discoviking

After going through the whole immigration rigamarole in the US - Norway to the US on a K1 in 84, then permanent resident until i finally got around to get US citizenship in 2008, I thought I was done with immigration. Not so. Last week I found out that my company (large french international bank) are moving the team I am managing from New York to Montreal, and they want me to move up there to continue heading it it up. Career-wise it's a good opportunity, especially the way jobs in my industry are being outsourced in the US these days - but moving in general is a big PITA. And now I have to get up to speed on Canadian immigration and learn french, too.

Oh well, at least they are not sending me to the Mumbai office.

Just needed to vent a little......

Jerseygirl

Seems you are stalking me. You followed me to my little corner of NJ...even sent your kids to the same school...Pingry...now you're following me to Canada.

I agree it is a pain...we have recently managed to get our Ontario drivers licences, auto insurance and have bought a new car. It was just too much hassle importing our US car.

I don't know the rules for Quebec but for Ontario you need a drivers transcript from the NJ DMV...this allows you to exchange your NJ DL. This is a painful process...NJ is about the only state who doesn't do this electronically. Make sure they send you the one that goes back as late as possible containing your complete driving history. If it is required...start the ball rolling now as it took is months to get the correct transcript.

I can recommend a good realtor. He sold our house immediately last year.

Good luck with everything.

rpjs

At least the food in Montreal will be an order of magnitude better than in NYC.

materialcontroller

Poutine?

Jerseygirl

Oh I forgot...if you think US Immigration was bad...words haven't been invented to describe Canadian Immigration.

discoviking

Yes, I'm beginning to realize that. While my company of course will take care of the work permit and so on, I have started to look at what is involved with bringing personal items in, and it makes my heads spin.

I had not looked at drivers licenses and bringing cars in yet until you mentioned that, but that part looks like a nightmare. My Land Rover in the profile picture is more than 15 years old so it should have been straight-forward - except that modified vehicles is a no-no. Aaaaarghhh!!!!!!

Jerseygirl

We are classed as Temp Residents...we have applied for PR. My husband took early retirement...family has brought us to the Great White North. We brought hubby's Merc in with us but to temp import it is a pain in the butt. For instance only he can drive it and we can't sell or trade it in...we would have to export it out of Canada and import it back to the US. He picked up his new one yesterday...next week he's taking the other back to the US to sell it.

We couldn't get insurance without a drivers license...the process took 3 months. In the meantime we called our US insurance company...NJ Manufacturers...and they extended our cover until the end of this month. Normally they will only cover NJ residents. We could not get our car registered without an Ontario DL and insurance...it was very frustrating.

We have owned property in Toronto for several years...so we gradually moved our personal items over the last 18 months. We didn't bring any furniture...TVs etc because we have already furnished our condo.

If you haven't already...post in the Canada forums. Former Lancastrian is an Imm Officer he has helped me a lot. Our temp visa is relatively new and no one at the border seemed to know anything about it.

We now have NEXUS which allows faster border crossing. The Canadian IOs wave us straight through...but the US IOs ask lots of questions. They seem to be in disbelief that USCs would prefer to be in Canada.

Rete

Yep and St. Hubert's

gad33

It is going to be a fun experience. (Mostly ) And as it is a company move they can deal with the paperwork hassle for you.
We've done the US to Canada and back again.

Bob

Montreal is awesome.

It's great when you walk around the block from the mall and then have to explain to the kids what the hookers are doing

Least that wasn't me, friend was helping a scout trip.

Underground mall really is nice though.

discoviking

It's all starting to come together now. The temporary work permit was pre-approved, so now I have to start thinking about getting my stuff moved to Canada.

I have been hearing something about a bond for goods and cars that are being temporary imported to Canada. Although not strictly immigartion related, does anyone know what that's all about? I haven't really been able to find anything too useful through Google.

Pulaski

I suggest you move your questions to the Canada forum, where many people will have advice. Here almost nobody will be able to help you.

discoviking

Good idea. I'm not dealing with US immigration anymore, been there done that already....

Steve_

Importing a car from the US isn't that hard if you have title to it, if it's leased or you are still making payments, then it's basically impossible.

The title is the main thing CBP and CBSA are interested in. And you need the recall clearance letter. And it must meet the Canadian spec which most US cars do, or they do with minor modifications. More info at Registrar of Imported Vehicles

One thing I don't think they mention on there is only the first $10,000 of value is exempt as a "personal effect", this is explained somewhere in the instructions for CBSA form B4, which you must list all your personal effects on when you import them.

If you've got a decent car and have title to it, I would import it, it's probably going to save you a lot of money if you do.

Steve_

USCIS is much worse to deal with than CIC imx. Although I wouldn't give either one particularly high marks. Depends on the issue really.

CBSA and CBP are about the same, but CBSA can come across as being worse because Canada has GST/HST, so they have to collect it at the POE, whereas CBP is only worried about tobacco and alcohol taxes.