International Junior Year Student Applying for College

[MarcoRamos]

Hello, my name is Marco and I'm currently coursing Junior year in Mexico and I have been given the opportunity by educational representatives of the state of Alberta to apply for college. I am bilingual and would not need to be in a ESL program to study correctly. Although it seems as a simple process the way the representative told me, I would like to know the real side of the story of how easy it would be to accomplish my plan.

Once graduating from high school, I would go to Lethbridge College to finish up a Diploma. While doing so, I would try to get my residence. Once finishing the Diploma, I would work as a Legal Assistant for a year to gain practical experience and pay off my studies. Then, I would transfer to either Lethbridge University or University of Calgary and finish my bachelor's in the next 2 years. Lastly, I would go to UofA or UofT to law school.

What are some things that I should know before starting the process, or other options to the original plan? Anything that you can tell me is highly appreciated.

 

[scylla]

One thing you should know is that you won't be able to apply for residency while you are studying. Being a student in Canada isn't enough to qualify for residency. You'll also need at least one year of full time paid and skilled work experience. So based on what you have planned, the absolute earliest you would be able to apply for residency would be AFTER finishing the year working as a Legal Assistant (although even then there is no guarantee you would be able to apply since the rules can change and it can sometimes be quite difficult to find a skilled job after you graduate). You should expect that you will be paying international student fees at least until you finish your Bachelor degree - possibly longer.