Navigating the maze of immigration can feel like you're stuck on a never-ending treadmill, especially when you find yourself applying for the 11th time without a clear path forward.

The key takeaway from this podcast episode is to shift your mindset from merely surviving to actively planning for your future in Canada. It’s crucial to understand that while temporary permits can give you a breather, they shouldn't be your ultimate strategy; you need to have a long-term goal in sight.

From assessing your qualifications to improving your language skills, each step should be aimed at building eligibility for permanent residency. Remember, it’s all about being proactive and informed—don't just rely on the next temporary fix, but strategically position yourself for success in the Canadian immigration landscape.

Takeaways:

• Recognize that applying for temporary fixes can complicate your path to permanent residency, so always plan ahead.
• It's crucial to shift your mindset from mere survival to building a long-term strategy for your immigration goals.
• Seek professional advice to understand your options, as immigration laws can be complex and subject to change.
• Make sure to maintain compliance with immigration regulations, as this protects your future opportunities.
• When transitioning back to your home country, reflect on your growth and leverage your international experience for future opportunities.
• Keep your professional connections alive, as networking can significantly aid in your return to Canada or other opportunities.

Links referenced in this episode:

Visit Ana's LinkedIn profile - a great place to get to know how she works and what she can do for you.

Ana's website: Merhouse Immigration

Build your skills for the CELPIP in the most introvert friendly spot on the planet - join the CELPIP Success School and let's work together on your CELPIP goals.

Mentioned in this episode:

Discover the hidden trap holding back your fluency, and grab the free 5-part mini audio course to finally unlock your real-world English skills and your CELPIP score. Grab your free audio course here.

Habits Course

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Self of Success podcast. I am really excited to have a return visitor, return guest to this podcast.

If you've been a listener, you've heard of her before. Her name is Anna Canseco. She is a regulated immigration consultant and the founder of Morehouse Immigration Solutions.

She strives to help her clients be better prepared, not just on paper, but emotionally and mentally, for the realities of life in a new country. Anna holds a law degree from Mexico and a graduate diploma in immigration and citizenship law from Queen's University.

In her immigration practice, Anna specializes in work permits, specifically lmia, exempt work permits and pathways to pr. Anna, welcome to the show. I'm so glad that you are back again. Loved talking.

So glad to be back. It took a long time, but I'm so glad.

It has taken a long time.

But, you know, a lot of people have reached out to say how much they really appreciated that episode, which prompted me to reach out to you again because I think people really identify with you and your story and, well, just your personality. You're a great person.

I'm so happy to hear that. Thank you. Thank you so much.

You are welcome.

Yes.

Okay, so let's set this up.

You were telling me before about several unfortunate conversations that you've had with clients who have been in Canada for 10 years on temporary residence visas, and they contacted you for guidance on their 11th application, which means they came as visitors, then applied for study permits, then pgwp, then study permits again, then another work permit, and then back to a visitor visa, and are now looking for another temporary fix. What they have actually done, though, is basically burned so many bridges just for a temporary fix that they do not have a pathway to PR anymore.

Exactly.

And what's happening? What's happening with this?

I think, you know, and I understand this, I think this way of thinking, this mindset is on based, basically comes from fear, right? Like, it's a mix of hope and fear and just plain survival mode, which I understand.

I honestly think that most people are not trying to game the system. They're just trying to make their life in Canada.

They're just trying to keep working and keep their kids in school and just, you know, keep their lives together.

The problem is that they think that they just focus on buying themselves some time without realizing that they start thinking that that is the plan when it shouldn't be. So some people think, I'll just apply for one more work permit.

It will give me a couple more years and then I'll see something will open up and something Sometimes it does work. Sometimes things work out, and while you're waiting, something up and opens up. But that is not always the case.

And the most difficult thing is that if you've been here for eight, nine, ten years, you spend so much money, so much energy, and you've just made your case that much harder sometimes. Right. So it's understandable. I understand where they're coming from, but it's very risky.

What we need to change is basically, they have to understand that the temporary residence, and that's everything from visitors, study permits, work permits. It can be a bridge.

You can buy yourself some time, but you need to have your sight set on what's after, what's coming after, and how do you get there. Yeah. Right. So that's. That's what missing in cases like the one that I was. Was telling you about. I was. So it was so hard because they.

They do want to stay here and I want to help them, but sometimes there's just no path forward.

Yeah, I've heard of. We have some friends that are in that very same situation, which was what really sparked my interest in this case, you know.

And so would you say then, from what I'm hearing, you're describing it as more of, like a mindset of, I'm just trying to stay alive. You know, that song by the Bee Gees, you know, staying alive, Which I.

Understand, it's very hard. Yeah, I think. I think it's that and it's completely understandable.

But at the same time, I think, and I hear this a lot with clients, we're like, oh, finally I've got my pgwp. I've got an extra three years. I'll think about this in two years. I'm like, no, you need to start thinking about it now.

So how are you going to use that time to build eligibility for whatever comes next? So it's about, yes, you need to survive, but if your plan is to stay here permanently, you can't just focus on survival.

And you need to say this with compassion, because I understand when I. It's easy when my clients are, like, young students with, like, financial support back home, and it's a bit easier.

But when it's like a family of four and it's the father who's trying to do whatever he can to stay here so that they can keep their children here, it's a whole different game. And it's. It's heartbreaking.

Absolutely. Yeah.

So, like, so this understandable mindset how, like, if you could take the people that you were Thinking of when you were writing this to me, and if you could kind of like go back a certain amount of time and try to meet them in the moment when they're making this decision, okay, I'm just going to grab the next, you know, short term piece that's going to extend my stay in Canada just a little bit longer. If you could zoom back to that period of time and kind of introduce another way of thinking, you know, like, I'm a shake.

Yes, I'm coming from the future. This is, this is your future talking to you.

What, what do you think you would, you would say to them or to someone who's listening right now, who finds themselves in that survival mode, just reaching for, you know, these temporary options that are so understandable, like what you were saying in the moment, how could, what would you do to, or what would you say to those people and to our listeners?

I think it's changing that mindset. It's not only how do I stay for a few more years, but what am I building towards? Like, what's the end game?

And you also need to take a look at the big picture. So, and that includes, for example, like, your work experience, your past education, your language proficiency.

So you need to understand where you are standing, what your numbers look like and what you need to do to get to where you want to. And another super important thing is that time flies by. As I said before, like three years in a PWP are gone in a blink of an eye.

So you need to start thinking about this yesterday.

Yeah. So if, if you are the person that woke up with that, what did you call it? The pgwp.

If you have that pgwp, and maybe you've, you've just gone through the process of getting it, you're super excited, you have it, it's on paper, you know, you're safe, at least for now.

And at what point you're saying sooner rather than later, but at what point inside of that approval that you already have, do you actually start needing to begin building something long term so you don't end up being that grabbing for whatever you can?

Ideally, that would be when they apply for their study permit. So it's not even waiting until after you finish your program.

And it's, for example, at the study permit application, it's not only is this program affordable, is this university affordable, is it open?

But more thinking, more again, general and from the outside, does it make sense with my career goals, does it make sense with what Canada seems to be needing right now? So you Might be in love with. I, I don't know archaeology, but we don't really need much archaeologists.

So if you want to stay here, you need to kind of understand what Canada is looking for and start positioning yourself in the best position you can find right now. This is not to say that your plan, even if you have one when you're applying for your study permit, this is not to say that it's going to work.

It might not work because a lot of things are just out of your control, like policies change all the time, programs close, eligibility requirements change, and sometimes that's just out of your control.

So you're thinking as far as the study side of things go when you're building your study plans.

So that's where you start. Yeah.

Because if your plan is to stay here or it's something that you might want to look into, you do need to start thinking about it at the study stage instead of just waiting until you get your pwp. Now it can be done. It has been done before. And sometimes you do need to pivot.

So maybe you studied, I don't know, a certain program and you end up working in something completely different. And that work experience takes you to the next level. So it can happen.

But you do need to understand, like, what are the possible options that you have on the table and. And what the possible pivots or changes might be. And there's no way to do this but to get professional advice.

Sure.

That's. Or be like super good with immigration information. And the thing is that you can't be good with everything. Right.

So you either work and study or become an immigration specialist.

Yeah. So.

Yeah.

And what kind of like, if someone is thinking, okay, I know I need to take action on this, but I'm not sure. Like, I don't know what. I don't know. You know what I mean? Like, is the.

Are there questions that they should be thinking about that that are that you see as being like, I don't know why people don't think about these things. Like, do they come to you in that sort of circumstances? You know, they do.

They do. And this is exactly the point. I don't know what. I don't know. So, for example, when we come back as to.

There are some things that are out of your control, like changes with IRCC and some other things that are more within your control, like staying informed and knowing where you stand and what you need to get to your goal, as we said. But for example, let's talk about maintained status.

I can bet that every single temporary resident here knows what maintained status is and knows that they need to apply. For example, if you have a work permit and you don't have that next work permit ready, then you need to apply, let's say, for visitor status.

And for some people that work, great. The thing is that maybe if you do that and you change from worker to visitor, you might not be able to, to apply for another work permit.

Once that pathway clears up, you might not be able to apply for that work permit from within Canada. So you might say, well, this happened to my friend and it worked perfectly for them, but you don't know the ins and outs of their situation.

So this is where this fact of I do not know what I don't know really comes into play here, right? Not every visitor can apply for a study permit from within Canada. So now your plan changes.

Like, you've worked so hard to get that job offer and to be eligible for whatever work permit you're applying for. And now it's happened before where you come for a consultation.

I just have a couple of questions and I have to end up saying, well, yeah, I'll answer your questions, but by the way, you can't apply from within Canada, so you need to go back home. And if you're from Mexico, maybe that's kind of doable, which is still a big expense. But I've, like, I have clients from all over the world.

It's not the same to say you need to go back to, I don't know, the Philippines. Sure, it's expensive.

That'd be a big shock.

I imagine it has been. And it's, I mean, sometimes there might be some workarounds that we can figure out.

But yeah, most of the time, like, the most straightforward advice would be apply from outside Canada.

And yeah, it's a shocker when mostly because they come to the consultation just asking for a couple of questions because they were ready to apply and like, oops, just so, you know, a little detail.

Oh, boy. And so if someone finds themselves,.

I.

Think we're kind of talking about this a little bit, but if they are at this 11th application space, you know, and they're, you know, just reaching for the next thing and they come to you, what would, what would you want to say to them or what have you said to them? Because I imagine you've already experienced that sort of situation.

Yes, and I honestly, I love doing it. So, yeah, that's, that's what I'm here for. So what we usually do is go over like an immigration Audit, like all of their. Their numbers. Right.

And where they stand. But then the next question that they have to ask themselves is, how invested are you in this?

Are you willing to do what needs to be done to get you to that pr? Sometimes the options are not easy. They're really uncomfortable. Like, are you willing to ask for your employer support?

That conversation is not always easy. And you need to have. Have built some kind of rapport with your employer beforehand. And that's not always the case.

Are you willing to improve your language scores? You know, Erin, it's not easy. It takes a lot of work and determination and focus, and it is exhausting because life goes on.

You still have all of your obligations and responsibilities, and you still need to somehow make time to improve your language. So are you willing to do it? Because I might be able to sit down and tell, you know what, the only pathway for you, it's to get.

To get a CLB9 in English. Well, no, I can't. I've been here for nine years and I don't have it. So if you're not willing to do the hard work, then you need to change your goals.

Right. And I guess that would be kind of like my second advice, and I think the last one, which is always something that I cannot say enough.

You need to ensure that you protect your compliance.

So, for example, for this case, where they were almost out of the restoration period and they were forced to change the visitor, it was not the best move for their future plans because they weren't able to apply for a work permit afterwards. But they did protect their compliance. They stayed always within status, which is the best thing you can do to actually protect your future plans.

That's basically my three points. Get advice, make sure that you're willing to do what needs to be done and protect your compliance.

Oh, and another thing, be ready to maybe hear what you don't want to hear.

Yeah.

So sometimes the best pathway is to exit camp.

Yeah.

And sometimes that's the only or the best pathway for you. And it's going to be more common that we want to. Just as I assume everyone watching this knows.

But Canada has this goal of reducing temporary residents to under 5% of the population. And it's already happening. We are seeing the effects of it in the economy, but that's topic for another day. So it is happening. This is the policy.

This means that whatever next temporary fix is not going to work for everyone. So be ready to also hear what you don't want to hear. Yeah. And get those bad news and, and.

Having to return because we know a couple people that are in that very situation of having to leave. And it's very sad. It's very, very sad because they've been here for a long time.

And I mean, it's so tempting to see that as a defeat, you know, as failure as I've. I'm. I'm done for, you know, this is not going to happen for me, and.

Which is totally, totally understandable to be in that situation of, you know, working so hard towards getting. Being here, working, trying, and only to have to go back to your. To your home country at the end of such a long ordeal.

And if someone is in that situation, do you have any recommendations for what they should be doing once they land in their home country and, you know, catch up to themselves? And it's.

It's very hard because honestly, if they've been here for, I would say, like, more than a year, you go back home, but you never feel like you're back home.

Yeah.

Right. You've changed. You've already changed.

So there might be some, some parts of your, your life back outside of Canada that you don't agree with, or they don't agree with you anymore, or, you know, you've changed. So acknowledge that growth, that change. And it's all about perspective. So you need to shift the not. I fail. But I learned.

I learned that next time I need to do this and this and this. I grew. I learned another language. I. I had friends from other cultures. I opened my horizons. So it's all about shifting your perspective.

And it's not always easy, especially if you're a family and you have to deal with your children missing their friends or just not finding themselves in school with a different language. And it's a whole. It's a lot. I've done it.

It's really tough. I know you've done it.

It's very hard. It's very hard. And then you deal with the gu. Of having moved your children around the world. Yeah, it's hard. But again, that's. And that can.

Brings us back, kind of brings us back to the study permit.

So.

Yes. Look for programs that might, like, both interest you and take you to that final goal of pr.

But at the same time, if you look for a program that talks to you, that at the end of the day, like, you learn, you got something from the experience. Right. So. Yeah. And in some countries, like, they really love the fact that you lived outside of the country.

Sure.

We call it in Mexico Malinchistas.

Yeah.

I don't know if you're familiar with that term, but anyways, the thing is that bump up your experience.

It looks good on your resume.

It looks good on your resume. Exactly. Like be proud of what, what you've accomplished. Even if you had to take a step back just to be able to take two steps forwards.

And if you are in that position of like re, you're, you're back in your home country again, but your, your heart is to come back to Canada.

What like is there some recommended things that they should, that this person should be doing as soon as they, you know, get them, get their feet under them back in their home country again? Yeah, that would help them to be positioning themselves for that return at some point.

I think I would love to be able to give like some general advice on this.

It really depends on the profile of each person because if we're talking about a 50 something male with like a family of four, it's, and no the profession or the occupation, not something that Canada is really looking, looking for. It might not look too promising, but at the end I guess the advice is the same. Stay informed, do what you can and be willing to do the hard work.

Sure. But it's not impossible. It can always be done.

I think also very important if you have to go back home, make sure you keep whatever contacts you made in Canada.

So professional friendships, whatever kind of content you made, business content you made in Canada, make sure you keep up with it because that's the networking is like the answer to everything.

And have you seen people be able to harness their networks and use it to help them to get back in the game again, so to speak.

I haven't seen people be able to get back yet, but I have been able to see people for LinkedIn to get just those networking relationships and then eventually once they get here, it's easier for them to find a job that matches more of their occupation back home. So I have seen it with LinkedIn, I haven't seen it with any other platform and mostly for people coming here for the first time.

Yeah, I've seen that happening too actually.

Like if you know how to work LinkedIn, keep at it because apparently it does work.

Okay, so another last question for you and then we'll see what happens afterwards.

But I mean if you've been in Canada for any length of time, especially over the last and I mean I know you have Anna, and I know I have but the last year, year and a half been like this incredible, it feels like this roller coaster ride with Immigration, as far as all the changes in policy and all the. It feels like contraction that have, that has been going on.

Right. Like I felt it like that's like when you said roller coaster. For me, it feels like I am just being like, it feels like claustrophobia.

Like things are just closing so hard so fast. So yeah, that's, that's kind of what we are witnessing right now. It's a lot of politics. But at the end of the day, Canada needs immigration.

We are beginning to see that reflected in the numbers in the economy. So I think that maybe like all of this bad reputation or bad language that was related or. Yeah.

That was put on the immigrants is going to start to change and I think that's something that we need to do.

Like, yes, we do need more investment in housing, education and all of that, but at the end of the day we need to start realizing that we do need people.

Absolutely.

So yeah, that's going to change.

I don't think we're going to open up the doors again like we did pre Covid or around Covid, not for the next me and my crystal ball, like two or three years. But eventually things need to, to balance out.

Sure.

Right.

So if, I mean many of most of my listeners, I would say probably 80% of them are in Canada already. Most of them are actually in Ontario, which is quite interesting to me.

But like, what do you feel like if they are in the middle of this process of just trying to keep up to, trying to keep in status, as you were saying before, but they see all of these changes going on around them. One, it's crazy stressful. I mean, I've heard many of my students expressing how stressed out they are with it all.

And what do you feel are maybe two or three things that they should be doing like right now to be staying on top of their process and you know, staying alive as far as immigration goes.

Staying alive. And Ontario is a hard one because they just change everything regarding their pnp. I would say French.

Yeah, look into French and again, how far you're willing to go. And by far, I mean like really far, like north Ontario, like stay away from Toronto and the big cities.

So again, small cities outside of the, of Toronto, Vancouver. Yeah, you know, that's, that's kind of like you need to start looking at those places.

So maybe start, I don't know, go see other small towns and see if you like the vibe, start networking there. Maybe that's going to be an easier pathway than staying in the big cities because that's that's just going to get harder and harder.

I didn't know that.

So that's. Yeah. About the big cities.

Yeah, that. Looking for smaller, maybe northern.

Smaller communities. Smaller communities.

And like northern Ontario, it's easier, quote unquote, not easier, but at least they're more programs that we have like the, the rural immigration pilot. So that also helps. But you do need to have a job offer. Okay, but it might, it might work.

So I would say start looking at, if you are set and say in Ontario, start looking at cities outside of, of the gta.

Right. Would that, would that be a similar case in like in the other provinces as well? Like don't gravitate towards the big cities,.

Which is hard because that's where we all want to be.

That's where all the work is. I get it. Yes.

Yes. It's where all the, the work is.

All right, so.

But there are too many of us. So yeah, Canada has said this before. They want to focus on French and they want to focus on rural communities.

So those would be something to look into. Now it's also very important to say that French enough on itself, it's not going to help you much.

So you still need to have those very good English skills because unless you're going to live in Quebec, it's not something that you use day to day much in the rest of Canada, except couple of cities. So yeah, that's basically what would be my advice.

Thank you.

It's not always easy because it's like those cities are super small.

Yes, they are.

And cold.

And if you're from a nice hot country, it's even more difficult, isn't it, I guess to endure the cold snow.

You get used to everything.

Yeah, eventually.

Eventually.

Oh man.

And then you go back and you can't stand the weather back home and.

Yeah, it's really tough.

Like I'm gonna go enjoy the, enjoy the sun. No, I can't go out. Like why would you go out at this with this heat? But yeah, yeah, yeah, smart.

So those are. That's basically the end of the questions that, that I had written down.

But I wonder if there's anything like top of mind for you right now, like in your work over the past weeks and months where, you know, you would love to say to them or to the listeners of this podcast that maybe we haven't talked about. Is there anything that's in mind for you that you would like to say or to offer or.

Well, yeah, I guess the biggest thing, and this is very focused to today's episode is not to confuse movement with progress. Like when you're moving from one status to another, it's fine.

You feel like you're doing stuff, but make sure that that's actually being reflected in progress. So that's. That's the first thing just to close this. This episode. Right. And it's not the end of the world.

It's hard, but it's not the end of the world. There is a pathway generally for everyone, but it does require hard work. So just be informed.

There's no price for doing any of your immigration issues by yourself. There's a lot of help out there. Make sure that you use authorized representatives. Please make sure that you use authorized representatives.

Those are lawyers, notaries, or paralegals in certain provinces and RCICs. So make sure that you use an authorized representative and be involved in your application.

Because that's another thing that I sometimes struggle explaining to my clients before we begin their application. I am here to. Or any other consultant is here to help you out. But you still need to be responsible for the information that you're submitting. Right.

So we don't know your life story. We don't know your work history.

You need to make sure that you cross all the T's and dot all the I's, and you authorize every single word that's being submitted in your application. And other than that, please make sure that you keep a copy of your full application, especially if you're thinking about doing 11 of them.

Yes.

Like, the 11th application has to be consistent with what you said on the first one.

Yeah.

So that is also one of the biggest headaches that I get when I have people who've applied, I don't know, five, six times before, and they've all been approved. Like, it's perfect. They've all been approved. Well, yeah, but I know what you said. Like, we need to make sure that what we're saying is consistent.

So that's another very big tip. And it's more like general. Keep a copy of everything, every single document that you submitted.

And if you work with an authorized representative, they are obligated to give you a copy of your application.

Hey, that's good to know. Yeah, that is very good to know. Yeah.

Yeah. And if they don't, you need to ask for it.

Absolutely.

They should. But if they not ask for it, so. Yeah.

Well, thank you, Anna.

My pleasure.

I'm going to be including all of your contact information in the show notes for today, but I wonder if there's anything that you would like to point people to. As far as where to connect with you easily.

Yes, I am Most active on LinkedIn. I do have a TikTok account that my content is in Spanish, but it's very hard for me to keep up with videos and stuff.

Tell me about it.

It's so hard.

I'm not that active on that platform, but you can always find me on LinkedIn and of course, my website, there's a special button there where you can contact me and send me an email directly at Mayorhouse Immigration, ca. Okay, so, yeah, that's where. Where they can find.

Yeah, I definitely will have your LinkedIn information in the show notes. That's how I found you and I'm so glad that I did.

Yeah, I know. I am so glad, too, sometimes. Yeah, it's all technology and algorithms, but somehow sometimes it works and it just connects you to good people.

And this has been the case with you and I'm very grateful.

Likewise, Anna. And by the way, we're not. There's no. This is just one friend talking about another friend.

There is no, you know, under the table funding going on in here.

Not whatsoever.

We are. I'm recommending Anna to you because I know that she cares and I know that she does this with heart and with professionalism at the same time.

But I think you need that combination.

And if you are looking, you, listener, the one who's listening right now to this episode, if you are looking for help and you're not sure where to turn, I humbly suggest you reach out to Anna. I think she can be a great resource and support for you. And like I said before, you'll be able to find her information in the show notes today.

And thank you so much for listening. And Anna, thank you for coming back again. I'm sure we'll do this again at some point.

Of course. Let's hope it doesn't take that long. But thank you. Yes, thank you so much and yeah, happy to be back.

All right.

Whenever you need me.

Thank you, Anna. Take care and thank you so much for listening.