Before we made the move, Mike had enquired on more than one occasion with inland Immigration on the best way for us to approach our moving to Canada. Bearing in mind that we were also conscious of the fact that we did not want Andrew to move to High School and then shortly afterwards have a big move again, we were trying to find if there was a way we could avoid this. Mike was told that I could enter Canada at any time as a fiancée provided that I declared my intentions at the Port of Entry and we were married within 90 days. This seemed the best plan of action and so we decided as soon as my house sold this was the way we would do it.

My solicitor dealing with my UK house sale advised me to wait until contracts were signed before I booked plane tickets for the boys and myself. This was to avoid complications should the purchaser back out of the sale.
I got a phone call on Monday 3rd April 2000 at 9am, to the effect that I had 4 hours to buy plane tickets and get back to them with a date that I could be out of the house, as they wanted to complete on the 12th April, only 9 days away!! I had a friend with whom I could stay should I have a few days between moving out and flying to Canada, but of course once I was homeless I really wanted to be gone! Trust me to choose the day that Air Canada computers crashed! Whilst there appeared to be available flights, they were actually booked. After 3 hours, I finally got flights Manchester to Toronto via Frankfurt, flying 8 days later on the 11th April. At this stage I didnt care where it was via, as long as it went to Toronto. The boys were impressed that they could say theyd set foot on German soil! I dont know whether or not airport tarmac counts on that one though! I had a week to sell my house contents, which I did apart from a few bits and pieces that a friend sorted out for me.

 

 

Our arrival at Pearson Airport in Toronto was eventful to say the least. After 17 hours of travelling we arrived to SNOW!! In April!!!! This is not normal though, but the boys were pleased, as they had not seen snow that winter in Blackpool.
I went through passport control and declared my intentions, so they sifted us through to another room where we were to be interviewed.
I told the officer that I was here as a fiancée to marry a Canadian guy and settle permanently in Canada. I was told that I should have had a Visa and that a fiancée had NO rights of entry. By rights they could have put us all on a plane home. I explained that Mike had been advised that we could do this, and they then called for him so they could interview him separately. After what seemed an eternity and endless explanations, they decided that we were genuine and decided they would issue us all with a Ministers Permit to allow us to be legal in Canada until we were married and landed immigrants. This waived the necessity for a Visa. The catch was that the Ministers Permits were $200 each. At this stage the cost was irrelevant! Anything to let us stay here was welcome. Whilst they sorted the papers out we were led through to the Immigration side of an interview room where we could talk through the glass. There were plenty of other people in tears and being refused entry. I could not wait to get out of there, and decided there and then that until we were landed, I was not going anywhere!! Whilst the Ministers Permits allowed us re-entry should we leave Canada, they explained that we could go through all this again and it did not guarantee re-entry.

It was such a good feeling to walk out of there, even if it was $600 lighter! Maybe having kids with me swung it who knows? They said that they took us for genuine and inland Immigration was always getting facts wrong.

 

 

We soon discovered that the Ministers Permits (MPs) opened doors that were otherwise closed to us as non-landed immigrants. Whilst we had to apply for a Student Authorisation for each of the boys ($125 each) the local school was willing to take them on the strength of the MPs whilst we waited for the Student Authorisations.
Having the MPs also meant that there would be no problem in them giving us a Student Authorisation. The MP also gave us no problem when we applied for a Health Card to be covered under the Province Health plan (like the NHS), which would not normally be issued until landed status was obtained.
We lived in Aurora in Mikes apartment on our arrival in cramped conditions whilst we house hunted. The boys went to a local school called Regency Acres Public School (public school is not a fee paying school as in the UK) and settled in well. Andrew kept in the same grade being an October birthday and starting school in the UK a month before he was 5. Paul, however, being an August birthday and starting school in the UK 2 weeks after he was 4, was put down a grade to coincide with the others. Unlike the UK, that takes a school year to decide the grades, here they take the year of birth to decide the grade you are in. The big difference, apart from wearing no uniforms in school, is that every day they had to learn French. Of course, they were at an immediate disadvantage, Andrew more than Paul being 2 grades ahead but this has more or less evened out now as theyre becoming equal to their peers. They do not like studying French but have no choice until High School. It is not seen as a big advantage, to be French speaking unless they lived in Quebec.
We soon found a house that we wanted to buy. We wanted to move to Newmarket, which is the next town north, almost merged now with Aurora. There is more going on, better bus service and cheaper house prices. Real estate, as it is called here, is more civilized than in the UK. When we agreed a price, we also agreed a moving date and signed a contract to that effect, and it was not possible to back out of as in the UK. It was such a good feeling to know 3 months in advance that we were moving house on the 29th July 2000, and could make plans to that effect.
We got the boys into a local school called Armitage Village Public School, but unfortunately it is nearer than before and they have to walk instead if riding the yellow school bus!!
Just to add stress to this situation we were married on 8th July 2000 at the North York City Hall in a civil ceremony. Then 3 weeks later moved house!

 

 

Prior to this, we had gone ahead and had medicals for Immigration purposes as it was something we could do in advance in the hope of a smoother ride when it came to applying for landed status. We had to travel to a designated doctor out of town, and as we were not covered at this stage by the health care, due to a 3 month wait before acceptance; we had to pay for this ourselves. For a doctor to look at us and decide we were healthy (all of a 5 minute check each) we paid $100 each. Like everything else we had to provide 4 passport photos each, as everything carries a photo here. Andrew and myself had to have a chest X-ray that cost $33 each; Paul was exempt as he was under 11. I then had to have a blood test as well, at a further cost of $7.76. We were told that we were OK, and the results were sent to Immigration by courier direct. The only thing we did not have to provide was a police clearance certificate as the UK has a reciprocal agreement to provide this direct.

Now we were married we could think about getting Mike to sponsor us under the Family Class as a spouse applying from inland. This is the only category that is allowed to stay in Canada whilst waiting for Immigration papers. We were told to wait 2 weeks before applying for the Marriage Certificate, as it would take that time to register it at the Head Office of the Registrar General. So we waited the 2 weeks and then sent a cheque to pay for a Marriage certificate. When it hadnt arrived within 4 weeks I phoned them to be told that it was taking them 8 weeks and more to register as they had a backlog. This was when we decide to apply for landed status and forward the Marriage certificate when we received it.

On the 25th September 2000 we paid a total of $1675 to Immigration and sent the papers applying for landed status. The breakdown for this was for processing fees of $500 for myself, $100 for each dependent child under 19 years and unmarried, and $975 for the adult as a right of landing fee.
With this we had to send birth certificates, copies of our passports, proof of funds that I brought to Canada, Mikes last years pay slips (although there is no minimum income in the case of spouses he has to prove employment), bank statements and details of outgoings such as mortgage payments, insurance etc. We had all the papers and had phoned up Immigration on more than one occasion to clarify certain things. You can imagine our annoyance at receiving all the papers back in November 2000 because we had failed to complete another form to apply for Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds that I should not be sent back to the UK to make the application from there. I know this is a formality and if you are married to a Canadian, and certainly there are children involved, that they do not send you back, but it was annoying because this form was not in the papers we were originally sent, and they now said that the papers would be looked at again in 3 months time. So, back went the papers to Immigration, at around the same time we finally received the Marriage Certificate.. complete with the incorrect date of marriage! They interchange the date here as month/day/year and also day/month/year, which is so stupid in my opinion!!
So the Minister had written it correctly in one place as 8/7/00 but also incorrectly somewhere else as 7/8/00. So they took it that we were married on the 7th August 2000 instead of the 8th July 2000!! They asked me to return any papers from booking the chapel to prove the date, and also the contact number for the Minister. Luckily I had kept the papers. At this stage we were swamped with papers! It took until January 2001 until we got the correct Marriage Certificate and I could use it to amend my bank account and inform Immigration. At this time I then learnt that Immigration would refuse to issue my landed papers in the name of Carbe until my passport reflected my name change. So I had to go ahead and get my UK passport changed here at the British High Commission in Ottawa. That cost me just over $100 and they told me there was a 5 day turn around. When they then told me it was a 5 week turn around I had to explain the urgency for the passport. I had to apply for a renewal of the MPs at least a month before they expired as a means of staying legally in Canada. The boys Student Authorisations also had to be renewed, all at the cost of the originals, $200 each for MPs and $125 for SAs. After several phone calls and faxes to the Passport Office they promised to prioritise my application, only to lose the papers for a week.

Whilst all this was happening Immigration contacted us by letter in February to ask us to complete a further form (again one that was not in the original forms sent to us) as to when and how we met, and details and photos of our wedding and reception. This is to establish it is a genuine marriage and not one of convenience. This would further delay our papers being looked at for a further 30 days, bringing us to March 2001. On 7th March 2001, I received a phone call from an Immigration officer asking me to fax our divorce papers from our previous marriages. Apart from the fact we had to jump through hoops providing papers to enable us to get married again, this seemed a bit too much. Before we were married, I had to consult a lawyer to prove my divorce papers were valid in Ontario and fill in lots of additional forms (yet another $100 to pay out).
I ended up renewing Immigration papers later than I wanted, having left it until the last minute as advised by an Immigration Officer. The reason he advised this was that if we had received an Approval in Principle (AIP) to allow us to stay in Canada, it would mean that the MPs would be no charge to renew. I later enquired about this with Immigration and a senior officer told me that this was not the case and they had to be paid for. So off we sent a further $1000 to cover $600 for MPs, $250 for SAs and $150 for an Employment Authorisation to allow me to work until the final step of police clearance was through. So 3 months before I was a landed immigrant they allowed me to get an open work permit, presumably because at this stage there is little chance of a problem. I enclosed a letter informing them that I was paying for renewal MPs although I was not sure I had to, and later we received a refund of $600 from Immigration as we did not need to pay for them after all.
Within a month if receiving a work permit I landed myself a job, despite hearing everywhere that you cant get a decent job unless you have Canadian work experience, which then becomes a Catch 22 situation for most people.
Finally on 7 June 2000, we received notification that we had completed the Immigration process and had to attend the Scarborough Passport Centre on Friday the 13th July 2000 to receive our landed papers.
Unbelievable this was 27 years to the day since leaving school!!!!!!!
That was Friday 13th July 1973!!
We attended as told, to find about another 30 people all there for the same reason. They took our current documents away from us. all that money only 3 months ago to renew everything, but they left us with the expired ones to keep as a memento. We also received a welcome letter to Canada, which gave me the idea to start up a scrapbook of all our papers and events since arriving in Canada. I had kept the plane tickets but didnt know what to do with them, so that is a project I intend to start with soon.
The day we got our landed papers was the day that Toronto lost the bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, we were hoping that we could say we were landed the day Toronto won the bid but it didnt happen.
We applied for a permanent Health Card in place of the temporary ones we had, I also applied for a permanent Social Insurance Number as a permanent resident, and then we went out to lunch to celebrate!!
The time spent in Canada up to becoming landed immigrants counts as half time towards our 3 year residency before we can apply to become Canadian Citizens.
So by Christmas 2003 we will have fulfilled the residency requirements and can move on to the next stage!!!

 

 

Within a month of having a work permit I was lucky to land a full time permanent job. I say lucky because at this stage I did not have a permanent SIN card, and although I knew it would not be long until I did have one, an employer is (depending on the person) taking a small risk by employing that person.

 

I landed myself a job at Black's photography in Aurora and started on the 4th June 2001, thanks to my manager, Lisa, who had every faith in me, as Head Office were reluctant to employ someone without a permanent SIN, possibly due to past experiences.

 

I was thrown into handling customers orders and dealing with film and photos and having to get used to Canadian money, which at first, all seemed a little overwhelming. It was also a busy time of year when many people take most of their photos. Despite this I knew straight away that I was going to enjoy this work, and whilst I worked in retail in the UK, it had been many years previously, my main career being an administrative officer in the civil service. I had, however, owned a bar in Mallorca Spain for 3 years as well as a fish and chip shop in Blackpool for 2 years, so was not new to business.

 

My diligence in my work certainly paid off, when in October 2002 I was promoted to Assistant Manager and moved to the Newmarket store. This was a good move for me, despite the longer store opening hours, as it is a challenge and I like being challenged. It is a very busy store as it is in the Upper Canada Mall and most people shop at the Mall sometime during the week.

 

In my life I have had many career changes as well as emigrating twice! I lived in Mallorca Spain from December 1985 to July 1988 and vowed it was too much hassle to ever move from the UK again.

 

In fact ,what I actually said was "I am never getting married again or moving country again." I am living proof that we should "never say never again."

 

 

Andrew is now in High School, being lucky to attend a new High School near home. He is thoroughly enjoying himself and doing things he has never done before.

 

Paul is still in Elementary school but is doing well and he has turned into a hockey freak! He eats, sleeps and breathes hockey, driving everyone insane with his constant information!!