January 02, 2014

Happy New Year (and happy new PR card!)

Over two years since my landing trip, I finally got my PR card.

I became a permanent resident in November 2011 and gave them Tim’s sister’s address for posting my PR card. According to the CIC call centre, they tried to deliver it three times, but there was no indication why it didn’t happen – the address they had was correct, but they didn’t leave a missed delivery card or speak to anyone at the house.

Earlier this year, I got a letter with an appointment to pick up my PR card in person (and the letter was delivered to the house, so the address was definitely correct!), but it was scheduled before we moved over. After several calls and faxes, and even going to the office and speaking to the receptionist, I finally got a rescheduled appointment at the end of December.

We arrived really early, but the waiting room was pretty full already and, even though people were dealt with fairly quickly, I was seen half an hour after my appointment time.

The appointment letter said to bring various bits of documentation and that they might question me about meeting my residency requirements, so I took along a copy of our lease and my employment contract, just to show we’re here for the long haul!

Of course, after doing all that and all the fuss we had to get to this point, I was dealt with in two minutes. I handed over my passport, COPR, BC driver’s license and marriage certificate, she asked if that was us living here permanently now and I walked away with my shiny new PR card :)

We immediately went to the ICBC office and explained the situation about needing my healthcard. I was served by the same woman as before, so it was hilarious to hear her say “ooh yes, someone made a mistake there” when I explained that I’d been sent my driver’s license even without showing my PR card. Apparently, there’s no card request on my file, so she made a new one and took my photo again (thank god – the last one was awful!). I should get my card within 30 days, but I’ve at least got a client number etc, so can call them to chase it up.

So the next thing to do is get a PR card with my married name! If I’m able to apply without sending the card back, I’ll do it now. Otherwise, I’ll wait until after our trip back to the UK in February.

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