[halite]

> having just aquired my canadian permanent residence after years and lots of money

Slightly off topic:

I've been through the process as well and accept the frustrations but I didn't not think the costs were unreasonable. I only had to pay CIC application fees. How was the process harrowing for you? Not defending the frustration, just curious I guess.

[grownseed]

You have a point, I think the costs probably depend on a lot of factors, and I suppose a "lot of money" is relative. I expressed some of my frustrations in this rather long comment here [0]. I went through CEC, and in order to get points I had to pass language exams in English and in French, even though I have certified Education in both languages, had to certify my degree, get background checks for a number of countries, etc. It all added up very quickly for me, but that likely varies from person to person. That said, I'm aware that I'm luckier than most.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11879503

[arcticbull]

Compare it to US immigration also, where I got 6 years and easily over $20,000 in employer-paid costs in, and didn't even get to the green card stage.

[EDIT] Overstated cost, ran the numbers it's $20-25K.

[kogepathic]

That's ridiculous.

I moved to Germany from Canada a few years ago when I was in my mid-20s. Nothing wrong with Canada, I was just bored.

I came to Germany on a tourist visa and found a job by sending my CV to random German technology companies I found via LinkedIn.

The Blue Card (EU equivalent of a Green Card) cost all of 135 EUR and is valid for four years. The processing time for the Blue Card is around 6 weeks after application, but I think that's pretty standard for bureaucracy in any country.

Getting my Canadian Bachelor of Engineering recognized as a German equivalent degree cost 200 EUR and took 3 months.

You'll also need one biometric (passport) photo, which if you use a machine at any of the train stations will cost around 6 EUR. You can use the remaining 5 photos for things like getting a German driver's license, health card, etc.

I paid ADAC around 40 EUR to "translate" my Canadian driver's license into German, and then around 50 EUR to exchange it for a German Führerschein.

Total visa/admin cost for a comparable life in Germany: 450 EUR

Now, I have spent around 3000 EUR for language courses over the past several years, but I'm getting pretty fluent in German, so I'd consider it money well spent. If you were more self-motivated I'm sure you could study the language by just getting the textbooks and watching YouTube videos.

[arcticbull]

FWIW the breakdown looks like this (for me):

Initially entered on a TN, a lawyer will charge approximately $2,000 to prepare the letter. Luckily the filing fee here is $50.

Converted to an H-1B, for which filing fees are $3050 (including premium processing of course). This carries with it a legal cost of up to $3000 for preparing the paperwork and shepherding it through, so $6050.

Moved my H-1B to a new employer, that's another $6050 for the new employer.

That gets us close to the $15,000 mark.

Next, a PERM petition was prepared which costs approximately $3000 in legal fees, in addition to advertising a job for at least 6 months including 2 Sundays in the local newspaper, and interviewing each candidate that shows up.

And six years.

So I guess I was off, but it definitely didn't cost less than $20,000 -- probably closer to $25,000 if you take into account the employer burden of PERM interviews.