Hi this is Michael Niren, immigration lawyer and founder of visaplace.com.
We were asked this question. If I get a visa, is that it? What else do I have to consider
other then just getting the visa?
And that's a great question. What the questioner means is that when you are going to Canada
or the United States or trying to get a visa, of course, in order to get one you have to
apply, you have to go through the process, fill out some forms and hopefully you'll be
successful.
But we all know that's not the end of the road. Once you get to your destination, depending
upon the kind of visa it is, let's say it's a work visa. There's so many other considerations.
Even if you get a work visa, for example, you have to get a social security card or
a social insurance card if you are in Canada, same thing in order to be on a pay roll. You
have to set up your banking. You obviously have to go to a bank and provide your ID and
information and try to get a bank account. That sounds easier then it is. Especially
if you are in the United States where there's a lot of scrutiny and paper work in order
just to get a bank account if you're a foreign national.
There's also the issue of real estate of course. Where are you going to live? Are you going
to lease? Are you going to buy? Do you have any credit in that country? So if you are
moving to the United States for example and you are a foreign national you could have
great credit in your home country but that doesn't mean their going to be honoring that
credit. So you have to be prepared for a lot of challenges to settle yourself after getting
a visa. If you have kids of course you have to consider the schooling. Where are you going
to send your kids to school? What's available? What's the process?
There's a lot of preparation that you have to consider beyond just getting the visa.
Now of course the visa is the door that opens and gets you through. But once you're through
and you're in the room, so to speak, you're in your new county, there's a lot to do and
most people know this. But it's a really good idea that when you are consulting with a lawyer
about you're visa concerns you can ask these questions and in many cases your lawyer or
immigration professional should be able to point you in the right direction depending
on where you want to settle.
Of course if it's a certain providence or city or state there's going to be specific
advice you are going to have to get applicable to where you intend to live. There are some
general tips that your lawyer, your consultant, for immigration should be able to give you
beyond just the visa information and of course these are tips because they are not in the
business, for example, of getting you set up with real estate or signing you up to get
a bank account. But because of the experience they have and their previous clients that
they've assisted, they should be able to give you some general guidance. Of course you can
go online. There's tons of information out there just be very careful because there is
a lot of miss information out there as well.
So the message is that when you do apply for a visa you have to think of the big picture
beyond just getting the visa. Good luck for those of you who are interested in getting
visas and we are here to help you as well. You can visit our website at www.visaplace.com
and if you liked this video click like. Have a great day.