ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Canadaone more question....please

thanx kitkat....i check into that!!!

caladan...i might call them, but it says on the sheet only communicate via email/fax...i've already sent them and email.

I will post any info on here that I get.


You're going through Vancouver, right? I had a hard time getting them to respond to e-mails, so I called (using the number listed under "Embassy Info", extension 234) and they were very friendly.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-06 09:40:00
Canadaone more question....please
Why not give the consulate a call?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-05 22:18:00
CanadaOH NO, Its too late!
Awww, what a sweetie.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-07 18:29:00
Canadaimmunization records, what is required?
C. was told the records were only kept for seven years (also Albertan), so he just had the blood titres taken. I think he may have even had that done on the day of the medical. Easy fix.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-08 09:26:00
CanadaCanadian Grocery List....

Aren't Shreddies just called All-Bran here?

NOT THE SAME PRODUCT!!!!


Haha, didn't actually taste them while in Canada. C. just showed them to me (and then I ate the best cereal on the planet, mini-wheats.)
CaladanMaleCanada2007-03-01 19:15:00
CanadaCanadian Grocery List....
Aren't Shreddies just called All-Bran here?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-03-01 14:05:00
CanadaPeace Bridge POE?
Yeah, lol, that was my old thread. We hadn't called Peace Bridge at that point.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-12 11:19:00
CanadaPeace Bridge POE?
C. called and they said they'd give the EAD stamp for a K-1. Like Detroit, they expressed surprise that anyone would think differently.

Methinks the lefthand knows not what the right hand stamps. Anyone been through Peace Bridge recently who can confirm or deny this?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-11 14:47:00
CanadaCanadian Pizza Question
New Haven's pizza is almost all independent, Little Italy apizza or really good independent thin crust places. Needless to say, I'm spoiled, and the chain restaurants in Edmonton can't even come close. (East Side Mario's is probably the most ridiculous chain ever.)

I'd bet it probably varies regionally, though. I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a good pizza in the bigger cities.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-13 08:45:00
CanadaFrustrated
After we announced that we were engaged, my father discussed nothing with me but my dissertation topic for about four months. Never acknowledged C., never acknowledged I was engaged, changed the subject when I brought it up.

Parents are weird. They'll come around.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-14 22:30:00
CanadaThings You Wish You'd Thought of Before You Crossed the Border
Wow! Thanks. This is a great list.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-04-04 13:10:00
CanadaThings You Wish You'd Thought of Before You Crossed the Border
C. will be moving down (not soon enough!) soon, and we're trying to ensure that we have as smooth a transition as possible into AOS and our life here.

I'm trying to gather a list of things -- paperwork, mostly -- that we will need once he's here, things that might slip through the cracks on a first pass, or that you didn't think of until later.

For example: the paperwork indicating that his car is up to American emissions standards. Not something I would have thought of had I not read it here.

Anything like that? Anything that you found that you needed and wished that you'd done that/ordered the copy/etc before leaving Canada?

Thanks!
CaladanMaleCanada2007-04-03 15:16:00
CanadaPOE Peace Bridge
Things that annoy:
2500 mile drives across Canada. Saskatchewan has not invented reflective paint on the roads.

Things that annoy more:
2500 mile drives across Canada that do not culminate in getting a temporary EAD stamp.

Things, however, that do not annoy:
Efficient CBP officials.

Crossed with minimal difficulties yesterday (n.b. do not cross on holiday weekends unless you want to be surrounded by petulant tourists.) We had about a half hour wait before the CBP dude came out and pulled us from door #1 to door #3, and it took about another hour from there to get processed and import C.'s car, which we did with no problems thanks to the lovely info here. I wasn't allowed to come up to the window.

CBP dudes insisted that they do not give out stamps, no one ever gives out stamps, told me, "you can't trust that Internet, the information could be five years old", which is when I pointed out that was why I'd telephoned five border crossings INCLUDING THEIRS WHICH TOLD ME THEY DID IT. The guy was nice and checked with his supervisor, and they told us more or less what we'd heard from Sweetgrass: CBP can't give out EAD stamps, "INS" has to do it, and "we used to be able to but then we were rolled up into Homeland Security."

"Had we been told that, we would have crossed at Sweetgrass and not driven across Canada with the higher gas prices. Detroit said anyone could do it."

"Detroit does things weird," he says. He also noted that I seemed to be unusually well-informed.

Not enough to get the stamp, alas. I suspect it might depend on who you get there that day. Anyhow, the guy told us it would only take two weeks to process the EAD (ha frickin ha) which was the point where I figured that I probably knew more about this process than he did. Not that that reflects badly on the CBP dude, of course, because there's so many different agencies involved.

C. will probably go to Hartford and see what we can get worked out.

But all in all, we're over the border, the car didn't break down, and it's all pretty good.

Happy Memorial Day, peeps.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-05-26 09:56:00
CanadaAOS Medical...
Okay, so what we need to track down is just the vaccination record, not the full check-your-nuts medical?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-07 08:58:00
CanadaAOS Medical...
C. obviously had the medical exam for the K-1. He didn't get any documentation from Dr. Chana's in Edmonton, though, and all of the medical information that was in our K-1 packet went onto Hartford.

We need to fill out the I-693 now and have it certified by a surgeon here. I have that, but I'm wondering how I get the information from the medical. Has anyone had any luck requesting a copy from the original doctor?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-07 08:43:00
CanadaWe Have Conquered the EAD Stamp
Yeah, we know. No way around it because of scheduling the church wedding and needing him here now to take care of the pre-cana wedding stuff with the church, unfortunately. But C. works for a seismic exploration firm, and he basically drills holes and handles dynamite, and they work in contracts, basically. So it shouldn't be a problem for him to work the rest of this month (they start next week) till the wedding, then through August, then take a couple months off, then return to work. (He's working for a different branch of the same firm that he did in Canada, so they're used to him, and used to their employees needing time off.)
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-07 08:01:00
CanadaWe Have Conquered the EAD Stamp
We won't be doing the whole AOS thing until we get married, which isn't for another seven weeks or so. But oh, the thrill and joy of filling out forms all over again. I can't wait to fill out the G-325A, it's like lollies at the circus.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-07 06:55:00
CanadaWe Have Conquered the EAD Stamp
Tackled C. and made him tell me more. Terminal E, "International Arrivals", "it's an office on the side when you go in."
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-06 19:25:00
CanadaWe Have Conquered the EAD Stamp
EAD's good till the expiration of your I-94. They just stamp it on the back.

I didn't go with C. and he's not the best with directions, but he said "it's right there when you go in."
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-06 19:19:00
CanadaWe Have Conquered the EAD Stamp
Our story:
If you've been following along, you know we've been desperate to get an EAD stamp because C. has a job offer and we enjoy having money. And you'll know that we were driving down, crossed at Peace Bridge, and did not get a stamp.

Yesterday, C. went to an Infopass appointment at the USCIS local office in Hartford. It only took a day to get an appointment. He was in search of an EAD stamp, and Peace Bridge had told us to go to Hartford. I suspect they were just punting us along at that point.

When C. arrived at Hartford, they apologized and told him that they couldn't give the stamp because that had to be done at a port, but that if he drove to Boston's Logan Airport, they could give him a stamp. "We send people all the time" the lady says. We call JFK to see if they can do something similar as Kennedy's a little closer from here. They can't. So we call Boston and they say, "Sure."

Today:
C. drives three hours to Boston. Parks at the airport, goes up to the immigration office, hands the officer his passport, officer asks "you want the stamp, right?", officer stamps it as employment authorized. Total time: 2 minutes. "There aren't many of the ports that can give the stamp, but some can do it after the fact if you didn't get the stamp."

Conclusions for Canadian (and other) VJers:
If you're near enough to Boston to make it worth the effort, get yer EAD stamp from there, even if you entered somewhere else. (617) 588-1810 ext. 2310. They're open M-F from 8am to 3pm.

Not near Boston? I'd recommend making an Infopass appointment; your local office might have an idea what to do.

Alternatively:

Carve the stamp out of a potato, or use one of those stamps you can get at a public library, get yerself some red ink, go to work. ;) It's not that fancy of a stamp that they can't afford it.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-06 17:25:00
CanadaVaccination Supplement
Sorry, my bad with the terminology.

No luck with getting a copy. Grrrrrrr.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-13 16:40:00
CanadaVaccination Supplement
I want the results from the titres he had done in January so he doesn't have to get them redone *now* in order to have the Vaccination Supplement completed. C. has no records of his childhood vaccinations, so we had the titres done at the medical to prove that he had been vaccinated. Since we don't have a copy of those, we can't have the surgeon transfer them.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-13 11:21:00
CanadaVaccination Supplement
We're running into a bit of a problem. C. had the blood titres done for the interview, but the doctor there never gave him a copy, just a sealed envelope with the results, which he took back to the civil surgeon. The blood titre place will not give C. his records; they'll only release them to a physician.

The civil surgeon will not now release the results of the blood titres to C. because they're 'the property of the U.S. government', not C.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how we might wriggle a copy of his vaccination records out of these guys? Our thought is perhaps to find the local civil surgeon here, and have *him* request the records from the blood titre place.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-12 22:09:00
CanadaI'm a leavin! On a jet plane...
Vancouver's easy. Except you'll probably get rained on. Have fun!
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-10 08:23:00
CanadaMedical -- Edmonton area
Thank you! This really does help!

$220 Canadian? Yeesh. I hope it comes with a free wax & detail job. ;)
CaladanMaleCanada2006-11-21 10:52:00
CanadaMedical -- Edmonton area
Thanks!

Yeah, I've warned him. Going to poke around in his pokey places.
CaladanMaleCanada2006-11-11 11:31:00
CanadaMedical -- Edmonton area
We can't get the interview letter until we send in the checklist, but according to my fiancé, having completed the medical is part of the checklist. Am I misinformed?
CaladanMaleCanada2006-11-11 09:07:00
CanadaMedical -- Edmonton area
Anyone here been get their medical done in Edmonton?


I have a few questions:

1) How long did it take to schedule the appointment? Two weeks, two days?

2) I think my fiancé is going to need his immunizations done. Would you recommend getting them done at the medical, or prior to it in order to bring in proof?

3) Anything else helpful you can think of? Parking, time to wait, friendliness, length of exam, &c?

Thanks!
CaladanMaleCanada2006-11-10 19:41:00
CanadaThe 4 month extension
We had a similar situation, albeit with only our first extension. C. returned the checklist & form about six weeks after he received them, so our interview ended being two days after the NOA2 expired. They extend the validity at the interview; I guess their thinking is that the NOA2 needs to be valid for the visa to be valid, and since they're checking anyway, might as well just update it then.

In any case, you returned the original stuff within the four-month window, so the delay as far as the validity of the NOA2 is on their end in the long time it's taking to get an interview.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-22 08:46:00
CanadaHow well do you Know Canada
I got 11, but the only one I was really certain of was Lloydminster.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-21 21:50:00
Canadainterview tomorrow!
You'll be fine. The interview's the easy part.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-18 22:38:00
CanadaE-mail to the Montréal Consulate...
Happy Birthday! Hang in there, kiddo. Not much longer now.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-24 17:15:00
CanadaE-mail to the Montréal Consulate...
Good luck with the expedite request. I'm pretty sure they prioritize scheduling by when the checklist is returned, not the packet 3 date (why would they schedule you when you're not ready before other people who have returned everything?), so you might be out of luck since the delay in returning the checklist was on Réjean's end.

The medical issue might help, though, if they have a cancellation or something.

The fee increase sucks. Due to all of our wedding shenanigans, we'll probably be able to file August 4th or 5th but not by the end of July (wedding on the 20th, time to submit forms to the county, time to get the forms mailed to Connecticut, time to get the paperwork sent off puts us at around two weeks after the wedding, earliest.)
CaladanMaleCanada2007-06-05 14:11:00
Canadai can haz tax advice?
Thanks. He has to file as married for 2007, right, even though the money earned there was before we married.

Also, uh, if his employer is Canadian, he really doesn't need an EAD, does he? (We have one, but even so...)
CaladanMaleCanada2007-07-03 08:44:00
Canadai can haz tax advice?
Okay, so at the end of 2007, he's not going to owe taxes to Canada for anything in 2007 post his entry to the U.S.?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-07-02 17:18:00
Canadai can haz tax advice?
C. working for a Canadian company as a K-1 authorized to work. Since he worked for them before, they just issued his paycheck in Canadian funds and took out all of the Canadian taxes under his SIN and all the rest.

Now, obviously, since we're in the U.S., they have to cut us a new check in American funds because I am neither sitting on a check for six weeks for it to clear or having Bank of America charge us a fee....

But C. will still owe taxes to Canada, right? So should I have them withhold his Canadian taxes or his American ones? They've had him fill out a W-4 and he has his SSN, but I'm wondering if it might be better for him to stay 'Canadian' with this employer.

Anyone else in a similar boat? Anyone have a link to a decent summary about how taxes work with a couple that's straddling a border?
CaladanMaleCanada2007-07-02 15:09:00
CanadaWhat if the USC has a criminal record ...
That's right. The background on the petitioner's record is done during the filing of the I-129F, and it's just the Walsh stuff and the IMBRA stuff. And as near as anyone can tell, the U.S. citizen having an IMBRA-related conviction doesn't hold up the visa. All it means is that the consulate will ensure that you know of his past if he'd say, been convicted of domestic violence.

So relax. :) They're not going to care who visited whom. And you're not the one with the past. He is, and he's American, so he's already our problem, so to speak. ;)
CaladanMaleCanada2007-07-04 07:38:00
CanadaHow the HECK do I get my immunization record?
If you can, arrange for the titres on your own; don't have the doctor you see for the medical do them. Why? Because if the doctor who does the medical orders the titres, the titires, as C. and I just discovered, count as the property of the U.S. government, which means you won't get a copy.

Which means when it comes time to adjust status, you'll have to get them re-done all over again because you won't have anything written down that says you've had the medical exam with vaccinations. So if you can get them done somewhere independently so you're the owner of your records, I'd recommend that.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-07-04 22:51:00
CanadaSicko

homesick american, if your mom had been here in the U.S. without insurance, she just would have died or bankrupted her family trying to get treatment.


Rubbish. :lol:


You're independently wealthy then?

I grew up without insurance. Just confirming the diagnosis would run you into tens of thousands of dollars. Without treatment. My parents still don't have adequate insurance and they're in their 50s. I'm just hoping I'm not the one that has to pull the plug or sell their house.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-07-09 09:04:00
CanadaSicko
I don't think the questioner was intending to be mean, just expressing shock that Georgia's income taxes seem to be so high. ($16K usually means you'd owe about $51.)

homesick american, if your mom had been here in the U.S. without insurance, she just would have died or bankrupted her family trying to get treatment.

That's where the difference is usually. If you have good insurance in the U.S., you're probably fine. If you don't have any, be prepared to go into debt. The comparison isn't between people who have good health insurance and the UK. It's the 60 million who would say, 'gee, that cancer treatment could save my life? do I sell my house or drain my kid's college fund?' that a UHS would be good for. Presumably an UHS wouldn't outlaw private insurance that could cover expensive treatments.
CaladanMaleCanada2007-07-08 15:24:00