amazonv | Entries tagged with canada

So

things to do BEFORE you decide to move to another country

start digging for the following data:

every location (address) you have ever lived, period, the start and end dates, and with whom potentially

every place you have ever worked, exact dates, their address, how many hours per week you worked, how much you made annual or hourly, be prepared to call and try and get statements affirming that fact (in the US most company's wont' do this for some damn reason and outsource to 3rd parties which canada says they will not accept, so also be prepared to have W2's and offer letters and possibly even paystubs, yes for 20 years ago)

if you were ever married, the start and end dates and the paperwork

if you got any certificates and degrees, have the original damn papers and you'll need to buy sealed transcripts often mailed directly to someone

keep every single bank account statement of every type every month, forever
-savings
-checking
-investment
-retirement
-anything!
-credit cards

you are going to need to know when you opened each account, the maximum in each account each year, the average in each account each year, and get letters from said financial institutions stating such! plus random statements!

also 100% be sure to snapshot the exact value of all accounts on the date you get your residency as well as the date you get your visa/permit

you'll need to enjoy finding the value of everything you own, fair sale price, and documenting it all if you want it to come with you

i highly suggest selling any property (real or not real) over 100,000$

Oh! and start looking up all your international travel dates (date left, date returned, where you were in between, flight numbers etc)

and as soon as you apply record VERY precise travel log, forever, because as a visa holder they will kick you out if they think you aren't in country enough.

LESSON LEARNED - IMPORTANT

TAKE A SNAPSHOT OF THE AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU HAVE IN ALL ACCOUNTS IN ALL COUNTRIES OF ALL TYPES ON THE DATE YOU BECOME A PERMANENT RESIDENT OF CANADA - AND THE DATE YOU BECOME A RESIDENT OF CANADA

this is true of
checking
savings
investment
retirement (401k, ira etc)

also note you are going to get fucked on having saved for retirement!

So - if you are originally from the US - and most of your contacts are in the US can you keep working for US companies?

yes!

Two ways we have done this

1 - a PEO - professional employment organization
2 - start your own company and sign a business to business contractor agreement

in both cases you are an employee of the PEO or your own company and there is a B2B agreement between the company and the company you want to work for and you are a contractor not an employee

it's not perfect but in some cases it's better than what is available locally

In both cases you lose a chunk of money to the overhead, be aware of that

In retrospect

Get a lease or get as PRIMARY on a utility before you even move if possible, while in the USA

get PR card

export the car from USA

Import car to canada

Get SIN

Get drivers license

Get car insurance

get healthcare

do car inspections

register and license plate car

easier said than done because with so much in motion it's so hard

After getting a drivers license -

I was able to apply for provincial healthcare as a spouse and that was easy (not sure how hard it would have been if i were not married)

So i needed a drivers license for various reasons

I had a HELL of a time proving i was not homeless so that I could get a drivers license

I needed the drivers license in order to get car insurance and provincial healthcare

I was living with my husband, he bought the house before we got married

They wanted a lease or my name on a mortgage, i had neither

They wanted my name on a utility, we had added me as a second person to all utilities but they were not mailed to me i was just authorized

they wanted a MAILED bank statement - but all my bank statements were electronic.
I printed a statement with my address, it was not accepted.
I went to my branch they printed a statement and stamped it, it was not accepted because it was not mailed

They wanted a note from my employer, MAILED to me, confirming my address
My employer could do this by email, because we are ALL remote (100%) with no offices, but they wanted snail mail, even my pay stubs are electronic!

in the end, my husband removed himself from a utility, transfered it to me, we got a statement, and used that, and he's secondary.

it was INSANE

Car insurance

In order to get car insurance I first needed a drivers license - https://amazonv.dreamwidth.org/1193997.html

Once i did that

To get car insurance i needed to pay the USA DMV for a driving record report (had to have date of first issued license etc) and I had to get a statement from my current car insurance provider (a summary?)

So we got insurance for the car, yea!

OK importing my car was a clusterfuck

Luckily I had autoimportusa.com to walk me through

First I had to PAY OFF MY LOAN - if your car is not yours, free and clear, forget it

I tried, canada won't accept a close ended letter - so chase who i had my loan with would write me permission to export/import on the dates of my loan (through the end date) but not indefinite, and canada would not accept something with an end date, so ended up having to pay off my car.

Then I had to get my original title

Next, go to https://www.riv.ca/ImportingAVehicle.aspx RIV

I followed their instructions and got a form K-22 by email, which apparently EVERYWHERE is called "form 1" or "form-1" but on it it says K-22 and even after emailing RIV for help they were no help at all, I was terrified the entire time i had the wrong form

Nov 17

Cross border from Canada into USA

Email andrew@autoimportusa.com to confirm I was in USA

Nov 18

First thing in the morning Andrew looks for my email, then submits paperwork to Customs

Andrew then later in the day got emails back and forward me and email with 3 attachments

1. ITN

2. Email Approval

3. Receipt

I print those first 2 attachments (skip receipt) at the hotel i was staying in

I has to stay 72 hours in the USA to export my car

Nov 21

Paperwork to have on me

-PR Card

-Passport

-Drivers License

-Proof of address?

-Original Title

-Printed clear recall notice (from subaru USA website, recent)

-RIV paperwork (K-22 / Form 1)

-ITN - print attachment from email

-Email Approval - print attachment from email

-USA Auto Insurance policy (Active through December)

-bill of sale THIS WAS A BITCH, like who the hell keeps this? Luckily my car dealer had scanned it and i had an electronic copy
-KBB value

-Form-1 (K-22)

Head to SweetGrass Port - pull over to US side before canada border crossing

They will check my car matches the title, and I have paperwork (above) and stamp title “export”

This was pretty quick, it also was a very tiny sign and no clear place to park so that was stressful

Then I headed to Canada border crossing, Coutts (705)

Inform them I am importing the car, I had to then pull over into a parking lot and go inside to a office building

I gave them all my paperwork and sat down, i had to get up and answer questions a few times

In theory I I would pay 6.1% Duty + 5% GST, but each human gets 1 - once a lifetime free import of goods to become a settler and this was mine.

I just handed them a folder of stuff, they did stuff, stamped things, and then i left

----

Within 45 days of import - submit my Form 1 (i submitted payment and no recall paperwork and copy of title) to them I get a form 2.

I was supposed to get confirmation from RIV - they didn't specify by snail mail or email or what

we waited and waited

nothing

we called

apparently we needed to login (no notification!) to the online riv account and download the. form

---------

So, in alberta, next was so go to local registry to get the form to do the inspection

Go to a place to get the out of province inspection “The process will vary from Province to Province but in Alberta I needed to visit my Registry first and pay a $10 fee for an Out of Province inspection form. They wanted my bill of sale, US title document and drivers license.” https://www.urtech.ca/2019/06/solved-how-to-import-a-vehicle-from-the-us-to-canada-in-4-steps/

We paid like $20 and it was fast at canadian tire

they also didn't do appointments it was just go in early in the day and hope.

They then submit the paperwork for out of country inspection back to RIV (by fax??)

----

A sticker arrived in the mail from RIV I had to apply to my car proving it was compliant, we did

----

next was get province inspection, for which i needed canadian car insurance

To get car insurance i needed a driver's license - read about that here- https://amazonv.dreamwidth.org/1193754.html

Car insurance - read about that here: https://amazonv.dreamwidth.org/1193754.html

Note i tried to do this backwards because nothing was clear about pre-requisties so it was painful.

Went to subaru dealer, with an appointment

That worked, it passed

-----

Next was getting registration and plates, we went the same day it passed inspection

again we brought the giant folder of paperwork, and hoped it was enough

it was

we got it!

trying to import my car, get it insured and registered

apparently i have to EXPORT it from USA before i can import it so i will be taking a trip down to montana

Insurance here wants some kind of summary from my current insurance about how many claims and how long i've been with them but i can't seem to find or get a report like that

Drivers license wants the date i was first ever issued a license, that cost me around 30$ to pull records from a few state DMVs

October 8th

PR card arrived!

I took my new PR card and got my SIN
that was actually very easy
I went to a "service canada office" http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/tbsc-fsco/sc-hme.jsp?lang=eng with my PR card and passport and they issued it that day

we next tried to get onto alberta health
that didn't work as i needed a lease or utility bill to prove residency

next we tried alberta health with a marriage certificate, SIN, and stamped at bank that day bank statement and my husband with a utility bill in his name, still no good.

so fristrating

Still waiting on my PR card

i think i get my SIN after i get my PR card? I think i may need to apply in person, but i don't know

Also running into problems with . my car

apparently i nee to EXPORT it before i import it, and it has to be notified 72 hours in advance?

and still trying to sort out moving my stuff

and then to sort out healthcaree

sigh

having issues getting work contract because no SIN yet

September 18

Flew into edmonton

when in nexus lane i explained i had certificate of landing and they directed me to a room

i waited a few minutes

then i talked to an officer

i explained i had no kids, and re-answered all the questions, and said where i was going to live and the address to mail the PR card

It was auctually very similar to a normal border entry interview and didn't take very long

he checked and stamped my passport then welcomed me to canada!

I was pretty stressed beause i didn't know what would happen but it was very easy he asked me the questions on the landing CoPR again and the address and really that was it.

August 21

Next

In the envelope (prepaid) I mailed I was returned a "CoPR" Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR)

4 pages of instructions

I was instructed to DO NOT SIGN until I landed

It had a date I had to land in canada by (Sept 25) and they could not extend this date

I had no idea what to expect or do

I also freaked out because after landing I had to travel more for work and things, and there is a number of days between when you land and when you get your PR (perminant resident) card

My lawyers confirmed that I could leave the country no problem

getting back in had to be by land (car) non-commerical (drive myself) which actually worked out well

August 10 i get an email

Your application(redacted) has been updated

donotreply@cic.gc.ca

Sat, Aug 10, 6:46 PM

to me

Your application has been updated. Please sign in to your account and check your application status and messages for more information.

This message is intended for the following e-mail address: schwartz.nicole@gmail.com. If this message is not for you, please delete it.

I logged in
0 new messages
but an update

at the top

Application status

A final decision has been made. Please see the final decision below.

At the status area

Final decisionHelp - Final decision

August 10, 2019 Your application was approved. Check your messages below for details.

Note "check your messages below for details"
there were 0 messages, so I had no details....

August 2

Email

You have a new message in your account for application: [redacted]

donotreply@cic.gc.ca

Fri, Aug 2, 9:19 AM

to me

E-mail Notification

This message is intended for the following e-mail address: schwartz.nicole@gmail.com.

If this message does not concern you, discard it.

You have a new message(s) in your account.

To view your message, sign in to your account.

I open the portal

In "Messages about your application"
I have a note called "Other"
It's a PDF (below)

I rush to the nearest Staples office store and get
-2 mailing envelopes and postage
-passport photos as requested
-and fill out the form and mail it with the photos
-color photocopy of passport and mail with photos

The hurry up and wait is stressful

The processing of your application for permanent residence in Canada is almost complete. You must complete the

following steps within 30 days in order to issue your Confirmation of Permanent Residence and, if applicable, permanent

residence visa.

If for any reason you are not able to meet this deadline, you must inform IRCC immediately via the IRCC Web form

with details concerning your situation.

STEP 1: UPDATE YOUR APPLICATION

If any of the following conditions apply, you must inform IRCC immediately via the IRCC Web form:

 Marriage or common-law union, divorce, annulment, legal separation;

 Death of the sponsor, the principal applicant or any accompanying family member;

 Birth or adoption of a child, including grandchildren born to dependent children;

 You, the principal applicant, or any of your family members have been charged or convicted of a criminal offence.

STEP 2: DO YOU NEED A PERMANENT RESIDENCE VISA?

 If you hold passport(s) from countries whose citizens need a visa to travel to Canada, you need your Permanent

Resident Visa and it should be affixed in your passport, even if you already have a valid Canadian temporary

resident visa.

You are required to submit the passport for you and for each accompanying family member. Please ensure that the

passport(s) you are submitting is valid for at least 6 months and have at least two blank pages. If a child is

included on your passport, you must have one blank page per accompanying child.

Please note that you STILL need to submit the passport even if you are a permanent resident of the

U.S.A AND hold passport(s) from countries whose citizens need a visa to travel to Canada.

 If you hold passport(s) from countries whose citizens need an eTA to travel to Canada or hold

passport(s)/travel document(s) issued by the United States, you DO NOT need a Permanent Resident Visa to be

affixed in your passport. Please do not send your original passport(s). You are required to submit one photocopy of

the photo page and any pages containing amendments of the passport for you and for each accompanying family

member. Please ensure that your passport(s) for which you will submit a photocopy is valid for at least 6 months.

***Please note that Confirmation of Permanent Residence and permanent residence visas cannot be issued to holders of

Diplomatic, Official or Military passports. You must submit a regular passport.***

STEP 3: PREPARE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

1. Passport(s) OR photocopy(ies) of passport(s), as explained in Step 2.

2. Two (2) photos of yourself and of each accompanying family member. See our specifications at

www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/pdf/5445EB-e.pdf

3. One pre-paid return envelope for the return of your passport(s) and Confirmation of Permanent Residence

documents: DO NOT SELECT “Schedule a pickup”; DO NOT put IRCC Phone Number or email address

a. If your documents are being returned to a Canadian mailing address, please submit a Pre-paid Xpresspost

envelope from Canada Post or a pre-paid return envelope from any other courier service.

b. If your documents are being returned to a mailing address in the U.S.A, please submit a self-addressed

shipping label along with its commercial invoice and a returning envelope from FedEx, UPS or Purolator.

4. The completed and signed Annex A attached to this correspondence, listing your current mailing address.

STEP 4: SUBMIT THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

 If you do not have a mailing address in Canada or the U.S.A, or if you are unable to submit the required

documentation for you or your accompanying family members to the addresses below, please advise IRCC via the

IRCC Web form for instructions to submit your documents to the visa office that serves the country where you are.

Please note that our office will not return passports to an address outside North America.

 If you have a mailing address in Canada, please submit by mail in a single package all required documents

{including Passport(s) OR photocopy(ies) of passport(s)}, to the following address:

CPCO – PR VISA

Passports Submission

PO Box 9780

Ottawa ON

K1G 6T2

DO NOT FILL OUT THE ADDRESS SECTION ON YOUR CANADA POST RETURN ENVELOPE.

 If you have a mailing address in the U.S.A., please submit by courier in a single package all required

documents {including Passport(s) OR photocopy(ies) of passport(s)}, to the following address:

CPCO – PR VISA

US Permanent /Temporary Residence VISA/Passports

365 Laurier Av. West

Ottawa ON

K1A 1L1

Regards,

Case Processing Centre – Ottawa

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Government of Canada

Update

I logged in July 5

The message changed to
"Your application is taking us longer than usual to process."

Which is vague and frustrating as my life is on hold until this is straightened out.

I did get confirmation days later that my biometrics were received

I logged in http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/e-services/mycic.asp

I see a table "View the applications you submitted"

Application type, Application number, Applicant name, Date submitted, Current status, Messages, Action

Permanent Residency, [redeacted], [redeacted], January 5, 2019, Submitted, Read, Check full application status
Express Entry, [redeacted], [redeacted], November 12, 2018, Invitation received, Read, Check full application status

I clicked on "Check full application status" for the PR

I scrolled down to the "Details about your application status" section

It read:
Review of eligibility We are reviewing whether you meet the eligibility requirements.
Review of medical results You passed the medical exam.
Review of additional documents We do not need additional documents.
Interview You do not need an interview. We will send you a message if this changes.
Biometrics Completed.
Background check We are processing your background check. We will send you a message if we need more information.
Final decision Your application is in progress. We will send you a message once the final decision has been made.

Key "Biometrics Completed."

wooo

current estimate completion is July 5!

Today went slightly better

Returned to the ASC
Arrived at 1 pm
Waited in the first waiting area for a bit, then finally called up.
The guard still seemed skeptical of this whole no appointment thing.
The receptionist, however, knew what she was doing and was not phased by the paperwork.
I was given a number and then I waited in the next area.
When my number was called (they seemed to be in groups of 5-10) I then went to a smaller waiting area.
Then, pretty quickly, got called back. The electronic fingerprint machine was branded "department of homeland security", he clicked the "Canada no v(and another letter)" button (there was 2 Canada buttons and 2-3 other buttons) then scanned the barcode on my paperwork which filled in my information on the screen.
I had to take off my glasses and get a picture, no smile, no teeth. Hard because the camera was far and I am pretty blind.
Then we digitally scanned my fingerprints.
Then I got sent home with the signed paperwork.
I am worried. Do I need to mail it or anything?
No idea what now, but at least I did get the fingerprints, I think, I hope.
Left at 3 pm

Today was very frustrating

There was a winter storm warning.

I tried to leave the house around 10 am

I should have arrived before 11 am at the application support center, however, due to weather I got there a bit after 11.

On arrival, the door declared no cameras, no cellphones, no recording devices, no food, no drinks, etc.

I entered, and really had to pee, so I looked around for the bathrooms.

the room was laid out with a guard station by the front door, with lots of clipboards.

There was one waiting area behind the clipboards

there was a long line at the receptionist

there was another waiting area in front of the receptionist.

the bathrooms were past the area in front of the receptionist.

I headed to the bathrooms and was stopped and questioned by the guard, which was weird, i explained i needed to pee and then was let go to the bathrooms.

I then returned to the clipboard area, the guard was now there.
She asked when my appointment was. I said I was a walk in.
She said they do not do walk-ins.
I explained that per the website (pulled out printout) between 11-2 they did.
She grunted and I asked if I should fill out a clipboard paper and she said no.
she said she would let me know when to go to the receptionist.

I was still unsure of what was going on, no one was very helpful, nothing was well labeled.

After watching people get yelled at for about 2 hours, I think I figured it out. Would it not have been better to have signage explaining this and/or a person explaining this?

So you arrive, you must remove any head coverings or face coverings.
you then must take a clipboard and fill out the paper
then return the clipboard and keep the paper
if you make a mistake do NOT take another paper, cross off and continue. she got very upset about people taking more than one paper.
depending on your appointment time that group would be called to reception, then and only then do you line up at the reception desk. For example, the line when I arrived a little after 11 was the 11 am appointments.
After being processed by the receptionist you waited in the other waiting area to the front of reception, there was a number display there so I assume when your number came up you went somewhere (I didn't see far enough to see if there were rooms or cubbies or whatever.

By my rough count, there were over a hundred chairs in each waiting area and they were all full.

After waiting 2 hours they made an announcement, because of the weather all government offices were shutting down. Appointments would be rescheduled.

At this time I got to read small print which was taped to the top of the clipboard stack (which I was denied and told to sit down) which seemed to imply all UK and US visa applicants goto reception. I will have to point this out/lobby for it next time I try. Hopefully tomorrow.

What should have been a slightly less than hour drive home became around 2 hours. There were many accidents, plus poor visibility.

Received an utterly useless reply from Canadian immigration which proves they did not even read my email to them

POSTED BELOW
Good day [name],

Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

According to your nationality and the type of application you are submitting, the Find out if you need to give biometrics tool on our website will help you determine if you need to provide your photo and your fingerprints (biometrics).

If you are presently in Canada and you are being asked to give your biometrics, you will need to leave Canada and provide them to one of the facilities outside Canada.

For more information about biometrics, please consult our website.

We hope the information provided is helpful in assisting you with your enquiry.

We would also like to suggest the following online services that might be helpful to you with any immigration, refugee and/or citizenship future requests:

Download application forms and guides
Change of address
Check your application status
Help Centre - To find answers, you may consult the different sections or type keywords related to your question.

Sincerely,

Samir, Agent 4071
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html

Note The information provided may change without notice. If there is conflicting information between the text in the email and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Citizenship Act or their regulations, the Act and/or Regulations prevail. This email was sent to you in the language of your choice. The information on the IRCC website is available in both official languages. The masculine form may have been used for convenience.

From: [email]
Sent: 14/02/2019 5:07:11 PM
To: Question-DoNotReply-NePasRepondre@cic.gc.ca
Subject: In Canada Case Specific Enquiry - Permanent Residence (applied online) - Express Entry

PROTECTED B

Applicant Information
Name of applicant: [name]
Email address: []
DOB of applicant: []
Country of birth: United States of America
Client ID number:
File number: []
Telephone number:
Mobile number: []
Type of application: Permanent Residence (applied online) - Express Entry

Enquirer Information
Name of enquirer: []
Relationship to applicant: Applicant
Email address: []
Telephone number:
Mobile number: []
Consultant ICCRC number:

Enquiry:
Biometric collection [] I called ASC/USCIS and they indicated that usually appointments are made by the services that need them, not applicants.

They do not have a method for applicants to request appointments and are unsure if they can do walk-ins (ever).

My closest center is: Philadelphia, PA - Application Support Center Office Address: USCIS Application Support Center, 10300 Drummond Road, Suite 100, Philadelphia, PA 19154 They are open 8-4 eastern time M-F Is there any way that you know of to schedule me an appointment? I plan to go as soon as i can to the physical location to ask about walk-in / appointment but as I am caring for my disabled sister that may not be for a while and there is no available phone number online (beyond the USCIS main number who i did speak with) and so was hopeful you know for sure if they do walk ins on certain days/times or have a way to request an appointment.

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