British Expats - work permit experience

Hi gang
Sorry I havent posted for a while - been on the road.
I finally arrived in Nova Scotia on TWP. All went very smoothly. Here's the craic.

1. Got job offer in writing from employer
2. Employer got LMO from HRSDC in Halifax (sent me a copy)
3. Not enough time for WP from London so opted for Port of Entry issuance
4. Booked return flight
5. Travelled, taking:
- a. Original offer letter as emailed and printed out by me
- b. Original LMO fax as printed out by me
- c. Original degree certificates
- d. A CV
- e. Letters from pervious employers
- f. Photocopys of spouse+kids passports (they are following later)
- g. Original police reports
- h. Passport sized photographs
- (ie everything required in the WP application form checklist)
6. Arrived in Halifax
7. Filled in the usual visitors form - put "?" for "how long are you staying?"
8. Told border guard "I am here to work"
9. Guard says OK, does his bit with Passport & visitors form
10. Get sent to wood-panelled "immigration" desk (you see it through the glass on the left when you are queueing up to see the border guard.
11. Saw nice lady, she takes photocopies of:
- a. Offer letter
- b. LMO
12. She had no interest whatsoever in:
- a. Whether I had a return ticket
- b. Degree certificates
- c. CV or employer letters
- d. Photographs - "we used to need those but now its all on computer"
- e. Police reports
13. She gave me a piece of paper and told me to go to a payment window in the baggage hall to pay my $150.
14. Showed guy at payment window how to use chip&pin. (New equipment, so he was a bit lost). I told him to email his colleagues what I had shown him.
15. Paid by UK credit card. Switch no good.
16. Got receipt, took it back to nice lady
17. Nice lady added spouse and kids to my work permit printout. This is where having a photocopy of their documents comes in, as she can copy easily.
18. She says: " get a copy of this and send it to your wife so when she arrives we can process her more easily"
19. She accepts my story that "goods to follow" come with missus later.
20. Wishes me "have a nice day".
21. Voila.

Immigration were extremely helpful, so don't worry yourselves! By all means take copies of everything you can think of. However, the take-home message is that the credit card, offer letter and LMO are critical. If you forget something other than those it's apparently not the end of the world. Don't forget to clear the credit card for usage in Canada!

So anyways Im in Truro now at the Royalty B&B on Prince (highly recommended).
Popped in to see Margot at CoRDA, giving her a debrief tomorrow (no tittering at the back). She was _very_ interested to hear about the whole police reports process/fiasco and it seems she may be able to make some calls to straighten it out. In the meantime guys my advice would be to use the subject access requests. Mine came back exactly 40 days after the request was sent out.

Doing due diligence on things to do in the town. Any footballers or martial artists can PM me for info. DIY, fuel and food looks cheap. White goods and cars so-so. Beer is very expensive. At last, an incentive to quit.

Weather today 3C low -3, sunny. Work starts Tuesday.

Cheers!

wbx
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