22 posts tagged “immigration”

Unbelievably, we’ve been living in Vancouver now for three months.  That’s one quarter of a year!  It feels like only three weeks ago we were packing up to make the long drive out here.  I guess it’s true what they say about the time and the flying and the fun.

Our weeks here really have been enjoyable.  We’ve loved getting to know the city as residents – figuring out the little things i.e. where to buy the best fruit, what papers we like to read, how to get from one location to another via bus or foot or bike.  Every day we discover something new about this place we call home.

Of course, the homesickness still comes and goes in waves.  We’ve been sad to miss out on opportunities to hang out with (or show support for) our friends and family.  But we also see how those connections are sustained by the wonderfully versatile Internet.  It’s awesome how email, instant messaging and webcams can erase at least some of the distance between BC and MN.

So are we happy with the choice we made to pack up the entirety of our lives and haul it all to Canada?  Honestly, I can’t say.  Not yet.  Without jobs (and with the summer sun shining down upon us), it’s all too easy to think we’re simply on a long (and glorious) Vancouver vacation.  While it sounds silly at this point to say we need more time to mentally adjust, well, that’s exactly where we’re at.  Check in with me at the 6-month mark, and hopefully I’ll have a more concrete answer.

(And, you know, a JOB.)

Yesterday, we landed in Canada as permanent residents.  It took us an hour and a half to get through the border – exporting The Couv from the U.S., importing it to Canada and then going through the paperwork to make our immigration official.  At the end of everything, the customs officer presented us with two tiny Canadian flag pins and said, “Welcome to Canada!”  It was very cool.

We arrived in Vancouver in the early afternoon and drove directly to our apartment.  We met up with the building manager and got a tour of our new digs.  While I was disappointed to learn that the bathroom was NOT renovated as intended (hello, pink tiles!), everything else was in order.  Shane and I agree that this will be a good fit for us starting out, although it will be a very different experience not having a dishwasher (hello, dishpan hands!).

Our time so far has been split between cleaning the apartment (in preparation for moving in next weekend) and running around town to check off items on our all-important To Do list.  Today, we went and applied for our Social Insurance Number – or SIN – cards (the equivalent of U.S. Social Security Numbers), met with representatives from some local banks and…wait for it… GOT LIBRARY CARDS.  This last one is exciting on many levels for me, not the least of which is the awesomeness of being able to check out materials from the spectacular central branch downtown.

The next few days will involve more errand-running and generally enjoying life in Vancouver (before the serious job-hunting starts).  Then on Friday, we’ll head back down to Seattle to shop for apartment stuff and spend the night (before retrieving our shipped belongings on Saturday).

By the way, for those of you wondering whether we were able to transport our wedding sand vase intact, we did!  And we’ve got a sweet little nook in the apartment that fits the vase perfectly.

The past week has been a Tilt-a-Whirl of activity.  Last weekend, we loaded our storage containers – three 5x7x8 boxes – with the majority of our worldly possessions and sent them on their way.  While it was more than a little nerve-wracking trying to cram EVERYTHING WE OWN into such small containers (and then place them all in the hands of COMPLETE (albeit professional) STRANGERS), we were glad to have that gigantic first step out of the way.

 

We then moved into my parents’ house, and I awoke on Easter morning in my old bedroom feeling like I had traveled back in time.  It was very weird; when 2 p.m. rolled around, I half-expected to see my brother groggily emerge from his old room, too.  But we settled in and made the regular Easter rounds, even managing to fit in some games of Ticket to Ride.

 

The last few days have been a balancing act of cleaning the apartment, creating my demo reel (thanks go out to Joel, Elena, their entertaining kids and the basement Hacintosh) and filling out more of that exciting immigration paperwork.  Shane’s last day at work was yesterday, so we spent a chunk of today tying up loose ends together and making last-minute purchases.  We have thankfully managed to overlook the fact that we are spending money now sans income.  Three cheers for savings.  And denial.

 

Truth be told, this whole move has yet to feel real.  Even with all the preparations we’re making, even though we are down to a DAY remaining in MN, neither of us can process the fact that this is finally happening.  After years of waiting, we will be landing as Canadian immigrants on Monday.  And we'll be living in Vancouver.

 

How fucking weird is that?

Our weekend was absolutely insane.  We kicked off with a Friday-night goodbye party, generously organized by our Three Amigos – Carrie, Jon and Shannon.  Many, many thanks to them and to everyone who took the time to attend and wish us well!  We had a blast (at the ever-delicious Chatterbox) and stayed up well past our bedtime.  (And as much as I would love to post some photos from said event, well, it’s really hard to take pictures and be farewelled at the same time.  FYI.)

 

When we finally got up on Saturday, it was time to start packing.  We spent the entire day not only loading boxes, but writing down EACH packed item on a special form for immigration purposes.  Now, I’m as detail-oriented as they come, but this was a whole new level of crazy.  I suppose it’s fitting, though, considering how voluntarily moving cross-country and then across the border is not exactly for the sane-of-heart.

 

Sunday was spent much the same way, slowly transforming our meticulously organized apartment into chaotic piles of paper, cardboard and furniture.  By the evening, we had cleared out every cupboard and closet, taken down every last picture frame, and begun to worry (already) that we had packed something important we’ll need.

 

And just think: this is merely a hint of how we’ll feel for the next several weeks.  (Oh my HELL.)

Since I have been fielding a lot of the same questions lately (about our upcoming move), I thought I would compile and answer them in a single post.

 

1)      Where is Vancouver?

Vancouver is located on the coast of British Columbia, the westernmost province in Canada.  It is right along the Pacific Ocean, about two-and-a-half hours north of Seattle, WA.  (Note: the city is not located on Vancouver Island.)

 

2)      Why did you pick Vancouver?

We have traveled there many times and simply love the character of this unique city.  It is a beautiful place, with a good mix of nature and urban life.  It also happens to be the third largest production city in North America, so I might even find a job in television production (my major in college).

 

3)      Can you immigrate without jobs?

Yes.  We are immigrating to Canada as Skilled Workers.  Our application had to prove that we have work experience and employable skills, but not concrete job offers.  Since we passed the extensive evaluation (including proving we have the funds necessary to move without guaranteed income), it is expected that we will be able to find work in Canada.  You know, before going broke.

 

4)      Will you have a green card?

We will have the equivalent of a U.S. green card: a permanent resident card.  As permanent residents, we will have nearly all the same rights as citizens, except for privileges like voting and running for office.

 

5)      Why did it take so long for you to get visas?

The specific reasons are unknown to us, but we’ve been told the immigration office simply has too many applicants to process.  The paperwork on our end was quite extensive and time-consuming, too, since we needed to complete things like medical exams, background checks, etc.

 

6)      How long will you stay?

We are undecided at this point.  Our permanent resident cards are good for five years, but we can request new ones to extend our residency (or apply to become citizens, see question #7).  Our goal is to stay for at least three years (provided we can comfortably afford it) and make a decision about the future then.  I think we'll end up coming back to Minnesota; Shane believes we’ll stay “for this life and the next one.”  We’ll see what happens...

 

7)      Are you going to become citizens of Canada?  (And will you lose your U.S. citizenship if you do?)

That option will be available to us after we reside in the country for three years (we will need to take citizenship classes and a test, just like in the U.S.).  We do not know if we will choose to become citizens; it depends on how much we like living there!  If we decide to apply, we would eventually become dual citizens of Canada and the U.S., so we wouldn't need to give up anything.

 

8)      How are you getting your stuff out there?

We are loading up storage containers (with our main items and big boxes) that will ship to a city in Washington over Easter weekend.  We will drive our car (and the rest of our belongings) across the border at the end of March, get our apartment situation squared away, then drive to Washington and load a moving van (with our shipped belongings) to bring back.  We plan to be moved in officially by April 6^th (with the help of my brother and Shane’s mom and stepdad, who all live along the U.S. west coast).

 

9)      Can I/we stay with you when visiting?

Of course!  We should warn you, however, that we will only have one couch and a couple of small air mattresses to offer you for sleeping purposes.

 

10)  Are you excited?

Mostly, yes.  Moving is always a stressful experience – and moving to a foreign country all the more so – but we have been anticipating this journey for a long time, so we look forward to seeing how it finally plays out.

 

Let me know if there are other burning (possibly itching?) questions you have!  I would be happy to add them to the list.

1)       Cupcakes from Cupcakes are still delicious (especially the new red velvet cake/whipped cream cheese frosting ones).

We arrived at our hotel to see a dozen colorful little cakes behind the front desk.  My mom pointed them out, and I noted they were indeed from our favorite downtown bakery.  Imagine our pleasant surprise when the person checking us in handed the whole lot over to us!  Many thanks to Jon, Shannon, Soopa and Carrie for what will go down in our personal histories as the Best Lunch Ever.

 

2)       Apartment searching is rather exhausting.

We managed to squeeze in around 15 apartment viewings in the short span of three days.  Since we flew directly into YVR and opted out of renting a car, this meant walking from one side of the West End to another, often scrambling to make back-to-back appointments on opposite ends of town.  Combine this with the pressure to find out As Much As Humanly Possibly about each potential future residence and you get three very tired, very early-to-bed individuals (one of whom practically overdosed on Jasmine tea to stay awake).

 

3)       Vancouver appears to have one-bedrooms we like AND can afford (assuming we find jobs that pay us...and don't develop an affinity for the B.C. bud).

We will undergo a definite change from our sprawling suburban pad, with its ensuite laundry, new EVERYTHING and 820-some square feet of space.  The buildings in Vancouver are around 40-plus years old, although many have renovated bathrooms/kitchens (with semi-new appliances).  Most of the apartments fall in the 500-700 square foot range and have the typical shared laundry room.  But the layouts in our top ten are all nice and cozy (with hardwood floors!) and happily within the limits of our guesstimated budget.

 

We’ll be calling our favorite places in February, to see which (if any) have vacancies for April.  Until then, we'll be keeping our fingers (and toes) crossed we get in somewhere good!

 

4)      We can look forward to a much brighter living space, wherever we end up.

 

The biggest difference between Vancouver apartment layouts and the ones we’ve seen in the Twin Cities area: windows, windows, and more windows.  Most floorplans we saw are designed to maximize the amount of natural light coming in, with long rows of glass lining the outside walls.  Since many of the rooms are located in hi-rise buildings, that also means we witnessed some kick-ass views of downtown, the mountains and the ocean.  Even without the scenery, though, I am quite excited to leave behind the much darker confines of our Minnesota apartment.

Sure as hell not in Kansas anymore

5)       My mom is more adventurous than I tend to give her credit for being.

Not only was she willing to try Greek, Malaysian and cooked Japanese food, she also ate sushi for the first time ever!  We started her with a basic California (for you non-sushi eaters: vegetable, no fish) roll, then moved to a shrimp tempura (fried) roll, then up to a B.C. (salmon/tuna) roll and finally to some straight-up salmon sushi (raw fish on top of rice).  She’s not a full convert, but did admit it “wasn’t bad.”  Considering the source, that’s practically a ringing endorsement.

 

6)       We hope to have many visitors post-immigration.

Okay, I didn’t really need another trip abroad to realize this.  I just want to reiterate how much fun we have experiencing the city with friends and family; I believe this is the third or fourth time we’ve acted as “hosts” (and don’t even live there - go figure).  We really enjoyed having my brother and his roommate Zach spend Friday afternoon/evening with us, too.  So here’s hoping more of you can muster up the plane ticket or car ride to visit us in the amazing, beautiful city we will soon (rather unbelievably) call home.

* All photos courtesy of my mom and her new digital camera (which has turned out NOT to be the explosive combination I initially thought).

As the move approaches, I've been trying to find more ways to stay connected with everyone here.  The latest ventures I've undertaken with this goal in mind: setting up a Facebook profile and a Voyage to Vancouver page.

 

Joining Facebook was actually a lot more fun than I anticipated.  Not only have I been able to network with some good friends and extended family, I've also re-connected with old acquaintances.  This includes a handful of folks I knew from elementary school (who all, much to my amazement, grew up), Eden Prairie volleyball (oh, if they could see me now) and my old church (J.C. not included - haha).  It's been like a 10-year high school reunion, except including people from EVERY ASPECT OF MY FUCKING LIFE.  A little bit surreal, a tiny bit creepy, and a lot of bit awesome.  I highly recommend it, if only for the chance to view embarrassing, drunken photos of people you used to know.  (Also: you can write on my Wall!  Which is the cool kid's way of saying, "Send me a publicly-viewable message to add to my illusion of online popularity!")

 

Voyage to Vancouver is a second Vox account I've set up for me and Shane (who at least aspires to write a few things down while we're abroad) to use for cross-posting our more immigration-centric entries.  I figured this would be a good way to communicate what is/will be going on with the move and transition into Canadian life for those who aren't familiar with Camp Vancouver.  Because, I'll be honest, this blog is definitely not suitable for all audiences in my life (hi, conservative family members! who will hopefully never read this greeting!).  Feel free to spread the word about that site to those who might want to stay in the (family-friendly) loop.  Or mark it for yourselves, if you are tired of reading my rambling and pointless posts.  I promise to keep it relatively G-rated, although I give no guarantees about the fun factor (lord knows that's the first thing to go when I delete the sparkly swear words).

 

In the near future, I also plan to set-up (again) (some of you may remember my previous attempts at this) some form of instant messaging.  But I must forewarn you: I am notoriously bad about logging into said service, as there are few things more irritating to an introvert like me than getting on the computer at night and immediately being bombarded by "yO; WHATZ uP?~"s from a dozen different people.  Seriously, you guys have got to chill out until I am done looking at Internet porn.  Don't make me pull a Block on your ass. 

On Friday, Shane and I finally received the package from our lawyer’s office containing our new and improved visas/CPRs!  We were very excited and promptly commenced with the wine and Bailey’s drinking in celebration.  (Which, to be honest, is not that unusual for a weekday weekend night in our household these days, but this time we had a legitimate and awesome excuse.)

 

Next up in our immigration saga: a trip to Vancouver in January.  We are hoping to scope out possible digs and bank accounts.  My mom will be accompanying us, to get a feel for this crazy place we love so much (and, I think, to assure my dad we will not be living in a giant hippie commune).  I am curious to see how she responds to the city and, equally importantly, if she really will suck it up and try some sushi.  (Hey, who just started singing “Impossible Dream“?)

After months and months of waiting for (and wading through) the immigration process, Shane and I had become accustomed to dealing with ever-shifting deadlines and delays.  We had finally adjusted to being stuck in a desert of paperwork and bureaucracy - with the end in sight, yes, but never moving closer, merely glittering mirage-like in the distance.  Thus, when I posted that we expected to receive our visas in December, I truly believed that was the earliest it would happen.

 

Not two weeks later, our immigration approval came flying through.  (When Shane called to tell me at work, I alternated between the phrases “You’re shitting me” and “Shut the fuck up” for at least three minutes.  It was not one of my more eloquent moments.)

 

Suddenly we were facing the prospect of getting our visas in October.  We were stunned by the unexpectedness of it all.  For once, something had happened AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.  And the possibilities for moving had therefore expanded; we flirted with the idea of submitting our rent notice that week and packing up to leave at the end of November.  I mean, wouldn’t that be amazing?  For us to live there in a few, short months?  In the end, however, it didn’t feel right to rush into this, our first major life decision (since that ceremony with the rings) (and that one time, at the Toyota dealership).  We decided to still focus on the January-June timeframe.

 

We made a wise choice.  Because when our passports came back (with shiny new visas enclosed), we found that our CPR (Confirmation of Permanent Residence) forms – the other crucial piece of paperwork for crossing the border – were missing our updated marital status.  Thus began several weeks of hassling our lawyer’s office to correct the problem, resulting in the Consulate eventually (thankfully) admitting it had made a mistake.  So we've now mailed the passports and CPRs back for changes and should receive the corrected materials sometime next week.

 

Which is all to say: Canadian immigration is giving us the Official Green Light.  As of November, we will be free to move whenever we’re ready.  So it is with a mixture of emotions I won't even try to put names to that I would like to make the following announcement.

 

Shane and I plan to move to Vancouver at the end of March 2008. 

Let the countdown begin.