British Expatriate Network

Just wondering if anyone has gone through the process of gaining residency from 'within' Canada. I have all the paperwork here partly filled out, gathering dust. Once we do decide to go ahead, I really want to do it myself and would be interested in hearing anyone's experiences.

My first stumbling block is the police clearance. I followed the links on the CIC website and found that I have to request the certificate and it gets sent to Sydney, Australia as that's where processing is done for NZ citizens. Hmmm.. guess it's time to make a day of it and get on the phone and attempt to unite with a 'real' person at the immigration office.

Hi SallyAnne,
Welcome to Ontario. I applied for, and obtained permanent residency in Canada, while being already in Canada, based on having a Canadian spouse. The process went pretty smoothly, and on the expected time-line. I sent in the application package in early Dec 2003. The CIC website showed that CIC had started processing my application in early Feb 2004, then I got a phone call asking for more info sometime in April 2004. I had my final interview in Hamilton in mid-May 2004, and got my permanent resident card in June.

I filled in the application forms myself, but because my situation was a bit unusual, I went to an immigration lawyer to check that I had filled in everything correctly, but he didn't make any significant changes to what I had done.

Since you have been in Canada for more than 6 months, I guess you with have to get clearance from the RCMP. When I applied, the RCMP clearance took a lot longer than getting police clearances from the US. I was fortunate to get clearance within 60 or so days, but it can take up to 150 days (perhaps things have improved since 2004).

Anyway, the whole process wasn't bad. I did the same thing in the US (got a green card, while in the US, based on having a US spouse), and that took about 3 years, and was way more stress and hassle. (BTW, it was the same spouse for both Canada and the US - she is a dual citizen.)

The good news for you is that the fees for applying for perm residency have dropped recently, so you will save a few 100 $ because of procrastinating.

Hope this helps. If you wany any more details, just ask. Don't delay too long in filling out the forms, who knows when the rules could change, and make the process more difficult.

Dave.

Hi Dave, and thanks for the 'welcome'.. lol

I finally got some good info regarding the NZ Police certificate and it is all underway with a turnaround of no more than 20 days (or thats what the NZ Justice dept tells you!). So I should have that back here by the end of June, fingers crossed. Once that's in I can go ahead and get the medical done and *finally* get that dusty old package off to Immigration.

From what you say your time line was pretty fast and smooth for sure. I have found another forum for people doing the residency/citizenship thing and the horror stories of time delays for some people would be heartbreaking, so I too am hoping all goes smoothly this end.

Yes, I understand I will have to have RCMP check done here, from what I gather on the forms though the CIC starts that process. I don't seem to have any 'forms' to fill in for RCMP, other than a request for fingerprints *if needed* to apply for overseas police certs. (Which I didnt need for NZ). So I guess I just wait ??

Having been the only 'family' member to go through the NZ citizenship procedure I'm all set for the thousands of questions.. lol

Thanks for your input Dave.. most appreciated!!

Have you been looking at groups.yahoo.com/group/canadian_immigration ? I used to look at that group it when I was applying for perm. residence - it's true there are some horror stories, but if you look at the database of timelines, most cases go pretty smoothly. If you are in a genuine marriage (with a real marriage certificate), and you can show that you have lived together for the period of the marriage, for a significant time, with shared finances, then it should go OK.

Perhaps things have changed since I applied - at that time the CIC did not start the clearance process with the RCMP. Instead I got an RCMP clearance certificate before I sent in the application package to CIC. I can't remember the exact sequence now - I think I requested an RCMP clearance form on the web, or phoned and requested one, then took it to the Hamilton police station to get finger-printed (I had to get fingerprinted anyway so that I could request FBI clearance). I then sent the forms to the RCMP, got a clearance certificate about 60 days later, and put this together with the application package, and sent it off to CIC (Vegreville).

It's worth getting permanent residence as soon as you can, even if just to get health coverage. Also, if you are here on a temporary visa, or have overstayed the 6-month period for visitors, leaving then re-entering Canada can be tricky.

Dave.

Mornin Dave... has it been hot enough for you? shock

I will have to drag out the paperwork and check again re the RCMP check, the more I can get done before I send everything off, the better. I haven't seen the site you posted, the one I have been looking through is mostly for those coming to Ontario, so it has been good to see the time lines for my own area. However, I must say that after reading many of the posts, it seems to be confusion and not understanding what is needed that tends to see 'further request for information', thus slowing things down.

There are certainly no worries on the marriage status either. We met in '97, via the wonderful world of chat.. lol... and our 5th wedding anniversary is coming up, so I figure that's pretty stable )

Must admit that I was a little surprised with the paperwork involved in becoming a resident. When hubby came to NZ in 01, it took us half an hour and $90 with no interview or anything for him to get a 2 year residency and work permit. After that period he would have to apply for permanent status, but the idea of being able to work immediately and so take off that financial stress was definitely a plus. Unfortunately family circumstances had us coming back here instead. Ahh the joys of international relationships!!! LOL

I totally agree re getting residency asap. Hubby and I had been discussing its merits for some time and he finally 'got' my concerns which were mostly 1. Should anything happen to him here, I would still be 'just a visitor'. So its a lot about my own personal security. and 2. Aging parents back in NZ - the possibility that if I were needed back there, or even just wanting to go visit them, there is no gaurantee of being let back into Canada. Of course being allowed to work helps too, although I must say being on one wage for so long, we have learned what it is we really 'need' to be comfortable, and once I get back into the rat race that extra income will be very nice indeed.

I see from your location that you too have been all over the place. Bet you have a nice pile of passports too?

Hope you manage to keep cool today!

Way too hot. What a bizarre climate - only a week ago it was unconfortably cold, now the heat and humidity are terrible. At least it's cooler this evening - I hope we get some rain to clear the air.

If you are confused about the forms, it may be worthwhile spending $100 or so for a consultation with an immigration lawyer. Fill in the forms as well as you can, and get the lawyer to read everything over. One mistake in the application can cost a lot of time in the overall process.

5 years should be plenty for the CIC. I am way ahead of you though - we are coming up to 30 years of married bliss.

The great thing about spousal sponsorship is that you won't need to work for 3 years - your spouse has to guarantee to support you for 3 years, even if you decide to sit around and do nothing except watch TV. That was my plan anyway, but it didn't quite work out. Actually, it didn't work out at all.

Just 2 for now (Brit and Oz) - I didn't live in the US for quite long enough to get citizenship. My kids have 3 (Brit, Oz and Canadian). I'll apply for Canadian citizenship in about a year. How many passports do you have ? Just British and Kiwi ?

Cheers,
Dave.

I think I lost about 5lbs in sweat! The one thing I still can't get used to is the humidity. Last summer we caved in and bought an air conditioner, but stupidly thought a couple of days of humidity/heat wouldn't be too bad. How wrong can you be!

Congratulations! Does make my 5 years sound pathetic .... lol .. Guess I'm a late bloomer? :lol:

The idea of getting an immigration lawyer to check forms is a good one, and for $100 or so, sounds well worth it. Will have to check that out.

Our plan once I get residency is a bit of both... work/play. I want to find some part time work and also start to try and sell some artwork. I have been honing my oil painting skills for the last 3 years. Our apartment looks more like a gallery than anything else but it has been a good way to decorate!

So your plan of becoming a professional couch potato didn't pan out eh? Some of my friends back in NZ assumed thats pretty much all I did with my day, but between painting, reading tons of news, my addiction to the library, attempting to write a novel, and being the queen of domesticity, I don't have time! LOL

As for passports, yes, I just have the UK and Kiwi. It will be interesting to see if they change the Canadian passport validity length when the requirement for passports for the USA comes into play. I'm sitting here imagining you and your family piling up the passports and saying "Ok, which ones do we need to renew this year"? We are looking at getting hubby a UK passport. He is the only 'canadian' in his family and as I want to eventually go back for a good holiday sometime, he might as well apply for one. I have the forms here just waiting for day! We went back in 2001 for a few weeks, he was there on business, so I tagged along. It miffed him that I breezed through passport control and had to wait ages for him.

Right.. time to make sure all the windows are open so that this horrible stale air can push through. The smog in the past few days has been awful up here. Not as bad as last year and hopefully will be better this year since they closed down the coal plant near us. (Our windows have less black soot now.. what a bonus! EEK)

Have you sold your art before ? I have no artistic talents at all, but my son enjoys graphic arts, and has some contact with some artsy types in Hamilton.

I hope so, The 5-year life of a Canadian passport is too short. They are really only good for 4.5 years, because you are not supposed to start an internation trip using a passport that is within 6 months of expiration. Also, I have found it to be less effort to renew my kids Australian passports than their Canadian ones. My wife has not not renewed her Canadian passport for many years - she travels with a US passport, and uses a Canadian citizenship card to re-enter Canada. The citizenship cards cost $75 (vs. $95 for a passport), and appear to be valid for your whole life.

The rain has cleared the air nicely. What a relief. I don't remember seeing such a bad pollution haze over the city, as we got early this week.

Dave.

You got rain!! We got 3 mins of it here, while further into Mississauga they got the works. A few downpours since then, so its now back to the no humidity so I am one happy camper!

Not being able to 'earn money' here, I have either done paintings for friends here or NZ/Aus and just called it experience, with a few dollars thrown in just to pay for the paint and canvas. Not a real money spinner eh! LOL But I am hoping once I get this residency sorted out to explore it more. I belong to an art forum on line that has something like 78,000 members and it has been a fantastic resource for just about everything I needed. And chatting with those who do sell for a living has given me lots of things to think about and consider. Does your son sell his work? One thing I have noticed now is as well as using e-bay, a lot of people are taking advantage of some of the sites that let you set up your own gallery to sell your work. Yet another thing to look into!


Re the passports - If I remember rightly, you also do not renew Canadian passports, you have to apply as if its a totally new one, which I find a bit weird! I didn't know there was such a thing as a citizenship card v actual passport either. I guess it's no different than the PR cards they are issuing now, which to me makes sense rather than have to have all your passports stamped. I had wondered about it as I thought wow, you would have to keep getting enough PR visas to cover old and renewed passports (for dual citizens) until you went for citizenship.

So you got a lot of smog too? I shudder at what we are breathing here on heavy smog days. Last summer was really bad and even after just walking the 10 mins to the store and back, my eyes would sting and my throat would be raw. Now I intend to stay indoors if its that bad. As I mentioned before, there was a coal plant not far from us.. about 5 mins drive... and while it was running, our windows and anything near them, like fans, would be covered with black soot after a short time. Now I guess its just usual car fumes etc, and of course all that stuff that floats up from across the border... lol.

Here's to a smog free week!