AN Opened the Path to Permanent Residence Working as a Cook

Q. What made you start thinking about moving to Canada?

I was an ordinary company employee in Japan, but I couldn’t picture myself just going to the office every day and quietly doing the same work until retirement, so from 2013 I started vaguely considering going to Canada.
However, keeping up with ever-changing immigration laws on my own takes a great deal of effort, and considering that I was turning 40, I came to feel that if I was going to act, this was my last chance.

Q. So you didn’t originally have a background as a cook?

Even before getting a consultation in Japan, I researched and thought on my own about how to connect to permanent residence. I can’t speak English at a native level, so I figured I had to go through some specialized field. That meant either caregiver or cook. Being a caregiver wasn’t for me, so I decided on cook.

I figured that if I could get to Canada, I would first attend school, then get a Post-Graduation Work Permit, and during that period of working in Canada look for an employer who would support my visa. I worked that much out myself, and while I was still in Japan I even attended a vocational school to learn sushi.

Q. How did you come to use Visa JP Canada?

I learned about Visa JP Canada while researching Canadian immigration online. When I found out that they held consultations in Japan where I could speak directly with a licensed immigration consultant recognized by the Canadian government, I arranged a consultation with Ms. Shiraishi of Visa JP Canada in Tokyo in July 2014.

During the consultation, Ms. Shiraishi advised me that it would be better to gain experience in Japan first, so for a little under a year after that I worked part-time at a restaurant in Tokyo.

Q. So you had studied in Canada before.

I had studied in Canada when I was young, and I remembered that Vancouver Island University, where I had taken the University Transfer Program back then, had a culinary course, so I decided to take its one-year program.
However, I hadn’t touched English at all for about 15 years, so studying to reach the minimum IELTS score for admission was tough. I somehow got the score and received my acceptance in 2015. Then I obtained a study permit and went to Canada.

Q. How was student life in Canada?

Being a student again after so long, I was fortunately surrounded by kind classmates and teachers, and although the studies and English were fairly demanding, it was a meaningful time. There were a few people around my age, but I was mostly among young people, so there were times when it was hard to keep up with their energy, but everyone helped me a lot.

At the end of the one-year course there is a COOP, where you actually go to a workplace and work, and I was lucky enough to work at a hotel in Jasper. The work started at 4:00 a.m., which was a bit tough, but I was surrounded by magnificent nature, which healed me, and I somehow completed it.

Q. How did you meet your employer in Canada?

While I was studying at VIU, a friend introduced me to the couple who are now my employers. They are a very caring Japanese couple. Before my COOP work in Jasper, I started working for them using the rule that lets students with a study permit work off campus up to 20 hours a week. After the COOP, I went back to work for them, and they offered to support my permanent residence application.

Q. What was the road to Canadian permanent residence like?

I asked Visa JP Canada to act as my representative and applied for permanent residence as a Cook under the BCPNP category. After a two-year processing period, I landed at Boundary Bay in July 2019.

Along the way, there was a period of about a year with no movement after my medical exam, and I felt anxious at times, but Visa JP Canada contacted me right away whenever there was any update, and I felt reassured knowing it was in the hands of professionals.

Since my consultation in Tokyo in 2014, Ms. Shiraishi supported me over a long five years, through my study permit, a three-year Post-Graduation Work Permit, and my permanent residence application. I am truly grateful. Thank you very much.

I now have great coworkers and generally enjoy my work. I think I was really lucky to meet the owner couple here. Finding an employer who will support you is the most important part, and also the most difficult.

For now, I’m just relieved.

Sam’s Sushi Bar
890 Wembley Rd Parksville BC V9P 2E6　MAP
(250)954-2373

Parksville is a city near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, BC. This is a sushi and Japanese restaurant on the coastline.