How to immigrate to Canada from Pakistan?
This ultimate guide helps to answer just that.
In fact, we believe this is the only guide you will ever need to get all your questions answered that relate to immigrating to Canada from Pakistan.
To get started, it makes sense to first cover a little bit about Canada and the lifestyle over there.
Canada is the world’s 10th largest economy.
It is also a country that offers top-quality education.
Universities found in Canada are continuously ranked amongst the top institutes in the world.
It is the only country that relates its identity to its immigrants.
Not only does Canada welcome everyone from all over the world, but it also allows them to get Canadian citizenship after living there for a few years.
This made millions of people immigrate to Canada.
In 2018 alone, Canada welcomed over 310,000 immigrants into the country.
That is the most any country has ever taken.
Also, since many Canadians were immigrants, the country is very multicultural in nature.
Canada is accepting of all cultures and religions.
And because a lot of Pakistanis are Muslims, they prefer a place where they can be safe, happy, and can easily practice their religion.
This makes Canada the perfect spot for them.
Not only do they experience the perks of Canada while living there, but they eventually get citizenship as well.
That is a dream for many people.
Now that you know a bit about immigrating to Canada, let’s look into how you can immigrate to Canada from Pakistan.
How to Immigrate to Canada from Pakistan:
If you are looking to immigrate from Pakistan to Canada, there are a lot of ways, fortunately.
Some of those include:
- Parental Sponsorship
- Spousal Sponsorship
- Federal Skilled Worker
- Provincial Nominee Program
- Federal Immigrant Self-Employed Program
- Quebec Immigrant Entrepreneur Program
- Quebec Investor Program
- Student Direct Stream
These are all the ways you can immigrate to Canada from Pakistan.
Let’s look into what these programs really offer and who they are for.
1 ― Parental Sponsorship:
Parental Sponsorship is a program designed for allowing parents or grandparents to get permanent residence in Canada.
To do that, you need to have a sponsor (child or grandchild) who is living in Canada and is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident as well.
Your sponsor also needs to be at least 18 years old.
Also, it is required that your sponsor will financially support you and that you would not need any type of social assistance from the Canadian government. (Must meet LICO requirement)
2 ― Spousal Sponsorship:
Next up on the list is Spousal Sponsorship.
This program is designed to sponsor your spouse, partner, or dependent child to get Canadian citizenship.
The requirements for this, again, are the same.
You need to:
- be at least 18 years of old
- financially support the people you are sponsoring (LICO requirement waived for spouse and dependent children)
- make sure the people you are sponsoring will need no assistance from the Canadian government
Some of the things you need to financially help the people you’re sponsoring with include:
Food, clothing, shelter and other needs for everyday living
3 ― Federal Skilled Worker:
Federal Skilled Worker program is designed to allow professionals from all over the world to become Canadian permanent residents.
It is done using the Express Entry route, a draw system that manages the applications of people from all over the world who are looking to immigrate to Canada.
It is using this way that a lot of our Pakistanis immigrate to Canada from Pakistan.
If you are unaware of the system and how it works then know that it is a points-based system that assigns points to the profiles of applicants.
Points are assigned based on several factors that include age, education, working experience, language proficiency, and adaptability.
Applicants with more points are invited first for immigration, followed by applicants with lower points.
4 ― Provincial Nominee Program:
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is designed to allow Canadian provinces to nominate people from all over the world who wish to immigrate to those provinces.
You are not required to reside in the province that nominated you. If accepted, then by right, you can reside anywhere in Canada.
This program, again, uses the Express Entry system that assigns points to the profiles of applicants.
However, the competition using the Provincial Nominee Program is usually lower than the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
This opens doors for people with lower profile scores as well to immigrate to Canada.
5 ― Federal Immigrant Self-Employed Program:
If you are looking to move to Canada as a self-employed person, you can do so using their Federal Immigrant Self-Employed Program.
To be able to qualify for this program, you must:
- have at least 2 years of relevant experience in cultural activities or athletics
- be able to contribute to the cultural activities or athletics life of Canada
Your 2 years of relevant experience must be during the 5 years before your application for the Federal Immigrant Self-Employed Program.
You also need to have passed your medical exams.
Police certificates are also required for you to apply.
Also, you need to pass the selection criteria of this program as well, in order to qualify.
Selection is made based on:
- experience
- education
- age
- language abilities
- adaptability
It is also required to show that you have enough money to support yourself in Canada.
6 ― Quebec Immigrant Entrepreneur Program:
If you are looking to own and manage a business in Quebec, the Quebec Immigrant Entrepreneur Program can help.
However, you need to have at least 5 years of business experience in profitable business.
Also, you need to have a minimum net worth of CAD 900,000.
If you are selected for the program, you will need to make a security deposit of CAD 200,000, serving as insurance that the business will be created when you move to Quebec.
Your application will take into account other important factors as well.
Those include:
- age
- language proficiency
- education
- financial self-sufficiency
7 ― Quebec Immigrant Investor Program:
Quebec Immigrant Investor Program allows investors from all over the world looking to move to Quebec. (This is the most popular program)
To qualify, you need to have a net worth of CAD 2 million including the assets of your spouse (if applicable).
You must give, as a one-time non-refundable cost of CAD 320,000 to the Quebec Government.
Last but not least, you need to have 2 years of management or business experience.
8 ― Student Direct Stream Program:
The Student Direct Stream Program is designed for students from selected countries to come and study in Canada.
It is using this way that a large number of people are going to study in Canada.
And the number keeps on increasing.
The process takes as low as 21 working days, to get you the visa.
All you need to do is to have good grades in your most recently completed program to qualify for the Bachelors’ Program or the Masters’ program in Canada.
Like other programs, the SDS also takes into account other factors, which include your age, education, and language proficiency.
This is the easiest way to immigrate to Canada from Pakistan.
With all these programs covered, which one do you qualify for?
These are many of the possible ways you can immigrate from Pakistan to Canada.
It doesn’t matter which one you select, we at Sun have decades of expertise to help you with the process.
Sun is a registered member of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC). We have been helping qualified candidates to successfully immigrate to Canada for over 30 years now.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, and we would love to help.
We at Sun also help with visitor visas and super visas. Please keep in mind that this awards you a temporary status and you must leave Canada after your allowed period of stay.
If you do not know what visitor visas and super visas are, let us help:
1 ― Visitor Visa:
This program is meant for those individuals who wish to temporarily visit Canada. Please note, getting a Canadian visitor visa can be extremely difficult given the rights awarded to visitors. One must provide a lot of evidence that shows that the individual has strong ties to his/her home country. The application can be very tricky to handle but we at Sun have tremendous experience with such cases and will make sure your application is complete and free of error.
You can enter Canada as a temporary resident for a maximum of 6 months at a time.
2 ― Super Visa:
Super Visa is a program designed for parents and grandparents of Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents who wish to visit their families in Canada as temporary residents.
This type of visa is valid for 2 to 10 years.
Even though this awards a temporary status just like the Visitor Visa, you get a more extended period of stay in Canada with the Super Visa.
To apply, you need to be a parent or grandparent of a Canadian Citizen or a permanent resident living in Canada.
Also, you would need a signed form from your child or grandchild who wishes to invite you to Canada.
You need to have medical insurance as well, from any of the Canadian insurance companies.
We at Sun can help you with your Super Visa application as well.
