I wasn't looking forward to this birthday. 25 seems like a milestone, and somehow I didn't think I was "there" yet. Plus the idea of spending this birthday without my husband.. It all seemed wrong.
I guess a part of me, the little girl part, thought I'd be married with kids at this point in my life.
The other part of me, the teenager, believed I would never find love, certainly not by 25.
So here I am. Married, with two stepkids (who by the way sent me the most adorable video message this morning) and a life full of uncertainty. What I am certain of, however, is how lucky I am to have found the One, and even though we have to be apart for now, how lucky I am to have an amazing family who supports me through it all.
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14 comments:
Happy Birthday!!! :) Love, Maike
Joyeux Birthday & Happy Anniversaire to you!!
happy birthday :) i hope it's still an amazing one!
Cheers to all of your birthday wishes coming true :-)
Happy birthday! Hope you had a wonderful day celebrating :)
happy birthday! xoxo, lacey
Happy Happy Birthday! Glad you found some peace with it xo.
Bon anniversaire mon amie.
Bonne fête chérie!
Keep smiling :) I know this immigration stuff is hard, and Canada certainly doesn't make it easy! If you have any difficulty, and you can afford it, my suggestion is to hire an immigration lawyer. It's worth the money, and the peace of mind.
But, just keep thinking positive. Its a long process, but you'll get through it!
bon anniversaire! [un peu en retard] I hope you managed to find a fun way to celebrate even without the Canadian. :]
Canada is just a lot of red tape, a lot of paper work that makes it difficult. They want proof for EVERYTHING. Just be very thorough, is my advice, and you should be fine. And your husbands income doesn't have to be a huge number, I don't make a lot of money. Just as long as its stable, they want to be able to see that he can support himself is all.
For Stephan, we had difficulty with renewing his work permit. To get a work permit you need a LMO (labour market opinion), which is done by the company who hires you. It involves placing a job ad, and filling out the application. It basically proves that the company tried to find someone Canadian to fill the position, but was unable to do so and so they need to hire a foreign worker. And they are really picky with the LMO, particularly with the job ad the company needs to place. It needs to be worded a certain way, it needs to say certain things, and it needs to be placed in certain papers and online job banks for so long. This is where we had trouble, his company couldn't get the job ad right for the LMO and so his application to renew his work permit was denied and he was given 90 days to fix the problem or leave the country. Scary! Which is why we hired the lawyer, so it would get done right. So we decided to keep our lawyer for the PR application.
It's all fixed now, but it was very stressful. Since the recession, they are more strict with who they let in. But you are coming from a European country, so it will be much easier for you than say someone from China.
Like I mentioned before, just be very thorough. Its just a lot of paper work, and they do it just in order to catch people who are trying to cheat the system. You are legit, so you should be fine :)
Oh, get started now...you will need a criminal check from your country. Also, keep as many pics of you and your hubby from various locations, that show landmarks especially! So they can see that you have been together a long time, and in more than once place (not that the pics were taken over 1 weekend). Keep anything that proves trips together: receits, ticket stubs, hotel bills, etc.
You'll need to get proof of address togther: bank statements, utility bills, etc. If you have joint accounts, you need to prove it.
Its a lot of work, but just take your time and be thorough :)
Also, keep in mind that once you mail the application, its not advised to leave Canada. Even if you have a work permit, and can re-enter on your work permit, the border people can ignore it and look at your PR in progress and deny you entry back into the country until your application is done processing. So, its not worth it. Stay in Canada until your application is done.
oh, and I sponsored Stephan! We are not married (yet! I am IMPATIENTLY waiting), we are common-law.
Oh, and sorry for the really long comment! lol But if you have any questions, or need to vent or complain about our crazy immigration system, go ahead :) I share your frustrations! haha
Happy belated birthday! Here's to a wonderful year ahead!
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