Guess Who’s Back… Back Again

I last posted 4 months ago, I’m terrible and wish I had a good excuse. Well I have moved countries and become a permanent resident of Canada, is that a good enough?

I have a list as long as my arm of posts I want to share including a mystery weekend coach trip and my final adventures in the UK. I will fire these out over the next few weeks/months to catch you all up because I enjoy sharing what I get to up when I’m not laid in bed watching Netflix. Have you seen Cheer yet? I was emotionally invested in those 6 episodes. Please bring me another season Netflix!

But first I wanted to touch upon my experience moving back to Vancouver. As I’m sure you are all aware by now, it was no secret that since moving back home to Hull, I wanted to gain Permanent Residence (PR) for Canada. This allowed me to move back to Vancouver with no restrictions. I can stay as long or as short as I desire. I would say the whole process took too long but I really cherished my time back home, 18 months in total. Seeing my family and friends on a regular basis was something I had missed for two whole years. So I certainly took advantage of this.

From applying for my PR and receiving the all important YES it took 6 months. However the run up to applying involved jumping through lots of hoops, including an English test and medical examination. A company called WES had to assess my English qualifications including my Photography degree and my college course in Art Foundation Studies. This alone cost 200 dollars and took 3 months.

Once I had ticked these all important stages off my list, I could finally enter the pool of candidates and eagerly await my invitation to apply. If you have any questions about the whole process, please contact me as I’d be happy to help where I can. I don’t want to bore you all with the fine details so I’ll be as vague as possible but my invitation came in 6 days. This was a major milestone for me. I knew I would get an invitation eventually but I did not expect it to be so quick. And when you wish for something for so long and it then finally happens, it comes as a bit of a shock. Once you receive an invitation, you have 4 weeks to apply. As much as I wanted to get it done and dusted, I also wanted to ensure every inch of the application was done to perfection. I was convinced one of the immigration officers would see I had input a wrong date and instantly reject my application. I didn’t want to waste anymore time or money so I meticulously checked it over and over again before clicking submit. I remember that moment like it was yesterday, in fact my heart is racing just thinking about. It was April 14th, 2019 and I was so nervous but stupidly excited for what the future would hold.

In less than 2 months, I received an update. The Canadian government requested more information from me and my biometrics aka fingerprints. And guess what? The nearest place to do such a thing was London so I booked the cheapest train for a day trip to the capital. The extra information they required was basically information I had already submitted. So, naturally I freaked out. Why were they asking for the information twice, I asked myself. After going round in circles online, I realised it was probably a formality and not to stress too much. From May to October I did not hear a single thing. They do warn you that it can take up to 6 months but that still did not put my mind at ease. I was constantly worried that my application would be rejected and my dreams would come crashing down. I tried so hard to remain positive but 4/5 months of waiting was difficult.

On the 11th October, I received a very important update which basically meant it had been approved, unofficially. They request your passport and photos which essentially means it has been approved, they just need to finalise things. So obviously I was over the moon but I also didn’t want to get my hopes up until I received the official document. That arrived on the 23rd October and I cried like a baby. It was finally done and I knew I would be able to move back to Vancouver in the near future.

It was hard waiting till January but it was important for me to spend Christmas at home and it allowed me a few more months of saving money . It was totally worth it and I started the new year with a new and exciting opportunity. I moved in with my friend, Elaine. I have a job at a recruitment agency. I have my friends here and there to support me. And of course my family are cheering me on from a different continent. So thank you to all my loved ones who have helped me over the past year or two. I don’t think I could have done it without you all. Visa applications are tough and I’m not in any rush to do another one any time soon.

So, some useful websites I used during the whole process are:

• Facebook group – Irish and Applying for Canadian PR
• Moving2Canada
• Canadian Immigration
• For help with the IELTS English test – IELTS Liz
• Education Assessment – WES

And a big shout out to Aldi who provided me with many bottles of cheap Prosecco to drink through the stress.