Catching Up: Our Journey Thus Far
I'm not sure when the thought of relocating North first entered our minds. We've visited Victoria and Vancouver and we've really liked those cities. (Except for the border fascists -- American or Canadian, immigration or customs, where do they find these people?) Actually, I was jealous of Vancouver and thinking it was a lot like what Seattle could be. (Now at least Seattle has its own flashy library.)
Two years ago, the July 4th issue of our local alternative newspaper, The Stranger, devoted a whole section to why Canada was the new Land of the Free. Maybe that's when I started including "I swear, if they would let us, we'd move to Canada" in my various sporadic rants about the state of the nation.
In any case, last month I was in a foul mood for days after watching the documentary Tying the Knot. Once again, there were rants that mentioned Canada. So Alan says to me, "Well, can we? Have you ever really looked into it?" Well, sort of. And that "sort of" left me with the impression that we would have to be one or more of the following: 1. fabulously wealthy, 2. incredibly talented at some unusual profession or trade, or 3. willing to live out in the boonies. We clearly were "none of the above."
But with the husband's goading, I visited the official Canadian immigration web site. There I learned about the point system for the "skilled worker" class of applicants for permanent residency in Canada. Maximum 100, "passing" is 67 (used to be 75) -- I squeaked by with 67, although maybe it's 72. (I'm confused by the terms they use for education.) I knew that degree was good for something! OMG, this just might be possible ...
The wheels start turning and I start reading and researching ... and possibly obsessing ... a bit ...
I ordered a few books, including my first purchase from amazon.ca. I started looking for blogs and found the three I mentioned in the previous post. (When I can figure out how, I want to list them in the right column.) I learn what we need just to complete the application: a list of every address since the 18th birthday, account for every month since the 18th birthday in terms of jobs/schools/etc., police clearances (which require fingerprinting) from the FBI and every state and country lived in since the 18th birthday. This is particularly onerous for me, given that I have lived in six states and one foreign country. OK. I take a deep breath and start working on the lists.
And then, while looking for other information in the application materials (which I downloaded from the CIC web site), I found the requirement that one collect detailed letters from every employer since age 18. That's impossible ... my heart sinks lower and lower. I can't do this. I get a bit ... emotional. Not listening to much in the way of reason, Alan does get me to email the guys in Denver that had their application at least get them a place in the queue. I say, "why bother?" and he says, "just do it." So I do and then don't go near the computer for three days.
Well, Nick gives me hope. He explains that you can write a letter of explanation that includes the requested information in lieu of a letter from an employer of, say, ten years ago. Only a couple weeks in and already I feel that I've been on an emotional roller coaster. So I ask Alan if we really want to go through with this. What if we jump through all the hoops and they reject us? We won't know unless we try. Do we want to be here ten years from now woulda/coulda/shoulda? So onward.
Makin' a list and checking it a few dozen times. I went through a background check for a job a few years ago, so a lot of my list is pre-made. But still, it takes a lot of work. With the magic that is the internet (and by finding some old address books where I cleverly had listings for "me"), I manage to pull it together. Alan is still trying to fill in some gaps.
August 14 - 16: worked on getting employment letters, ordered birth ceritifcates and school transcripts, was fingerprinted too many times at the downtown police station, and sent away for my police clearance from a small Central American country. (Yeah, I know, good luck with that.)
August 20: Mailed the (domestic) requests for police clearances -- all ten of them (between the two of us). By the way, we're already in the hole more than $350.00 with fees, postage, and phone calls.
As of today (Aug. 27), we've received some transcripts and our birth certificates. We're continuing to work on filling out the forms, trying to find all the places where we don't know something so that we can work on finding the answers while we wait on the police clearances. We've heard the FBI takes about 11 weeks. We'd like to have everything ready when the clearance arrives so we can send our application. That is, if we decide to cross that Rubicon ...
Two years ago, the July 4th issue of our local alternative newspaper, The Stranger, devoted a whole section to why Canada was the new Land of the Free. Maybe that's when I started including "I swear, if they would let us, we'd move to Canada" in my various sporadic rants about the state of the nation.
In any case, last month I was in a foul mood for days after watching the documentary Tying the Knot. Once again, there were rants that mentioned Canada. So Alan says to me, "Well, can we? Have you ever really looked into it?" Well, sort of. And that "sort of" left me with the impression that we would have to be one or more of the following: 1. fabulously wealthy, 2. incredibly talented at some unusual profession or trade, or 3. willing to live out in the boonies. We clearly were "none of the above."
But with the husband's goading, I visited the official Canadian immigration web site. There I learned about the point system for the "skilled worker" class of applicants for permanent residency in Canada. Maximum 100, "passing" is 67 (used to be 75) -- I squeaked by with 67, although maybe it's 72. (I'm confused by the terms they use for education.) I knew that degree was good for something! OMG, this just might be possible ...
The wheels start turning and I start reading and researching ... and possibly obsessing ... a bit ...
I ordered a few books, including my first purchase from amazon.ca. I started looking for blogs and found the three I mentioned in the previous post. (When I can figure out how, I want to list them in the right column.) I learn what we need just to complete the application: a list of every address since the 18th birthday, account for every month since the 18th birthday in terms of jobs/schools/etc., police clearances (which require fingerprinting) from the FBI and every state and country lived in since the 18th birthday. This is particularly onerous for me, given that I have lived in six states and one foreign country. OK. I take a deep breath and start working on the lists.
And then, while looking for other information in the application materials (which I downloaded from the CIC web site), I found the requirement that one collect detailed letters from every employer since age 18. That's impossible ... my heart sinks lower and lower. I can't do this. I get a bit ... emotional. Not listening to much in the way of reason, Alan does get me to email the guys in Denver that had their application at least get them a place in the queue. I say, "why bother?" and he says, "just do it." So I do and then don't go near the computer for three days.
Well, Nick gives me hope. He explains that you can write a letter of explanation that includes the requested information in lieu of a letter from an employer of, say, ten years ago. Only a couple weeks in and already I feel that I've been on an emotional roller coaster. So I ask Alan if we really want to go through with this. What if we jump through all the hoops and they reject us? We won't know unless we try. Do we want to be here ten years from now woulda/coulda/shoulda? So onward.
Makin' a list and checking it a few dozen times. I went through a background check for a job a few years ago, so a lot of my list is pre-made. But still, it takes a lot of work. With the magic that is the internet (and by finding some old address books where I cleverly had listings for "me"), I manage to pull it together. Alan is still trying to fill in some gaps.
August 14 - 16: worked on getting employment letters, ordered birth ceritifcates and school transcripts, was fingerprinted too many times at the downtown police station, and sent away for my police clearance from a small Central American country. (Yeah, I know, good luck with that.)
August 20: Mailed the (domestic) requests for police clearances -- all ten of them (between the two of us). By the way, we're already in the hole more than $350.00 with fees, postage, and phone calls.
As of today (Aug. 27), we've received some transcripts and our birth certificates. We're continuing to work on filling out the forms, trying to find all the places where we don't know something so that we can work on finding the answers while we wait on the police clearances. We've heard the FBI takes about 11 weeks. We'd like to have everything ready when the clearance arrives so we can send our application. That is, if we decide to cross that Rubicon ...
posted by Daniel wbc at 4:28 PM
4 Comments:
I uploaded some of my entries from my LJ account to LWOB, I encourage you to go back to November 2004 and check out my nervous nancying ;-)
You're not alone my friend.
I'm utterly astounded when I read this stuff. Hundreds of thousands of people from pretty shaky regimes manage to make it into Canada every year... can they all be digging up this daunting amount of information? I'm surprised, and slightly disconcerted, that it's that onerous to get into Canada. What amazes me more is that anyone jumps through all these hoops. It looks like a whole lot more work than staying home... particularly if you're already living in a country with a high standard of living, as you guys are.
If it does seem worth the trouble to you, I sure hope you make it. I've never been to Vancouver myself, but I'd still move there in a minute if I had a job there and all my friends and family weren't in southern Ontario. That said, if I were American or had occasion to move to the US, Seattle's where I'd go, I think. Same reasons.
Best of luck... I'll be tuning in! :)
hey, lone primate,
Thanks for stopping by. I will write more about why we're putting ourselves through this. (I wonder that, too, sometimes. I mean, this is self-inflicted.)
There are some differences in the process for different parts of the world. Part of the application is consulate-specific, in our case Buffalo because that's the only one that will process American applications. Also, folks can apply as refugees or can be sponsored by family already living in Canada, both of which would be different processes from the "skilled worker" class that the other bloggers (listed at right -- I figured it out!) and I are applying as.
A friend of mine was asking if they make it so horrid on purpose, so as to disuade someone from immigrating on a whim, just casually, hey why not sort of thing. She may have a point. After the November 2004 election in the States, Canada's population may have doubled very suddenly if it were easy.
Thanks for your good wishes!
Niko,
Thanks for making the older posts available. I read them all. I appreciate the fellowship.
Do you think the consulate should provide Xanax to applicants?
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