From a Working Holiday at a Japanese Restaurant to PR!

Actually, this is my second time living here in Vancouver. After graduating from high school in Japan, I completed English school and a two-year college in Vancouver, then returned to Japan. I transferred to a university in Nagoya, spent my third and fourth years there, and continued working in Nagoya afterward, but I quit my job and came back to Vancouver. Japan and Canada each have their good and bad points, but overall life in Canada seems to suit me, and I also wanted to test my abilities in a foreign country, so my desire to return to Canada grew stronger.

A working holiday lets you live here for one year, but I felt that if I wanted to live here long term, I should obtain permanent residence.

Even before coming to Canada, I was planning to apply for immigration under the BCPNP category. I prepared my cover letter and resume before leaving Japan, and started looking for work as soon as I arrived in Vancouver. By bringing my resume directly to restaurants and checking online job postings, I found a job in just over a month.

Once the immigration application got underway in earnest, there was a lot to prepare, including the required documents and payment of application fees. There were many tasks, but I was told exactly when and how to prepare each item, so things moved along quickly.

However, I regret not preparing my English test scores earlier. I needed an IELTS score of 4.0 or higher, but because the deadline was approaching and I absolutely could not fail, I registered for a second test before receiving the results of the first. In the end, I scored more than required on the first test, so there was no problem, but the fee for the second test was wasted.

Actually, Ms. Shiraishi, who handled my case, had been in touch with me even before I left for Canada. We had arranged to talk once, and after that I went on to ask her to act as my representative for the application.

When I was a student, I renewed my study permits entirely on my own, so I vaguely assumed I could handle my immigration application myself too. But the amount of things to understand and documents to prepare was completely different between a study permit and an immigration application.

As the saying goes, it’s best to leave things to the experts. I was told exactly what to do and when, which reduced my burden and let me focus on my daily work.

Things also moved forward without putting much of a burden on my employer. In the end, I’m glad I left it to the professionals.

The Working Holiday program can only be used once in a lifetime, and to apply for permanent residence under the BC PNP category I had to work nine months within that one-year visa, which put a lot of psychological pressure on me. And even if I worked, there was the question of whether my employer would support my immigration application. Fortunately, my employer was very cooperative, so I was able to move forward with the application.

However, one day, when the immigration application seemed to be progressing smoothly, my application for the work permit to bridge the gap between my working holiday and permanent residence was refused. The cause was that the work permit was assessed unexpectedly early, before the BC provincial nomination was issued. To make matters worse, the work permit refusal and the BC nomination came on the very same day. In the end, I was able to go through the restoration of status process, and the work permit was issued shortly afterward.

First, I want to contribute more to the restaurant where I currently work and give back. It’s the place that helped me immigrate to Canada and changed my life dramatically.

In the future, I’d like to step up in my career and also hope to own my own business.

Also, my father once obtained Canadian permanent residence, but in the end he never actually moved to Canada. Now, though, he says his wish to live in Canada has grown strong again. Another of my goals is to someday sponsor my father to come to Canada and make the dream he couldn’t achieve thirty years ago come true.

To everyone aiming for permanent residence in Canada: I think you will face various hardships, and you may be troubled by government policies that change all the time.

But please keep your passion and goals firmly in mind as you move forward. The sooner you act, the more doors will open. Why not start by asking for a consultation?

Shizen Ya
A restaurant focused on healthy food, including sushi made with brown rice, where you can eat deliciously and stay healthy.
◆Hornby location
985 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1V3
(604)-568-0013
◆Broadway location
1102 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6H 1G5
(604)-569-3721

Both locations are open from 11:30 to 22:00
http://www.shizenya.ca/