Post Landing--What have you done so far?

[jancath410]

Hi,

I thought I should also start a thread for people who has landed already and what other process they had to go through as well and see if we can help each other out. My husband landed on October 14th at the Lewiston Border--he is a US Citizen. So far we have gotten his SIN, converted his Driver's license, applied for a Credit Card to start his credit record and opened up bank accounts. We are in the process of applying for OHIP, since we are in Ontario, and get a quote from a car insurance but we're are still waiting for a letter from his insurance from the US to show that he had a good standing. Any other thoughts?

 

[Dayanara]

We stopped at the nearest office we could on the way home to get his SIN, lol. We also went to get his license changed over to ON, however the person at the drive test facility was an idiot and that will be done this week instead (they thought NY state was a state she could not search for his driving record in the computer, and when we got home, turns out she could have.....grrrrr).

OHIP we have to wait for his new license to prove address, but we have a 3 month waiting period on that one, so no huge rush.

We have an appointment this week with RBC to get him a VISA to start establishing credit and set up some bank accounts (my mortgage and my parent's is through them and they have offered me free banking and a few other perks for him, yay).

He has been job hunting but no big bites so far. A few nibbles for jobs that were barely minimum wage and a hassle to get to since we only have one vehicle and he needs to take public transportation.

 

[scylla]

Husband (American) landed on October 5th.

Completed:
- Applied for SIN on the 5th (received the card last Thursday)
- He already has two bank accounts
- Added his SIN to his existing bank accounts

To Do:
- Add him to my primary bank account (will be done this week)
- Order cheques with both of our names for the above account
- Add his name to utilities bills (sometimes it's good to have bills with your name and address on them as proof of residence for library cards, etc.)
- Apply for OHIP (he'll be doing that next week once he has a copy of his bank statement showing our Toronto home as his address)
- Add him to my company's medical benefits plan (won't be able to do this until next year once he has OHIP)
- Obtain Ontario driver's licence
- Open a TFSA account to take advantage of tax free (will have to figure out how the heck this will be treated from a US tax standpoint)
- probably more that I'm missing..

 

[jancath410]

So can you just add someone's name on a utility bill? I know it's good to have for address verification for OHIP or would his driver's license be good enough?

 

[Dayanara]

So can you just add someone's name on a utility bill? I know it's good to have for address verification for OHIP or would his driver's license be good enough?

You need one thing from each of these columns:

http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/GetAttachDocs/014-9998E-82~1/$File/9998-82E.pdf

Edit - link not working properly, just copy and paste....and for the bills, the phone has to be a landline, we brought our Vonage phone bill and they would not accept it

 

[scylla]

Dayanara -

Thanks for providing the link. And you're right - they are very particular about having one piece of evidence from each of the three categories. No substitutions allowed! My husband gave it a try this morning without exactly meeting the criteria for column #2 and it was a complete no go. He's going to return next week once he has a mailed bank statement.

 

[jancath410]

Good to know! They would accept a driver's license for column 2, right?

 

[Dayanara]

Good to know! They would accept a driver's license for column 2, right?

As long as it shows current address and is not a temp.

I an Canadian and had my old licence (with the valid only for ID sticker) and the temp one with my new address and they would not accept that. I needed to change my OHIP card for name/address (I have one of the old red and white cards). It needs to be the official final product, no temps allowed they said (sadly mine came in the mail a day or so later of course).

 

[jancath410]

Ok. I'll tell my husband to wait for his D/L before applying for OHIP.

 

[MandiF]

To Do:
- Add him to my company's medical benefits plan (won't be able to do this until next year once he has OHIP)

Just thought you'd like to know that although I don't yet have PR through, I've been on my husband's Canadian Work medical plan for the last 3 months. Some companies may be different but they didn't have any problem putting me directly onto the plan.

 

[Misplaced Brit]

I too, am on my Husbands Canadian work medical plan, have been for the past 2 years or so. We're submitting our application later this week. Just waiting on our landlord to provide our rental agreements from the last four years.

 

[jancath410]

Question for those who landed already, specially the ones that crossed the Buffalo Border. Did you get photos and document's back?

 

[bobshynoswife]

My husband arrived on Sept 9. The next day we got his SIN and Alberta Health Care. Also got an Alberta ID card (similar to drivers licence). His Nigerian license is good for 90 and he just started driving lessons last week. When he's finished he will take the test and get a real driver's licence. Thankfully Nigeria is one of about 20 countries where you can just take the test and not have to start with a learner's permit.

He got a bank account at Pres Choice fFinancial and became joint with my account. He will need security funds for a credit card so we will probably do that in November.

Got a cell phone at Rogers, an iPhone4. He had to pay $169 for the phone and give a $100 deposit, but otherwise signed the contact based on his Nigerian passport and SIN.

Started seriously looking for jobs after being here for a month, and he has an interview with an Edmonton IT company on Friday morning. Jobs between $8-12 per hour are plentiful here, and he could get one anytime, but we have decided to wait, as my income is sufficient for us.

 

[Dayanara]

Question for those who landed already, specially the ones that crossed the Buffalo Border. Did you get photos and document's back?

Have not gotten anything back.

 

[HoneyBird]

My husband arrived on Sept 9. The next day we got his SIN and Alberta Health Care. Also got an Alberta ID card (similar to drivers licence). His Nigerian license is good for 90 and he just started driving lessons last week. When he's finished he will take the test and get a real driver's licence. Thankfully Nigeria is one of about 20 countries where you can just take the test and not have to start with a learner's permit.

Got a cell phone at Rogers, an iPhone4. He had to pay $169 for the phone and give a $100 deposit, but otherwise signed the contact based on his Nigerian passport and SIN.

How do you know which are the 20 countries. I want to find out about this. Also Great to hear about Rogers..i so want an Iphone! lol! Its about 6-7 thousand TT at home to buy.