Hi! Just wanted to share what we've found since arriving in Canada at the end of March and I also have a question I'm hoping someone can answer.
We flew into Vancouver from NZ and my husband entered as a visitor on his UK passport. We explained that his PR application was submitted in December and had no problems entering Canada. They stamped his passport to stay as a visitor for 6 months. I had to wait a while at customs while they processed my form for our stuff arriving later by sea. We bought 3 months of travel insurance before we left NZ. We spent some time in Vancouver and Calgary looking for jobs. I was able to get a drivers license in BC using my parents address. We also bought a car in BC (again using my parents address). We drove to San Francisco to pick up our dogs who flew from NZ. No problems getting into the US or back into Canada. Strangely they didn't stamp my husband's passport when he re-entered Canada, so I think his visitors visa is valid from the date we flew into Vancouver.
I ended up getting a job in Calgary, so I had to transfer my drivers license and the car from BC to Alberta. Now this worked out well for me because it turns out BC will accept an NZ drivers license but Alberta will not, so by getting a BC one first, I was able to just transfer my new BC license and avoid having to take a drivers test (something my husband will have to do after he gets PR). We also got Alberta health care, though my husband's has an expiry date (when his visitors visa expires). We used the CIC website to update our address and it's been updated on the website to a Calgary address for both of us. Our stuff arrived from NZ and we got it shipped to Calgary and cleared from customs.
My husband has had many job interviews and one (conditional) job offer in writing. I'm confident he will have his choice of jobs when his PR comes through.
Now hopefully PR will come soon, but I'm wondering if he should go ahead and apply for an IEC visa, just in case PR takes a long time, it may allow him to start work sooner. He is eligible for IEC on his NZ passport, but his PR is on his UK passport. He was going to apply for IEC from NZ, but got nervous when part of the application said that he must have intent to remain in Canada temporarily, and return to NZ at the end of the year. Does anyone know if he's eligible for IEC (with PR application pending) and if applying would be a problem for his PR application??? As I said, hopefully he won't have to use it, but the waiting is hard, and having some certainty of being able to work soon would be wonderful.
I am absolutely thrilled to be back in Canada after being away for 13 years!