2012 Quebec Inland Applicants

[QuebecOkie]

I totally feel your pain! I came to Canada with my husband in July. I haven't seen any of my family since, and I don't know when I will (trying to talk my sis into coming up here in the summer...who the hell wants to visit Northern Quebec in the winter?!?). I guess I'm lucky I got in at all. We know another couple (same thing, Canadian military member with American wife) who got to the border...and she was denied entry from the get-go! The border agent said, "We know you're not just visiting your husband. We know you're trying to move here on a visitor stamp, and it's not gonna happen." The guy who talked to me at the border was really nice, at least.

I REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY want to get into the full-time french program here, both because I NEEDS IT and because it would give some structure to my life. We didn't even bother applying for the OWP, because I'm unemployable here until I'm at least conversational in french. I called the Ministère de la Culture et des Communication, and when I selected the option for english, the representative answered in french. I said, "Uhm, bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?" She giggled and replied, "Parlez-VOUS français??" We cobbled together a conversation, and I *think* she said I am ineligible for the full-time program until I get PR, but I will be eligible for part-time courses once the hubby is approved as my sponsor. I think.

 

[Chickadee]

I totally feel your pain! I came to Canada with my husband in July. I haven't seen any of my family since, and I don't know when I will (trying to talk my sis into coming up here in the summer...who the hell wants to visit Northern Quebec in the winter?!?). I guess I'm lucky I got in at all. We know another couple (same thing, Canadian military member with American wife) who got to the border...and she was denied entry from the get-go! The border agent said, "We know you're not just visiting your husband. We know you're trying to move here on a visitor stamp, and it's not gonna happen." The guy who talked to me at the border was really nice, at least.

I REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY want to get into the full-time french program here, both because I NEEDS IT and because it would give some structure to my life. We didn't even bother applying for the OWP, because I'm unemployable here until I'm at least conversational in french. I called the Ministère de la Culture et des Communication, and when I selected the option for english, the representative answered in french. I said, "Uhm, bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?" She giggled and replied, "Parlez-VOUS français??" We cobbled together a conversation, and I *think* she said I am ineligible for the full-time program until I get PR, but I will be eligible for part-time courses once the hubby is approved as my sponsor. I think.

Wow! That guy who denied your friend handled things unprofessionally. I would call that abuse of power!

 

[Chickadee]

...I will be eligible for part-time courses once the hubby is approved as my sponsor. I think.

You better double check before you start any class. If you read the visitor permit carefully, it states in BLOCK letters "Prohibited from attending any educational institution..."
I would not dare mess with that.

 

[wilsonsdad]

Well, I guess I got it right about the hemmorroids. Bonjour.

 

[QuebecOkie]

Yeah, the class thing is confusing. Too long to bother typing out, but the way they word it, the admissibility info is very confusing. Oh well...just crossing my fingers that I'll get PR by the end of the year, or by January of next, and then I can catch the next round of classes. "Ici au Québec, on parle français!" Je sais, je sais! I want to, but I'm going to need some help. I started from scratch last summer, and it's slow-going for me.

DEFINITELY a raw deal for the guy's wife at the border! They're divorced now, anyhow, I'm told, so perhaps it was a sign? Haha! After hearing that story, though, I'm way too scared to risk my app for a visit to family until I have PR.

As soon as I have my PR card in hand, I'm getting a Canadian passport, and this 'Murican is going to CUBA to celebrate! :-D

 

[Chickadee]

Bonjour toi! How's your hemorrhoids today?

 

[Chickadee]

As soon as I have my PR card in hand, I'm getting a Canadian passport, and this 'Murican is going to CUBA to celebrate! :-D

Good luck with that!!!
I had such a hard time getting a Canadian passport that I ended up seeking American citizenship instead. (long story) I tell ya those Canadian bureaucrats are dense!!!

 

[wilsonsdad]

Piles....!!!! Hemmorthings!
I misspelled that word 3 times. I think it must be a french word. You know, with a lot of silent letters. I hope I don't have to take a french spelling test to get my PR card. If so, I'm screewd.
Oops!!!

 

[QuebecOkie]

I think most bureaucrats are allergic to humour! We actually had a funny customs US customs agent in Montreal, as we were leaving Quebec for Oklahoma after our HHT (house hunting trip). He was VERY dry, so it took me a minute to realize he was funny. He asked me if I was smuggling any okra (a disgusting veggie that most Oklahomans seem to love), and he offered to detain that "shady Canadian dude" who was following me (my husband). I was almost unable to joke with him, I was so shocked to have a customs agent actually making funnies with me.

Learning french is actually screwing up my english, haha! Some days I can barely type! One day, talking to my mom on the phone, I cast about in my mind for 15 or 20 seconds looking for the word "delicious." ("Yeah, ma, dinner was...it was...uhm...it was taste good? What the hell? What's the word? The grown up word for yummy?")

I'm actually nervous about not speaking french and immigrating to Quebec... I'm hoping that Quebec doesn't have the power to mess with my application because of it. I DO really want to learn french, and I'm trying, but it's hard. Both of my french teachers (it's a class through the military family resource center, so I can take that kind of under the radar) AND the tutor I've hired can attest to my level of desire to learn.

 

[Chickadee]

yeah! Now you are lost in the twilight zone midway between English and French! half Frenglish, half Enfrais

 

[QuebecOkie]

I call it "franglais."

 

[Chickadee]

I call it "franglais."

That's it!

 

[wilsonsdad]

The process is frustration and stressful. I am sorry about venting yesterday.

 

[QuebecOkie]

NO SORRIES! It is frustrating, and at times frightening. Venting is fine. It's not like you were being unrealistic or trying to freak me out ("Quebec will fight to get you deported, anglo scum!" hahaha!). Helps me to chat with others in the same boat. I don't feel quite as isolated and at sea. This is a hard posting for many anglos and their spouses...I have the additional challenge of not even being Canadian, and not being able to visit family. I just have my fingers crossed that he doesn't deploy or have any lengthy TDY (temp duty) assignments until I get PR. If he's gone for more than a month again, I'd REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY like to be able to go back to Oklahoma for a while to visit with friends and family there, instead of being here all alone.

 

[QuebecOkie]

Thanks for that info! I've bookmarked the page. What the MICC representative told me makes sense, then. The full-time french program for immigrants is a year-long program, so I would need PR before I am eligible for admission to that one. But there's a shorter, part-time course, as well, so I can apply for that one after AIP. We're waiting on the CSQ from MICC now, so perhaps it won't be that long.

Thanks again, jg84!