From visas to bank accounts, this blog is designed to help you brainstorm questions and find answers to export yourself legally. I look for everything online, but had trouble readily finding information on how to legally move to another country. In this case, (immigrating to Canada) mai best resources were the officers at the Canadian boarder, the Port of Entry personnel in Detroit, Michigan, and my school, the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.
(This info is US to Canada specific. Though perhaps not your specific destination, the following points should help you develop your own Immigration Station checklist.)
Passports/Passcards: Do you have a passport? Since January 1, 2009 it is required to have a passport to go anywhere outside the US. Before, you could go to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and other destinations without one. They just required ID such as a drivers license, state id card, or birth certificate. Now you must have one to cross any boarder. Be careful, often times it is easier to leave the US than to enter back in! Partly, because of this new law they have "invented" the Passcard. I've been advocating this to all my relatives who must get their passport for the first time, or obtain a new one. Passports are $115 (You get $15 off if you are a AAA member-- go figure) Passcards however are only $45!! Of course, with a passport you can go anywhere you want in the world (or just about) but with a passcard you can only travel to other countries in North America, and you can only travel by land or sea. Yup no flights. Only car, train, bus, boat or ship. Interesting, no? Passports, and visas are costly. I actually kinda expected visas to be free, don't ask me why.
Visa: How long are you planning on staying? You can stay in Canada for 6 months before you have to attain a visa. This was surprising to me. Check with the individual country you are moving to to find what their specifics are. I found this info from my school and it was corroborated by the port authority in Detroit.
Work/Study Permits: Will you be allowed to work? I'm not allowed to get a work visa, only a student visa. My husband is allowed a restricted work visa by default because he's married to me. Honestly, this really bites. I guess they are worried that all the immigrates are gonna come and take the jobs away from the Canadians (wow, they kinda sound American to me--Paper Planes...). My husband's visa is restricted which means he's not allowed to work with children unless he takes and passes certain medical examinations. Do you already have a job? Often times when you are moved to another country by an employer they are your “sponsor” and often cover your passport and visa expenses.
Motor Vehicles: Will you be allowed to drive in this country? Going to Canada from the US you don’t have to worry about getting another drivers license, but that wouldn’t be the case if you where going to say... Europe. Metric system or no? Driving specifics: While driving in Canada you have to remember the us kilometers per hour not miles per hour like we do in the States.
Cell Phone Carriers: This was an unexpected bummer. I’m addicted to my sidekick. I’ve had a myriad of the Sidekick variations over the past 5 years. If you think you can keep Sprint, Nextel, Boost, Cricket, T-Mobile, or even the surprising one AT&T (I thought they were global, don’t ask me why) THINK AGAIN!!! In Canada, they have several carriers but NONE are international calling friendly ($$$$$) Also, you may be surprised to learn that your device may not work there. I have heard about perhaps having a device “unlocked”. I’m not quite sure what this process or expense would be but would like to know more. Supposedly, if you get your device unlocked your new carriers’ SIM card should be able to work in it. T-Mobile denies this is possible and maintains that only their SIM cards are designed to work in their devices. Blackberrys and iPhones are very popular worldwide. It maybe a worthwhile investment.
Banks: I can’t stand the banking system in Canada. It’s much more of an expense. In the States you can easily get free savings and checking especially if you have direct deposit (Chase, Credit Unions, and Bank of America are a few examples of this). How will you exchange your money?
Apartments: We’ve had a lot of success with this one, so I cant readily think of something to look out for. Perhaps find out if you will be able to rent a place without citizenship status.
Healthcare: If you have prescription drugs you should think about if you will be allowed to take them with you, and how you will get them once you are living abroad. Also, what is the state of their public healthcare? Will you be eligible for it?
Belongings: Find out what things you have to declare before you can cross the boarder. Sometimes you cant bring edibles, perishables, or organics from one country to another. Other times you have to declare money when you bring a certain amount or more (must declare $10,000+ to enter Canada).
BEST OF BLESSINGS & GOOD TRAVELS
another source:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
www.cic.gc.ca
I am trying to get my globe trotting on this year, so I found this to extremely helpful. I appreciate how you give out information as you get it. It's a blessing.
Love-Health-Awareness-Wealth
Mjh
It is nice to see someone paying so much attention to doing things legally. That is a change when it come to immigration.
I travel quite a lot internationally. I'm headed to Costa Rica on Saturday.
Cell phones are a problem and unlocked phones are very expensive. Look for them on Ebay. And then you need to suscribe to other carriers. Short of that, Cingular (AT&T) has about the best international coverage. Verizon works in a lot of Canada and parts of Mexico but you need to call them before you leave to arrange access. It is not cheap.
I am a huge believer in SKYPE internet telephone service. Internet cafes are everywhere in the world and are fairly cheap. SKYPE is very cheap. I have a wifi PDA about the size of a cell phone that I use SKYPE on. A lot of the newer high-end cell phones have wifi capabilities and can run SKYE too, This lets you make cheap international calls 10 cents to connect and 2 cent per minute I think from any internet cafe. You can call your cell phone, check your voicemail and then call people who are trying to get hold of you. I put $10 in my SKYPE account two years ago and after 3 international trips I still have $3 left.
Another tip is to make photocopies of your passport and keep the copies in a separate place from the real ones. This will really help if your documents are lost or stolen. I read recently that a stolen USA passport is worth $3000 in Costa Rica so they are a target for theft.
I had a bad encounter with SKYPE a few years back when I installed it and a virus at the same time. But I've been hearing about it more, and i have a mac which doesn't get as many bugs, so maybe i will try it again. glad to hear you give it a good review.
i appreciated the note on photocopying important records. I'd heard this advice before but had forgotten until you mentioned it, thank you. Will do, along with scanning them to my computer.
I'm going to school, and I'm just that kind of person who wants to perform this transition legally, but (though I'm sure to get some flax for this) I didn't intent to "come down" on those in the country illegally. I've worked and taught many "illegal" immigrants over the past 4 years, and i appreciate and care for them deeply. Practically, i know that illegal immigration cant run rampant, but I also wouldn't want the illegals i know to be deported, so i cant really want the ones i dont know to be deported either.
However, immigrate legally! That would be ideal. Though for some, not always a viable option.
have a great time in Costa Rica!!! that is on my list of places to visit. enjoy the landscape, diversity, and peace!!
For those for whom it is not a viable option to immigrate legally, they should stay home or if they are here illegally they should go home.
Our country is built on the rule of law and we have immigration laws for a reason and they should be respected and vigourously enforced. Enforcement would lead to respect.