Immigrating to Manitoba (Canada)!

I really wanted to post something about my hobby of American politics tonight (such a rich field of crrrrazy!) but lately my world has been all about a very close personal relatives immigration travails, so I decided to write a bit about that. Don’t expect too many helpful posts on this blog as my agenda is all about amusing myself at everyone else's expense, so be advised.

This will be short as overall it’s not really that complicated relatively speaking although the volume of information required varies wildly depending on personal circumstances, as long as one avoids certain side streets and pitfalls it is doable. My relative is Russian by the way but it doesn’t really matter.

Don’t put any credence in what you pull off the internet (haha, and where are you right now!?) It will either be outdated, or outdated. That goes for both advise or docs and it won’t matter if it’s a cic.gc.ca site or a third party. After hours of dealing with a government phone robot you’ll just end up with a bloated paper package in the mail that you will never properly nuance without professional help anyway. 

Regardless of whether you apply from outside the country or inside, call an Immigrant Centre in the Province you wish to immigrate to. For instance if Manitoba is your choice call the “Immigrant Centre” at 100 Adelaide Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3A 0W2. (phone) 204-943-9969 EXT 250. Ask for an “Settlement Facilitator” and go from there. These professional people are there to help you, for free!

This will be a close personal contact which will stay with you and cut through months of confusion and when you see how much the application process will cost and the possibility of losing your investment should you make a misstep you will appreciate the close personal contact afforded by the Facilitator.

The Facilitator will listen to your story, provide the relevant up to date docs and walk you through the process of filling them out and sending them in to the government. This advise is invaluable but have all your info at hand and don’t try to fake it! 

Be ready to pay some fees up front. As an example an application for Permanent Residence Spouse or Common Law Partner is CAN 1,050 (9 to 18 months to process). The application to Work is Can 150 (6 to 8 months). A criminal check from your country of origin will vary but for Russian Federation it was CAN 120 plus UPS charges (1 month to process). Medical check was CAN 260 (if applying in Canada you’ll have to use a designated Medical Practitioner.) 

And wait. It’s pretty much the same in most countries regardless of what you hear, it takes time.

There’s a lot more to this of course, the Devil is in the details! You need money and support primarily but my intention was to simply provide a bare bones outline of the simplest procedure that I know of, that of an Application for Permanent Residence from Within Canada, Spouse or Common-Law Partner In Canada Class. Don’t expect it to get any easier than this.

So from that, if you have been paying attention, you should be able to figure out that this “relative” is in fact my wife. If you didn’t catch that you’re probably on Team Sarah.