US-based applicants, let's connect here

[trumprefugee]

For long term we were considering pods, where you can get 1 to move stuff for a smaller temporary space and the other goes to storage.

That's an idea. I'm thinking of getting some waterproof plastic storage bins for storing more long term things until I'm ready to buy a place.

 

[trumprefugee]

It's too bad you aren't ready to move, lol.

Yeah, Ontario needs to hurry up and look at my application and give me the nomination

 

[canada_eagle]

Hi all - glad this thread exists

I JUST submitted my application for permanent residency today. The only thing missing was the FBI police clearance. I wrote a letter explaining why. No idea why the FBI needs 3-3.5 months.

My situation seems a bit different from others in that I am not a US citizen or permanent resident. I am a foreign national who has been on study and work visas in the U.S. since 2001. I just wasn't able to convert to a green card, and didn't find anyone I was willing to marry for L.O.V.E. who also happened to have green card/citizenship. An employer tried to file for me, and it was a fairly traumatic experience, and I still didn't get it. I have had to deal with "job lock" for several years - staying in jobs and companies that are toxic because my legal status was tied to that particular job. Trump's election was the final straw, but I already considered trying for express entry months before, but the cut off mark seemed really high. Once I realized it had dropped this summer, I was ecstatic and started working on my application. I am really hoping I get accepted by early summer next year. Because in the meanwhile I applied to and was accepted to a top Canadian MBA program . I won't share which one to protect my identity, but its in the top 3. If I get residency early enough, I may be eligible for the permanent residency tuition. That would be incredible.

I'm really hoping this works out for me.

Hope you get your ppr soon. I see the US administration has now announced that having a H1B no longer counts as a positive during renewal. They will scrutinize it just as a new application. Another level of uncertainty for a bunch of folks.

 

[canada_eagle]

We got Canadian bank accounts. Yay!. After the Scotiabank scare, the remaining banks we talked to were straight forward. No problem with using a US mailing address.

We first got a TD bank account. They have a newcomers package, which waives fees for 6 months. We also got no-fee unsecured credit cards with limits of 1000 CAD, so we should be able to start building some credit. We deposited US Dollars to start the account.

The second bank we went to was BMO. That was also straight forward. Their newcomer account waives fees for 1 year. So that is better then TD. No credit card was offered and we did not inquire if we could get one. We used US dollars to start this account too.

Both of them mentioned that for mortgages for newcomers they would not look at income history aka Canadian job & credit history (since newcomers have zero credit) but rather down payments and such. From past reading I believe one needs a 35% down payment for such mortgages.

So based on the various methods we have used for USD->CAD. These are the conversion losses we encountered, from best to worst.

1. Our no foreign transaction fee US credit card -> ~0.42%
2. Our US bank account ATM card withdrawal -> ~0.54%
3. BMO US cash deposited in CAD account -> ~2.97%
4. TD bank US cash deposited in CAD account -> ~3.23%

NOTE: Not entirely accurate since I am not accounting for intra day fx swings. I just took end of day conversion numbers.

All of the above methods are way better then the currency counters at the airports and such. I had called and inquired with one is Minneapolis and one in Toronto and they ranged in 10-15% conversion loss range. The credit card and US bank ATM card withdrawals are clear winners. If you use your US ATM card though, be sure to withdraw a large amount since there is usually a transaction fee.

On the more fun side of things we are enjoying the seafood here in PEI. Just shared a 2 pound lobster dinner with my wife and kid with some oysters on their half shells. Yum!.

 

[tjsecondtry]

We opened our TD account while on vacation in Charlottetown!

We got Canadian bank accounts. Yay!. After the Scotiabank scare, the remaining banks we talked to were straight forward. No problem with using a US mailing address.

We first got a TD bank account. They have a newcomers package, which waives fees for 6 months. We also got no-fee unsecured credit cards with limits of 1000 CAD, so we should be able to start building some credit. We deposited US Dollars to start the account.

The second bank we went to was BMO. That was also straight forward. Their newcomer account waives fees for 1 year. So that is better then TD. No credit card was offered and we did not inquire if we could get one. We used US dollars to start this account too.

Both of them mentioned that for mortgages for newcomers they would not look at income history aka Canadian job & credit history (since newcomers have zero credit) but rather down payments and such. From past reading I believe one needs a 35% down payment for such mortgages.

So based on the various methods we have used for USD->CAD. These are the conversion losses we encountered, from best to worst.

1. Our no foreign transaction fee US credit card -> ~0.42%
2. Our US bank account ATM card withdrawal -> ~0.54%
3. BMO US cash deposited in CAD account -> ~2.97%
4. TD bank US cash deposited in CAD account -> ~3.23%

NOTE: Not entirely accurate since I am not accounting for intra day fx swings. I just took end of day conversion numbers.

All of the above methods are way better then the currency counters at the airports and such. I had called and inquired with one is Minneapolis and one in Toronto and they ranged in 10-15% conversion loss range. The credit card and US bank ATM card withdrawals are clear winners. If you use your US ATM card though, be sure to withdraw a large amount since there is usually a transaction fee.

On the more fun side of things we are enjoying the seafood here in PEI. Just shared a 2 pound lobster dinner with my wife and kid with some oysters on their half shells. Yum!.

 

[kynno]

Hi all - glad this thread exists

I JUST submitted my application for permanent residency today. The only thing missing was the FBI police clearance. I wrote a letter explaining why. No idea why the FBI needs 3-3.5 months.

My situation seems a bit different from others in that I am not a US citizen or permanent resident. I am a foreign national who has been on study and work visas in the U.S. since 2001. I just wasn't able to convert to a green card, and didn't find anyone I was willing to marry for L.O.V.E. who also happened to have green card/citizenship. An employer tried to file for me, and it was a fairly traumatic experience, and I still didn't get it. I have had to deal with "job lock" for several years - staying in jobs and companies that are toxic because my legal status was tied to that particular job. Trump's election was the final straw, but I already considered trying for express entry months before, but the cut off mark seemed really high. Once I realized it had dropped this summer, I was ecstatic and started working on my application. I am really hoping I get accepted by early summer next year. Because in the meanwhile I applied to and was accepted to a top Canadian MBA program . I won't share which one to protect my identity, but its in the top 3. If I get residency early enough, I may be eligible for the permanent residency tuition. That would be incredible.

I'm really hoping this works out for me.

This thread is definitely one to keep watching. I have found some really great information here. By the way, your case is somewhat similar to mine. I've been in the US since 2005 and never really found the opportunity to convert my current status into PR. I also submitted my PR application with an LOE a little over 2 weeks ago. My FBI report showed up 4 days after I submitted the application. Took them 3 months and 8 days to complete it (still can't quite comprehend that ). If things do workout with the PR, I plan to go for my MBA as well. Though I have no idea which school I'm going to go to.

Keep us posted on how things progress with your application.

 

[cowbeepbeep]

Welcome!

On your question employment verification letters, you may want to go with sending your paycheck stub and whatever else you could get from your employers.

Here's what we went through for our employment verification letters:

1) My wife didn't want to let her current boss know, so she went with the route of bypassing them entirely, walking to the main HR office, and asking for it. That worked. She also asked some of her ex-bosses directly (the nice ones), who just typed up a letter for her without making her jump through hoops or going to HR for it.

2) We had issues with my ex-employer (multinational corporation with 49.5K employees for whom I worked for 17 years). My ex-boss didn't want to do anything that could possibly get him in trouble ("Hi, yes he worked here" was apparently too much to ask...), so he sent me to main HR. That was a waste of time. All they provide is an employment verification service for US companies ("The Work Number"), but it's not used for immigration purposes. I just printed what was in "The Work Number" website and sent it along with paycheck stubs. That was accepted.

I guess what I'm getting at is that it probably is not a straightforward process in many cases. So as long as you show an effort and provide some good evidence they will hopefully let it go through.

Good luck with your application!!!

I did the same thing, along with a snippet from our employee handbook that says that we do not draft employment references and only use the work number. I also printed out current job postings for the company for the same position. Worked fine.

 

[cowbeepbeep]

Hi there! Good thread to find.

I just submitted my passport copies and photos on Monday and now I am awaiting my COPR. I'm excited and looking forward to following y'all's adventures and sharing mine!

 

[canada_eagle]

We opened our TD account while on vacation in Charlottetown!

. I guess you are trying to go to Toronto/Ottawa though right?

 

[tjsecondtry]

. I guess you are trying to go to Toronto/Ottawa though right?

Probably our only hope for ITA is through OINP, so yes. We had been trying to get jobs in PEI, but have given up on that.

 

[tjsecondtry]

There is a fantastic 2 bedroom at Bloor and Yonge available Dec 4. It says it's $3200. I wish I needed to be there in December, lol. To share with someone at @1600 each would be a good deal.

 

[JERiv]

So I called my parents (ex-Sarah Palin groupies (#sad), now huge Trump fanatics (#evensadder)) yesterday to let them know we're extremely likely to move to Canada next year. We decided to give them some time to process it before we get there today for Thanksgiving and spend the night with the rest of the family.

That was a true load off of my chest.

There was a lot of silence on their end, but they didn't really say anything negative outright. About the only thing was that when I said "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but we were afraid you might overreact" (again, they're Trump/O'Reilly/Breitbart/Fox News fanatics) they replied with a scoff (my mom) and an incredulous "Us overreact?!?" (my dad) with clear implication that we are the ones overreacting by moving.

We've been in TX for 10 years now. Even before the election, we were thinking of moving somewhere. But just wanting change isn't really a good enough reason for them. I know they disapprove, but I always knew they would, regardless of where we went. And I knew that saying "Canada" would drive them up an ideological wall.

I will readily admit that we want to move because we're done with the all of the conservative politics, gun extremism, ridiculous heat, and overt religiousness here in TX. But those are the exact reasons why they themselves like it here. They were never really going to understand why we'd want to move. IMO, lack of empathy, compassion, and understanding are defining characteristics of conservatives in the US nowadays. At least of the ones we know personally.

Thankfully, my wife's side of the family is extremely supportive.

Regardless of how they finally take it, we've already made our decision. At this point we're just going through the motions until we finally make the jump. Which we're very, very exited about.

We'll see how they act when we're there. I'm good as long as I get some turkey (my mom's a great cook)! I just have to make sure my MIL (who is also going) doesn't get into a fight with my parents or brother. She's as far left as they are far right. It was fun when one of my brother's guests started a conversation about how slavery was justified and was good for blacks in America. And by "fun" I mean I ran outside before the blood started to flow.

I told my wife I'm going to finish every sentence with 'eh' while I'm there, and ask them if they want to see my Justin Trudeau tattoo (I don't have one). But she shut me down.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[tjsecondtry]

I hope things went as well as you could hope today.

So I called my parents (ex-Sarah Palin groupies (#sad), now huge Trump fanatics (#evensadder)) yesterday to let them know we're extremely likely to move to Canada next year. We decided to give them some time to process it before we get there today for Thanksgiving and spend the night with the rest of the family.

That was a true load off of my chest.

There was a lot of silence on their end, but they didn't really say anything negative outright. About the only thing was that when I said "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but we were afraid you might overreact" (again, they're Trump/O'Reilly/Breitbart/Fox News fanatics) they replied with a scoff (my mom) and an incredulous "Us overreact?!?" (my dad) with clear implication that we are the ones overreacting by moving.

We've been in TX for 10 years now. Even before the election, we were thinking of moving somewhere. But just wanting change isn't really a good enough reason for them. I know they disapprove, but I always knew they would, regardless of where we went. And I knew that saying "Canada" would drive them up an ideological wall.

I will readily admit that we want to move because we're done with the all of the conservative politics, gun extremism, ridiculous heat, and overt religiousness here in TX. But those are the exact reasons why they themselves like it here. They were never really going to understand why we'd want to move. IMO, lack of empathy, compassion, and understanding are defining characteristics of conservatives in the US nowadays. At least of the ones we know personally.

Thankfully, my wife's side of the family is extremely supportive.

Regardless of how they finally take it, we've already made our decision. At this point we're just going through the motions until we finally make the jump. Which we're very, very exited about.

We'll see how they act when we're there. I'm good as long as I get some turkey (my mom's a great cook)! I just have to make sure my MIL (who is also going) doesn't get into a fight with my parents or brother. She's as far left as they are far right. It was fun when one of my brother's guests started a conversation about how slavery was justified and was good for blacks in America. And by "fun" I mean I ran outside before the blood started to flow.

I told my wife I'm going to finish every sentence with 'eh' while I'm there, and ask them if they want to see my Justin Trudeau tattoo (I don't have one). But she shut me down.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[mgnlky]

I told my wife I'm going to finish every sentence with 'eh' while I'm there, and ask them if they want to see my Justin Trudeau tattoo (I don't have one). But she shut me down. !

...is it bad I hope you did this anyways when your wife wasn't around?

 

[moose17]

@JERiv , I read your post to my husband and he was like "yep, yep, YEP, (the slavery part)" so you might say we can relate (though no one's defended slavery around us at least)! How did Thanksgiving go with the family?

We always do Friendsgiving but the way it works is it's a bunch of our college friends and all of their parents who are all friends so we didn't want to say anything about the move in case of unwanted parental opinions (they all hate Trump but that doesn't always mean not getting crap for the move) and generally causing any sort of to-do at basically someone else's event. We'll see the friends tonight again but at our house so we'll tell them then. Fingers crossed!

Was anyone else enjoying the thought of our next Thanksgiving being in 11 months instead of 12?