The Amateur Immigrant

Bureaucracy.

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:06:02 GMT

I should have gotten my S.I.N. card sooner.

I don't really NEED it yet. I was able to get a credit card without one (the bank took pity on me because I have zero credit in Canada so far, and hooked me up with a low-limit card), and the only other purpose it would serve me right now is getting a better cell phone plan than the crappy pay-as-you-go deal I have currently, wherein if you forget to pay up at the end of each month, the cell phone company will text you at 3AM every night until you relent and finally throw some money at them to shut them the hell up.

Perhaps most importantly to note, I'll need it for tax purposes come next Spring, but in the meantime, I'm contract, so I'm not actually getting my taxes withheld right now.

My full first name is very uncommon. I rarely use it unless it's a legal document, and people typically assume my nickname is short for something else. One time a college friend of mine did a more-thorough-than-Google online search for the name. He found me, my dad, and some guy on Death Row in Texas.

So I think the fact that Service Canada couldn't just immediately give me an S.I.N. card when I went to get one on Tuesday probably has something to do with someone, somewhere along the line, misspelling it. Let this be a lesson to anyone who plans to have kids: NORMAL NAMES, people. If people have to ask your kid twice what his/her name is, you did it wrong and you fail.

In theory you're supposed to be able to go to a Service Canada branch, show them your work permit, and they punch it into their computer and go, "Here, have an S.I.N. card!" and you trot off on your merry little way. In practice this is usually the case, but when everyone in the world screws up the spelling of your name, what will more likely happen is you'll get blank stares from the (very friendly) Service Canada clerk as she types and re-types all your information only to be met with that stupid error sound that Windows computers make. Then she'll shake her head, apologize, have you fill out a form, and you'll get your S.I.N. card in 4-5 weeks. Good thing I don't need it immediately! But if I'd gotten it sooner, I'd have it now. Or soon. Either way, you live, you learn.

I am also starting the Permanent Residency process. Yesterday I ditched work a couple hours early (with their consent, of course) and got my four photos, notarized copies of my birth certificate, university diploma, work permit and passport. I also got a letter from work saying that I do indeed work for them, and I need one from each of my past employers since graduating in 2004, to prove that I am indeed a "skilled worker." I e-mailed all three of my previous jobs back in Massachusetts, and two out of three have responded saying they'll get those out to me as soon as they can, and the third I hope to hear from soon.

Also on the list for this Immigration scavenger hunt is fingerprints to go with my background check. Tomorrow I will be sending a letter to the FBI in the U.S., asking for a blank fingerprint form, then upon receiving the form, I will take it to my local police department and have them fingerprint me, which precludes me from ever knocking over any liquor stores in the future. Good thing I don't have a drug habit to support!

Soon I have to put all this crap together, fill out the forms, get letters from my banks saying I have money in them (and how much as of the time of the letter), get my university transcripts, and then put everything in the mail and keep my fingers crossed for like a year.

Have I forgotten anything? Probably. There's a checklist that comes with the PDF application kit, though, so when the time comes that I need to know exactly what to send, I'll just read through that. It's pretty straightforward, if you ignore all the hoops they make you jump through. I feel like a circus animal.

Adventures in Banking.

Sun, 11 May 2008 03:27:34 GMT

So everything's been humming along. Mostly.

Apart from when the TTC was on strike, I've been using it a lot more than I've been using the car. I bought a Metropass and I'm just walking to work from the bus - it's not as bad as it seemed when I was wearing dress shoes.

About the only thing work-related that's been a headache has been direct deposit.

It's not work's fault. It's my bank's. My soon-to-be-former bank.

I won't mention their name here, because I don't want to defame them or anything, but um... basically they don't have any branches, just sales reps in Supermarkets, and then you have to do all your banking on the web or over the phone or at an ATM (or ABM if you prefer). If you live here, you know what bank I'm talking about.

They also have no fees on their checking accounts. As you may come to find out once you get here, this is rare. Most checking accounts have fees that are higher than what you'd pay in the states. They're waived if you have a set minimum balance, of course. Maybe someday. Maybe.

Anyway, when I got my gym membership, I had to open a Canadian bank account so I could pay them, and I went to this place. I had no Canadian ID, so they put a 7-business-day hold on any deposits into an ATM (including cash!), so basically if I deposited anything into the bank, I'd end up waiting a week and a half to access it. Strike one. Anyway, by the time I got my job, they still had not sent me my cheques (I still want to type "checks," damn it all), so I couldn't give work a voided cheque to initiate the deposits. Strike Two. I went to my bank's website and downloaded the Request for Direct Deposit form. This should have been fine, except the form automatically added two extra zeroes to the beginning of my checking account number for some reason known only to the bank, and thus, the payment bounced back. Strike Three.

Work paid me with a physical cheque this week because it's going to take another week for it to go through now that they have the correct number. So I took that cheque to a better bank and started a new account.

Yeah, they have monthly fees. In fact, I have an extra $5 monthly fee, because I also started an account with the new bank that allows me to write checks in US funds (meaning that "check" is the correct spelling). But this means I'll be able to use my Canadian bank to pay my outstanding bills in the US. Perfect. The fees add up to about $14, but considering how much I'd be spending on money orders to send to the US with my old crappy bank, it'll be well worth it. Hell, it'll pay for itself in convenience alone.

The new bank would have put more holds on my account too - or perhaps refused me altogether - except that this time, I DID have a Canadian-issued ID, my work permit. So I'm good. And I'll be giving work the new direct deposit form (directly from the brick-'n-mortar bank this time) on Monday. And this shouldn't happen anymore.

Apart from all that, I'm still happy I did this. I don't regret a thing. Toronto has been everything I wanted it to be, and more. If I have any complaints, they have to do with the fact that Torontonians don't know how good they have it. Also, the TTC goes on strike on occasion, which sucks. But really, that's about it.

Toronto has its problems, sure. Every city does. But one thing this experience has taught me is that location is all about where you'll be the happiest; which city has the problems that you can put up with the best, and look past to the good parts? Toronto was it for me, it turns out. So remember that if you're going through this process too - It very well might be damn worth it.

Stay tuned, though. There's more crap to sort out.

Your results may vary.

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:16:46 GMT

So holy crap.

I've only been in Canada for a month and I'm already employed (legally, obviously) and busy with work and social stuff all the time. I feel great about this! I feel like I'm making a huge difference in my life! I feel like I'm on the way to something really great!

I feel exhausted and ready for a nice long nap!

I'm just a bit drained. It's been a crazy couple of weeks.

When I last wrote anything of substance, I hadn't actually left Boston yet, and I haven't really explained what's gone on since. I apologize for that, but hey, I'm here now!

Back on Thursday, March 20th, I FINALLY finished with the process of trashing/selling/donating stuff I didn't need, as well as packing up the stuff I wanted to keep and bringing it to my mom's for storage. This left me with just a couple of hours on the morning of the 21st to try to sell the car. The 21st was also Good Friday, so a lot of people had the day off - including used car department managers, as well as lots of car shoppers. I tried three different places that either couldn't help me or didn't want to be bothered with me, and since time had run out, I drove back to Mom's with the car and left it at her place until such time as I could come back to New England to deal with it.

Later that afternoon, Mom drove me to meet up with G and R, two friends of mine from college (oh, I'm sorry, university) at B's apartment, and from there we drove out here. We stopped for a night in Syracuse, and we made it to Toronto by mid-afternoon on Saturday the 22nd. Our customs experience was frightening. The agent was very gruff and frankly, pretty rude. I let G do all the talking, as she was driving the car. She asked G what the first number of her license plate was, but G hadn't memorized that, so she didn't know, and then the agent started getting somewhat hostile. She asked if we had firearms, and we shook our heads no. She then, rather forcefully, barked, "Do you have any firearms! Yes or no!" G said no, and the agent let us through with a weird sneer that made me uncomfortable for a moment, but as soon as we got over the border I realized that I'd made it, and I was here, and everything was finally happening.

Then the job search began.

I want to add a disclaimer here. Most people's job searches take months. As in, at least 3-6. And that's assuming the person is authorized to work in the country in which they're applying. Canada is somewhat backward from the US, in that you need a job offer to get a work permit, but most employers, having never gone through this process themselves, are unaware of this. So the process can take a really long time. That being said, however...

I sent out resume after resume after resume and heard from only one employer who wanted to know whether or not I was authorized to work in Canada (sigh). I explained my situation, and never heard from them again. I wasn't worried, though, because I'd heard of a huge job fair going on the second week of April, and surely that would provide me with an easy job, no fuss, no muss.

Except that the job fair wound up being a huge waste of my time. Not a single job that I was qualified to do, and even if I HAD wanted to work in sales or retail, those positions never would have gotten me a NAFTA work permit without a labour market opinion (hereafter known as an LMO). An LMO can take months. Basically it means the government does some research to decide whether or not hiring you will hurt the Canadian work force. By the time they got back to me with that, I'm sure any potential employers in my field would have long ago become sick of waiting.

Feeling doubtful, I headed back to the apartment I was staying in with two friends I knew from Boston, and hopped back on Workopolis and came across a listing that sounded absolutely PERFECT. I immediately applied to it, writing a really in-depth cover letter as to why this job and I were perfect for each other. The following day, I was called to schedule an interview. And the day after that, I interviewed.

It took over an hour to get there by TTC. The company is located in a woefully-underserved-by-transit area of Toronto, and although I had no difficulty getting there on time, I couldn't even begin to imagine doing that in, say, the dead of winter. Just thinking about it now gives me a bad feeling. Anyway, I realized I would need my car if I was offered the job.

The interview seemed to go very well. I was nervous, and I'm sure it showed, but I tried to be as professional and intelligent-sounding as I could without being anything other than myself. They told me they'd have an answer in 6-10 days.

Four days later, they called me in for a second interview. I bought a new shirt and tie, since most of my clothes were in storage 600 miles away at Mom's, and went back the following morning. I bought a bottle of Grape Fanta in order to break a 20 so I'd have bus fare back home, and stuck it in my bag. When I got to the office and sat down, I opened the bottle and it exploded all over me. Oops. The receptionist was very understanding and helped me clean up the mess I made, and after that I was called in for the interview. All it was was them offering me the job, so clearly it wasn't a big deal that I'd spilled a sticky, sugary drink all over their waiting room!

Next came the legal stuff. I had to fly back to Boston, where my friend B picked me up at Logan airport and drove me to Mom's. That weekend I visited with family, got some documents I'd forgotten (oops), loaded up the car with some stuff I wanted to take back with me this time, and headed out on Monday morning, April 21st.

When I made it to the border, I told the customs agent that I needed to apply for a work permit. He directed me to the post-war, utilitarian building off to the right. I parked the car, entered the building and seeked out the Immigration desk. I told the officer at the desk that I needed a work permit and handed him my job offer letter, passport, and my diploma and transcripts that proved I had a bachelor's degree. He asked if I had an LMO, and I said no, I shouldn't need one because I was a US citizen, covered by NAFTA, and that the job was one that was covered by NAFTA as being one that didn't need an LMO as well. I think he was just trying to test me there. I passed. You have to know what you're taking about, basically.

It took somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour to get everything settled. I had to call my host here in Canada to get the address and postal code to the building in which I would be staying, and actually that probably made me look even more legitimate. It cost $150 Canadian, plus tax of course, and I was on my way and able to work the following day, legally.

So yeah, the whole process took almost exactly a month. I feel bad being a bad example, but this will probably not happen for you. I don't say this to discourage you, I say it because it is probably true. You need to make sure you have the money saved up in case it doesn't, and you have to be prepared for a long, boring, grueling job hunt.

Since then, I've been far too busy for my own good. I'm working hard; spending as much time as I can with my friends here - the friends I already knew, as well as a great group of people I've met since getting here; and just generally getting my life in order.

Didn't help much when the Toronto Transit Commission went on strike this weekend, of course, but that's just about over now anyway, and was a reminder of why it's good to have a car. Even though I wanted to be rid of that extra expense...Oh well.

This is far from the end of the process, by the way. Once I get a Social Insurance Number, I'll let you know how that went. And then, before too long, the Permanent Residency application process. Fun stuff. Stay tuned.

More to come soon.

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:55:01 GMT

No, I haven't forgotten this blog.

I've just been extremely busy. I have a job and a social life here already, and also, part of getting that job involved flying back to New England and driving my car back here.

Yes, I know, I was gonna get rid of the car. And I WILL post about it all, but, well, look at the time stamp. It's too late to be awake, especially since, well, I have to go to work tomorrow.

It's only taken me how many months to find a website like this??

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:56:38 GMT

This immigration lawyer website has all sorts of helpful information and FAQs and essays... click here!

Arrival.

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 05:53:11 GMT

And now, the real fun begins.

I'm here. I drove up today with two friends, and the customs agent was really intimidating. But I made it through. I'm here. All is well. So far.

It's Easter Weekend, but after that's over I'm going to be pounding the pavement like it's my full time job...because it is. I am staying with friends until I get on my feet (or go home in defeat, whichever comes first). More to follow once there is more with which I can follow.

Um...What? Also: Fun with Border Crossings.

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:05:01 GMT

In case you weren't paying attention to me when I told you you now need documentation to get over the US-Canada border, the folks at U.S. Customs and Border Protection wrote a country song about it.

No, seriously. I'm not kidding.

Still not convinced? Maybe the French version will drive it home.

As the friend who alerted me to the existence of these little jingles said, you can't make this stuff up.

Moving on, then.

I was curious about how to get through Customs without raising any red flags. I already know I won't be taking all of my belongings immediately; that will have to wait until I have a visa. So I was a little worried about going through the border and being asked why I was going into Canada, and having them raise an eyebrow or two when I told them about my intention to stay awhile.

I asked my friend D. about it, and she said that really, what they want to know is that you're a good, upstanding fellow and that you'll go home if it doesn't work out in the allotted time. They might want to know about your finances - do you have enough money to support yourself while you're in Canada? Do you have the resources to cart your own hide home if things don't work out? So bringing several months worth of bank statements isn't a bad idea. Fortunately for me I have not one but two places to stay until I'm up on my feet (or out on my ass), and it's not a bad idea to get letters from them to assure the Customs folks that I'm A. really doing what I say I'm doing, and B. not going to sleep on park benches or something. In addition to all of that, it's not a bad idea to show them your résumé and a list of the places you plan on sending it to when you get there, and so on and so forth...

Basically they want to know you have a plan. You might get sent to "secondary" if they're questioning your motives, which means they want to ask you more in-depth questions - and actually, this is where the résumé stuff and financial records will come in handy; you likely won't have to show that stuff at the booth. They're trying to keep the line moving, after all.

So that's comforting. After other customs mishaps involving my friends or myself - one friend forgot to take the Sudafed out of his car (OOPS), an old boss of mine made a joke about firearms (DOUBLE OOPS), and my travel companion the first time I ever crossed back into the US from Canada in '04 was all too happy to tell the border guard all about the mangoes we'd purchased in Toronto's Chinatown - I do tend to get a bit nervous whenever I cross the border. I feel a little more confident that it will be less of an event than I was afraid it would be.

Anyway, I give my notice at my current job in just over a week. It's getting more and more real by the day. I still have stuff to get rid of/trash/sell, and stuff to pack and bring to my mom's for temporary storage, and clothes and a computer to pack for the trip...So much to do, so little time...

Passport Requirement Update (Again).

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:04:39 GMT

Actually, this is more of a correction than an update.

I asked a friend of mine who does this stuff for a living, and you actually still can cross the US/Canada border without a passport - a birth certificate and license will still do just fine, IF you're driving. You do need a passport to fly into the US.

I had always thought that documented proof of citizenship was necessary to cross the border before, but I am told that you could make an "oral declaration of citizenship," and they'd ask you a couple questions about, like, your hometown or whatever to try to trip you up, to make sure you're not lying to them. The requirement of documented proof of citizenship or ID (birth certificate/license, passport, etc.) is actually new.

You learn something new everyday!

A Helpful Link. Plus: Getting Rid of Crap.

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:04:36 GMT

So this website is pretty cool.

www.canadaworkpermit.com

Lots of useful information on how to get a work permit in Canada. Hence the URL.

One big important thing that they actually cover, which I rarely see documented anywhere else, is the role NAFTA can play in this for Americans and Mexicans (and Chileans, actually, since Chile and Canada have their own free trade agreement as well).

Meanwhile, I donated two large trash bags full of old clothes that didn't fit me anymore, and trashed a third bag full of stuff that was either used underwear (nobody really wants that, after all) or had holes. Next I have to sell/donate the overwhelming majority of my furniture, as well as my car, and trash as much junk as I possibly can. Moving sucks enough when you're staying in your own country, let alone when you have to explain to a customs agent why you're bringing everything you own. I'll just start from scratch. It'll be easy enough. There are two IKEAs within the city limits of Toronto alone.

Passport update no. 2; departure update.

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:56:46 GMT

Well what do you know? Apparently the US has finally stuck to one of their deadlines, and as of sometime this past week, you now need a passport (or some other definitive proof of your citizenship) to cross the US-Canada border. One would think I'd be on top of this, but I heard it days later on NPR. I guess I was just immersed in my work. [snicker]

If I may editorialize for a moment (and yes, I may, since this is my damn blog), I think this law is pretty lame. Mainly because those documents, much like the drivers' licenses and honor system that you could get away with before, are just as easily forged. However, the law is the law, and it's more of an inconvenience than a hardship, so I will drink my Kool-Aid with everyone else.

Also of note: My date of departure is looking like it's going to be March 22. It's not set in concrete yet...one could analogize that the concrete has been poured, but has not quite cured. But that's the plan as of right now. I will be staying with friends when I get there, probably bouncing from one group to the other, until I find a job or run out of money. Whichever comes first. I will be giving notice at my current job at the beginning of March, and taking a week to get situated and move most of my stuff to my mom's, as she is holding much of it for me until I can actually get a real visa and Customs won't look at me as funny when I try to move all my crap in.

Also also of note: The Patriots have deeply, DEEPLY disappointed me in the Super Bowl. They'd damn well better make it worth my while if I'm gonna fly back to watch the game with my family next year.

Eh, waiting game sucks. Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos!

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:42:33 GMT

I forget where and when I first heard this, but a "visitor" to Canada can stay for up to six months perfectly legally. Said "visitor" just can't get a job. But there's nothing stopping one from getting a job offer in Canada while living there as a visitor, driving the letter to Buffalo (or another Canada Customs & Immigration outpost in the US), getting a work visa there, and driving right back to work there legally.

I knew it'd be tough to find a job in Canada without so much as a local phone number. But the fact of the matter is that I'm not saving any money here anymore anyway - the cost of oil has made my commute (as well as heating my apartment) too costly, the payments are too high, and my rent ain't cheap. I barely squeeze by every month with enough in my checking to avert a small crisis should one arise. So...why am I still here, when I could be there, living off the money I get from selling the car (I have a place to crash for a while - that's key) and looking for jobs locally, which dramatically increases the odds of finding one? What's the worst that can happen? I don't get a job in 6 months and I have to move back to the States. Oooh. Real troubling. Fact is, if I leave with nothing, and I come back with nothing, I've lost nothing.

The decision isn't made yet. And I'm sticking around for at least one more month no matter what, as my best friend just today accepted a job offer in California and will be leaving in a month, so I'd like to get in as much quality time with him as possible, getting my ass kicked at Super Mario 3, talking music and politics, and driving around the area aimlessly. Beyond that...the idea of being a "visitor" for a while...grows more and more attractive by the second.

Trudging forward slowly.

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:15:33 GMT

It's amazing how accomplished one feels when submitting a resume in response to a job listing. More accomplished than one should feel. I did two just now. Yippee.

I hate writing cover letters.

I hate sending them to companies and imagining their HR departments picking them apart.

This is why I pore over the stupid cover letters for far too long before I let them go.

It's like taking the training wheels off your kid's bike, then letting them go even though you suspect that there's a speeding trash truck coming around the corner.

I'm sick of Craigslist. I am trying to come up with new ways to find job listings. Hopefully ones that 5 bazillion people don't look at and then apply to all the good jobs before I get a chance, like bidding on eBay or something. The more obscure, yet not sketchy, the better.

Being in the general vicinity of the field of graphic design, there are plenty of organizations for designers with job listings. I've found some good ones. Many of them have membership fees and/or eligibility requirements, so I haven't joined one yet - I'm waiting for some info on whether or not I'm even eligible before I send them money that I should probably be saving for my moving van.

Ugh. Stress. It's crap.

All Quiet on the Northern Front.

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:26:00 GMT

Howdy.

Haven't forgotten about this. It's still alive and kicking. Just quiet at the moment, as I don't really want to bore anyone with the not-terribly-fascinating details of finding a job. This is my current step, and it's liable to take a while. Basically, it's tough (though not impossible) to find a job in Canada without being authorized ahead of time. In order to get a work visa, however, you have to show an offer letter. So it's a bit of a vicious cycle, unless you have the money saved up to become a permanent resident without a job - it's somewhere around $10,000 CDN. You don't have to give it to them, you just have to have it on hand to support yourself while you LOOK for a job. I very much do not have $10,000. Thus, the ~~baffling ordeal~~ job search continues, and I'll keep you all posted the second anything comes of it.

Unless anyone wants to donate $10k to the cause....No?....Anyone?....Damn.

Until next time. Now that the holidays are over, I might find more job postings, too. Hopefully.

Passport update.

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 06:55:50 GMT

Whoa, I already got the passport. That was fast.

I applied on December 4th, and it arrived on the 15th. I guess it's officially died down at the passport office.

My picture doesn't look nearly as terrible as I expected. Mainly because there's all sorts of security lines and holographic stars obscuring it. That's for the best.

Right. So tomorrow, I apply for jobs like it IS my job. No excuses not to do that now.

Cars.

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 04:50:18 GMT

It's an icy night in Boston, to end an icy day. My poor roommate slipped and took a header down the front steps this morning (but was fine afterward), and I must say the drive to work this morning was pretty tense. Note to self - Clean off the windshield wipers BEFORE you leave, only to have to pull over 5 minutes down the road because you can't see anything. You'd think after ten New England winters as a car owner, I'd have gotten that by now. You'd be wrong.

Anyway. J is my best friend. He also sort of acts as a foil, making sure my head doesn't get too lost in the clouds. I like to think I do the opposite for him, but more realistically, I do the vast majority of the learning in this friendship. So of course it was him, and clearly not me, who thought of a possible serious complication regarding what to do with my car when I move to Toronto.

Unless you live near the T, Boston's public transit system, you need a car. Absolutely 100% need a car. The closest T stop to me is very much not within reasonable walking distance, so therefore when my old car began to show signs of giving up earlier this year, I had to buy a new one. I love it. It fits my needs and my personality perfectly. It's a hatchback, which is key, because I think trunks look funny. They look like car butts to me.

I had planned to take the car with me once I made the move to Toronto, until my friend E recently alerted me to the possibility that I may not be able to take my car at all. Of course I don't technically own it yet, the bank does, and it's the bank's call whether or not I can take my car out of the country permanently. He told me about a friend of his who had moved to Toronto and had to sell her car in the process. Now I don't know what the rules are for my particular bank, but just the possibility alone got me thinking of how much money I could save each month if I sold my car when I left. It's well into the hundreds. A monthly TTC Metropass is currently $109. I pay more than that each month in gas alone. So let's see...One hundred a month...or many hundreds? The decision was made. I love driving, and I love my car...but I love saving ridiculous amounts of money even more.

J and I were talking about this last weekend.
"You know...I just thought of something. How much do you still owe on the loan?" J asked. I told him the amount.
"Uhh...You might not be able to sell it."
"Why not?"
"Well, you might be upside down on the loan, meaning the car's worth less than you owe."
"Probably. And?"
"The bank's going to want the money you owe them back immediately if you sell it; you'll have no collateral then."
....Crap.

So I panicked. I admit it. I most certainly do not have the money to pay back what, in my mind, was probably a huge gap between what the car was worth and what I owed on it. I sorta flipped out and yelled a whole lot.

We got back to J's house and looked up the trade-in value of the car on the Kelly Blue Book website. It was several thousand dollars MORE than I had thought, and I am indeed ahead of the value on the loan. HUGE sigh of relief.

But these are really important considerations that I never would have thought about until I was at the border trying to import the car, or at a dealership trying to sell it. I can picture the nightmare scenario. "OK sir, we're all ready, just sign on the dotted line and give us your check for the $3,000 you still owe us. Oh, you don't have that? Hmm. We'll have to take one of your kidneys as collateral. Hold still, this can get messy..."

Well alright, that's a bit overdramatic. But you get the point, right?

So yeah, as it happens, I can sell my car and come out on top of the loan. Who knew my ridiculously high payments would come in handy someday? But I'm lucky. If there's even a remote possibility that you might want to move out of the United States someday, DO NOT get locked into a car loan or a lease. Seriously. Just don't do it. I don't care what your excuses are. DON'T DO IT.

If you absolutely must do so, you can import your car into Canada. But that's such a baffling, convoluted ordeal of a process that it needs its own post or three, so I'll get into that bit at a later time. In the meantime, be careful driving out there. It's a mess.

Passports.

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:37:08 GMT

First things first. You have to be able to travel between countries. You need a passport. (And when I tell you I'm starting completely from scratch with all of this, I'm definitely not kidding.)

So, you probably already know that the US Government will be imposing strict new rules involving the documentation that you can use to cross the border into the country. Simply put, you will need a passport. No longer will your decades-old, dog-eared, faded birth registration card act as ample proof of citizenship to gain you access to the US from outside. No longer can you expect to be waved through at Niagara Falls because your car has American plates and the border guards are too busy flirting with each other anyway (I'll believe that one when I see it).

What you may not know is that, if you're driving across the border, you don't actually need a passport just yet. And in fact, if you're either a Canadian or American citizen, they're not even entirely sure when you'll need one.

You already need a passport to travel to and from the US by air, and as of January 31, 2008, US border guards will be more actively and aggressively checking for proof of citizenship at land and sea checkpoints. But at that time, your birth certificate will still work just fine as proof of citizenship, and your driver's license will still provide ample proof of your identity. The current time frame on the US State Department's website is quoted only as "Summer 2008," and that's just when they'll decide when to implement the new passport laws. (source: US State Department website, accessed today)

This isn't common knowledge. They've pushed the dates back countless times as a response to the overwhelming demand for passports when the changes were announced before the original deadlines, and they've been remarkably quiet about these changes ever since. Point is, there's no need to rush, and in fact, wait times have shrunken from the nightmare-scenario 6 months we all heard about at the height of the rush earlier this year, to somewhere between 3 and 6 weeks as of this writing.

So walk, don't run, to your closest passport-issuing post office. Remember that you'll need to pay a total of $97 in fees, not including your photos (fees for those vary depending on where you get them taken). Bring your birth certificate (or a certified copy thereof), checkbook (you will need to write a check to the State Department because they don't accept credit cards yet...dinosaurs) and passport-spec photos of yourself within the last 6 months - for $15, they'll often take the photos for you at the post office, too.

Actually, don't count on that last bit.

I was on vacation not so long ago, and I spent much of it at home just relaxing and getting a few things accomplished, including trying to get a passport. I drove to a post office in the Boston area, which shall remain nameless, and walked up to the counter. "Hi, I'd like to apply for a passport."
"Oh. Uh...I'm actually closing up soon," said the woman behind the counter, unenthusiastically.
I checked the clock on my cell phone. "Um, it's noon."
"Uh...yeah. Someone else will be here soon. I just don't know when."
"Right. Can I just do this quickly? I already filled the form out online, I have the printout here."
"Um, well, OK. Do you have yourbirthcertificatecheckbookblahblahblahakjs;lkl;k?" She suddenly became animated as she rattled off the list so quickly that only a robot could decipher it.
"Excuse me? I didn't get any of that." I probably sounded smug. No, I hope I sounded smug.
"[Dramatic, protracted sigh.] DO YOU HAVE! Your birth certificate...your checkbook...your DS-11 form...and two recent pictures of you?" she asked. I hoped she didn't have a knife or something.
"I have everything except the photos. There's a big banner outside that says you do them here." I said, almost certainly audibly annoyed now.
Her face lit up. "Oh, well, sorry, camera's broken."
I gave her a dirty look and stormed off. She said "Sorry!" over her shoulder. Right.

Your experience probably won't be like this. When I was actually able to find time to apply for a passport again a few weeks later, I went to a different post office staffed by friendly people, and the process went pretty smoothly. But my advice is to get your photos taken ahead of time - it's also cheaper. Be advised that they WILL be worse than the photo on your driver's license. Depending on the shape of your nose, you may look like a bird of some sort. It's probably best not to show all of your friends.

Save yourself (and those behind you in line) some time by downloading the editable PDF application form at this page. Also be advised that they will take your birth certificate for processing. You'll get it back with your passport when you get it. Just remember this when you get home from the post office and you don't have it, nor do you have any idea what could have happened to it, since they neglected to mention to you that they'd be taking it.

If you've lost or misplaced your birth certificate, try to limit the amount of time you spend tearing your house apart looking for it. I know that episode made me about 45 minutes late for work one morning. Just get a new one; it'll be on nicer paper. It depends on where you were born, where you can go to get a copy. For instance, if you were born in Massachusetts, you can only find these records (quickly and easily, fortunately) at the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, located in the office building next to the Bayside Expo Center in scenic Dorchester. You can order your perfectly valid certified copies online or by mail from them, but they jack up the price pretty significantly if you do that, so I recommend actually visiting the office and just paying the base $18 (bring an extra 2 bucks for parking). If you have any info on how to get your vital records in your own state or province of birth, or any tips and tricks on what to do or to avoid when applying for a passport, this is your first chance to interact - comment with them on this post!

Welcome.

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 06:37:07 GMT

If you've ever gone to a new city and either gotten off the plane or out of the car and thought..."I'm gonna live here someday," then this journal is dedicated to you.

My first initial, and therefore name for the purpose of this journal, is K. So hi! I'm K. Nice to meet you.

Right now, as of December 8, 2007, I am a resident and citizen of the United States of America. In 2004, I visited our neighbor (or, if you prefer, neighbour...I suppose I ought to get used to that) to the north, Canada, for the first time. I absolutely adored every second I spent there. Over the course of multiple additional visits, I fell in love with the country, its people, its culture, and its largest city, Toronto, Ontario. I have very close friends in the city, and I feel very much at home there, so I have made it my mission to live there. As soon as is humanly possible.

Leave it to me to pick a city that you can't just pick up and move to.

I currently live outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston's a pretty cool place to live for a great many people. There's so much to do, so much to see, so much history right at your feet. And of course, the Red Sox are here. While the area is certainly not known for its friendliness (and is, on the contrary, notorious for being a place where it's impossibly difficult to meet people), once you get to know the people you'll meet here, you'll make some fantastic connections that will last you the rest of your life.

But as for me...well, I grew up in New England, a mere 45 minutes from where I live now, with an ever-present desire to branch out and see the world beyond my backyard. Suffice to say that, given how far I have not gone, my 10-year-old self would be extremely disappointed with my 26-year-old self.

I stayed close to home because my family is so closeby, but as times have changed, my siblings have all settled down and started families of their own, and I'm...not there yet. So now is a perfect time for me to live that dream. It's also a fantastic opportunity to make a new start, which is something I've personally felt I needed for the last couple of years at least.

That new start is not going to come easily. Moving to my chosen city involves immigrating to a foreign country, and with that come challenges, obstacles, and...lots and lots of paperwork. So, I started this journal to document the whole process for myself and anyone else who's thinking about uprooting their entire life and moving to a whole new country. Hopefully some of the things that I learn will come in handy for someone else down the road.

I think that's probably a long enough introductory post. More will follow soon...stay tuned.