How to open a bank account from outside of Canada

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 National Bank of Canada and RBC Royal Bank made it to my shortlist so I contacted them via their e-mail forms on their websites:
NBC Contact & RBC Royal Bank - Contact Us
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.
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.
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.

Busy times ahead

Only 97 days until we leave! I haven't updated this blog lately, but this is what I've been up to:

• looking for an appartment
• trying to open a bank account
• organising the transport of our stuff
• starting to look for a job

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.

Le Québec en photos

A very nice blog, check out these photos of our future home:
Urbanisme II - Le Québec en photos

Yes, I know that Canada is a bit colder

What happens when someone throws boiling water into the air at temperatures like this -40C in Satkatchewan Canada? Watch for yourself:

They are beautiful

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.

One year, day for day!

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.

We've got a date

Reservations are made. We leave from Barcelona on June 28th on an Air Canada flight to Montreal via Paris.

Our Passports went on a trip

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.

That was our evening yesterday. Now we just have to wait until they send us back some nice visas!

"Nous sommes prêts à emêttre vos visas..."

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.

YES, YES, YES!!!

Finally, after checking our application status for the second time this morning:

Now I am starting to bug them a bit

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.

No news is good news?

... 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.

The big silence

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 Forum Immigrer 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 CIC Site still shows "in process" - my hope is that it will change to "decision taken" on January 9th!

RPRF paid

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 CIC Canada Fee Schedule Page. The corresponding amounts in Euro for those who apply like us through the Paris embassy can be found at the embassy's immigration fees page.

The immigration service asked me to submit some additional information as well and now that I have posted everything the waiting can go on.

Some vocabulary and expressions from Quebec

Just found this French blog, I'll have to take a closer look when I have some more time: L'immigration au Quebec d'une tite francaise!

Another step done: medicals passed

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...

This goes soooo fast!

Today we already received the instructions for the medical examination, about two months earlier than we anticipated. Probably we'll have our permanent resident visas by December.

Small centres will benefit from immigrant influx

Another interesting article at TheStar.com:

Existing studies show immigrants who settle in smaller places experience labour market advantages over those in the larger gateway cities.

In British Columbia, for example, recent immigrant men who settled outside the large cities earned several thousand dollars more annually than their urban counterparts in
Vancouver or Victoria. In addition, the labour force participation rates of newcomers in non-metropolitan areas are similar to those of locals and higher than those of immigrants in Vancouver or Victoria.

A final interesting component of Volpe's proposal is that he wants to "put in place a process that allows for the integration process to begin at the moment an application is deemed to be ready."

This component of Volpe's plan should include foreign credential recognition, job search and settlement assistance. When immigrants can apply their skills and receive decent wages on the day they arrive in Canada, they will not have to rely on the low-wage labour market of large cities as a survival strategy.

Instead, they will have greater flexibility of settling in a wider range of communities.

- the writer concludes: "Let's make sure that plan stays on track."

Immigration overhaul

Ottawa announces overhaul of the current immigration system.

Canada's current immigration levels would rise 40 per cent within five years under a plan that will soon be presented to the federal cabinet, The Canadian Press has learned.

Prime Minister Paul Martin described immigration in a speech this week as key to Canada's economic success in an era defined by low birth rates, an aging population and an ever-deepening shortage of skilled workers.

Read the full National Post article here.

More details can be found in this Globe & Mail article:

(Immigration Minister Joe Volpe) said his department has focused on five themes: Increasing the overall numbers. Providing better service both in bringing in immigrants and issuing visas. Matching immigrants with jobs needed to fill gaps in local markets. That also means allowing potential immigrants to get matching credentials in Canada before they apply, or before they are accepted. Regionalizing so that areas outside major centres can recruit people they need. Mr. Volpe said that many communities envy the numbers that head to Toronto, because they see it as a “wealth-creation dynamic.” Keeping people who are already in Canada, for example by making it easier for people with student visas to stay after they graduate.

Federal AR

Today we had a nice surprise in our mailbox: the letter from the embassy acknowledging receipt of our application has arrived. It seems that everything is OK and a file was opened. Within the next three months we should receive instructions for the medical visit.