Cha ching!

Just to keep you up to date with how much the process has cost me so far:

• 8 professional photos - £10
• 2 sets of 5 regular passport photos - £10
• 1 for ACPO
• 4 for medical (the guide said take 5, the medical practice said bring 3, the doctor used 4!)
• 1 for x-rays
• Leaving 4 spare - no doubt they'll be needed for something!
• Medical - £100
• Blood tests - £34 (the doctor was very apologetic for this but said they just charge applicants how much it costs them)
• Postage - £10 (again, she was sorry but said it was one standard cost, no matter if it's just one person or a family, plus it was for registered mail and the package will include my x-ray films)
• X-rays - £120
• ACPO - £35 (my passport arrived the other day, so this form has finally been sent off!)

 A grand total of £319 so far and that doesn’t include the actual CIC fees :(

This is excluding my UK passport renewal as I'd be doing that anyway (£77, in case you're interested!)

Doctor, doctor

Woo - my medical examination and x-ray can be ticked off my list!

First things first - the doctor was fine with checking the photocopy of my currently-away-being-renewed passport in combination with my actual driving licence.

Also, I didn't need to worry about bringing medical records with me, as the doctor didn't need them. I guess they might be helpful if you have health issues to explain or if you're emigrating through another route where they need to check if you will put "excessive demand" on the Canadian healthcare system. Spousal sponsorship is exempt from that - hmm... are there any operations I fancy? :)

Ladies - she did ask about my last smear test and I was able to tell her the date, so maybe look up your diary before you go.

The doctor apologised that "a lot of today will be me filling in forms", but I just told her it was nice that someone else was doing them for a change!

The CIC website doesn't have an official copy of the medical form for you to download, as they send it directly to the doctors (or the applicants using different routes), but I've managed to find one on a random website, if you want to see what they asked.

Medical Examination

You need to include proof of a medical examination with your CIC forms and it has to be performed by an approved doctor. Luckily, there was one near me and I got an appointment within a fortnight. However, be aware that this step my require more planning if you’ve got to travel – in Scotland, there are only 4 doctors listed!

There is a form to fill out in the Western Europe Guide and you need to bring photo ID (original and a photocopy), plus 5 passport photos – I think I might be sick of forms and passport photos by the end of this!

You’ll also need to organise a chest x-ray as part of your medical. The medical group gave me the phone number of the radiology department at a local hospital when I booked my appointment and they booked me in for the day after my medical. You need to take a form from the medical with you, along with photo ID and ANOTHER passport photo!

The confirmation letter from the GP worried me a bit:

1. they’ve booked me for a different doctor than the “Designated Medical Practitioner” listed on the CIC website,
2. it specifically says you need your passport (not just photo ID), and 
3. it says it may be helpful to bring medical records with you.

However, I phoned up a very helpful receptionist who confirmed with the doctor:

1. the original doctor has left and this is the new CIC-approved one,
2. taking my actual driving licence and a photocopy of my old passport (that I luckily had!) will be enough, and
3. yes, it may be helpful, but just try your best to get them and don’t worry if you can’t (“ooh, no-one’s ever asked that before” – that’s interesting, it’s on your letter!)

I phoned my own GP and was told that they don’t give out medical records unless you go through their Practice Manager. As my appointment is on Thursday and they didn’t seem that bothered, I think I’ll just leave it.

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Police Certificate

Applicants from the UK need a police certificate from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The form is fairly straight forward, but it does need to be signed by a “professional individual” who has known you for over two years and isn’t related to you – luckily, I have a few solicitor friends :)

So I’ve got an envelope with the form, my signed photo, photocopies of a bank statement and a bill (for proof of address) and a cheque ready to go – I’m just waiting for my UK passport to be renewed and sent back to me!

Once I’ve finally got that photocopied and the whole lot sent off, it should be 10 days til I see if the police think I’m a criminal mastermind.

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Mug shots

CIC requires eight photos of the Principal Applicant and they can’t just be out of a photo booth. Appendix B of the Western Europe Guide lists the photo specifications needed and even includes a lovely picture for your photographer!

I went to the company Tim had used for the photos for his Canadian passport – a very nice wifie took my photos and I was walking out with my photos in 10 minutes. It only cost £10 for the eight photos, so I think this step is officially the cheapest one!

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The Plan

Tim is a Canadian citizen, so could move back to Vancouver any time he wants! I’ll need to be sponsored as his common-law partner – part of CIC’s Family Class. We’re applying “outland”, as we both live in the UK, which seems to be taking 4-5 months at the moment.

If our application is accepted, I’ll need to have a wee holiday to Canada to “land” and activate my Permanent Resident status, then I can return to the UK and, as long as I’m living with Tim, I’m deemed to be resident in Canada and we can take our time planning to actually move.

The landing trip has to be within a year of your medical, so our countdown starts next week!

I’m getting a bit ahead of myself though – in order to sponsor me, we both need to fill in a few(!) forms. They’re listed on the CIC website, along with a guide for both the Sponsor and the Principal Applicant and one for those applying from Western Europe, including the UK.

The Principal Applicant checklist is:

1. Application for Permanent Residence (form IMM 0008 GEN)
2. Schedule 1 (IMM 0008 1E)
3. Additional Family Information (IMM 5406E)
4. Spouse/Partner Questionnaire (IMM 5490E)
5. Use of a Representative (IMM 5476) – Not applicable for us, as we’re not using an immigration lawyer.
6. Copy of birth certificate – Photocopied and filed in my ‘Canada’ folder already :)
7. Children's information – Not applicable for us, as we don’t have kids.
8. Copy of passport – See below.
9. Proof of common-law relationship – Pile of documents, photos etc (think Green Card, but not faked!).
10. Police certificate
11. Proof of medical examination
12. 8 photos
13. Other documentation – Don’t think we’ll need to send anything else.

As we started to look what we’d need to do, we realised that both of our UK passports were close to their expiry dates, so sent them off for renewal. This is good in the long run, as it means any visas etc will be attached to a passport with a long time left to run, but I’ve got to wait for it to be returned before I can send off my police certificate request. And my first set of photos were rejected, so add some more time on now!

Tim has his own checklist to complete and, obviously, there are fees to be paid as well, but this is what we’re dealing with at the moment!

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Hello!

And welcome to our blog about moving to Canada from the UK.

I’ve lived in Scotland all my life, while my partner, Tim, was born in Vancouver, then moved with his parents to England when he was a kid. We’ve been together for a few years now and are considering moving to Vancouver at some point in the near future.

When we started looking into the process we'd need to go through, it became clear that there were a lot of things to consider and we thought that a blog of our experiences might help other people – as Tim calls it, "a single issue disposablog" :)

FYI, this blog is only our personal experience, so please don’t rely on anything you read here – Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) should be your main source of information.

I’ve found the British Expats forum to be a good way to search for answers and find out what our people have done, but again, don’t rely on it!