Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 8:56 pm-
Permanent residency leads to citizenship. You have to be a permanent resident and have spent a total of three years out of the last four in Canada to qualify for citizenship.
First of all you need to get permanent residency.
The Canadian Govt. recommends that you get a work permit first and then apply for permanent residency from within Canada. To get a work permit, you need a job offer, then that goes to Human Resources Canada for certification, that goes to the CIC for the visa, then you can enter Canada.
Having a job already helps give you points towards getting permanent residency.
If you already have enough points to immigrate as a skilled worker, you can do it that way instead without a work permit, it's just a pretty long wait for approval. Slightly less paperwork though and you don't need to have a job offer if you have enough points.
Go to the CIC website and look at the skilled worker section.
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Steve.