to get Canadian permanent residence. During that time we consulted various agents, but most advised us to first improve our English and save money. Just when we felt both of those would be quite difficult, we learned about Visa JP Canada online, and in Tokyo we consulted immigration consultant Ms. Shiraishi, telling her that we had nothing going for us but wondered if something could be done.

Then, to our surprise, she advised: ‘Since your wife has childcare qualifications and experience, why not have her go to Canada as a visitor for now and look for work there? Something may work out within six months.’ It was a real eye-opener!

Thanks to her telling us about a job-search website, I had an interview via Skype and was hired as a caregiver. I first entered Canada as a visitor and then got started by switching to a work permit.

I used my free time from caregiving work to attend free ESL classes. In my second year in Canada, I started taking the English test (IELTS) required for the permanent residence application, but I just couldn’t reach the required score, and it became a painful battle with English.

I was in a situation where I couldn’t run away from something I was bad at and had to face it, while my brain kept forgetting whatever I memorized. There was the pressure of my family’s permanent residence resting on my shoulders, and of a time limit, because there is an age limit for including children as dependants in the permanent residence application. It was a truly hard time. I can’t tell you how much the message ‘It’s going to be okay’ from Ms. Yamashita, the immigration consultant in charge of my case at that time, saved me.

Ms. Yamashita also gave me lots of quick, careful and accurate advice at other times, when I was truly desperate and didn’t know what to do. I could never have achieved this without her help. I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart.

Getting Canadian permanent residence began as a dream, but thanks to walking step by step, steadily, together with Visa JP Canada, I was able to obtain permanent residence 4 years after my first consultation and in only about 3 months after applying for it!

To everyone aiming for permanent residence or immigration: however distant the dream or long the road may feel, I’ve come to deeply realize that if you keep working hard without giving up until it comes true, your dream will surely come true.

I sincerely wish Ms. Yamashita and all the staff at Visa JP Canada continued success and prosperity. Thank you so very much.