First waiting period begins

My wife just went to the post office and sent out our application for a Quebec selection certificate. The normal processing time for a CSQ is three and a half months but from what I have read in some forums it is sometimes only a month. First I was worried that the whole process would take much longer than I planned and now I start to worry that it will be too fast...

Once we get our permanent resident visas we plan to land in Montréal but lately I have started to look for information about the Gatineau-Hull region which seems to be quite nice.

The trouble with the photocopies

In order to apply for a Quebec selection certificate you have to provide certified photocopies of all the documents. Here in Spain it seemed impossible for us to get them, unless we were ready to spend something between 5 and 14 Euros per page to get them certified at the German or French consulate or at a notary. So finally we decided to drive up to France where, in my parent's hometown's town hall they certified us our stack of about 50 pages within a matter of minutes, for free! Before yesterday I went to my bank office to request a bank cheque in Canadian Dollars to pay the application fees. First they said "no, sorry, we can only make out cheques in USD", but after a short discussion and showing a printout from their website they said I can request the cheque over my online account, which I did that afternoon. I will check at the office today, normally it should be ready to be picked up. Now I still have to translate my resume in french and then I'll make a nice package to post to Paris in the next days.

This looks better!

After about a week of careful reflection my wife and me decided to try our luck in Quebec, not in Ontario like we planned before. The processing times are closer to what we have planned and anyways, Quebec is maybe colder but I love snow and Montreal is a very nice city as well. I think we'll try to establish ourselves in the Montreal area and if we don't like it we can always think of moving elsewhere later.

CIC Canada | Application Processing Times: Applications Processed Outside of Canada

On the 7th of february the processing times were updated again on the CIC site. It seems that they are getting longer and longer... In our case we should now expect between 27 and 40 months for an application in Paris. CIC Canada Application Processing Times: Applications Processed Outside of Canada

Got my translations!

Today I received the translations that I was waiting for. Two work contracts, two police certificates, two residency number certificates and a bank statement, all in all about eight pages that were translated from spanish to english. I paid 190 Euros for 1650 words which is a pretty good price (0.12 Eur/word).
Hopefully by next week my manager will have some time to do the reference letter I still need and then I will be able to send out everything before the end of the month.

Interesting Article

I had read this article some weeks ago and just found it again. Very interesting! TheStar.com - Why Immigrants fare better outside GTA

UPDATE: The original article doesn't seem to be online anymore but I found it as well at: http://www.promptinfo.ca/MediaCSS/Jan9,05StarImmgFareBetter.html

Worries about processing times

Our project is to leave good old Europe somewhen between spring and summer 2006, but lately I am beginning to worry that this might be impossible. I have heard all kinds of different experiences now, people who get their visa in a year and those who wait for two years already. The processing times indicated on the website of the Canadian Embassy in Paris are between 24 and 36 months for federal skilled workers. The service standards on their application kit indicate a span going from 7 to 22 months. It seems that it really depends on every single case. Well, I am trying to get some other opinions now.

Waiting for translations

I just sent out some documents that need to be translated from spanish to english: my work contracts, spanish residence number, our spanish police certificates and an extract of our bank accounts. For these certified translations I found Ibidem Group here in Barcelona, they offer their translation service at a very fair price compared to other companies that sent me quotes.
The translations will be ready next week and I am only missing a reference letter from my current employer to complete our application.
Once I have sorted through all the documents I will give you an overview of what I needed for our application.