Madmac

Tangram

Choose from the following:

1. I have a direct line to the secret head of the Canadian Immigration service
2. I'm part of the Scottish mafia and have incriminating photographs of important government officials
3. I'm a fantasist, living in a Walter Mitty world of my own deluded imagination

or

..and I quote: " ..Our PPR will be sent away this weekend to CHC...". Passport requests are the stage we are now at. We've been in this process for three years almost.

madmac

Rich_007

On the other hand relatives and culture may be the best thing to leave behind

Rich.

Hipster Contrarian

Ooh yes. The Incentive, I call it .



(Relatives-wise.)

(P.S. Is £30,000 really not enough, then? What if you won't be buying a car initially?)

stuartm

Personally i would have though that 30k was a reasonable float. As for a car, if id di buy one it would certainly be something very cheap and generally regarded as reliable (VW)

Saying that, i could just buy an Audi TT with the 30k and hope that impresess employers into giving me a job !!!

Hipster Contrarian

(I remember thinking how cheap cars were out there, but of course the insurance is AWFUL.)

£30,000 sounds pretty good to me too, although I wouldn't want to take much less than that. It would be interesting to hear what people who are already there think?

Biiiiink

Are they regarded as reliable here? They're made in Mexico not Wolfsburg iirc.

Madmac

But they make a great piñata!!

iaink

Ah, unfortunately VWs here are neither of those things.

Just doing the insurance thing today as it happens. 2 Cars, 2 drivers, long flawless records of canadian and UK history, cheap country location. $1450 for fully comp with $1M liability and $500 deductables I know I shouldnt grumble as thats cheap by newcommer standards, but it still pisses me off.

£30k is way more than I had when I arrived. You just have to cut your cloth according to your budget. Full EI here is only about $900 every two weeks, so think of it as 36 months to find a job that pays the bills, or else about 18 months income on a good salary after tax and deductions?

Obviously some has to go on furnishings and security deposits. If you really need a car (whick lets face it, is almost certain here) maybe lease a 2004 or something....reliable transport with minimal initial outlay, and it buys a couple of years to get established enough to make the payments on buying one next time.

scribe123

Sorry if I sound thick, but what does EI stand for?

Cheers

Chris

Judy in Calgary

Employment Insurance.

It used to be called Unemployment Insurance, so you'll still see some people referring to it as UI.

You didn't ask, but for those who don't know, another salary deduction is CPP, which stands for Canada Pension Plan.