Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Canada	I wish I would have known...	Yeah I'm really thinking about that now... I'll definitely have a talk with Chris about it, and IF I find work one of these days, I guess we'd still be able to save money for a house...	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-04-13 09:28:00
Canada	I wish I would have known...	Thanks SapphireDreams, that was actually very constructive... I like the idea of taking it a step at a time... When you put it down that way, it doesn't seem like such a burden...	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-04-13 09:21:00
Canada	I wish I would have known...	Hahaha. Way to be supportive, K and T! Vero, I feel your pain. The first year here, for me, was so difficult. It's funny how the US seems to be much like Canada... and yet couldn't be any different. I've been here almost 5 years, now, and it does get easier. Now I love it. Except I still miss my family and friends. Luckily, I get to see them quite regularly so that eases the burden quite a bit. Hang in there, Vero. It does get better. Thanks, you're the best! hey, I have been here for about 6 years now and I still have days when I wonder why I moved here .. especially now that my little sis has her first boyfriend and calls him babe .. I still picture her as a 9/10 year old girl Gosh, I hear ya, my sister just had a baby last year, and my brother too (well, his girlfriend)... I feel like I'm missing all the important parts, like the first word, the first everything really...	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-04-13 09:01:00
Canada	I wish I would have known...	Thanks Valerie78 and Canadiandggal, big hugs, you've made me feel more 'normal' in the 5 minutes in took me to read your posts than I've felt in the last 2 months!!!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-04-13 08:41:00
Canada	I wish I would have known...	Thanks Barbara J and Damian&Kelly, it's nice to know that some people have had the same frustrations as I have and have come out of it stronger. Moving out of state seems like such a big move right now though... Chris just found security in his line of work, and with this economy, I don't blame him for not wanting to move and take a chance somewhere else. The way he sees it is that at least he has a job right now...	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-04-13 08:37:00
Canada	I wish I would have known...	Hi everyone, I've been debating whether or not I should post this, but really, nobody in my life really could understand me like all of you. You've all been through this immigration stuff, or are about to, and I guess some people might relate. The first thing I'd like to say is that I am happy with my husband, and in the grand scheme of things, I'm glad I moved here so we could be together. But... Man, some days I hate it here!!! One of the main thing is that I've been looking for work since January, only had 5 possible interviews and 2 that were worth going for. I was very naive thinking that since I'm canadian, people wouldn't be prejudice, but I've come to the conclusion that people here are prejudice. I can understand that it would be a leap of faith for them to hire me since all my work experience has been in Quebec, a place that for some people here seems as far as Botswana (no harm intended). But I was hoping for a little more open-mindedness... I'm 27 years old, my savings are gone, and I don't have a job. I feel like the biggest loser. I would have such a great job back home! All my friends have either houses, families, nice cars, a LIFE basically... And here I am, at home, doing not much, trying the best I can to find work. Seems like the only thing lined up right now is making biscuits at Hardee's... I could have a job tomorrow, doing retail, but I've kept two jobs while going to school so I wouldn't have to EVER do retail again. Here I am though, back to square one!!! So frustrating!!! And it's not like I can talk to my family about it, because I'm sure that in the back of their mind, they're waiting for this to happen so they can tell me "told you so!" And I really don't blame them! Second thing, Chris and I are living with his parents until we can buy a house. I don't see the point of renting something for 1000$ a month, when we could be saving money to buy our own place. Plus, we have a dog, and a lot of places don't accept dogs. His parents are great, and I can't say that enough. But at the same time, I want my OWN place. I don't want to have my life limited to a room, and feel like I can't really do what I want because it's not my house. It gets hard on us, and it affects several things of our married life (read between the lines...) But that's not gonna happen until I find a job!!! (catch 22, anyone?) Also, I'm having a hard time dealing with some people here. I don't know if it's specific to the south, but people here are kind of ignorant (again, no harm intended, I'm venting here). The way women are treated here makes me furious! And some women make it worse for themselves!!! I feel like I moved back in time to 1984! And most people are pretty racist! And this f*cking mentality that because "I'm American" I'm entitled to cheap gasoline, and who cares about the environment anyways, let me throw my trash out of my car window... Oh and let me go to the TT bar for lunch because women are meant to be looked at and used and do my laundry and clean my house. I feel like I can't have a meaningful conversation with anyone without it going back to Jersey Shore after 5 minutes... I miss home like crazy, miss my people... I don't really have any friends here that I met on my own... And some of Chris' friend's girlfriend worry to much about their nails and hair for me to give a cr*p... I wish someone would have told me how hard this was gonna be. I thought it'd be easy to adapt and find work... Turns out I should have saved enough money to pay my bills for like a year and a half! What an idiot I was!!! Sorry again if I offended anyone, but I really don't know what to do or think at this point, was this a big mistake?	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-04-13 08:09:00
Canada	K1 Packet 3	When I received mine over a year ago, it was sent through regular mail. No signature required! Hope this helps!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-09 14:09:00
Canada	EAD?	Thanks for the info guys, just trying to get a game plan together for when the time comes, hoping not to forget any thing ( ssn, EI EAD, AOS....) I know that some people have been able to get EI from Canada even though they were here in the States but they needed their EAD card to start getting payments... Just a thought!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-10 14:27:00
Canada	Finally - citizen interview in July	Congratulations! And may I say, wow! you're up early! Best of luck and congratulations again!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-12 06:45:00
Canada	tax returns	When is your interview? If it's not tomorrow, get your fiance to get them. I know it's a hassle, but you don't want to be put in AP for something like that... I gave them 3 years worth and they kept them all as well... Plus, you'll need them for your AOS anyways, might as well get it over with now if you have time...	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-13 14:20:00
Canada	Canadian 180 days exceptions	He's living with his uncle and working for him as well, so yeah, we are worried about that. But thank you so much for that advice, and sharing your experience. I am planning on visiting him a bunch, but never knew that it was this difficult for him to visit the US. Well, it really isn't when you think about it. It's just a matter of staying calm, having enough documents to prove you'll be back ( and more importantly the mood the officer is in, hahaha). Also, think "intention without reservations", basically think it will be ok and it will be ok. What about his uncle writing a letter? You could also have your boyfriend photocopy his uncle's bio info page on his passport to show the officer that it's a real person and what not... Are you guys thinking about going through a visa of some sort?	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-14 13:10:00
Canada	Canadian 180 days exceptions	Yeah, this was the first time that either one of us have been in this situation, and so we didn't even think about it, and when he said he was going home he said that because its where we had a life together. We both feel like if he didn't say that, he would have been allowed in. But thems the breaks! Is it best if he just hangs out in Canada for at least four months before even thinking about coming back over? Well, like Flames said, it's entirely up to the officer. I don't think that in this situation it's the time that matters but more the ties to Canada. He could be trying in 6 months again and bring nothing with him and they could deny him. I spent 180 days in the US and then was gone for more than 6 months. When I flew for a visit, the officer was skeptical and wanted to see our visa documents, wanted to see my return tickets, asked me all kinds of questions about how we met and stuff like that. I had with me: a letter from my employer saying when I was expected back to work, last 4 pay stubs, credit card bills, loan payment agreement, our visa documents (what we had so far) and my return ticket. I didn't have a cell-phone and I lived with my parents, so I didn't have these types of ties. Anyways, it all boils down to the officer and what kind of day he/she's having and how many and how strong his ties are to Canada. Good luck!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-14 09:52:00
Canada	POE - personal belongings value	Thank you everyone for taking time to reply. Much appreciated Have a good POE by the way! I had written down every single item in each luggage in case I was asked for it (i was flying), but that never came up during my POE.	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-13 14:24:00
Canada	One Month to go	Hi! Good luck, even though I'm sure it'll all be fine! Enjoy Montreal while you're there! You can go up Mount Royal, take a long walk, you get a beautiful view of the city from up there. Will you guys have a car of will you be using the metro? There's an IMAX theatre in the old part of Montreal, that might be fun too if they have a good movie playing. A city is best explored by foot, so wear comfortable shoes, and shop around! Watch yourself on St-Laurent close to St-Catherine's, that's a dirty spot... Good luck with everything!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 12:30:00
Canada	Canuck Riots	Yep Kimbear, remember when the Canadians won the cup in 1994? How bad was it then?	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-16 14:42:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Sorry, wasn't trying to scare you about it. I just wanted you to be aware of it as many companies go this route, but will also take applications from people not interviewing via agencies. I ran into one of those situations where it all just went to #######. Nah, you're ok, I was glad that you said something because I would have never thought of asking Ajilon questions about it. I did today, and I'll be eligible to be hired with the actual company I work for after 700 hours with no fine for them. Thank you for the heads-up, I tend to be naive with a lot of things, and I need someone to bring me back to reality a lot of times! Congrats SapphireDreams!!! What kind of work do you do?	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-16 14:39:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Good, you guys are very reassuring! I'll be enjoying my last two days of doing nothing! I think that as much as I hated it some days, I'll miss it too!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-16 06:20:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	I signed with Ajilon for them to find me a job. I was never going to work there. They would make their money off me, by placing me in a certain job. The problem that I encountered was that I had discovered the job I ended up getting on my own, so I didn't see much value in even bothering with their service. My employer was very happy to hire me, without having to pay the headhunter fee. Ajilon accused me and the company of essentially colluding to avoid having to pay that fee. Ahhh ok... What a mess... I'll be contacting the woman from Alijon tomorrow to have more details on my particular situation. But at the same time, I think the company I'll be working for is aware of the deal with Alijon and what not. We'll see what happens!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 18:24:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Congrats on getting the job :-) Thanks!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 14:29:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Sorry, I should have been clearer. That was the fee that Ajilon was charging the company to place employees there. Essentially, they sign you to a contract and the company that wants to hire you is paying them to break that contract. Ah ok... Were you a temporary employee for Ajilon? Sounds like I might not have that job for long then, I doubt they'll want to pay when push comes to shove... I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there...	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 13:43:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	congrats... glad to see someone finally got a job.. I hope to have your luck at the end of the year YAY Go party !! When it's time, let me know, I'll get on the fingers and toes crossing duty!!! For my job, it was only a $4,000 fee. What??? 4,000$ that you had to pay??? That's insane!!!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 13:28:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Congrats! Well done! Now you can relax for a couple of days! Yeah I know, my tanning/reading days are over!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 12:30:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	That is AWESOME!!!!!! Well done, you!!! The employer pays the agency a finders' fee. Usually about 30% of the annual salary of the employee. Oh, gosh I was worried I'd have to pay something!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 11:42:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Got the job! I start on Monday, 8:30 to 5:30, Monday to Friday! Gosh I'm so happy! FINALLY things are falling into place!!! Thank you Karma! And thanks everyone for the cheers and pep talk!!!! I think this deserve a 32 oz Margarita from the neighborhood's mexican restaurant!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 10:47:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	I thought u said someone from Canada?? Good luck Hahaha, no harm intended! Don't be mad! Let's not get all political, hahaha	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 09:08:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Oh. My. God!!! So I got a call this morning at 9:20, and it was the woman from the staffing agency. They (the people I met yesterday) wanted me to speak to someone from Canada at 9:30. I was thinking "how much screening do you need to do?!?"... Just got off the phone with him, he was nice, from Quebec, so we spoke in French and it went really well. He said he was going to put a good word in for me. Back to waiting, again, hopefully the next time I post on here it will be with good news!!!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 08:56:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	It went really well!!! At least I think! I'll e-mail the people I met yesterday to thank them and what not, and I'll contact the woman from the staffing agency to see if she got any feedback from them yesterday... It's back to waiting I guess!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-15 07:39:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Be careful with Ajilon. I have personally had a horrible time with them over their placement fees. I had applied for a job, then was contacted by Ajilon a few weeks later. They sent me on a couple of interviews, but I noticed that one was for a company I had already interviewed for. I notified them and thought nothing more of it. I ended up getting the job that I had applied to before, and Ajilon threatened to sue the company for circumventing them and hiring me out. My boss had shown them the timestamps on all our correspondances, that predated any contact with Ajilon by nearly 4 weeks, but they pursued the lawsuit anyways. Hahaha, nice, just my luck.... What kind of placement fees are we talking about here? Do you remember?	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-14 19:34:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Well well... I was actually on here at around 11:00 when the phone rang, and it was them and they wanted to see me at noon! Just got back from what I think was a successful interview! Same kind of questions, but there were two people at one point and then they asked for a man (that would be my supervisor) to come and join us. They were pretty laid back as well, and I used my magical "3 reasons to work there" question again, scored some more points, that's right that's right! And now, back to waiting... It would be horrible if I didn't get the job after making such a big deal about it on here! Oh well, too bad, you guys have the wonderful job of being my U.S. morale support! I'll keep ya'll posted!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-14 13:06:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Well, step one completed! It was really short! I was expecting to be on the phone for at least 20 minutes, but it was done in less than 15. She was asian and I had a hard time understanding her. But I think it went well, she asked me if I had any questions for her and I asked "what are your 3 favorite things about working for the company', and she said wow, good question to ask, and I was thinking Score! I also spoke to someone French, to make sure I did speak French! Oh, and she asked me when I could start and what not. I then called the staffing agency, and they were about to follow up with them. She told me she'd let me know if they wanted to meet with me or what not... Gosh, hopefully they liked me and I get a call back! The staffing agency is called Ajilon, I had never heard of it before...	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-14 09:41:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	It feels good to help the widdle people,lol!!! I know you will kick butt!! I offer 1 other bit of advice---it is something I never do-----THINK--before you engage the mouth,lol!! But seriously, many think one has to answer the questing in like 0.5 seconds, I do not think that's true!! Engage brain(oh I wish I had 1) take a breath and sound confident!! You can do it!!! The recruiting company would not let you go forward and embarrass them if you were a rambling idiot like me!! You Can do it!!!!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-14 06:16:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	I don't often give these tips out, but I'm in a good mood-----Do NOT go partying hard tonight!!!! Sounding hung over for phone interviews is not a good idea!! Good luck Hahaha, no I don't party hard during the week, I'll be a good girl!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-13 18:00:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Alright, phone interview tomorrow morning, if I sound good enough for them, face-to-face interview in the afternoon, and if I look good enough for them, start work on Wednesday! A little nervous you can say...	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-13 16:32:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Good luck -it's nice when you find a job that seems written just for your qualifications . I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you too. Thanks! It would be great if it worked out! I hate the wait though, I just want to know already!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-13 14:25:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	practice makes perfect!! Good luck!! Thanks!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-13 14:17:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	The interview was actually with a staffing agency, and if all goes well I should get an interview with the actual company this week... Oups! And here I was yesterday rehearsing interview questions and what not! Hahaha! I guess I'll keep on knocking and crossing!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-13 12:05:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	OH YAY!!! I will even keep my eyes crossed for you!!! Hahahah! Thanks everyone! We're gonna drive there today to make sure I don't get lost tomorrow! Can't wait to see what happens!!!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-12 06:46:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Thanks everyone! I just hope this works out! Finally some hope after almost 6 months of nothing! I'll definitely let ya'lll know!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-10 14:25:00
Canada	Knocking on wood and crossing fingers and toes!	Alright, I hope I'm not gonna jinx myself but I can't stop smiling and am too excited and can't contain myself!!! Yesterday, a woman e-mailed me after seeing my resume on Monster, and she works for a temp work firm. They have a client that is looking for someone who is bilingual in French and English for customer service, business to business! I mean, what are the chances of that, right here in good 'Ol Central Virginia!!! So I have an interview on Monday at 10:00, and I have to nail this one! Gosh, I think I will cry if I get it! So many problems would be solved if I were to get this job!!! So knock on wood with me, cross every body parts that can be crossed, and hopefully it'll be celebration time next week! P.S. Ladies, what should I wear? Nah... I think I'm ok with that part!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-10 10:45:00
Canada	Exciting News!!	Wow, that is great news!!! Seems like everything is working out in the end! Congrats!!! Make sure when you're looking for a house that you buy a house that feels like 'home', not just a house that's new, and might not have any issues... I'd rather buy a house with things to work on where I can see myself living than a house that is perfect but just doesn't feel right... But that's quite obvious I guess Hope you guys find the perfect place for your family! Great news again!	Vero and Chris	Female	Canada	2011-06-19 10:34:00