Get ready, Canada!
Flying into Toronto in October 2022.
January 5, 2023
“Your application for permanent residence has been approved.”
Holy sh*t.
I guess you can never plan when you’re going to get approval, but I certainly didn’t expect to read that email on a random Thursday night in January. Especially not only 8 months after submitting our application and only 3 months after we were told my application was being processed. When we started the process, we were told it would take at least a year from submission.
So really, even though we got the occasional update over the last couple of months, nothing hinted at the fact we’d get approval so soon.
Because it came so out of the blue, it also doesn’t feel real. I didn’t think it was when I first read the email. It’s a huge step, but I saw the message at 11:30 at night and was just moments away from going to bed.
This is the kind of news you hear where you want to go out and celebrate, or at least go pop a bottle of champagne. But instead, we sat at home, excited to share the news, but unable to call most people because it was so late. I could not fall asleep.
I’ve been quiet on this blog for some months now, and it wasn’t because nothing happened, but because I didn’t know how much I could, should, or wanted to share about the PR process. Also because some of it is pretty boring and uneventful.
We heard the IRCC was working on my application mid-October. I gave my biometrics and did a medical exam shortly after, submitted an additional document, and waited. And waited some more. That’s it. None of that is particularly exciting to write about.
But - even though I’m not superstitious - I also didn’t want to jinx anything. What if it had taken months longer than anticipated? What if there were issues with the application?
Then the good news came.
So, what next? Well, turns out that letter isn’t the final step. I have to complete some forms in a portal and apply for a PR card to finalize the process. But all of that is minor now, bureaucracy happily done (I know) because of what it leads to.
I’m only a few steps away from starting “normal” life in my new home.
Get ready, Canada!
To read more of my Canadian adventure, click here.
