tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102982552024-02-20T14:48:21.629+01:00Canada Here We Come!Tracking the progress of our project to immigrate to Canada: why we chose Canada, or more precisely the province of Quebec, the obstacles we face, tips and tricks, links to sources of informationoHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-37866949278515572152007-01-02T22:03:00.000+01:002007-01-02T22:25:25.291+01:00Integration accomplishedSo it's been already seven months now since our arrival. Overall our immigration seems a complete success so far. My wife and me we both have stable and well-enough paying jobs and in July we will be moving into a condo that we just bought.<br />We have so many things to do and discover here that I don't have time to update this blog here anymore.<br />For any questions just leave me a comment.oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1160780765276983732006-10-14T00:59:00.000+02:002006-10-14T01:06:05.306+02:00Fall leaves<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohotos/264528786/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/80/264528786_81e1951214_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohotos/264528786/">Fall leaves</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/ohotos/">oHoTos</a>. </span></div>Fall has arrived and the colors are just beautiful even here in Montreal!<br clear="all" />oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1154990869317898172006-08-08T00:46:00.000+02:002006-08-08T00:47:49.326+02:00Sorry, busy......found a job, no time for blogging these days!oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1153394830518882022006-07-20T13:22:00.000+02:002006-07-20T13:27:10.530+02:00Our cards arrived<div style="text-align: justify;">We were told that it would take 4-6 weeks to receive our permanent resident cards, but yestarday, after only three weeks we already received them. These days we are busy going to an information meeting about Quebec's economy and jobmarket, so I have to catch up with some stuff that I wanted to blog about later.<br /></div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1152877165914147552006-07-14T13:14:00.000+02:002006-07-14T13:39:26.336+02:00Our first two weeks in Montreal<div align="justify">So now it has been over two weeks already that we landed as immigrants, I finally got hooked up for Internet by cable so I can resume writing this blog.</div><div align="justify">Immigration at the airport was a very smooth procedure, verification of passports, visa and permanent resident confirmation by the first agent, then another agent verified again and filled out all the paperwork, then we went to Quebec immigration where we were enrolled for an information session for new immigrants and given a few explanations and helpful stuff like bus and metro maps. After realising that two of our checked bags hadn't arrived in Montreal we finally went through customs and then took our first steps out of the airport to breathe our first Canadian air before taking a taxi to our new home in Montreal.</div><div align="justify">Having never been to Canada before landing here, our first impression of Montreal is "this is just like the US but in french". Generally we like everything we've seen so far and we have a lot more to discover. What have we been up to? Paperwork mostly, the first days we went to get our social security number <a href="http://www1.servicecanada.gc.ca/cgi-bin/hr-display.cgi?rc=2379&ln=e">here</a> and then made our application for our health insurance cards <a href="http://www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca/en/courrier/index.shtml#bureaux">here</a>.</div>Enough for today...oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1151929022587992812006-07-03T14:15:00.000+02:002006-07-03T14:17:02.596+02:00Canada Here We Are!<div align="justify">Already five days! Still busy with administrative stuff but we're happy. More details will follow as soon as I have Internet at home.</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1151003138679447932006-06-22T21:05:00.000+02:002006-06-22T21:12:47.030+02:00Appartment found<div style="text-align: justify;">About two days ago we finally found a nice new home for us in Montreal. With the help of Marie from <a href="http://www.idealcanada.com/accueileng.html">IDEAL Canada </a>we found a very nice 3 1/2 in Côte-des-Neiges.<br />Six more days and we'll be on the other side of the big pond!</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1146671810105001022006-05-03T17:56:00.000+02:002006-05-04T08:10:29.720+02:00Reduction of Right of Permanent Residence Fee<div align="justify">Some rather good news today, after the Right of Permanent Residence Fee change we are entitled to a 50% refund which is quite a considerable amount. More about this here: <a href="http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resid-fee/index.html">CIC Canada Reduction of Right of Permanent Residence Fee</a></div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1145610513446746442006-04-21T11:08:00.000+02:002006-04-21T11:08:33.716+02:00Just a short post......to keep this blog going. No real news these days. Our bank account at the RBC was created and our place is a complete mess while we try to get us motivated to sort through our stuff and get it packed. Time is flying and we also have to find a place to stay in Montreal. oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1143211287252391272006-03-24T15:41:00.000+01:002006-03-26T13:10:23.076+02:00How to open a bank account from outside of Canada<div align="justify">During the last days I have been gathering information on how to open a bank account when you're not yet in Canada. After checking the conditions of several banks the <a href="http://www.nbc.ca/bnc/cda/index/0,1017,divId-2_langId-1_navCode-1000,00.html">National Bank of Canada</a> and <a href="http://www.royalbank.com/">RBC Royal Bank</a> made it to my shortlist so I contacted them via their e-mail forms on their websites:<br /><a href="http://www.nbc.ca/bnc/cda/content/0,1008,divId-2_langId-1_navCode-8100,00.html">NBC Contact</a> & <a href="https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:RCQANI71A8cAAhekmg4/accounts_form.html">RBC Royal Bank - Contact Us</a><br />RBC Royal Bank promptly sent me an answer and asked me to send them my destination, arrival date, name, address and telephone number so that they could forward this to one of their branches who would contact me with the documentation to fill out. Five days later I received a mail with instructions, an account application and a signature card attached in PDF format. I had a few questions about the things to fill out on the application and they promptly replied with their answers.<br />So today I went to the Canadian Consulate here in Barcelona to get certified photocopies of my passport, drivers license and I got a stamp and signature to validate my signature on the RBC signature card. For this I had to pay a small service fee of 14 Euros... nothing for free but at least the assistant to the Consul that I dealt with was very nice and even asked me some questions about the visa procedure for Canada.<br />Now I still have to get a recommendation letter from my bank here and then I will send everything to the Royal Bank and they will open a deposit account for me upon five days. To withdraw money from that account I will have to be in Canada and I will be able to change to the type of account that best fits me once I am over there.</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1143102072044806052006-03-23T09:15:00.000+01:002006-03-23T09:21:12.056+01:00Busy times ahead<div align="justify">Only 97 days until we leave! I haven't updated this blog lately, but this is what I've been up to:</div><ul><li><div align="justify">looking for an appartment</div></li><li><div align="justify">trying to open a bank account</div></li><li><div align="justify">organising the transport of our stuff</div></li><li><div align="justify">starting to look for a job</div></li></ul><p align="justify">Some things seem to be quite easy even if you're not in the country yet. What particularily strikes me is that almost all the people I have been in contact with are very helpful. As soon as I have more details on what I have accomplished so far I will post them here.</p>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1141737076964802352006-03-07T14:11:00.000+01:002006-03-07T14:11:16.976+01:00Le Québec en photosA very nice blog, check out these photos of our future home:<br /><a href="http://photo-quebec.blogspot.com/2006/03/urbanisme-ii.html">Urbanisme II - Le Québec en photos</a>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1141732147491643382006-03-07T12:49:00.000+01:002006-03-07T13:37:37.213+01:00Yes, I know that Canada is a bit colder<div align="justify">What happens when someone throws boiling water into the air at temperatures like this -40C in Satkatchewan Canada? Watch for yourself:<br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zFj_i6HtebM" width="425" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1141200788947508292006-03-01T09:09:00.000+01:002006-03-01T09:13:08.960+01:00They are beautiful<div align="justify">Well, maybe that's exaggerated, but it is certainly a nice feeling to finally see the visa in the passport. I was a bit surprised that there is no photo on the visa itself, they even sent back the additional photos that they asked us to supply. </div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1141117107124866072006-02-28T09:53:00.000+01:002006-02-28T09:58:27.136+01:00One year, day for day!<div align="justify">Yesterday evening we received the notification that a letter from the Canadian embassy is awaiting us for pick-up at the post office today February 28th. Very nice coincidence considering that we started this whole adventure exactly a year ago when we sent our application for a Quebec selection certificate on February 28th, 2005! I can't wait to see our visas apposed on our passports this evening.</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1139931519689748432006-02-14T16:36:00.000+01:002006-02-14T16:38:39.690+01:00We've got a date<div align="justify">Reservations are made. We leave from Barcelona on June 28th on an Air Canada flight to Montreal via Paris.</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1139921164411442322006-02-14T13:40:00.000+01:002006-02-14T16:36:47.776+01:00Our Passports went on a trip<div align="justify">A quick photosession, ran to DHL, measured the ID pics - too small! Back to the photographer, got yelled at because what we needed was not standard, new pics (for free and correct size this time), ran back to DHL, stuffed passports, declaration and ID pics in the envelope, wallet 30 Euros lighter... and they're sent.</div><div align="justify">That was our evening yesterday. Now we just have to wait until they send us back some nice visas!</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1139844889068584232006-02-13T16:29:00.000+01:002006-02-14T13:40:33.320+01:00"Nous sommes prêts à emêttre vos visas..."<div align="justify">This noon we finally got the big surprise in the mailbox, that famous brown envelope from the Paris embassy. Our application was accepted and our visas are ready to be issued. 350 days exactly after we started this adventure by sending out our application for a Quebec selection certificate. Now we have to get some more photos done, send them with our passports to Paris and wait for them to be returned with our visas! It's a good feeling, knowing that everything is OK and that we can now start to really prepare our move.</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1139220803626677682006-02-06T11:08:00.000+01:002006-02-06T11:13:23.636+01:00YES, YES, YES!!!<div align="justify">Finally, after checking our application status for the second time this morning:<br /></div><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7491/687/1600/decmade.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7491/687/320/decmade.jpg" border="0" /></a>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1138804784027044542006-02-01T15:39:00.000+01:002006-02-01T15:40:42.013+01:00Now I am starting to bug them a bit<div align="justify">It's quite hard waiting, waiting, waiting... It's been over three months now that we have done the medicals and a decision should be just around the corner. But I don't like sitting around and doing nothing so I sent a fax to the Paris embassy yesterday to request an update about the status of our visa application. Let's see if they answer anytime soon.</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1136816109147932682006-01-09T15:12:00.000+01:002006-01-09T15:15:09.186+01:00No news is good news?<div align="justify">... I would have preferred to get some news from the embassy today - nothing! Empty mailbox, no e-mail, no fax, no phonecall... the wait goes on.</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1135765916079173342005-12-28T11:06:00.000+01:002005-12-28T11:31:56.156+01:00The big silence<div align="justify">Ever since we did our medicals back in October it has been the big silence from the Paris embassy. Even though I saw on the <a href="http://www.forum.immigrer.com/index.php?showtopic=32487&st=125">Forum Immigrer</a> that some people who have passed the medicals on the same day or right after us already received their notification letter I guess we will have to be patient a bit longer. The application status on the <a href="http://services3.cic.gc.ca/ecas/Security.jsp?continue=Continue&language=english&page=Security.jsp">CIC Site</a> still shows "in process" - my hope is that it will change to "decision taken" on January 9th!<img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7491/687/320/appstatus.jpg" border="0" /> </div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1130336907810427022005-10-26T16:06:00.000+02:002005-10-26T16:28:27.820+02:00RPRF paid<div align="justify">This morning I went to my bank to make a wire transfer to the embassy to pay the right of permanent resident fee (RPRF) which must be paid before the immigrant visa is issued or before the applicant becomes a permanent resident in Canada. For my wife and me we had to pay 1380 Euros, it's CAD $975 per person as you can see on the <a href="http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/applications/fees.html#swpf">CIC Canada Fee Schedule Page</a>. The corresponding amounts in Euro for those who apply like us through the Paris embassy can be found at the embassy's <a href="http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadaeuropa/france/visas/frais-en.asp">immigration fees page</a>.</div><div align="justify">The immigration service asked me to submit some additional information as well and now that I have posted everything the waiting can go on.</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1130160854068185472005-10-24T15:34:00.000+02:002005-10-24T15:34:14.096+02:00Some vocabulary and expressions from QuebecJust found this French blog, I'll have to take a closer look when I have some more time: <a href="http://residencepermanente.blogspirit.com/">L'immigration au Quebec d'une tite francaise!</a>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10298255.post-1129877879010506332005-10-21T08:48:00.000+02:002005-10-21T08:57:59.020+02:00Another step done: medicals passed<div align="justify">So last week Friday my wife passed the medical examination and I did mine before yesterday. Everything more or less alright except my wife had a urinary infection that she wasn't aware about so we'll probably receive a request for additional exams for her from the embassy. The actual examination consisted of a long questionnaire and then the doctor looked at things like eye-sight, anatomy, hearing, heart condition and all the usual stuff that is being done during a medical check-up. It took about one and a half hours for each of us plus we had to do the blood analysis and chest x-ray in two different labs. We're happy that this is done now and go into another waiting period...</div>oHoToShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00919919851631809137noreply@blogger.com0