Immigration update, on two fronts
Went to see the lawyer today, and gave her all but three of the mega stack of government forms required for me to sponsor 
kettunainen for permanent resident status in Canada, plus a four-page relationship essay, and went through a stack of supporting documentation including plane tickets, photos, greeting cards, lease agreement, doggie adoption agreement, etc., sorting out what will and won't go in the application and what more we need.
The only major outstanding things are: Ladyjane needs to have a medical exam by a CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) approved doctor and get her fingerprints taken at a cop station so that they can verify that she doesn't have a criminal record, and I need to get my 2003 and 2004 taxes done. The info for the latter is more or less organized, thanks mostly to Ladyjane, and I've talked to an accountant who comes fairly highly recommended by several business contacts, and is used to doing taxes and financial advising for writers and other flaky creative types. So we're on the home stretch and should have our app in soon, thanks also to some very kind assistance fromotherwhen.
We also made a wonderful discovery -- we already knew that one of the benefits of applying from within Canada is that if you submit an application for a work permit and OHIP (provincial health insurance) coverage at the same time as you apply, they are typically granted when you get the approval in principle, rather than having to wait until the final approval comes through and PR status is granted. But that's still about 6-8 months. However... Apparently, one of the perks of the new shakeup at CIC, which was meant largely to ease family class sponsorships, is that now in some cases people are being granted their work permit and OHIP as soon as the sponsor is approved, rather than even having to wait for the approval in principle! That means maybe one month -- they go through the sponsor's credentials (mine, in this case) and decide whether they are an acceptable sponsor before they start ploughing through all the data on the partner being sponsored. So possibly -- no guarantees, but possibly -- once we get all the paperwork in, Ladyjane could have a work permit and full OHIP coverage in as little as a month. That would rock beyond belief.
And when I got home, what should be waiting in the mailbox but a big envelope from CIC addressed to me. It took me a minute to remember that it had been six months since I sent in my citizenship application (it also took me 35 years after my family moved to Canada to get around to applying for citizenship, but never mind that). Excited, I tore it open, only to find a study manual for the written exam required in order to become a citizen... and a letter acknowledging receipt of my application (six months after I sent it in!) and letting me know that it would likely be 12 to 15 months from the date of the letter before I would be called in for my exam, interview, and swearing of the oath.
Why, oh why, is it going to take them only a month to decide if I'm an acceptable sponsor, but nearly two bloody years to decide whether to make me a citizen, which is practically automatic? Yay bureaucracy. Oh well. At least the work permit/OHIP part is good news.
And the lawyer is very happy with her web site, so that's good. First site I ever did using the Mambo CMS and it was a pain in the ass, but the results seem to be well worth it. She's getting me the login info for her domain registrar and then it's just a matter of waiting for the DNS changes to go through before it will be live at http://www.YourPassportToCanada.com - all you Americans interested in moving here, check it out. Though for the next few days you'll still need to go to the test site instead of the actual domain.
Now I just need some clients to actually pay me. Much work still coming in, but of the three clients who I was anticipating getting paid by this week, I have been paid by precisely none of them thus far. But I suppose there's still hope something will come through tomorrow...
kettunainen for permanent resident status in Canada, plus a four-page relationship essay, and went through a stack of supporting documentation including plane tickets, photos, greeting cards, lease agreement, doggie adoption agreement, etc., sorting out what will and won't go in the application and what more we need.The only major outstanding things are: Ladyjane needs to have a medical exam by a CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) approved doctor and get her fingerprints taken at a cop station so that they can verify that she doesn't have a criminal record, and I need to get my 2003 and 2004 taxes done. The info for the latter is more or less organized, thanks mostly to Ladyjane, and I've talked to an accountant who comes fairly highly recommended by several business contacts, and is used to doing taxes and financial advising for writers and other flaky creative types. So we're on the home stretch and should have our app in soon, thanks also to some very kind assistance from
otherwhen.We also made a wonderful discovery -- we already knew that one of the benefits of applying from within Canada is that if you submit an application for a work permit and OHIP (provincial health insurance) coverage at the same time as you apply, they are typically granted when you get the approval in principle, rather than having to wait until the final approval comes through and PR status is granted. But that's still about 6-8 months. However... Apparently, one of the perks of the new shakeup at CIC, which was meant largely to ease family class sponsorships, is that now in some cases people are being granted their work permit and OHIP as soon as the sponsor is approved, rather than even having to wait for the approval in principle! That means maybe one month -- they go through the sponsor's credentials (mine, in this case) and decide whether they are an acceptable sponsor before they start ploughing through all the data on the partner being sponsored. So possibly -- no guarantees, but possibly -- once we get all the paperwork in, Ladyjane could have a work permit and full OHIP coverage in as little as a month. That would rock beyond belief.
And when I got home, what should be waiting in the mailbox but a big envelope from CIC addressed to me. It took me a minute to remember that it had been six months since I sent in my citizenship application (it also took me 35 years after my family moved to Canada to get around to applying for citizenship, but never mind that). Excited, I tore it open, only to find a study manual for the written exam required in order to become a citizen... and a letter acknowledging receipt of my application (six months after I sent it in!) and letting me know that it would likely be 12 to 15 months from the date of the letter before I would be called in for my exam, interview, and swearing of the oath.
Why, oh why, is it going to take them only a month to decide if I'm an acceptable sponsor, but nearly two bloody years to decide whether to make me a citizen, which is practically automatic? Yay bureaucracy. Oh well. At least the work permit/OHIP part is good news.
And the lawyer is very happy with her web site, so that's good. First site I ever did using the Mambo CMS and it was a pain in the ass, but the results seem to be well worth it. She's getting me the login info for her domain registrar and then it's just a matter of waiting for the DNS changes to go through before it will be live at http://www.YourPassportToCanada.com - all you Americans interested in moving here, check it out. Though for the next few days you'll still need to go to the test site instead of the actual domain.
Now I just need some clients to actually pay me. Much work still coming in, but of the three clients who I was anticipating getting paid by this week, I have been paid by precisely none of them thus far. But I suppose there's still hope something will come through tomorrow...