Sarnia, ON here we come!
Apr 9th 2008, 3:40 am
#1
rolling uphill
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Etobicoke, ON
Posts: 419
Sarnia, ON here we come!
I've been a bit quiet the last few days, as my wife and I have embarked on a marathon road trip (4,000 km) across the US from our former home in California, to our new life in Toronto. My Canadian wife accepted a job offer there, our stuff is being moved, and tomorrow we go through the border crossing at Sarnia.
We were going to apply for spousal PR before we moved, but we ran out of time for the medicals, so we'll have to apply from Toronto. We've got my police checks from both US and UK, as well as our original marriage certificate and both our passports, so there shouldn't be any problems at the border when my wife explains our situation.
I'll be posting about our experience as soon as I can. Wish us luck!
We were going to apply for spousal PR before we moved, but we ran out of time for the medicals, so we'll have to apply from Toronto. We've got my police checks from both US and UK, as well as our original marriage certificate and both our passports, so there shouldn't be any problems at the border when my wife explains our situation.
I'll be posting about our experience as soon as I can. Wish us luck!
Apr 14th 2008, 12:31 pm
#2
rolling uphill
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Etobicoke, ON
Posts: 419
Re: Sarnia, ON here we come!
We're now safely ensconced in a basement flat in Etobicoke (NW Toronto). It's more an upscale military bunker than living quarters, but hey ho, we're only here for 12 months.
The border crossing was simplicity itself. After getting pulled over by US border officials (they were perhaps amazed that people wanted *leave* their country), we got across the bridge and waited in the queue. The border official was polite, and seeing that I wasn't Canadian and wanted to live there, told us to pull over next to the Immigration and Customs section.
We went in, and it was nearly deserted. We went to the Customs section first, only to be told to go see Immigration first. We did, and were seen almost immediately. The immigration official was polite and friendly, even going so far as to reminisce about the wonderful skies in Saskatchewan. My having not applied for PR yet wasn't a problem – all he needed to see were our passports and certificate of marriage. I was told that if my PR status hadn't finished processing in 12 months, I needed to get it renewed.
Customs was similarly well-mannered. They needed to see our prepared list of goods accompanying and goods following, and also to make sure the car was bought in Saskatoon like we said it was.
And that was it. We were very pleased about how quickly it took. Now, if only their colleagues at OHIP and Ontario Driver Licensing had been so helpful …
The border crossing was simplicity itself. After getting pulled over by US border officials (they were perhaps amazed that people wanted *leave* their country), we got across the bridge and waited in the queue. The border official was polite, and seeing that I wasn't Canadian and wanted to live there, told us to pull over next to the Immigration and Customs section.
We went in, and it was nearly deserted. We went to the Customs section first, only to be told to go see Immigration first. We did, and were seen almost immediately. The immigration official was polite and friendly, even going so far as to reminisce about the wonderful skies in Saskatchewan. My having not applied for PR yet wasn't a problem – all he needed to see were our passports and certificate of marriage. I was told that if my PR status hadn't finished processing in 12 months, I needed to get it renewed.
Customs was similarly well-mannered. They needed to see our prepared list of goods accompanying and goods following, and also to make sure the car was bought in Saskatoon like we said it was.
And that was it. We were very pleased about how quickly it took. Now, if only their colleagues at OHIP and Ontario Driver Licensing had been so helpful …
