Is Moving Abroad Right for You? A Reflection on Our Expat Journey

Ok! Let’s talk about how we managed to move to Canada and make a successful life for us in this beautiful country.

Life in Canada

Just to give you some context here:

When we got back to Brazil from our year-long in Spain, we realized that the old life wasn’t for us anymore ( as though we were outsiders in your own country).

We found ourselves lost and wanted more than what Brazil could offer us at that time. So, we were ready to pack and go again!

THE POSSIBILITIES

With that in mind, we started to research immigration options for us. The first idea was Australia since it’s super immigrant-friendly and has amazing weather. But it’s soooo far and to get back to Brazil to visit family and friends would be a bit complicated.

We learned about Canada and the many immigration streams it had. I had the chance to visit Canada when I was a teenager with my family. It was summer time though, but I had a great impression of the places I visited.

We decided Canada was a good option because it was closer to Brazil, the time zone wasn’t that crazy different, and the options to immigrate were even better than Australia.

RESEARCHING AND GATHERING INFORMATION

We started researching the visa streams and we ended up at a conference about Quebec and how easy it was to immigrate through that province.

We got scammed! But this is on us… we didn’t research properly. We just followed whatever they told us and in the end, it wasn’t the gold pot at the other end of the rainbow. We invested our time and money in learning French and preparing all the paperwork to apply for permanent residency in Quebec.

WE FAILED 😩

With all that, we had to start from scratch. but we realized we had to take ownership of our process to make it happen. Relying on others can be helpful, but not going blindly.

Note that immigration rules change frequently. It is always advisable to thoroughly read the information on official government websites.

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BACK TO RESEARCH 🔎

After this discovery, then the next step was to find the the best college options and decide on what to study actually.

First, we thought husband would study and I would work. But schools in his field of studies were extremely expensive. Then we switched the approach, and I was the one to be a student again...I have studied enough through my lifetime going ll the way to Master studies, though I never being a good student, but hey, let's do this!.

Once all that was decided, I found 2 schools that had a cool curriculum and applied for both. I was accepted in both and had to choose. I decided to choose the one that was “cheaper” and was also more accessible in terms of public transportation.

ALL THE PLANNING

Ok, back to our journey!

Instead of going to Quebec (tabernack), we ended up going to Toronto, Ontario. And it was just the perfect solution. The schools were less expensive for international students and required way less paperwork to get accepted. AND!, very important for our sustainability, one could work while the other was studying.

After school was decided, I was accepted and enrolled, we started the second part of the moving abroad process: Planning the finances, organizing the dates to leave, and getting the visas processed.

Once everything was all sorted, we just had to wait for the visa stamps on our passports. But wait!!

It’s 2014 and it’s Soccer world cup in Brazil!!!! Everything was delayed and we missed our flight because the visas weren’t ready on time. Soon after Soccer world cup ended, we got our visas, but we had to reschedule our flight (Ranting moment again). 😅

JUST TO WRAP UP ON OUR JOURNEY

So, the good news... we made it! And created a great and successful life for us in the beautiful cold lands of Canada.

That was our journey to move there and how we managed all the planning and shifts in the plan. Even though this time we were more organized than the time we went to Spain, we managed to plan for almost everything. I say almost because as mentioned, there were problems in the strategy that we didn’t think about it. It’ll always be some hiccups along the way and that’s normal.

As much as we plan all the details possible, it’s important to be mentally and emotionally prepared as well. If you intent to move abroad, having an open mind and it will help you to overcome these unpredicted moments.

And you, do you think you have a plan in place to make your move? Leave a comment! I’d love to know about your journey too.

Thanks for reading!

Ciao 😉