Hi, I think it’s about time I wrote a blog post as it’s been a while!
As many of you are already aware we plan to move to Vancouver in the next few weeks, here is just an update to let you know some more about our current situation. In recent weeks we’ve been answering the same questions over and over from people and hopefully this will enable us to save some breath and repetition. That said, I hope it doesn’t sound like we’re non-appreciative of people’s interest! We are very grateful that so many people care for us and are interested in the move etc, it’s just kind of hard to answer the same question again and again whilst maintaining a smile and tone of voice that doesn’t sound robotic! ;-)
The last few weeks have been very busy and full of emotions, it’s really hard to put in to words how it has all gone but I’ll give it a go. Firstly in April (ironically 2 weeks before I planned to hand in my month’s notice) I was given the news at work that I was being let go of at IBM due to them implementing cost cutting measures (contractors always being the first ones out the door). Whilst this didn’t really bother me with regards to leaving it did mean I was a few weeks short of what I had planned and therefore would not quite be receiving the amount of money I’d been hoping for. Thankfully this only upset our plans ever so slightly.
We had already arranged to move out of our rented house at the end of April so we went ahead and left on the 30th. We had spent a few weeks previous to then clearing out / selling / and donating nearly all of our non essential possessions (our plan is to leave with 2 suitcases). It’s amazing how much stuff you can actually gather in such a short space of time, and this is despite being a couple who dislikes too much clutter! However it felt good to get rid of our stuff that we didn’t use and either make some money or help others out by giving stuff to them. We also spent a while making the house look as immaculate as possible so that the Landlord could have no excuse not to give us our full bond back when we handed back the keys!
We are now temporarily living at my fiancée’s mum’s house (still in Coventry) and also spending some time with my folks in Lancashire. Luckily both sets of families have been great, they’ve literally bent over backwards to help us out and accommodate us for the next few weeks. It’s a bit weird going back to living under somebody else’s roof after having your own place for so long but it’s not hard (because they are so nice), in fact it’s been quite enjoyable and fun at times (it sort of feels like being a Student again, especially with me not working now).
At the same time as moving out of our home my fiancée also finally received all the documents she needed in order to apply for a temporary work permit (she already has a job offer for a position in Port Coquitlam). It’s unreal the amount of stuff you need and the expense in obtaining it all, but we keep telling ourselves it’s a small price to pay for living in one of the most beautiful countries in the world! I’m just glad I have a Canadian passport, it would have been even more of a headache to do it for me too. Shortly after submitting the application to the Canadian High Commission she then received her medical requests which she promptly completed a few days later in Birmingham. The results (all good as expected, phew!) have now been sent back to the High Commission and we’re now literally waiting on them to make a final decision which can take up to 3-6 weeks, but we’re praying it’s no later than the middle of June. As soon as they send us the letter of approval we can book our flights and be off as soon as possible. I can’t begin to describe how frustrating it is to wait for this simple letter, our lives feel like they are on pause and we just wish we could fly out tomorrow!
In reality we should have applied for her to get permanent residency through me but we were originally informed this could take over a year and that the temporary work permit route would be quickest route (then apply for PR once we are actually there, which is now what we’ll do). We’ve since found out that some other people have had there permanent residency’s done and dusted within 3 months, but we can’t change the past now, oh well.
We’re now on what we are calling ‘the final hurdle’, apart from the approval letter there are some niggly issues with regards to her nursing registration but hopefully they’ll be resolved soon (caused by an error from somebody at Coventry University - again so frustrating). At least it is giving us some time to do a bit more planning and research as you can never have too much. I’m spending time doing stuff such as sussing out the best places to live in Burnaby, what companies / packages to go for etc. The kind BC based people on twitter have been a great help with regards to some of these things (thanks so much!).
We hope and pray for good news soon, my fingers are crossed so often I think people must assume I’m deformed ;-). Everyone asks us when are we are going and each time we have to tell them we don’t know - one things for sure - when we do know then trust me you won’t have to ask, we’ll be letting everyone know straight away. Until that greatly anticipated day, stay tuned and if we have anything further to share we’ll let you know.
This whole experience has already taught us so many things already and we’ve not even stepped on the plane yet, maybe this could be another blog post someday!
Thanks for taking the time to read our story so far. :-)
1 month ago
