I used to think life was hard not until I discovered that it is the decisions we make that makes life seem hard. The decisions we make really go a long way to affect our lives.
I was almost turning 40 and still struggling to make ends meet. Who would have thought someone like me with a first-class degree from a prominent University in Nigeria would leave school without getting a good job? The amazing but yet sad thing is the fact that I also had an international Master?s Degree. Frankly, it was a case of ?who master?s degree help??
5 years earlier, after my master?s degree abroad, I came back to Nigeria hoping to get a fantastic job. You trust the hustle in Nigeria, I trekked the streets of Lagos submitting my CV to different companies that I considered myself qualified to belong. I also had an active profile on all the major job sites in Nigeria. Finally, hurray!! I got a job that?s at least puts food on my table. It was a little less than N120k per month.
Few years later, I got married. Believe me, marriage is really a big decision to consider. You don?t just run into it because of love, your financial strength matters a lot. I had my wife, my son, the bills and other needs to take care of but I barely met up. I was always broke before month-end. I got tired and frustrated. The salary I was getting now seemed smaller mainly because I had more responsibilities and the hike in prices of all commodities due to the loss of value of the Naira.
I had a friend who was always telling me about relocating to Canada. It sounded like a very good idea but never for once did I pay attention to him because of the rumours I heard from some other people about how they got scammed by the so-called consultants who promised to follow them through the process. Some tell them to just get a passport then, they qualify to travel without taking them through the requirements, while some will charge you so much for every stage of the application and the painful thing is, they still didn?t end up crossing the border of Nigeria.
I was not convinced about relocating at all. One Saturday, I came across a write-up on a website talking about Canada immigration and how to go about it. It looked legit but as the typical Nigerian I was, I ignored saying in my mind ?It?s a scam?
A year later, I got an international call from my friend who had been convincing me to relocate. I was shocked because if I could recall, we were almost of the same financial status. How was it possible that he relocated to Canada?
How I Started
He told me how he saw the same post I ignored and applied. You can imagine how astonished I was?Yea! But he calmed me down and gave me the link to the website I ignored and said I should just follow their updates which I did immediately.
I filled their online assessment form to ascertain my eligibility and I got feedback that I am eligible! You can assess your eligibility via this link; www.canada.palsconcierge.com
On the website I came across a post that talked about how Canada is massively taking in new immigrants from 2015 to 2020. The information also really got me inspired and I had to make further clarifications on getting started. I visited their office to have a chat about my application and verify their address. Following our discussion, I was surprised that a legitimate immigration company like them existed in Nigeria. I met with the director and expressed my interest to relocate to Canada. I did tell her about my financial status and how much I had in my account presently because I was sure that would disqualify me. But surprisingly she said they could work with what I had and their service fee was clear and concise and they only get their balance of consulting fee upon assurance that I will get my visa. That further reassured me.
Hurray! I got my ITA and PR Visa
I have never applied for a permanent residency visa before, so using them wasn?t a bad idea. They helped me and my wife through the entire process. From writing IELTS and scoring good marks, to joining the Express Entry pool as well as getting the ITA and finally PR visa. Believe me, there are lots of detailed steps required to getting a Canada PR visa. If you meet a consultant that tells you don?t have to go through all those steps or that it is just a Canada visa lottery program, then run away?it is a SCAM!
Travel Gist
Upon getting our PR visas, we were super excited and booked the next available flight to Canada. We left the house really early for an afternoon flight and people traffic was light and our bags surprisingly went quickly through customs. Both my kids were super-active and that perhaps worked to our favour as we were less scrutinized and kept getting help from officials and getting taken to the front of queues. At immigration the official said my old passport which I just renewed was not cancelled without prejudice and was a problem. By the time the officer saw the PR visa his tone changed to how I could help him and he started chasing me on whatsapp ?. We boarded the flight without any drama and took off right after.
The flight to Toronto was a long one and although the children slept, it was getting uncomfortable as we booked one of those cheap flights that had 2 stops.
Landing Gist - Toronto Pearson airport
We are already very tired from over 14 hours on the flight and the children were getting cranky. The sight of the city from the air was so welcoming and invigorating. It looked more beautiful and serene with more trees than I anticipated. The feeling when the tires touched down is at best indescribable for me - better experienced than gisted. That I would permanently be a part of this, made it all the more surreal. We proceeded to join the immigrants queue and the pleasant welcome for immigrants was immediately obvious.
Thank God we had Canada address as we needed this at most desks. We finished swiftly from immigration where we were only asked the ?no terrorism/convict question?. Then we proceeded to Service Canada to get SIN done. The officials were firm but friendly and even gave my super-active kids teddy bears. At this point we got internet so we informed home, and called my friend on whatsapp and he was available to pick us in about 15 minutes to our warm apartment. His wife had already made jollof rice+salad+chicken+dodo+banana+fruits and I leave the rest to your creative imagination.
The temperature was about 14? and was acceptable.
We later stepped out to Walmart just to have a feel and the prices were not bad (trust me I was doing CAD to NGN real-time). This place is beautiful and quiet. The air is crisp and feels really clean. My friend says the air pollution level is checked periodically. The people are gentle, friendly and polite. Everywhere I turn I see a society with an intention to live quality lives. I'm so looking forward to fully integrating and being a part of this awesome experience. This is a dream come true and the start of living the dream.
May God answer each one of us with an answer of peace and settle us all with successes at each stage of the Canada PR journey and beyond.
Once again, if you are looking to go through the Canada PR visa application and you are unsure of how to start or you have started and don?t know what next to do, contact Pals Concierge and they will handle the rest.
Fill their FREE online assessment form to ascertain your eligibility via this link; www.canada.palsconcierge.com.
See some testimonials here www.palsconcierge.com/testimonials.
You can also call or whatsapp +2348098162955
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