Visiting Vancouver – after landing, but before moving!

This time last week, we were waking up and having breakfast on our flight home from Vancouver.

Jetlag hit us pretty hard for the first couple of nights back at home, but we’ve also had to deal with how much we miss being in Vancouver. To be honest, the possibility of moving had taken a bit of a back seat – both of our jobs are going really well, we’re planning the wedding etc. However, this trip seems to have reignited our motivation and we’re now properly planning again.

Obviously, there are some important practicalities to deal with – the biggest one being saving up enough money to have a safety net. Even though we hope we’d be able to get decent jobs in Vancouver, we’d like to have the resources to be able to live without salaries for a few months, as well as actually having the cash to pay for moving!

Unfortunately, my PR card didn’t arrive while we were out there – I’m going to give the CIC a couple of weeks, then phone them again.

When we arrived at Vancouver Airport, we headed for the “Canadian Residents” line, just like the immigration officer told me in November. However, the guy at the desk said that I actually should have applied for a travel document, as I don’t have a PR card yet. I cringed a bit and waited for him to tell us off and/or send us back into the HUGE immigration line for international passports, but he just waved us through. I don’t think they’d do that in Britain or America!

Still no PR Card

So, on 18th April, I used the CIC address notification service. The current processing time for first time PR cards is 46 days, which means I should have received it a couple of weeks ago!

The CIC website says “If you live inside Canada and if it has been longer than the time shown above since you applied, please contact the Call Centre”. However, wven though I’m not currently in Canada, I was able to use a VOIP service to call the number :)

After a LONG phone menu and a nice “our current wait time is 8 minutes” announcement (British call centres take note!), I got to speak to an agent. She looked up my file and said that the PR Card was “held as undelivered” back in January, but they did have my new address, so she wasn’t sure why it hadn’t been sent out yet. After putting me on hold, she confirmed that she’s put in a request for the card to be sent out again and I should get it in 2-3 weeks (i.e. when we’re in Vancouver for our summer holiday!).

The agent also mentioned that my deadline for applying for this first card was 11th July and, after that, I’d have had to reapply. This wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it would cost another $50 and I’d need more passport photos and documents certified.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Update

I’ve been a permanent resident for 162 days now, but there’s still no sign of the PR card. I assumed the woman at immigration meant that the delivery guy wouldn’t be able to hand it over if I wasn’t there, but reading the British Expats Forum, it looks like she meant she couldn’t even process the address.

So I’ve now used the CIC Address Notification system to give them Tim’s sister’s address. Apparently, they just post first-time PR cards, but you need to go to a CIC office to prove your identity for any replacements – we’re heading over to Vancouver in July, so I can go to an office then if needed!

The more important update is that we’re now engaged :)