Canada 2012

[westcoastnortherner]

So I noticed that there is a thread for America 2012, and I thought it would be nice to have a Canadian one too. So we can chat or if anyone has any questions I'm sure someone will be able to help...

I moved to Victoria, BC three years ago I have two DC'S and I am a SAHM.

[Jacksmania]

If any of you are in BC or AB and fancy a meet-up come join us here :)

[madwomanintheattic]

Just over an hour west along the 1. Haven't had to do a renewal yet, sorry, can't help you there!

[welshincanada]

Any help with renewing PR cards. Do you still need photos etc? why arent any of these forms straight forward.. even the passports are not. sorry im moaning now

[welshincanada]

where are you too a=maddwoman?

[welshincanada]

we moved back to the south area of calgary but not the exact area. the kids are in different school.. not sure what the heck to do to be honest. the husband has lost interest due to the long wait to rejoin.. policing is all he has done for 16 years and doing a job that he doesnt enjoy is proving very stressful. thats all we can do for now, but he isnt impressed with the long wait... certain things still bug me about this place and wonder sometimes why im here!!

[madwomanintheattic]

Are you still in Calgary, welsh? Half of the calgary police are Brits!
Did you move back to the same area and schools etc? So you had friends to re-meet up with?

We have been all over, and that homeless feeling is tricky...

[welshincanada]

forgot to say hubby was a bobby in wales for 12 years!!

[welshincanada]

Hi everyone im new on this site. Hoping to meet new friends and have a good old chat. I moved to alberta with my husband and 2 children 17 & 14. we stuck it out for 3 years but realised how much we missed home (wales) so decided to return.My husband was a police officer in calgary for the 3 years so he managed to rejoin at one of the english forces. to cut a long story short, it did not work out where we decided to settle as we had problems with the schools and placing our daughter back 2 years to sit her gsce so we returned. I know it sounds crazy but we really didnt have the time to waste so we returned to what we knew. Our kids are settled in school now and enjoying life here.... not been a smooth return to say the least but until my husband is able to rejoin the police we are just treading water for now.. I dont think i will ever settle proberly but for now this is where we need to be for the sake of our kids education.. I gues you could call us ping pongers lol lol. Id love to hear from any of the mums who have been in this awful delema. It really is a curse having lived in 2 countries. bye for now... sue

[Jacksmania]

Best laugh I'd had in a while. The OP of that thread was such a rude cow :o

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I had forgotten about that thread... I AM CANADIAN

[Jacksmania]

:O




Actually, I am not a real real Canadian. I'm an import, too, originally from Germany, but it's so many years ago now, I was a small child, and I've been Canadian for decades.

But if it gets me in the door of the thread... :)

[SrirachaGirl]

I'm half-and-half...can I join in? . I think most of you are out West (I'm in Ontario) so you may not have it out your way, but Balderson cheese is quite decent and widely available (I think). Cracker Barrel = rubber but my kids love it.

[madwomanintheattic]

... I don't think there are any laws against it! (and you can be the voice of sanity and explain why Canada doesn't have any good cheese or do proper bacon etc )

It's a very on/off thread anyway - the more the merrier.

I gave up my job yesterday. I'd only had it for three weeks. A new low! It really wasn't me, though. I knew it when I took it, but thought I could put up with it because we needed the money. Turns out I couldn't! So, onward and upward, back to the drawing board and all that. Something else will come along.

Mmm, we've got some .5 time to count, too. I have to use the citizenship website counter to add it up though, as it makes my brain hurt!!

[lazydog]

Jacksmania - Erm, probably not since we're in the "Living Overseas" topic, but what the heck...we're not fussy!

[Jacksmania]

Are real Canadians allowed on this thread? :o

[lazydog]

It'll be seven years in 10 days time. It took me a while to get round to applying for PR (spousal) and then it was 19 months after submitting the application before that was done and dusted. Apparently up to one year of residence in Canada before obtaining your PR can count as "0.5 time" towards the residency requirement for citizenship, so I could have applied quite a bit sooner than this, but at least now it's all straightforward as I've been a PR for 4.5 yrs.

Crap!! Writing that number down highlights to me that my PR card must be almost due for renewal now - oh joy, more paperwork!

[madwomanintheattic]

I've had to swear allegiance to the queen more times than i can remember, so i'm probably ok on that score!

it took us four years to get pr. we timed it sooooo badly and applied just as they changed to the 'simplified' process (bwahaha). simplified my arse.

anyways, done and dusted now.

how long have you been here for, lazy?

[lazydog]

Oh crap - knew there was something important I'd forgotten to do. I've been able to apply for citizenship for a couple of years now I think! Guess I'd better get onto it ASAP as I know the wait is quite long.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I would be absolutely happy to swear to uphold the laws of Canada and all that jazz. My family is Scottish so they certainly couldn't take it on trust for us

[nooka]

It seems an odd idea to me, can't they just take it on trust, after all we are English! I don't see that my slightly republican leanings should have any impact on whether I'd be a good Canadian citizen. ah well all in good time. I think by the time we get PR we will have enough years under our belt to apply for citizenship too.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I can now apply for citizenship. I'm a bit about having to swear allegiance to the Queen. Never had to do that before. I must fill in the forms, just keep putting it off.

[nooka]

We're doing it on our own, but already have provincial sponsorship, so it's just a matter of getting the federal stamp. Had our medicals back in May. They were a bit strange, lovely doctor gave us all useful advice and only wrote the minimum on the forms - very box ticking.

[SomewhereInCanada]

nooka Did you do the PR thing yourself or did you have assistance? We kicked our application off last September and it was granted in August. The medical seems like a licence to print money for someone! Activating was a bit of a pain as we couldn't get to the immigration office in Edmonton (they only offer one appointment with no choice on date or time and DH works shifts), so we ended up flying to San Francisco for 24 hours and applying on re-entry.

[nooka]

Our big resort opens on the 17th, but we don't often have a lot of snow before December. My PR application is in a black hole along with a whole bunch of other ones that were sent to Ottawa supposedly for speedier processing but were derailed when there were a whole bunch of cuts to the immigration service. It's been a year now and I've no idea when we'll hear anything. Grr

Cool about being here long enough for citizenship - are you going to swear loyalty to the Queen?

[madwomanintheattic]

We can apply for citizenship in January... How scary is that?!