Great advice on how successfully move and settle into Canada

Brandon 0:01

Like if I want to be successful in becoming a doctor, there's a process. Well guess what? Coming to Canada and settling, it's the same. There's a process. And if you want to do well here, I've seen clients come here. And I'm telling you, they're killing it. Like they're killing it. They're doing amazing. And it's not by mistake, they would do amazing anywhere they go because they have certain success criteria that they can actually do and implement. And they know. They've planned. They have a plan. They know what they're going to do. They actually have done the work, the hard work up front. I have other clients that have come here, they get to Canada, and they're like, okay, we're here. Everything's awesome. What are we going to do now?

Daniel De Biasi 0:46

Hi, everyone, and welcome to episode number 55 of the Emigrants Life Podcast, where we share stories of people who left their country through chase a better life. And through these stories, you can find ideas, resources, and motivation to do the same. I'm Daniel De Biasi. And in this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Brandon, a Canadian immigration adviser. Brandon has been working in the industry for over 10 years. And what I love about his approach to immigration is that his work doesn't stop at getting you a visa or permit to stay in the country. But he goes a step further having you in the process of getting settled and be successful. Brandon was born in Canada and after graduating from university, he received a great job offer but he turned down and move to Korea instead. He lived abroad for 15 years from Korea to the Philippines working in different industries and starting multiple businesses. Brandon then decided to move back to Canada after his first child was born, to give his family a safer and more stable future, and also to start a new chapter in his career. In this episode, we will talk about Brandon's first experience in a foreign country, and things to know when you don't speak the language. Because Brandon is an immigration adviser, he will share some insights and things you need to be aware of when thinking of moving to Canada. And if you're considering moving to Canada, be sure to stick until the end because Brandon and I have a surprise for you. And now without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Brandon.

Hi Brandon, thanks for being on the show.

Brandon 2:14

Thanks, Daniel. How are you?

Daniel De Biasi 2:16

I'm really good. I'm really good. I was looking for today's since the last time we spoke. So I'm pretty excited for this episode.

Brandon 2:22

Yeah, you and me both. That's for sure.

Daniel De Biasi 2:24

Sweet. So as I said in the introduction, you've been an immigration advisor for more than 10 years. But, what fascinates me and what I'd like to start this episode is your experience abroad. You were abroad for 12 years, started with Korea, but I want to say like, why did you have to leave Canada and move to Korea?

Brandon 2:42

You know what I think what it boils down to is I just graduated University and I was young and I had you know, I had a lot of options in front of me like, I could have went back to school, I have multiple job offers, I could have taken a few different jobs. One of the jobs that I had was, hey, go over to Korea, make some money, see a bit of the world, travel a bit and do that. I was also flirting with the idea of actually going to grad school and getting a master's degree. But a lot of choices. And I'll tell you, taking that year, going to Korea changed my life forever and for the best. So I just picked up and I went. I was literally 10 days out of school. I ended up in Korea. And I'll tell you I was so out of my element. I remember sitting at the ven Kimpo airport for people that might not know it's now Incheon, but I was at this airport. I remember getting off the plane literally 10 days from the date that had entered my mind to actually sitting in Korea, in Seoul. And I'm going like holy crap, what have I done? The only thing I recognized was the Korean Air sign and the Coca Cola sign at the airport. And that's it. And I was like, What am I doing here? But it was the best thing ever. And it totally changed the trajectory of my life and everything that I'm about. So I'm just thankful every day that I did that.

Daniel De Biasi 3:59

So it wasn't really like well thought? Like, make decision, and left and like within 10 days?

Brandon 4:04

No, it was I literally, I was at university there was a sign up in the university that said teach English in Korea. And I called up the Korean embassy and they said yeah, this was like, I think it was August. And yeah, it was middle of August. And they said no, the deadlines were February and I was like Oh okay, whatever. They said, Give us your information if anything happens, we'll call you up. They called me up and they said, Hey, can you be to Korea in like 10 days? And I'm like, Yeah, I can do it. And I was like, so then I literally, I was going to school in Ottawa. I packed up my apartment. I sublet it in 10 days. I sublet it. I got rid of my stuff. I said goodbye to my friends and then girlfriend at the time up there. I moved all my stuff back to Toronto. I sold my car, actually that was sold a few months after but I left my- I brought it back so my parents could do that. And I say goodbye to everybody in my family in Toronto in like, 10 days, and yeah, I'm like, and then when I was there I was like, oh, what am I doing here? It's crazy. But it was fun. It was fun. Best thing I ever did man. Best thing. And I'll tell you, I turned down some really good job offers. And one of them particularly was, you know, they looked at me like really? Like, this is a really good job. Like, you're turning this down? I'm like, yeah, I'll kind of come back in a year, and we'll see where that goes. Again, best thing ever. So to circle back on your question, I think that it's very similar to my sense of doing that was more of a sense of adventure, I think. And I think it's very similar to a lot of people that will come to Canada and explore and you can trace that back to people that have been doing it for hundreds and hundreds of years or even 1000s of years right where you know, people have charted new lands by just that sense of like, Hey, What's over there? What opportunities are there?

Daniel De Biasi 5:50

Yeah, with the different maybe back then they were like more- they have to they have to think about it a little bit more because it's not gonna take like a few hours to get to the other side of the world. It's going to take like a month and months and months.

Brandon 6:01

It's so funny you say that because I was speaking to somebody else. And they were like, you know, how difficult is this? And I'm like, well, it was a couple 100 years ago and you had to like you know, you're looking at the rearview mirror at starvation because there's not enough potatoes for you to eat. You have to hop on a boat for a couple months. And then you come to this ungodly like, non populated land of Canada and it's like, oh, by the way, you have to find your food and build your house or you're gonna die from exposure in the cold like, yeah, now you just kind of get on a plane, you're here in six hours, you go pick up an Uber and get your Airbnb and figure out what you're going to do. A lot easier, right? So, but I still think that sense of adventure is the same. It's- you're an explorer in your own right now mind you, it's easier, but that like, Hey, what are the opportunities and if you look at somebody 200 years ago, their opportunity they were looking for a better life, something nice and stable for family, or just that sense of adventure. And I think the parallels are the same and they exist.

Daniel De Biasi 7:04

Yeah, but what I love about your story that you had, like 10 days to get it done, you didn't have time to think about, do I really want to do this? Or do you have to like you didn't have time to be worried about the situation but like, rushing into it and until you got to the airport on the other side, you land in in Korea, that's where probably everything went back. Oh my god, what am I doing?

Brandon 7:23

Yeah, yeah, it was- looking at it, now mind you, I wasn't I wasn't married and have kids all the other stuff, right? But I it was a sense of adventure and be, I think that there's different people in the world. And I think that, you know, there's people that are like, yeah, let's dive in and do it. I was I was, and I am one of those people. But I'm also very calculated in my decision. And I can tell you for sure that I was also like, well, if this doesn't work out, then I can certainly just go back and do something else. And it's okay, I can do that. So there are calculations that were going on, but man, I- unbelievable. Now I went for a year. And then I stayed. And that's a whole different story.

Daniel De Biasi 8:04

That's exactly what I was going to ask you. Because, first of all, I'd like to start out by saying, like, ask you like the experience when you landed, you were pretty young, out of school landing in a foreign country where you couldn't even recognize the writing, you couldn't even recognize because for me, like coming to from Italy, or from Europe, you come into an English speaking country, most of the words are familiar already. And they use the same alphabet, the same letter. So even though, if you don't speak the language, you can kind of figure out what they're saying. But for you it was like, I don't even know how to find the bathroom here. So what was your experience when you landed in Korea?

Brandon 8:38

You know what, that's a really good question. And nobody ever dials into that. I'm going to tell you. So here was my experience. I actually landed, I did all of that. I remember sitting at the airport, and there was this other person that got off the plane, her name is Kimberly. Shout out to Kimberly, if she's listening to this, we're still friends today. And I literally, I saw her sitting out there. She was in some kind of looked like she'd been there before. And she was having a smoke out in the out at the airport. So I said to her, I was like, Hey, how's it going? And I, you know, totally sidled up to her. I'm like, so you've been here before, etc, etc. And, and I was literally I remember sitting on this thing, looking at the Coca Cola and the Korean Air sign going, Wow, you dialed in the fact that the alphabet was different, everything was different. And I was like, What am I doing? Now, there's this vulnerability that comes out. And that's why I said, Wow, what a great question because when I was over there, I went through I had a bit of a training thing, and then they put me in my school because I was teaching English over there. And at that time, there's a Korean holiday, which is called Chuseok. And it was literally I arrived at the school. I met all of the staff. They ran me through all of this stuff. And then they said, Okay, great. Sometimes there's some other foreigners they get together down in this area. I'm going to go on vacation for four days. Here's the- this is it. This is your place, and they gave me an apartment, all the other stuff. And I said to him, I'm like, Where's my apartment like this? He's like, oh, if you go out, here's your thing. And he wrote down my address in Korean, which was like, I'm like, What is this? Like, I you know, but it was on a little piece of paper. And I remember I got out to this, he wrote, also wrote on a piece of paper to show to the taxi driver, the place where all these guys were, or other people were, other foreigners at the time, because literally, I lived in a town of like, 700,000 Koreans and there was like, 200 Canadians, Americans, European, like non-Korean people in the town. So it was, you know, needless to say, I was the new person in town. But I remember going out that night, and that piece of paper that I had, I held it in my hand, because if that piece of paper, I had lost it, or I would have never made it home. And I didn't know where I was, I didn't know location, I remember holding, I literally was at this bar, having beers with other people. And I had no idea I had literally a piece of paper with a thing on it. I remember holding it in my hand all night, because I'm like, if I lose this piece of paper, I'm screwed. Like I am screwed, like, I don't know how I'm getting home. I don't know where I'm gonna get home. And it's like four days later, I don't know anything. So that was interesting and adventurous all at the same time. Dangerous, right? It was dangerous. But no, I just I just dove in. And and I will tell you like, one thing I honestly believe is that when you're going to a new country, and I've been to a number of countries where English is not the first language, and usually when you're in and around the airport, it's nice and easy. But people say oh, I like how did you do that? Like, I'm like, Listen, people are the same the world over. And I believe this through my immigration practice, and everything. And just dealing with people from around the world, people are the same the world over. If you have a smile on your face, you're respectful of where you go, you learn a few words like Hi, I'm sorry, how much and excuse me or something along those lines, you learn those and have a smile on your face, you're good, you're totally good. Like it's good. You can literally go into a restaurant not know anything, just start looking around at other people's dishes, and be like, yeah, I think I'll have that, you just point to it. and granted, it comes out or maybe it doesn't, who knows, you know? But that's part of the adventure.

Daniel De Biasi 12:19

And why did you decide to your idea was going there for a year. But what made you like stay longer, you actually stay for that four years?

Brandon 12:26

Man, these are great questions. No, I love it. Why did I stay? Well, so I was going to go for a year. And then I was going to go back and I was going to take this nice, cushy government job that was offered to me that I turned down. I came back here a year later on vacation. I actually went and I held to my word. And I said, I'll come back. And I said, No, I don't want the job. And I saw, you know, some people there as well. And then I went back. And the reason that I went back was, is because in the year that I was there, I had learned so much stuff. And I had explored so many different things that it was almost like I was like, wow, this place is awesome. And I didn't know, I didn't know the world was like this, like you're taught these things in school. And it's like in Canada, we study a lot about European history and Canadian history. But largely the Europeans or the Asian side of it, you know, we gloss over certain things, but you don't really get into it. But I was like, wow, this place is amazing. And it was addictive. And then it was like well, what's Thailand like? And what's all these different places in Asia? And and it was just amazing, and all at the same time, like just exploring all these different places and seeing different things. And, you know, a lot of people think like, wow, that's crazy. And it's amazing. And it's like, yeah, I guess it is initially when you think about it, but you know, now it's just, you could put me on a plane and send me anywhere and I'm sure I'd do okay. Like it's just, you just got to understand people are people, right? And if you go over there and you're not loud, obnoxious and all the other things, you're going to get a pretty good reception and just that's it and you'll have fun. So I got addicted to the learning and the different people that I was meeting not only the Koreans, but the people from around the world like, you know I was hanging out with, you know, people from Europe, people from Australia and New Zealand, like the States and all different things. One of my best friends was from Tallahassee, Florida. I met him on the first couple of days and you know, look, I chatted with him a couple days ago and he's actually still living in Korea. He's got a nice cushy gig going there and you know, it's great, but it's it's just wonderful. Just wonderful.

Daniel De Biasi 14:35

Oh, it's so cool. Because the first time you left, you turned down that job there like a really good job. You kind of over like, Okay, I'm gonna go back for a year and when I come back, the job still probably still here, right? It was still waiting for you. But the second time you turn it down, that was an option you just chose your experience in Korea or abroad instead of like this good job and probably a good career.

Brandon 14:59

I had a few different job offers. And I remember I had there was one I was doing the government gig and it was an aide, I was working up on the hill, the Parliament Hill, and I was doing an internship up there. And, you know, they said, Listen, you can come work in the office here, or if it doesn't work out, we can probably find you somewhere else to go that, you know, and that offer was on the table. And then there was another thing where I was working, putting money in bank machines for an armored car company. And they had offered me full time and all of this stuff. And one of the guys there basically had heard he had taken that job. And he said, Listen, he's like, run away, run away from this. He's like, go take the job in Korea go see the world. I was like, Whoa, that was there. But I literally come back and I traded, I guess the stability for adventure. And I think it worked extremely well for me. Now other people will go and they'll, they can have both. They can go get the adventure, and then they can come back and they can get the job and, you know, do the management trainee thing and work their way up through the company. I don't know if anybody does that nowadays. But you know, that's the idea, right? But no, I can totally change the trajectory of my life. And if I look back at that time, and figured where I was going to be now, I would have never seen it, but it's all just kind of fit together really well.

Daniel De Biasi 16:14

And after four years, living in Korea what was the thing you'll say like, I want to I want to change something, I want to go back to Canada or I go somewhere else?

Brandon 16:23

So I was in Korea for four years and I had started off in a high school. I moved to a board of education, I started working in some private like for companies. And then I was offered a job which is basically the pinnacle of teaching there where I was working for a university and I was teaching English at a university there was lots like months of paid vacation, where you could go and like hop off and travel. I was working four days a week for nine hours and I had perpetual three day weekends. And I was getting paid really well and it was very comfortable and easy and all of that stuff and that's good for some people but it wasn't good enough for me it was like Okay, now I've got all this time on my hands because I only have nine hours of work the week what am I going to do now? And I started a business and I had started a business where I was helping people find opportunities and create the good ones because there's a lot of bad ones too right at that time. And I was helping people do that and then I literally went from that, I started a business. And I I won't go down into that rabbit hole but it was very interesting. It taught me a lot. I got to the point where yeah, this is a great nice cushy job but I'm in my 20s like I think I'm like 24 at that time and I'm like, I'm not ready to retire This is a retirement gig, right? Like and don't get me wrong like I've got a lot of friends that still do that. It's nice and comfy for them and they're making money and they you know, I got friends that will work and they get five months paid vacation and they go sit in Thailand on a beach and and just relax and it's like yeah if you want to do that. That's not what I want to do. I just wanted to do some other things and that's why that's why it's transitioned out

Daniel De Biasi 18:03

Oh, I can totally relate with that. Absolutely 100% really with that. But then you decide to come back to Canada, but after you came back to Canada you decided to leave again for the Philippines.

Brandon 18:14

Yeah.

Daniel De Biasi 18:15

Was it the same reason? You still have this feeling like I want to explore more or?

Brandon 18:20

Well, yes and no. So the business was started. The business was going extremely well. I transitioned out of Korea back to Canada. I got back to Canada and was extremely bored because that adventure was kind of gone, but I found that I was traveling to Asia like three, four times a year and and I was also when I was in Canada because a lot of my business had grown quite a bit. I was on the phone pretty much all night, so I didn't really have a life in Canada because I'm up all night talking on the phone doing what I needed to do and then I was doing stuff here. And then so I'd went Philippines was one of the last places I explored in Asia, and a friend of mine said hey, I'm going down to the Philippines, you know, I'm gonna go down and we're gonna go do some diving and I was doing a lot of scuba diving at that time. I was like, yeah man, let's go so I one of those last minute decisions that changed my life again right? So I went down and I met- I fell in love with the place I was like, Okay, everyone speaks English. I'm getting all of these different conveniences that like, I'm not eating kimchi three times a day and you know when you're in Korea, at that time you were in Korea, like you know I remember having to travel like three hours just to get to a Burger King. You know, it was it was crazy. So I did that I was having these conversations. And oh, by the way, I'm in the tropics, and oh, by the way, there's this world class like scuba diving here. So I got back to Toronto, I said, Where do I want to stay? Because I can stay anywhere. So I moved to the Philippines and the reason that I moved there is is because my business was at a point where Vonage, the VoIP phones came out which I was like okay, that's it I can now I'm not tied down. So I moved to the Philippines, ran my business there, and you know, was able to travel around, do all this, lead a nice comfortable life be in like perpetual hot weather and presumably dive whenever I wanted and the stuff that I wanted to do. So that was the idea behind that. And it was a good jumping off point for me to be able to get to Hong Kong or get to the Philippines or wherever I needed to go. Well, have all of this stuff. So that was the thought process there. It was interesting.

Daniel De Biasi 20:23

You were there for quite a few years. Well, it was like eight years?

Brandon 20:26

Yeah, I was there for about eight years. So ran a business, the business expanded. We expanded into some things like offshoring curriculum, developing some software, for the education, industry, etc, etc. And then I had a very comfortable life. You know, I met my wife there. My first daughter was born there, you know, I was I was, yeah, I was comfortable, I guess. But then I decided to move back.

Daniel De Biasi 20:52

And why, you know, I, you know that kind of question is coming. Why did you decide to move back to Canada?

Brandon 20:57

Yeah. So I decided, it's two reasons. First off, I wasn't really happy with what I was doing. Like I was in an industry that like, I kind of felt like I went down these roads, and I needed, I got into my 30s. And I started realizing that Yeah, I'm making okay money here. And I'm doing great. And everyone would be like, Oh, this is awesome. But I wasn't really happy with what I was doing. So I found immigration by mistake, actually. And I was working with some people in the Philippines that were engaged in the industry. And now that I know, I was doing an educational project for them. And now what I know is that they were actually operating illegally. But I started asking questions, because I was working for their educational side. I wasn't working at the immigration side, but I was like, oh, wow, you're doing immigration in Canada? That's pretty interesting. How do you do that? Like, what is this? And I started learning. And I was like, Huh, and me with my background in law, I was like, this is really cool. And then I started, I'm like, Hey, can you do that? Like, that doesn't sound like Canada. So anyways, I started investigating it a little, a little bit more. And I was like, Huh, I can actually help people come to Canada, this is how I can do it. So it was like that fit together? Right? At the same time when I was like, Am I really happy with what I'm doing here? Is this kind of what I want to do. And then at the same time, my first daughter was born, Samantha, I don't know if anybody's listening and they have kids. But as soon as you have kids, you know, everything changes. It's not about you anymore. It's about like, wow, I have a kid, then I started looking around and like, yeah, maybe the Philippines isn't as safe as it is for her as you know, as me running around here doing whatever. And then the other thing is too, as I was looking at the opportunities that were available to her either staying in the Philippines, as opposed to in Canada. And there's a few other things that happened there where I was like, You know what, I think I'm going to move back to Canada, because, you know, I spoke to my wife, I said, I'm going to transition out, I'm going to sell some shares off, get rid of all this stuff, clean up my stuff here and move out. And I'm going to transition into another career. And I want to go back because I want my daughter to grow up in Canada. So I did all that and best thing ever did. And it kind of went full circle. And yeah, I just I look at actually moving back to Canada and the parallels that I draw with why my clients do it. And I did the exact same thing, which allows me to understand where they're coming from a lot more. So I'll just stop there on that answer.

Daniel De Biasi 23:24

I like the point where you're coming from to the immigration, because you have, I mean, you're Canadian first of all. You have an experience living abroad, and you have to go through the immigration process in other countries. So you can learn the struggle, you can learn what's good or bad from different countries, you can take that back to you into Canada with also your background in law, and your foreign wife. So I think all the combination of that I think could be a good recipe for actually a good customer satisfaction. I don't know how you call it, but it's a good way to like see your customers' point of view and problems.

Brandon 24:00

I think it boils down to empathy and understanding where people are coming from. It's funny, it's amazing that you bring that up, because I think it's actually what makes me special. A lot of people, they look at it, and they say, Oh, I can identify because I've gone through it. And sometimes people make the mistake of you know, Brandon grew up in Canada, what does he know about it? And I'm like, Well, no. You know, I lived overseas for a while I know what it's like to be in a new place, that's foreign. I know what it's like to be the new person in town and have very little network to be able to get going. At the same time. I've been through the Canadian immigration system with my wife, because I had to sponsor her. And at the same time, at that time when I did the sponsorship, I can tell you how frustrating it was for me because it was taking so long, so much so that as a Canadian, where you have all of these great things like free health care, and I've never had to pay for anything, the immigration system was taking so long for my wife that my second daughter was born here, I actually had to pay the hospital because my wife wasn't on OHIP, and I had to pay for all of that stuff, which was very frustrating for me. Because the reason that I had to shell out over almost $15,000, when I didn't need to do it, because I was transitioning into a new career and doing all of that stuff was because the immigration system was taking so long. And it was even more frustrating for me, because I was actually new to this profession and should have been able to take care of this for my family. But I couldn't have, because I was actually in the same spot that a lot of my clients find themselves in, which is basically powerless to a bureaucratic structure. And one of my critiques of the immigration system just to add on to that point, it really lacks a heart. It's a bureaucratic system where people are going through. Now, that's not to say that there isn't a heart in there, because I do know a lot of people that work in the system, and they have some of the biggest hearts of people and they, they wish that they could help out. But there's limitations to that. But I do identify with that. But I think it also shapes me like, I had to reintegrate into Canada, after 15 years of being overseas pretty much. And the thing is, it was easier for me because I was educated here. I had a network here. I had family support here and all the other stuff. But I can tell you, it was still difficult to do that. So I really empathize and understand what my clients are going through in order to be able to do that from a personal standpoint. And I think that once people understand that about me, it allows me to provide a better service where I'm not just like, Oh, yeah, I'm Yeah, okay. Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that, like, no, I actually understand exactly the vulnerability that people feel in that respect.

Daniel De Biasi 26:52

What I think is people looking for when they go in to see an immigration adviser is not just, I mean mostly will be the knowledge because they, if somebody seek for help, to am immigration advisor is because they don't know how to do the process. They don't know how to deal with this problem. But also, like you brought up empathy into the mix that people are looking for, like, I got this problem. And for us, when we moved to a new country, the immigration decision, that's a life changing decision. It's not like they seems like the taking like very lightly but for us, it's a huge deal because we're trying to build a new life in a new country. And for some of us, that is a life changing, like life or death, like kind of almost like a death sentence when they reject your application. Because you were like a background you had your Canadian passport. So if everything goes wrong, you can always go back to Canada. In my case, I can always go back to Italy. And let's be honest, life could be much worse, right? Even though I don't want to go back to Italy, but still, could be much worse. But for other people leaving the country and moving to Canada, moving somewhere else, that's for some is surviving, some is for like giving like a future for the kids and somebody is to just have a future for themselves. It's like that's not an option. So knowing that we are not just numbers, and sometimes feels like when you deal with immigration, we are just numbers for them. And what I like that you say that also that you have friendship, or you're friends with so many immigration agents. Yeah, I think it's like I spoke with another guest like Luis, he has a podcast as well, and he interviewed somebody working for the immigration. And I feel like that's what he told me like, you need to be like a detached from, like us immigrant like story just because otherwise will be too hard for them to make a decision. So even in like understanding a point of view, understanding that they can't take everything personal. Otherwise, how can you deny an application, even though all the red flags are there to deny people to come into Canada or come into the other country? But if you know their background, if you know that your decision is going to actually affect their life in a big way, like how can you make that decision? Like how can you deny a person? So I understand like detachment from us. But when you are into the situation, our situation as an emigrant, it's really frustrating.

Brandon 29:11

So, I was used to be very critical of that until I actually got to know some people in there. And I'm not going to start dropping some names. But there's one person in particular, who was my first introduction into the other side of the fence, which is the government. And she's a lovely lady. And just so that we're clear, I have professional associations with people that work in the department and stuff. But I'm very careful that I'm not overstepping the bounds professionally and personally with that, and I've kept everything very aboveboard, more out of respect for them because you know, I like to think that I'm pretty personable in that respect. But I also am very mindful of the fact that you know, transparency wise and whatnot for them, but I can tell you this and I've met a few other people where I'm at, I'm sitting on panels with and they're sitting at very senior roles in the department. And when you actually get to know them, their hearts in the right place, but they're also a product of a system. And the system, I always say, the system has no heart, but the people do. And the reason is, is because you're right, they're making a decision, they have to follow the law. Right? The law's blind, you know, it's basically, you know, that's why we have discretionary tools like temporary residence permits, or TRP, is to overcome certain, that's discretion. But the law is very black and white, you either meet the requirements, or you don't, and I've had times over the years, where officers would be like, Hey, listen, I want to do this. But you're, we really have to check this box here, right? So they want to do it. And a lot of times, you'll see people, oh, they don't want to bring people here, blah, that's not true. They want to see you be successful. But if you're not helping yourself, they can't do it, because they're following the law. And they have a big heart. And I know it weighs heavy on it. And I'll tell you, during COVID, I've had some cases like life and death situations, and I've never dealt with some of the stuff that I've dealt with during COVID with people that have had terminal issues and need to be reunited with families. And I'll tell you, there's a few people that have moved, you know, heaven and earth to basically get that done out of just pure humanitarian reasons, just because it's the right thing to do. But by and large, I think families should be reunited or united, I believe that, you know, when there's a birth, a death, a wedding, there's life event that, you know, we should have different things in place to take that into account for people, and maybe not look so harshly on some of the applications because, you know, it's difficult for them to do that. But on the other side, they have to go through a process. There's a lot of applications, and sometimes people don't help themselves with being able to get in, give them what they need to say yes, I inherently think that the officer wants to say yes to you. But you have to give them the reason to say yes, because if they say yes, and they should have said no, then it actually becomes a problem for them. So and I think that people need to understand that because I certainly do. I'm just when I fill out an application, there's two things that are in my mind, what is the actual Crux or the nexus of the application that I have to prove? And what can I give them so that they can say yes, how can I make it, like go over and above for them to say, yes, you know, and the other thing I wanted to say is something else that you touched on very early on, and when you were speaking there was about what I do, and a lot of people don't understand exactly what I do. And I'll tell you at the core of what I do a lot of people think, Oh, I'm paying Brandon money to fill out some papers and everything's on the internet, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, no, that's not actually what I do. Because I tell everybody in my office before they start working here, I'm like, What do we do? Oh, well, we advise people on immigration, we help them with their application, we talked to the government, I'm like, No, that's not what we do. I said, what we actually do is, is we highlight a pathway, we guide them through a process and when they're sitting in bed, late at night, when that application is sitting in the government, and they have no indications because the government hasn't been getting back to them. They're looking online at like some timeframe that may or may not be correct. They have somebody that they can call who can tell them like, yes, everything's okay. This is a normal part of the process, this is what we're seeing in terms of processing times, you're going to be fine, as opposed to, you know, getting on internet forums and speaking to somebody that may or may not give them some good information or whatever, I actually let them sleep at night. You know, that's what we do is we take away that. We provide that comfort and the ability to do that so that they can focus on other areas of their life. Sorry, I just wanted to throw that in there for you, Daniel.

Daniel De Biasi 33:57

No, no, no, no, I appreciate that. Actually, I think you you touch something that I actually like knowing the part that people don't see and even like finding information online. You wrote something up on about that in your book that kind of like made my blood boil. So I just gonna read it to the for the listeners, and I'll let you, like, explain it. Because in your book, in the chapter, why people struggle, you said there are procedures that are not even published, and I only know about them because I can access internal government documentation to understand what those policies and procedure are. Again, the answer is out there. But mostly I have no idea where to find them. My question is for you is why like they keep like this information hidden? Why the immigration make it so complicated?

Brandon 34:46

So your question is actually really timely, because within about a week ago, the government actually came out with a there was a post that showed up on their website, and it said, we're going to give discretion to completeness checks to be able to have documentation there. However, we're not going to publish where that discretion is or what that discretion is. And it's like, okay, transparency, ha. So previously, they used to have these books, there's different manuals that the government officers use. So there's like the OP guides, right operational guides. And, you know, there was the ENF section or group, which was the enforcement group, there was the overseas processing, there was inland processing. And they literally went through and they said, this is the metrics that the officers use to be able to guide and do an application and it was very transparent. And they told you how they were doing it. A few years back, they removed all of those, they put up some sort of, you know, these web pages there. And through myself and through colleagues, and through other consultants and lawyers, we have these things called access to information requests, where you can actually go and find out all this information. Our industry associations go and do this. Like, for instance, we used to go out and you can't even find out who the manager at a particular visa post is, you know, we do something called an A tip request. And we're able to find out who's in the role, what their email and their phone number is, right? So then if there's a problem, then we can go out and do this, they don't publish this, and it makes sense too because then everybody would be abusing that. However, there needs to be a little bit more transparency, because I can tell you this, and this is where a lot of people falter. And this is where, you know, I don't laugh openly. I laugh to myself and think, man, you have no idea what you're talking about. Because people when somebody says to me, oh, but it's all on the internet. And I'm like, No, it's not a and yes, there are things on the internet. But do you have the skills and the ability to understand how to take that information, apply it to yourself, and understand it? And oh, by the way, you may or may not have read another web page that can actually totally nullify that for you. And this is where people, they don't really understand, I have different types of clients. I have clients say, Listen, I want to plan and I'm going to get this all done, right? Because quite frankly, whatever I'm going to pay you, I'm going to get back in spades, or I've got people that have gone off on their way and done stuff. And then they've actually filed their application and found out like, holy crap, like it's been returned. And this isn't that easy. And I didn't know about that they get a you know, it's been the sponsorship, for instance, I get it with spouses a lot, you know, because it looks so easy. And then they get it returned. And they're like, but they didn't tell me this. And I'm like, yeah, cuz they don't tell you everything on the checklist. And I always tell people, I used to teach the immigration program. And I would tell my students, I'm like, if you're just following that government checklist for your clients, you're not doing the job that you're paid to do, you actually have to give them every opportunity to say yes, right? So that means, you know, I don't care what they tell me on the government forum, like, Oh, you can only submit 10 pictures? No, because what they don't tell you is you can only submit 10 pictures. But as the person who's making the application, it's incumbent upon you to show me that you actually meet the requirements of the application. And if you don't do that, then I'm going to refuse your application. So the checklists are actually in place, really, for them to be able to manage their caseload and go through the process. But in actual fact, you as the applicant, you have to prove that you meet the program. So if I have to fill in, you know, if I have to provide 50 pictures, or I have to provide like all of this other information, I'm not going to be confined to that checklist because the duties on me to show that I'm there. So really, I wish that they were more transparent with that. I also wish that it was actually a little bit more user friendly. And I can tell you that this is one of the biggest mistakes I always talk about the traps that people have. I actually am a big movie fan. So I don't know if I don't know Daniel, if you've seen Indiana Jones, but I always talk about-

Daniel De Biasi 39:08

Tamago

Brandon 39:08

Right. And, when he falls into the pit of snakes. I'm like, that's the pit of snakes and emigration, you need to know where those traps are. And you need to be able to stay out of them. And there's so many traps that are out there for people and they don't understand what they are. So if I can show them and say like, Hey, listen, here's all these traps, you know, yeah, maybe you can do all of this together, but you got to understand what it all means. And you need to know where their traps are so that you can actually stay away from it. Then you'll be okay.

Daniel De Biasi 39:38

We Are The goonies in the system.

Brandon 39:40

Exactly.

Daniel De Biasi 39:41

I like to think of myself more like a goonie.

Brandon 39:44

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, man. That's an old movie, ay.

Daniel De Biasi 39:49

Yeah, but I love the movie. But another thing that you talk about in the book and why people fail people don't- get rejected is for like mistakes. People make mistakes. And they come to you too late to, for you to fix them. But what I can understand if if it's a mistake, like if somebody made a mistake to say something instead of, I don't know something else, if it's a mistake, why can't be fixed? And what kind of mistakes are you talking about?

Brandon 40:15

Okay, so I have a friend and a mentor and somebody who worked as a visa officer, for Oh, she was in there for 20 or 30 years. And she worked in New Delhi, she worked in, she worked all over the world, she was in New Delhi, she was in Thailand, she was in the UK, she worked at the visa post. And she actually used to do the interviews. And I remember her telling me one thing that her training officer had taught her when they were doing interviews, and they would say, give the person enough rope and they'll hang themselves. And so that might sound a little dark, right? But basically, what happens is that, so I'll give you an example. There's something called a procedural fairness letter. And what a procedural fairness letter is, is them asking you for more information to clarify an area of concern that they have on your application. And a lot of people are like, they don't understand what's being asked. When I see that when I see a pfml letter come in, I'm like, Okay, this is the government dotting their eyes and crossing their T's so that they can refuse their application. If you don't address it properly, or under Administrative Law, you have a natural law, you have a right to be heard. And if you really want to go look it up, you can go look up The Baker Case, for instance, because that's where this stems out. So they have to give you the opportunity to respond. Otherwise, you can come back and appeal it, etc, etc. So what they're doing is they're dotting their I's and crossing their T's, and doing what they're supposed to do, which is to give you an opportunity to respond. Now, here's what happens. People are like, oh, they're asking me for this information, I want to be helpful, and I want to be transparent. And I'm going to give that information to them. So what they're actually doing is they're giving them the ropes so that they can hang themselves. And they don't understand that they're doing that. Now when I get that letter, I'm like, Okay, what are we asking for? Now, I'm going to get ahead of that. And I'm going to do one of two things. I'm either going to hit them back as hard as I can with no doubt so that they can say yes, because I want to give them every opportunity to say yes, or I'm going to give them what they need to know. But I'm also going to preserve that so that if they do come back with something negative for my client, they're going to be able to take that to another venue, such as maybe the IRB, or they're going to be able to go to federal court and have that litigated because I do know that sometimes there'll be some questions that will come back. And then the next thing I'll do is say, Okay, well, this is what they're looking for. There's another thing at play, which is the Judge Made Law or the stuff that happens in court, because we're a common law based system, we're able to go and look at case law or previous instances that are very similar to a situation and find out how that's going to be dealt with at another venue outside of the Immigration Department, which allows that to be dealt with appropriately for my client. So to sum up, basically, people want to be helpful. And I think that people are like, Hey, listen, if I just give them what they need to know, then my application will get approved. And it's like, no, they're giving you the rope, you're hanging yourselves. And sometimes people will come to me, and I'll look at it. And I'll be like, why did you send this in? I want to be helpful. I wanted to give them the information, but they didn't know the whole story or what actually is going on. And this goes back to what you were asking about with the transparency. People actually don't understand what's actually going on. They say a request, I want to be helpful. I want to give them what they need. I want to get to Canada. No, it's actually not that way. And you don't know because they haven't told you that. It's not on the website. And maybe your buddy in the forum that doesn't do this for a living isn't actually going to understand what's being asked of you, and he might guide you and appropriately. So does that make sense?

Daniel De Biasi 44:10

I understand what you say. But at the same time, how can you by being helpful and give him more information underneath it can be counterproductive?

Brandon 44:19

Because you have to not only provide the information but articulate it. So there's a ton of examples in my head, but I need to be careful of my client confidentiality. So I don't want to give you a scenario on that respect. But I'll give you some different areas of examples. I'll try to be as vague and answering as I can. So normally what happens is I'll use the Philippines as an example. So what happens is, is that there's when you start getting into criminality, what people don't understand is that we have the laws changed a couple years back and expanded the scope of what serious criminality is. Serious criminality is a deal breaker. And what it basically says is is that you didn't actually have to be convicted of a crime. But they just have to think that you actually just did the crime, right? And a lot of people don't understand that. Because coming from a Western society, for instance, we have these Maxim's in law, which are basically innocent till proven guilty. But part of the Immigration Act is is to protect the Canadian public. So maybe there was an instance that happened. And maybe there's something that showed up the way that the like the MBI checks in the Philippines, for instance, come out, is they say, no record on file, no derogatory records. So then they might request Oh, can you please go and get this information? And people will send it in. But what they don't understand is, is that yeah, it was thrown out of court, and I was innocent. But if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that you actually did that, or that you might have done that, they can refuse your application. So even though you're like, Yeah, I did that. Here's all the information, here's this. No, that's not what you want to do. What you want to do is, is you actually want to take that, you want to compare it to Canadian law. And you want to say that this actually doesn't actually even matter. Because in a comparison to the Criminal Code of Canada, this actually isn't part of what you're looking for, which is considered to be exclusionary under this, that's how you would you would address something like that. And it's a common mistake that people make is that they go and they get what they're asked for, which is providing the information, but they don't put any articulation into it. And they don't understand why they're being asked of that information, and what bearing it has on their case, or how that's going to affect their case? Does that answer your question?

Daniel De Biasi 46:36

Yes, yes and no. Yes and no.

Brandon 46:37

Okay.

Daniel De Biasi 46:38

No, I understand what you just said makes total sense. But for me, like, how can that not be fixed? Like, okay, I provided this information, but then you comes into the picture it's like, okay, no, he provided information. But actually, if you look at the Canadian law, and blah, blah, blah, this actually doesn't make sense, or this is actually this not relevant, and blah, blah, blah. Seems like for me that you can come into the picture and fix the issue by saying, explain the situation properly.

Brandon 47:03

Okay. I'll give you a great example. So getting back to the Philippines, we'll use the caregiver program as an example, there was a living caregiver program. So somebody those programs had, you know, people were waiting for, like 6, 7, 8 years, a criminality issue might have cropped up. Well, guess what, that program closed back in the middle part of the last decade, right? It doesn't actually exist anymore. And the qualifications for somebody going through that program might have actually been, have changed quite significantly, the educational requirements have gone up, the language requirements have gone up. And so what's happened is, is that they applied under a program, they've been waiting for so long under that program, and the requirements have changed. And guess what, they don't actually qualify, so they've been refused, then they would have come into my office, and they're past the deadline to ask for leave in federal court. So they have to go back and they have to file a new application. I can't fix it now, because they don't qualify under the new iteration of the program. And the window has closed for them to be able to go back and reapply. So that that was just one example that came to my head. That's not fixable, they actually now have bigger problems, because they can't actually go back and apply again, because they've now or somebody who's gone through and they've aged out, they might have went through the program, they've been through the process, they've been refused. And now their age is gone, or their Canadian work experience, if you want to go under Canadian experience class, it has to be three years, but they've been through the process and this and now what's happened is, is they've lost the points that they need, or the points have been changed. There's so many different ways that that could have can't be fixed. But if they had come to me sooner, or they had got ahead of it sooner and understood, they wouldn't have actually had to go back there and had it refused. Or if they'd I've had people that have been refused. And they've waited past the mandatory statutory deadlines where you can actually go and appeal that, and nowhere is that actually published and if it is, it's like so buried so deep, but people don't know that once they say no, that you have timeframes where you can actually go back and say, No, I'm going to go to federal court, I'm going to keep this alive, and then have it sent back for redetermination. And I can tell you, there are a lot of mistakes made, a lot. We see a lot, especially these days that are being made where, you know, people are refused an error. It goes to federal court and the government just turns around and settles and then it goes back for redetermination. People don't know about this. They don't actually why would the government say yeah, we're gonna refuse you. They say in their letter, oh, we're gonna refuse you and you can apply again if your circumstances change, but they don't say oh, we're gonna refuse you and by the way, you have this amount of time to actually appeal this and go to federal court and find that And oh, by the way, if that doesn't work out for you, or you don't choose to do that, then you could actually go and and file another application. So, that's kind of I call that the "By the way," oh, by the way, you can actually also do this. So does that answer the question?

Daniel De Biasi 50:06

Yeah, that's- I understand that more because I understand like in that situation, there's not much you can do. It's like, it's too late. Actually, I think we touched this last time we spoke that I mentioned that when I apply for my work permit here in Canada, before I actually got approved, the simulator say like, Daniel, we're gonna deny your application because all these reasons. And one of the main reason was like my, my educational level in Italy, which is the equivalent here of the college. But in Italy is high school, it's called High School, so they didn't recognize my high school as electrician, because you're in Canada, you need to go, to become an electrician, you have to go to college. And they say no, unless you prove otherwise, we're gonna deny your application. So I had to write a letter with the help of the people here in Canada, because I needed like a support, like to explain it. Okay, this is the requirements that we go through in Italy, and the equivalent, this is equivalent in Canada. And after I sent the letter, I said, Okay, sweet, Okay, I'm gonna give you the visa. But I have to go through that process. And if I didn't know people here in Canada, who will explain me the difference between the college and high school or I didn't know much about it, I will get rejected for no particular reason, like you mentioned.

Brandon 51:17

And that's a great example. That's a fantastic example that people don't understand, right? It's like you have to articulate it, and you have to get ahead of it.

Daniel De Biasi 51:26

So now my question is, when somebody needs to go to an immigration advisor, because probably you don't need an emotional advisor for like, any application, even because, let's be honest, going to a immigration advisor is expensive, especially when you move to a new country, it's another expense to put on top of everything else, already moving to New countries expensive, adding the bill of an immigration advisor that even add more to the cost. But sometimes, you have to do it.

Brandon 51:53

I actually disagree with you on that. I got to be honest.

Daniel De Biasi 51:55

Okay, why?

Brandon 51:56

And I know that that's very self serving, but because everyone's like, Oh, he's an immigration adviser. Of course, he's gonna say that. I actually know I'm gonna actually put it another way. People say that to me, they're like, Oh, you know, I hear like, Oh, you're so expensive. And I'm like, really? Am I that expensive? You know, because what do you get for what, when people are paying? And this is the thing, like, when people look at it a different way, they're like, Okay, so what are the- I always say, I'm not price based, I'm results based. And what's the cost? Like, yeah, sure, you can go find somebody that will do it for $500. And, and you know, yeah, but you may or may not get in, congratulations to you. But what is your opportunity cost if you don't do it, and quite frankly, if you took my fee, and you put it over, like a life in Canada, and this is different, like you alluded to the fact like, oh, you're from Italy, if it didn't work out, great, I'll just go back to Europe, and everything will be great. Other people, they don't have that luxury, and they're leaving a place where they really need to get out of dodge, and and moving to Canada is is really a life changing opportunity for them. And this is where I'm like, okay, so Sam doing an application, it's a couple $1,000 you know, really? Like, are you going to look at that. And I always tell people, I'm like, Man, you're only looking at the cost, right? You don't look at what you get for that. You're getting a new life, you're getting health care, you're getting opportunities for your kids, your grandkids, all the other stuff, you're getting an opportunity to move into a safe, secure environment, maybe pollution free. Oh, by the way, if you come from an area of the world where, you know, like, if you look at a Filipino or an Indian national, average life expectancy is 67 and a half years old, where in Canada, it's 82 and a half, like, what is 14 years of life worth to you, right? Or your kid or the pollution? And really, you're, you're looking at a couple $1,000 for a new life, is that a lot? So I always like, Yes, there are. And this gets back to my "by the way" where people look at it, and they think that, you know, Oh, it's so expensive. And I'm like, really? No, I don't think it is you got to look at other things. One of my mentors said to me that people who ask when the first thing that they say is like, How much is it? they actually don't know the right questions to ask. And then right questions need to be not only of me, like I always like it when people come to me, and they start asking me like, oh, who are you? How much do you know? How long have you been in business? Like, what's your success rate? That, when I get those questions, I'm like, oh, now you're thinking, those are good questions, as opposed to like, Okay, great, how much? And I'm like, No, no, no, no wrong question. How much is it gonna cause? I always turn around. I'm like, How much is it going to cost you to actually not come to Canada, right? Because you made a mistake, and you might have actually cancelled that out. So again, I also find, too, that yes, there are applications that are easy, but it's things it's the easy ones that you need to be careful of, and a lot of times, like, I'll give you an example with students, with post grad work permits, or with things they're easy applications like, yes, anybody can do it. However, there's a few traps in there or with Canadian work experience, you know, people don't understand what the knock codes are, and the skilled work experience or different things. There's all these little things and the easy things sometimes trip people up. But, arguably, there are applications that are pretty tricky. I have people that will come to me, and I'll tell them like, yeah, you don't need me, man, you got this all. I'll tell them, I'm like, you don't need to spend the money with me. And that's surprising to some people. But I think it all boils down to the questions that need to be asked, and people need to be honest with themselves, right? Whereas like, Do I have the time to do this? And B, there's the planning, and then there's the execution on it. Do you actually have the ability to be able to get through that? Maybe you're somebody with a second language that doesn't understand English? Or you know what, you don't work in this. You don't understand this. And I have a lot of people that tell me they're like, Well, you know, I'm a pretty smart person. I think I can get through it. I'm like, yeah, I'm pretty smart, too. And I don't think I'm gonna go stitch myself up when I have a gaping wound, because I've read something on the internet. You know what I mean? Like, you know, or you're an electrician, I'm not gonna go wire my house, because I saw it on YouTube, you know what I mean? Because it will burn down, right? Like, you know, it's that kind of thinking that you know, the DIYs get themselves in trouble. So I like DIY with structure and with approach and with, you know, hey, I'm in over my head. I think I'm getting close to a pit of snakes, help me.

Daniel De Biasi 56:28

Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, you. But, if the process is easy, if I can figure out, I can find all the information on the internet, it's pretty straightforward. I don't have any like or whatever. Should I go ahead and do it myself? Should I just ask for a second opinion with an immigration advisor to make sure I'm doing everything okay? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, but in a perfect world, we didn't need we wouldn't need immigration advisor because you can find the information online, you applied, there won't be traps, because the immigration why would you put- in a perfect world, why would you put traps when you want to welcome other people? You just go through the process. So in a perfect world, just find the information, you fill out the form, you apply on your own, and that's it. But we are not living in a perfect world. So when when do you think people should really look because I met a lot of people that went through the immigration, and they didn't ask for help. Where do you think is the where's the line between I can do it myself or I need to, because you went to the other extreme like, but I want to focus on on the line, like between, we don't even know like, Oh, I think I can do it on my own. I think this is the right way to go. But I'm not 100% Sure. Where do you actually draw the line?

Brandon 57:38

Can I talk about my system that I use, the immigration success system? Do you mind if I delve into that? Because I think I can answer the question.

Daniel De Biasi 57:46

Absolutely not. Go ahead.

Brandon 57:47

Okay. So I'm an immigration representative. I have a company called Maple Immigration Services. But I also have something called Second Passport, which is my secondpassport.ca. Yes, a little plug if you want to go check it out. But what Second Passport is about is based on a system that I've seen and things that I've seen over the my time in here. I actually am, I like to think that I'm pretty good at seeing different trends and who's been successful and who's not been successful. So getting back to my example, I see people that you know, they come to me, and I'm like, Hey, man, you got this, you're good, right? And I can tell by the questions they're asking the research that they've done, and just their level of understanding of the thing. And I don't want to sign them up for service. Because quite frankly, I've got something else. Remember, I ran my business for many years, and I did all that. And as a consumer, I'm- sure I could send them an invoice. And I could say to them, yeah, I could do that. But when they get through the process, they're like, Hey, man, I just paid all that money. And that was pretty easy. Did Brandon kind of trick me, right? What kind of value? So, I believe the reason that I've been in business so long as because of the value that I've provided to people, and I've been honest with them, I said, Listen, you don't actually need me, you've got this, just do this, this and this, like if they do a consultation or something. Now, there's a certain segment of people that can do that. And there's another segment of people that absolutely can't do that. And they need to be have their handheld, and they need somebody to do it for them. And they have no business filing their own application. And it really starts with them understanding, do I need help? And that's a vulnerability that's actually can be difficult for a lot of people. I know, we all struggle with that where am I actually able to do this? And everyone's like, yeah, I can do this. I got this. You know, my buddy did it. Why can't I do it? So I believe that there's people that can get through the system. And they may choose to use my services or not, because they might be busy, they might have other stuff. Heck, I just chatted with a guy in Seattle. And I gave him the option between like, Here, you can do it with some help and you can do it yourself and you can save this or you can do this and he's like, well, I got a bunch of kids and we're busy. I just rather you have it and I don't care paying the extra money. So there's people like that. Now, if somebody wants to go and do it themselves, what I've got through Second Passport, and I like to think it's something that's revolutionary, and that the world is changing, and the information is on the internet. And I also want to respect my clients' choice in their journey, not only from a price point, but also what they're comfortable with. Because I know that some people want to have control over their own destiny, and it's hard to actually use the services. I'm one of them. I have a vulnerability when I have to go to my accountant, right? I'm not very good with like filing it like a corporate tax return, but I go there. And I say to Michael, I'm like, we're good? He's like, yeah, we're good. And I read through it, he explained stuff to me, I sign off on it. Sure, I could file my own tax return, but I don't, I use the services of a professional because of the ramifications that it has for me. Now, getting back to what I was saying. So you've got the this system where you can actually go through, do it yourself, right, understand what the traps are, and then understand what the warning signs are to be able to get through and be able to stave off danger if you have to. That's why I've I've put this together. So I like people, there's kind of two classes that I see. There's people that need help, and there's people that can do it themselves. But they need to understand where the traps are, like remember the pit of snakes, or understand that all the informations not out there. So they can go through in a structured manner and understand that. And I believe that this all starts with planning and understanding what the plan is, and then executing on the plan, but most importantly, settling successfully in Canada. And that's the last thing that I think that people don't understand. So my system, the Immigration Success System has three phases, and eight steps. The first phase is planning, which culminates in an immigration blueprint, which says, Here's your primary option, which is your quickest, cheapest and most cost effective way to get through the system and get to your goal. And then here's the secondary option, because nothing in life is perfect. After that, there's the implementation, which is basically putting together the application, submitting it properly, dealing with that, and dealing with the landing. And then after that there's the settlement, which is basically planning to come to Canada, and getting into Canada, and then getting your passport if that's what you choose to do. I think people need to understand they have to ask themselves questions, they have to say, Can I do all of this? Do I want to do all this? Obviously, there's the financial component, can I afford this? But part of what I wanted to do was I wanted to take away the financial component for people. And I actually wanted to give them like a slash price, like, put it down, because my whole mantra, and what I want to do is open up Canada to the world. I, I believe that there's an injustice in the world. And that's mobility for people. And I believe that, you know, the world should be fair in that respect. And people just want the same thing where they can actually live a nice, comfortable, safe life and have all that stuff. So yes, man, I'm talking a lot here, Daniel, I apologize. So to get back to your original question, I think that there's two types of people. There's people that can do it themselves, but they need help, because they need to actually take the information that's all online, articulate it to their own situation and understand where the traps are, and what's unique about their personalized situation. And then there's other people that are just like, Listen, they would not be able to get through it, they might have another challenge, they might have something that's difficult in their case that they would definitely be difficult, or that have a number of different steps. Or they just are busy. And they're like, Yeah, I just valued the professional services. So does that answer it a bit?

Daniel De Biasi 1:03:50

Yeah, no, you immediately like the two different people like on that line, that we were talking about. But I guess you can set the line, like beforehand that like change it by individual, individual cases by case.

Brandon 1:04:00

It's the individual, it's it's a personalized decision. Outside, I always tell I'm like, Look, if I was just sitting with a friend, and hopefully your listeners are listening, and we're just sitting in a bar, and somebody says, I want to move to Canada, I would say they're like, what should I do? And I would say, well, ask yourself. Forget about the price. Like if that's the first thing out of your mouth. That's not the right question. the right question is is, do I know how to get like, I literally have people come to me and they're like, Hey, I'm qualified, I can go do express entry. I want to go through the system. And this is what I need, how much? And I'm like, No, no, no, no slow down. That's like you going into the doctor's office and saying, Hey, Doc, I have this disease. I really need this. Give me a prescription. It's like no, there's a process. We have a process we have to go through, we have to understand, there's so many different immigration programs that are out there. And my job is as to find the quickest, easiest and most cost effective pathway to get you in and out of the system as quickly as possible. Cuz you don't want to hang around with the Immigration Department as much as I like some of the people that work in there, I don't want to go through the process or hang out in that process you want in and out. So people need to start with themselves. And I would just basically say to somebody, hey, like, here's all the things that you need to think about, you know, do you think that you're ready for all that? And if you are, if you're like, Yeah, I got this, I'm like, cool, go for it. But by the way, if you need some help, here's a structured approach where you can actually go through that stuff step by step. And I'm going to tell you where all the traps are at each step, I'm also going to tell you how to get through them easily based on my experience, and based on all the people that I've helped over the years. And I'm also going to tell you the success criteria, which you're going to need to do for things that you've never even thought about, and are going to hit you and maybe a year or two years later, because those are the traps. And it all boils down to planning and implementing. And that's the same in anything we do in life, right? Anytime people are successful at anything, like if I want to be successful in becoming a doctor, there's a process, I have to go to school, I have to get these marks, I have to do my residency, I have to do that. Well guess what? Coming to Canada and settling, it's the same. There's a process. And if you want to do well here, I've seen clients come here, and I'm telling you, they're killing it. Like they're killing it. They're doing amazing. And it's not by mistake, they would do amazing anywhere they go because they have certain success criteria that they can actually do and implement. And they know. They've planned. They have a plan. They know what they're going to do. They actually have done the work, the hard work up front. I have other clients that have come here, they get to Canada, and they're like, okay, we're here, everything's awesome. What are we going to do now? Sometimes they struggle, and because they haven't planned over the years, and I you know, again, that's their personal journey, right? And it all boils down to planning and actually being honest with yourself, if you can actually execute. And I know for me, we all have different issues. You know, like, my whole life, I've actually, you know, struggled with my weight for instance, you know. I'm up and down. I've, you know, in my 20s when I was talking about the scuba diving and stuff, I was in the best shape of my life, man, I have two black belts, right, that I've got one in Hapkido and one in Taekwondo. So I've had different struggles where I've been like that, and now I'm overweight and I'm doing different things. But I've lost a lot of weight and I'll it'll find me again, etc, etc. But I need to get help. And that's the same thing with immigrations where people need to be honest do they have the ability? And sometimes that's difficult. That's where I get back to the vulnerability of it.

Daniel De Biasi 1:07:31

Yeah, no, I like even the example you said about the weight, which is, if you're probably overweight it's a huge struggle trying to lose weight. Probably, it's probably like a sign and you need to find an ask for how to find somehow if you have two pounds, if you're like over two pounds, and you exercise once a week or once every two weeks, probably should put some effort before you start looking for help.

Brandon 1:07:51

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's exactly it. That's exactly it.

Daniel De Biasi 1:07:56

And one of the things that you mentioned your programs into the Second Passport programs, I love what you're doing just because it's not just the immigration process, as you mentioned before is you've been actually started planning even before you leave your country, find a path that you need. And also once you get into country, how you get settle. Because that's when you get to the country and you got your visa, that's not the end of it. The end of it actually, when you feel settled, when you feel home, that's the thing when the whole journey ends, when you then become like, Okay, I'm here now in my new home.

Brandon 1:08:26

So I want to dive into that, because this is the biggest mistake that people make that I see. And the reason that I am actually in a really unique spot to understand that is not only from all the stuff that we've discussed, but the biggest thing is, is that I helped newcomers settle into Canada while I was getting my certification. I worked and was able to help people settle into Canada. And it gave me a really unique picture on who struggled and who didn't. And I will tell you that journey, when you actually come to Canada, it's different for everybody. You know, you take two electricians, right? And you say I'm sorry, I'm just using the electrician. But there's different levels and one guy will go out he'll do amazing and other guy will struggle and he can't get a job and he can't do this. Why is that, right? It's different. You can't compare it like I see it all the time when people- I don't even read stuff online anymore. But people would flag stuff to me. They're like, Oh, hey, this person's going through and they're asking this, well, I'm that person. No, you're not. You're totally unique. You come from a different country, you have a different family makeup, you have different things. I believe in a holistic process. And that's what I've done with Second Passport, is I put it all together because settlement is equally important. A lot of people are just focused on getting to Canada and they think it's going to be awesome once you're here. And I'm here to tell you that's not true because for two years, I help people come here and settle in. There's other examples like you know, I don't even want to go down the Canadian experience thing and and all of these different things that people have to struggle with. But I can tell you this, right? If you educate yourself, and you understand, even prior to coming here, I'll give you a great example, right? Nurses. So nurses in Ontario, for instance, and again, the process might have changed just a little bit. So depending on when you're listening to this, but nurses can actually come in, they can apply with College of Nurses Ontario, and they can do everything, but they won't have their stuff certified and completed until they land or like or until they land as a PR. So as an example, think of it you can actually get all that process started prior to coming here. Because I always tell people, there's this graph like this level where you know, you're going to be really high with your settlement funds and your stress level's really low. And then as your funds dwindle, and you have no job, your stress level goes totally up. And then you're like, oh crap. And that's when you- that's when it's dangerous, because you start doing desperate, stupid decisions, right?

Daniel De Biasi 1:11:04

I can totally relate with that.

Brandon 1:11:05

Right. And people do that. And I saw people doing that I would have people they would be like, No, I'm waiting for that perfect job. And I'm like, No, don't get something start doing that. Like, it might not be your ideal, but you have to start the momentum going. And I can tell you, like, you know, there's a different mentality that some people aren't aware of, right? And they might say, give an example. I know people are going in, they're getting jobs in Amazon warehouses to pay the bills. You know, I as an employer, because I employ people, if I had two people, and they were, you know, similar qualifications and I got one guy that's been waiting for that perfect job. And I got another guy that comes in and says, Yeah, you know what, I got this job, you know, working in this warehouse job, and blah, blah, blah, and I needed it because I wanted to get going, and I needed to put some money in there. And I have a wife and a family, I'd hire that person in like two seconds, right? And in some cultures, people might say, Oh, that's beneath me. But here, I'd be like, Hey, man, did the guy show up at work? This guy gets it done. He's like, yeah, I'm gonna get it done. I got to support my family, I got to do this. And while I'm doing that, I'm actually going back to school or I'm, you know, I'm looking for this, or I'm taking care of my family, or whatever it may be. I would hire that in a second. I'll give you another example. I've got a client, who I always talk about because she's a perfect example. She wanted to be a bookkeeper. And she wanted to come to Canada, she actually found a course online. She studied Canadian taxes. She studied Canadian bookkeeping systems, all the other stuff. She arrived in Canada with a certification, she opened her own business. And she got started right away. And she's been in Canada now for a year and a half. She has hired employees, she has like, has more business than she can accept. She's making more than enough money. Her husband is doing his own thing. He's now working in her business and managing the growth because it's absolutely phenomenal. And you know what? They're doing amazingly well. And they've been here less than two years, and they're the envy of all of number of people because they've done extremely well. The reason that they've done well is because they had a plan prior to coming here. And they hit the ground running and they knew exactly what they were going to do and they can execute. And that's where settlement's extremely important for people.

Daniel De Biasi 1:13:21

Yeah, no, that's a great examples. I love them. Especially the second one it's like a kudos to this person because she didmazing.

Brandon 1:13:27

Her name is Ariel, by the way, and I love talking about her because she's amazing. Like, just amazing, like, checked all the boxes. Sorry, Daniel. I just wanted to give her props on that.

Daniel De Biasi 1:13:38

No, no, no, if she's listening today is just like, I love to be to have you on the show. Just contact me like, I would love to have her on the show.

Brandon 1:13:45

I would love to hook you up with her because she's amazing.

Daniel De Biasi 1:13:47

Yeah, let's get it done. Awesome, thank you. One of the programs that you created is called the five days challenge.

Brandon 1:13:54

Yep.

Daniel De Biasi 1:13:54

Can you explain what that is? Or what those are?

Brandon 1:13:57

So the five day immigration blueprint challenge is basically where I challenge people to come and show up. Because if you're serious, you got to show up. So I challenge people to show up for five days, where they're going to listen to me talk for five hours, and then they're going to be able to come and do five hours with me in a group session where they can ask me anything. And what happens is, is on day one, I give them an overview of the immigration system, immigration system at a high level, I talk about Canada at a high level, I talked about the difference between citizenship and PR and the importance of planning along with the system that I use for that. Day two, we dive heavily into the immigration programs and I give them like a 60 page book on here's all the programs that I've summarized for you, giving you all the information that you need so you can actually start to articulate the pathway that's reasonable with all the information that you need and start to put together that crucial part of your immigration blueprint. day three, I delve into the settlement. I talked about career planning. I talked about location planning, I talked about family planning because again, some people come and they're like, oh, they're so excited to get here. But they haven't thought about the stress that their spouse might be going through, or their kids might be going through. And again, this is why I say immigration is personal for everybody that even those things unsettlement is different if you're coming single, or you're coming with a family or you're coming, maybe your wife doesn't speak the language. What do you think about that? Like, or your husband or whatever. So we talked about that. We talked about career planning, location planning, where do you want to live in Canada? Like, do you know anything about it? I always challenge people, I say, listen, can you name three places in Canada? They're like, yeah, easy. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal. Okay, great. Name five, Calgary, Winnipeg. Okay, name 10, name 15. Guess how many people can do that, right? Usually, once they get past the five, they can't. There's so many wonderful places to live here. But you need to understand about those locations, you need to understand why there will benefit you, all of the different things. So that's part of the challenge. That's the settlement portion. Day four, we put it all together in the immigration blueprint, which is a culmination of all of those different factors. And day five, we talk about how best to proceed, knowing what you know, and how to actually put that stuff into action and take action on your future. So that's what the immigration blueprint challenge is. Part of my mission is, and honestly, my mission right here today and speaking with you, if I can even reach one person and change their life, similar to that one decision that I had when I went over to Korea, that's a win for me, man. And that's actually, that's my currency. And life is basically changing lives. I'm on a mission to impact as many people as I can. And if somebody comes, they go through the challenge, Hey, they might find out that yeah, you know what, this is not good for me, I like I'm not gonna do well, with snow, you know, or something along those lines, you got to be honest with yourself, you know. You got to understand what that is. So that starts with doing research. And it starts with doing planning. And it starts with being honest with yourself. That's what the challenge is all about.

Daniel De Biasi 1:17:02

Sweet. I love your mission. And that's why I have people like you on the show, because that's, we're on the same path, like trying to help people moving abroad or not moving abroad. If it's like, just like having understanding of like you mentioned, like, maybe Canada is not the place that is great for you. Because once you know what's expected, what kind of life maybe that's Oh, that's not what I was actually was looking for. Same in my podcast, listen to the stories like, Oh, I really don't want to go through down the road or whatever. Just knowing that, but I don't know there's a lot.

Brandon 1:17:34

Yeah, there's people need to do that. And it really like when a lot of the questions you asked me, I turn that back on people. And I say, Well, you know what, I got to tell you, Daniel, to be very honest with you, going back to the value that I like to provide to people, I've actually done consultations with people. And I said, You know what, I don't suggest that you, I don't think you're ready to come here. And quite frankly, what you're trying to do, is not going to meet your actual end goal. Here's a different way of thinking about it. And again, I think that that's, that's key for anything that people need to do. It needs to start with themselves. It doesn't start with getting on an immigration forum and listen to somebody else's experience, it starts with you and designing your own experience, and designing the life that you want to lead. So you're basically getting a new life here in Canada, why not actually design something that you're going to be happy with?

Daniel De Biasi 1:18:25

Absolutely, I love it. I like what you do, I like it so much that I decided to give away one of your five day challenge to one of the listeners. So for if you're listening, if you want to get into the giveaway, just follow us on social media, you will find a post with all the instruction on how to participate to the giveaway and to win one of the your five day challenge programs, so.

Brandon 1:18:49

can I just address that really quickly. So first off, for anybody listening, I didn't know Daniel was going to do that, right? That was you.

Daniel De Biasi 1:18:57

No, there was something I was thinking of like when I was doing the research for this episode, for this interview. And I went through like, oh, that would be great. If one of my listeners can do it.

Brandon 1:19:06

You know what? I'm going to up that for you. I'm going to Daniel's actually going to give away five, and I'm going to give you coupon codes for that Daniel and you can do that because that's a total surprise for me that you were going to do that. And the fact that you're so invested in your listeners to do that, Daniel's giving away five of them. So he's gonna run however he wants to do that. Thanks, man. Thank you.

Daniel De Biasi 1:19:27

No, no worries. I'm glad Yeah. Thanks for doing the coupon. I appreciate it. Thanks.

Brandon 1:19:30

I would love to do that. Thank you for supporting and thank you for caring so much about your listeners to give them that opportunity.

Daniel De Biasi 1:19:36

Oh, no worries, just trying to try to help.

Brandon 1:19:39

Yeah, you and I are on the same page. So I'm going to let's do it, man. Let's do it together. I'm going to help five people out.

Daniel De Biasi 1:19:44

Sweet awesome, perfect. I think it's time now to wrap this up. If people wants to get in touch with you and want to know more about you, maybe wants to find more about your programs, where people can find you?

Brandon 1:19:55

You know what, it's so different for everybody. If they want to send me an email They can send me an email to brandon@mysecondpassport.ca. Let them know that they were listening to this show, just send me an email and no, that doesn't go to some virtual assistant and some far off land, that actually comes to me, I want you to tell me that you heard about me on Daniel's show. And I would also like you to tell me why you're interested to come to Canada, I will send you a free copy of my book, an ebook of that. So you don't have to go get it on Amazon. And you can start the pathway of actually educating yourself on that. And if you've got some questions, I'd love to hear more about you. So brandon@mysecondpassport.ca or if you just want to take a look at the website, it's my secondpassport.ca. Yeah, and reach out to us. I'd love to hear from you.

Daniel De Biasi 1:20:46

Sweet. And as usual, all the links and everything will be in the show notes. So it'll nice and easy for people to reach out to you. Awesome.

Brandon 1:20:53

Cool. Thank you so much.

Daniel De Biasi 1:20:54

Thank you so much, Brandon. That was pretty good. It went a little bit longer than usual. But honestly, when things go, well, they just let them go.

Brandon 1:21:01

I loved it. I man, that was a lot of fun and the questions that you asked, thank you for those fantastic questions.

Daniel De Biasi 1:21:08

Oh, I appreciate it. Thanks.

Brandon 1:21:09

Thank you.

Daniel De Biasi 1:21:10

Sweet. Thank you, Brandon. Bye.

Brandon 1:21:12

Take care. Goodbye.

Daniel De Biasi 1:21:14

Thank you so much for tuning in this week and staying until the end. I really hope you enjoyed my conversation with Brandon awfully you learn a few things as well. You can find all the links and resources mentioned in this episode in the show notes by visiting emigrantslife.com/episode55. If you enjoyed this episode and want to support the show, you can share this episode with your friends, and please do. You can leave us a review on Apple podcasts or Pod Chaser. To stay in touch with us and to find out how to participate to the giveaway, you can find us on Instagram and Twitter at Emigrant's Life and Facebook at Emigrant's Life Podcast. And one more thing before you go, if you want to move to a new country you need up feel free to reach out to me either via email at daniel@emigrantslife.com or through our website, emigrantslife.com. We can schedule a call and I can give you whatever help I can give you. Anyway, thanks again for listening. Talk to you next one. Ciao!

‍