Bibek returned to Nepal, but he plans to return to Canada stronger

Bibek Poudel had a very detailed plan for succeeding in Canada. He would graduate from college, then work to gain experience in his IT field, setting himself up as a digital nomad—someone who could get a job and support himself basically anywhere, at any time.

Then his luck ran out. On March 1st Bibek flew back to Nepal after five years, without getting permanent residency (PR). But in today's episode he tells me that is not an entirely bad development, and that he has another detailed plan to return.

Unlike Aayush Pokharel, who we talked to in our last episode, Bibek hit significant delays on his journey to PR status. He graduated, but had to strengthen a few specific skills before he could start a job. Then he had to wait to apply for an opening in the IT workstream that would lead to his PR until his employer had been given the green light. 

By the time that approval came, the Ontario government decided it no longer needed skilled IT workers and Bibek had to shift to a category that requires more points to qualify than he had. 

Eventually he just ran out of time.

Both Bibek and Aayush were well entrenched in Canada when the federal government started shutting the door to international students a couple of years ago. They had, and still have, good opportunities to succeed. 

But many other students are likely to cross Canada off of their list of countries to study in. I've been hearing that Australia is again a preferred destination. It's closer to Nepal and has a huge Nepali diaspora.

Transcript

marty 0:00

Hi Marty here. It's Saturday evening on the west coast of Canada, and although counting continues in the election, it's clear that Nepal's political landscape has changed dramatically. Nepalis will have many hopes and expectations for the new government. One of mine is that it will work to shape a country where citizens no longer feel that they must leave to get a good job or a solid education. It won't happen overnight; none of the big changes will. But the work in that direction should begin as soon as possible.

Bibek 0:39

My goal before coming to Canada was to become the talent in the industry who can work like a nomad, who can go wherever they want and then make their living. That was my goal. But once I came into Canada, everybody wanted to get the PR, right, and everybody wanted to stay here for a little longer. So I think I somehow like fell in that trap.

marty 1:17

Welcome to Nepal. Now, my name is Marty Logan. Bibek Poudel had a very detailed plan for succeeding in Canada. He would graduate from college, then work to gain experience in his IT field, positioning himself as a digital nomad, someone who could get a job and make a living basically anywhere at any time. Then, his luck ran out. On March 1st Bibek flew back to Nepal after five years, without getting permanent residency. But in today's episode, he tells me that is not an entirely bad development and that he has another detailed plan to return. This is our second episode from Canada, and I need some feedback please on what you've heard so far. The easiest way is to message us by clicking the Get in In Touch link at the top of the notes to this and all other episodes of the show. Before we start, I want to give a shout out to another Bibek Bibek Neupane, also in Ontario. After only one brief chat online, he volunteered to help me find possible guests and succeeded. Today's episode is possible thanks to a tip from him. Thank you, Bibek. A couple of terms that you'll hear in today's episode. GTA is the greater Toronto area and CLB is comprehensive language benchmarks, the Government of Canada exam for immigration. Please listen now to my chat with Bibek Poudel... Bibek Poudel, welcome to Nepal Now podcast!

Bibek 3:01

Thank you for having me.

marty 3:03

Today we're going to talk about how you are affected by Canada's new immigration rules. But first, why don't you tell me about your journey to Canada, how you came to be in this country.

Bibek 3:17

I was born in small village in Nepal, in Bharatpur. Once I did my 12th (grade), which is plus- two, like we, we have to go to university. I wanted to get into the tech. What was in my mind is I need to join good university or colleges, but in my area, like there wasn't any, so I have to go to Kathmandu. So instead of just leaving home to KA for Kathmandu, I thought I'll leave the whole country and go to new country, explore the new language, culture, meet different people from different country and learn over there. That made me to come to Canada.

marty 3:53

A couple things come to mind. Were you the first one in your family to go overseas to study?

Bibek 4:00

In my family, yes, I'm the first one, but we had our close relatives My cousin actually been to Japan for PhD. So after her, like I'm the first one from our family.

marty 4:11

Okay, and so why Canada? Like I know you know a lot of people go to Australia, they go to US, some go to UK, Europe. So why did you end up in Canada?

Bibek 4:23

Funny thing is I actually like did my language preparation or like, language test in order to go to Australia. When I was preparing for my test, on the side, I, I was exploring the opportunity in that country. So I was speaking with people from Australia and, but I wasn't quite impressed with what they were doing post-education in comparison to like, people who've been to Canada. There was a quite good, network of people who were well qualified and doing work in their industry in whichever academic field they have pursued. So I found that if I come to Canada, I will be somehow influenced by them and then will stay in track. That was my goal to come to Canada.

marty 5:10

So you did your research, which is great, and then you arrived here, what year?

Bibek 5:16

I arrived on January of 2021.

marty 5:19

A good time to arrive in Canada in the middle of winter, especially in eastern Canada. Because you ended up in Ontario, right?

Bibek 5:27

I Yeah, I ended up in Ontario, but I landed first in Montreal and unfortunately, like we had to wait in a visa line. While waiting in the visa line, immigration officer made one of my friend to wait for little longer than usual. So while waiting for him, I missed my flight to Toronto from Montreal. So we have to spend whole night in Montreal. That's another interesting story.

marty 5:55

Okay, so not a great start, but obviously you overcame that challenge. You made it to Ontario, and then did you go to, I know you're in Barrie, which is kind of a northern city in Ontario. Did you go there immediately or did you start in Toronto and what were you studying?

Bibek 6:12

First I was studying computer programming and because of the COVID that time, the classes were, running in person. Sorry. No online. I stayed in one of my family's friend's home in Scarborough, which is inside the GTA area. And then I stayed there for eight month and after eight month I moved to Barrie, like because I get an on-campus opportunity to work. So I moved to Barrie and then I stayed there for around one and a half year, I guess, until I graduate. I graduated in back in December 2022. And once after I graduated, I spent couple of months over there looking for jobs. I didn't find any good opportunity, so I moved back to Toronto again.

marty 7:02

What is the college called that you were going to?

Bibek 7:05

It is Georgiann College. The main campus is in Barrie, but it has other, other campuses around in the northern areas, like in Owen Sound. There's one in Muskoka as well.

marty 7:18

Okay, so then what, when you were in Barrie studying how did you find it? Like, were you happy there? Was it going well? Did you make friends? Were you feeling like things were going on track?

Bibek 7:29

Yeah, exactly. While I was here in Toronto, I didn't get much opportunity to connect with other French in person. But once I go back to college, I started working there as like customer service role. I get to meet lot of people who used to come to campus. From there I get to know a lot of people and then. In, in our campus there's a program called Peer Mentoring. Mostly the people who are new to campus enroll in that program, and then those who are already in campus will help them to adjust into the campus. I was enrolled into that program as well. In my first year, I was a mentee. Somebody has, somebody else has mentored me, but once I moved to Barrie, I became one of the peer mentor as well. I get to connect with so many new students who came from South Asian countries and some from South America as well. That's how like I got to connect with so many different people outside of my classroom.

marty 8:27

But unfortunately, you said you had to leave Barrie because when, after you graduated December 2022 you said, right?

Bibek 8:34

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

marty 8:35

Yeah. You couldn't find work, so you ended up back in the GTA.

Bibek 8:39

Thing is, once I graduate in 2022 December, I spent, think, two, three months staying in Barrie. So I applied for jobs from there, but I couldn't get any interviews. And at the same time I was looking for guidance. I was looking to, for connecting with people from the industry but since Barrie is a small area, I couldn't find people to network with. So I only had LinkedIn to connect with people and I used to do virtual coffee chat, but in order to actually meet with people from my industry in person, I chose to come to Canada sorry, Toronto, and then attend a lot of tech meetups. And I met a lot of amazing talents who guided me through my job search process. Later on they answered a lot of industry related questions that I had. So yeah, once I came back I met very helping and amazing groups of professionals who are in tech.

marty 9:39

At that point you, were you still staying with your friend in Scarborough?

Bibek 9:44

I was living with a Nepali family in Scarborough, but not with friends. When, when I was in Barrie, I used to live with friends.

marty 9:52

Okay. And were you feeling discouraged or frustrated, or did you feel it was just like part of the process?

Bibek 10:01

Sometimes I used to feel discouraged as well, but one thing that helped me is I connected with so many people and they encouraged me. When I was feeling bad, they used to tell me that this is a part of the process you, you, you gotta do this. So they used to guide me and then all of my doubt clear and apply for jobs and reach out to people online and do 'cold' apply.

marty 10:27

And so eventually, obviously, you succeeded. Tell me about finding your job.

Bibek 10:33

I didn't get much interviews 'cause I didn't have any industry experience and here a lot of company were just hiring somebody with two years, three years, five years experience. In my college, I was taught a little bit of everything, but at the end I didn't graduate with a specific skill, but I graduated with bit of knowledge of everything. Because of that I need to I need to take some time to, learn by myself and sharpen my skill in one specific domain of our industry. I was learning online as well at the same time I told you earlier, I was doing cold apply.

marty 11:19

Sorry, sorry. Like without knowing anyone, you just send them a, a request or an email or something?

Bibek 11:25

Yeah, I just used to send them connect request and there I used to mention that I'm recent grad and then I'm looking for a job in this domain, blah, blah, blah. That's what I used to mention. I sent a message to the company's owner, which I currently work for. So I just told him that hey, I'm a recent graduate, and I would love to connect with you and offer my skillset in your company. That's what I said. And then he just asked me that, how much of PHP and MySQL you know that was his question. And then I said yeah, like I was very fluent too in MySQL as well as I had some working knowledge of PHP 'cause I have taken those classes in my night course. We did a phone interview. asked me to like, like literally to build a little bit more skill. So he gave me some time, so that I can learn and be job ready. I, I think I, I took around 20 to 25 days. I prepared myself and then like build some project, I demonstrated him the project and he kinda liked me, liked that project, and hired me eventually. The way I found the job is not like how typical hiring process take place. It's kind of unique.

marty 12:43

That's great actually, because you initiated it, you went out of your way, you did this cold outreach, and I find it really fascinating that this guy said, okay, I like you, but you need to sharpen your skills. And Because you're in it, I think, and because there's so much available online now, you were able to do that so fast, right? Like if someone said to me as a journalist, you know, go and learn how to make videos, I don't think I could learn it in 25 days, right. I would think it would take longer. Like you'd go out and take a course and it would take three months or six months, but you did it so fast.

Bibek's job-seeking strategy

Bibek 13:20

I graduated in December 2022, and then I started working for this company on August 21, 2023, more or less after seventh month of graduation. One thing I forgot to mention earlier is I wasn't able to just connect with him and he didn't invite me for the interview just because of my cold outreach message. He invited me 'cause he looked over my LinkedIn profile as well. I have uploaded everything which I have done during my time at Georgian College. Apart from peer mentoring, I've been to Student Union as well; I was one of the vice president. I worked in a library, and then I, I have scored like above 90% in every semester, and I have some very good recommendation from my program coordinators. I have compiled everything and kept in my LinkedIn profile. Later on when I asked him, like he, he told me that he looked over those details and then he find it compelling and then that's how like he get back to me and invited for the interview.

marty 14:29

So it wasn't your work experience, it was all the other things that you did that was on your CV that helped that guy decide he wanted to hire you. That's great. So then August 2023 you started and then you worked there until when?

Bibek 14:48

I'm still working there.

marty 14:50

You're still working there. Okay, so let's, let's get to what you're doing in a few weeks from now. You're going back to Nepal. Tell me why you're going back to Nepal.

Bibek 15:01

The reason why I am going back to Nepal is 'cause I've been working in the company for like two years and in that two years I've been doing same thing. My plan was to transition from like temporary resident to Permanent Resident and then go back to university to complete my undergrad. But that didn't work out. I didn't get enough point in order to compete in CEC. So in order to build my profile it's better for me to go back to my country and work from there in order to get the foreign work experience. It's a plus point for me. If I could do the same thing from back in Nepal staying with my family, then why should I stay alone here in Canada? That's what came in my mind and I, and I make my decision to go back to Nepal. I spoke with my company's owner and then like, yeah, he allowed me to go back to Nepal and work from there, so that's why I'm going back.

marty 16:07

Okay, so let me just try to fill in some of the bits and pieces, and especially some people won't be too familiar with the system. I know a lot of people are. I'm not one of them, so I'm learning about it. So after you graduated from your program, then you're on something called the temporary work permit, right?

Bibek 16:24

Yes,

marty 16:25

Yeah.

Bibek 16:26

In Canada if you finish one year course, then you'll get one year of work permit. If you do two years or more, then you'll get three years of work permit. Within that three years, if you could transition from temporary resident to permanent resident, then nobody will stop you to stay and work in Canada. Otherwise there are gonna be legal complications.

marty 16:53

In order to go from being a temporary worker to this permanent resident, then you have to compile enough points in your personal score to meet one of these streams of desired immigration. And it could be a stream that the federal government sets, or it could be a stream that whichever province you are in decides upon. And each province has different streams and different things that they focus on. What I'm curious about is when you were starting, when you graduated and you got your first, got your temporary work permit, were you quite confident that you would have enough points? Like has the system changed since you started working? Because I know Canada's been making a lot of changes.

When things started to go wrong

Bibek 17:41

immigration policies hasn't changed drastically as of right now. Once I got the job, I was quite confident that I will end up getting permanent residency as well, 'cause at that time IT was also one of the in demand occupations in Canada. And then immigration was like prioritizing those talents. There used to be separate draw for in IT, people in health sector and some other industries. But once I get my job I was qualified for the provincial nominee program and so once I get job in August, I applied for that in around March because your company also need to be eligible for that. So while I waited for my company to become eligible for that nomination program they already did a draw for IT. And after that they didn't do any draws. Eventually later the same year, they removed IT from the priority occupation list. That's where I messed up. I couldn't get myself qualified into provincial nominee program. So my only way of getting PR is through federal express entry system. For that, currently the score is 500+, but me as somebody who came right after (class) 12 and then who just have diploma and just a Canadian experience, it's near to impossible to cross the 500+ score. That's why I didn't end up getting PR within these three years.

marty 19:29

Thank you. That was a very good explanation: that it was the provincial government that changed the...

Bibek 19:33

I think it's federal government who who decide the, list of priority occupation for that year. And it's provincial government who implements that based on their need. But even though Ontario and some other provinces removed IT from their priority occupation list, Alberta and Saskatchewan were still like giving provincial nominee to the IT talents in their provinces.

marty 19:59

But you never thought of going there?

Bibek 20:01

Based on the current scene and job, our job market in Canada it was very hard to like, land a role in that area. First, like there was limited companies; plus it's over competitive. And I wasn't willing to do some other jobs. I mean, jobs in some other industries. Mostly like people go and work in the food sectors, but I wasn't ready to do that, so I didn't move out from Ontario and I didn't change the job, which I'm working right now. I first value my career and then value working on sharpening my skillset.

marty 20:40

That makes perfect sense to me. So you're going back to Nepal, March 1st. Are you confident that you're going to get enough points to be able to come back and how long do you think that will take?

Bibek 20:52

Based on the current laws and regulations if you have at least one year of foreign experience, and then if you get around CLB eight, I guess, in English test, you will end up getting like 50 points added in your profile. Unless Canada government or Canada Immigration department changes that law or regulation, I'll end up having like 50 point added in my profile after working in Nepal for a year. Plus I'm also doing French. So if I clear French examination in near future, I will be qualified for the French draw as well. And then the cutoff score, or the minimum score required, to be qualified for PR from that French category is far less than the general draws. Recently there was a draw for just score with 400. Even with my current profile without adding foreign experience, if I just clear the French examination, I'll end up getting the invitation. So I'm quite confident that either ways I'll get the invitation.

marty 22:12

Well, best of luck with that. I hope it works out. Do you blame anyone for the fact that you have to go back? Obviously you're interrupting your schedule, your plan.

Bibek 22:23

I don't blame anyone 'cause when we come here nobody promised us to provide us the permanent residency, right? We just came here to study and then after study we were, we were promised to get the three years of work permit so that we can practice whatever we studied and get the experience in the industry. That was the whole idea about coming abroad for education and getting the work experience. No government guarantees you the permanent resident, right? I, I didn't blame anyone 'cause it's their country, their system, their rule. They're allowed to change based on their need anytime anytime they need.

Why it's important to be in Canada legally

marty 23:08

Have you thought of not going back? There are other things you could possibly do. You could just stay keep doing what you're doing and hoping that, you know, life goes on fine. I've heard now people are, instead of leaving the country when they have immigration kind of barriers, some people are applying for refugee status even though they don't consider themselves refugees. It's just a way to prolong your stay in the country. Did you think of doing any of those?

Bibek 23:41

That refugee thing and any other like p stuffs didn't came in my mind 'cause, I always value personal development and becoming the person who will get the thing that I want by going through the proper route, from the legal route. I think if I become the best version of myself, if I groom myself enough, I can do well in Nepal as well. Although like there is less government support in various endeavor, it's not as developed in comparison to Canada. If not Nepal I can go to some other countries and study and then do well over there. For me, personal development and becoming more valuable day by day is more important than getting the permanent resident and then sticking in a country. 'Cause idea behind, getting permanent residency is kind of security, right? If I became secure enough or if I became confident enough with the skillset or with the capacity I have, I can get job wherever I go. And then if you are earning well, then you'll get whatever you want from wherever you are. My priority is always getting good job or doing something on my own, earning enough to make my living and live a happy life, no matter where I live.

marty 25:24

It's not as if your ultimate dream was to settle in Canada, I think is what I hear you saying. You want to be in a place, as you said, you can be successful in your work and have some security.

Bibek 25:39

Yeah. If we go five years back, I can still remember what I was thinking at that time. The whole idea, for me, to get into here and choosing Georgian College to study computer programming was to become one of the skilled manpower in the world of technology. And Nepal as a developing country, there is a lot of work that needs to be done in that sector. So I knew that if I become skillful in that area, I'm gonna get job easily in Nepal as well. That's the reason why I chose the technology industry and my goal before coming to Canada was to become the talent in the industry who can work like a nomad, who can go wherever they want and then make their living. That was my goal. I have segmented my five years plan into chunks. First was to do well in school. So in that two years I really, invested myself doing well in school and taking part in extracurricular activities and yeah, getting the most out of it. Then the goal is to get in the industry and get the experience and be one of the skill talent, right? So somehow I managed to get the job as well, and in that like two and a half year, I managed to become one of the crucial employee, so my company's allowing me to work remotely from Nepal. It's kind of like dream come true. Like I never thought about PR when, coming to Canada. I just thought about being one of the skill manpower in the industry who can who will be easily sold in the market. And that's like dream come true. But once I came into Canada, everybody wanted to get the PR right and everybody wanted to stay here for a little longer. So I think I somehow like fell in that trap. And I also wanted to get the permanent residency, 'cause I wanna stay here for a little bit longer and like take some higher studies, 'cause if you became permanent resident then government will fund you for your studies to some extent, right? So I wanna utilize that to like do my undergrad and then later on end up working in big tech companies and add more things on my portfolio. But yeah, things didn't work out. But I'm happy with whatever I have so far.

Advice for students considering studying in Canada

marty 28:26

I'm happy to hear that you have that positive mentality. Last question, maybe two questions. Let's say that there's someone now in Nepal who's in this situation you were five years ago: they're just finishing plus two, and they're really interested in coming to Canada to continue their studies. What advice would you give them?

Bibek 28:46

The only advice I will give it to them is if you're coming here for studies, then make sure you pay attention in studies and you get most out of what you have paid for, 'cause the tuition fee is so high, right? Don't just indulge into the part-time jobs trying to cover some like, tuition, tuition, tuition fees, and get some extra money to send back home. First get invested into studies, get the education done and later on get the job into the industry and work hard for three years. You'll eventually make money as well as you will you will end up in a good position and even if you have to go back after your end of work permit,, then you will be going back with some skills, some experience.

marty 29:38

From all of your time in Canada, now we're looking at 1, 2, 3, 5, five years. Five years in Canada: working, studying, living in Canadian society. What do you think is the most important lesson you've learned?

Bibek 29:58

I learned to be independent. I learned to stand on my own feet. I learned to deal with people from different culture and different countries. I think this will help me to become a very good team player in the future if I have to work in a very, like diverse team, I have to settle down in a diverse community.

marty 30:27

That's great. Bibek, thank you very much for talking to me today, sharing your story, sharing your experiences and advice for other people who might be in a similar situation. I hope everything goes really well and you know, you have a great time in Nepal. And that you find a place where you feel like you're contributing and can settle down, whether it's back in Canada, maybe I'll see you in Nepal one day also.

Bibek 30:55

Thanks for having me, Marty. It's nice to have a conversation with you.

marty 30:59

Thanks again to Bibek for sharing his experiences about life in Canada. By the way, I reached out to him yesterday. He made it safely to Nepal and was just getting ready to vote. That's great to hear. In the next episode, we'll be talking to two researchers who interviewed a couple dozen Nepalis living in Canada to get their feelings about their immigration journeys. I'll talk to you next time.