Immigration Forum / Canada / September 2007

Hi all and thanks in advance for any help any of you can give me.

For some detail i'm a 23 yr old male, born and raised in Northern
Ireland, with a batchelors degree in Network Computing and the obvious
fluent english (no french as yet) and i'm considering applying for
permanent residence as a skilled worker (federal) and hoping to move
to the Hamilton, Ontario area near to where I have some family should
it be successful. On the preliminary self test I received around the
67 point pass mark off the bat but if I suspect in the time it'll take
to process i'll have another years work experience which will give me
an extra point or two and things like that. I have a lot of questions
though regarding the easiest way to apply, whether I can qualify for
the "family class" application and some queries about the length of
time and likelihood of success.

I have a great aunt (my fathers aunt), now retired, who moved to
Canada from N.Ire in the 60's and as such have a number of cousins
(although i'm not technically sure, they're probably 2nd cousins for
me?) so i'm fairly sure this would be too distant for a family class
application however i'm not certain. Anyone know for sure? Would this
route be quicker than applied for skilled worker status if I was
elligible? I'm close to my family out there and see them regularly
enough (was there in August actually) and i've already been told by a
few of them i'm more than welcome to stay with them for as long as it
takes to get settled should I get in so I wouldn't be stepping off a
plane into homelessness. I'm not sure how to add that information to
any application I send...is it acceptable to add a letter or do they
reject them and only look at the application form itself?

And also, if I can't use family class, do you reckon they'd give me
some points in a skilled worker application considering the above
family links even if they aren't quite as direct as say father or
brother etc? Again would it be better to write a letter with the
application giving details?

If family class isn't available I'm planning to send the simplified
application for skilled worker in the coming days to the London office
as I believe thats where all UK/Ireland applications have to be sent
to. Is this true or can it be sent to any office and what are the
issues if I sent it somewhere else? I've read it could be an issue if
I was called to interview for example?

Can anyone with very recent experience give an idea of timeframe? I
know on the CIC website it seems to mention around 3 to 4 years for
London which seems very very long to me. Is it possible to get it done
quicker somehow or do you really just have to sit on your hands for
years waiting for an answer?

Hope i've been clear enough to understand and provided enough
info...i'll reply if anyone needs more info to help me.

Thanks again

Al