Canada, here we come!
If current events have you itching to move north, plan ahead and stay in queue.
By KAREN YOUSO,
Star Tribune
Last update: November 6, 2008 – 9:00 AM
I've been listening to the neocons lately frothing at the mouth to move just as the libs did the past eight years. These articles do serve read more a vaild purpose if for nothing else other than to throw cold water on the people who are spouting at the mouth that they're moving to Canada because their candidate didn't win.
The election is over and your team didn't win. You've had it. You can't live here and watch the country go to hell in a handbasket. So it's Plan B: Move to Canada.
But hold on a minute. You don't just load up the U-Haul and roll over the border waving at the smiling customs agents. They're a little fussier than that. Canada may have the world's most lenient immigration laws, but you still have to jump a few hoops to get that “Welcome to Canada” handshake.
An old DWI on your record can be the end of it. It makes you a “member of an inadmissible class” — barred from entry. Canadians consider DWIs felonies, and felons aren't allowed in, even for a visit. But you can be rehabilitated. Apply for an “Approval of Rehabilitation,” pay a processing fee and the issue can go away.
In most cases, you need a permanent visa to become a Canadian citizen. It allows you to live, work and get free health care in Canada. To apply, pay $475 (Canadian), and take a test, scoring at least 67 out of a possible 100 points, according to Karen Shadd, spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada in Ottawa.
You have to be desirable. The test asks about your education, language ability, age, etc. You earn points depending on your answers. For example, the more education, the more points. French fluency nets you some points, English more. Fluency in both earns the most. And youth has its privileges: Over age 53 is worth zero points.
(See how you'd score at: www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assess/Education.asp.)
Say you make the grade. You've patiently waited — it can take up to two years to process an application, Shadd said — and you're granted permanent status in Canada, but you're not done yet. Be ready to pull out your passport and two copies of the personal and household items you're bringing in, prove you have enough money to support yourself (and any family members) for at least six months, and show you've been vaccinated with the standard shots of childhood.
But wait, there's more. Once in, you can become a citizen by living there three years and pledging allegiance not to a flag, but to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada.
What if you fail the test, don't have the dough, can't claim special status, or just can't wait two years to get in? Well, you could just sneak across the border. But then you'd be an illegal or as they say up there, a “queue-jumper.”
Officially, “that's in the country without status and subject to removal,” said Shadd.
Karen Youso 612-673-4407
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America's Hat?
Who would want to live in America Jr.? No matter how bad the economy is, or who is elected to public office, I would never want to move to America's dandruff….
posted by sofakindom on Nov 6, 08 at 10:27 am |
5 of 9 people liked this comment.
I, personally, am tired of the pouting crybabies who are sore losers over the election results. To them I say… Quit whining and move already! If you don't like it, don't make the rest of us listen to you gripe, just pack up and head out!
posted by stribreader3 on Nov 6, 08 at 11:09 am |
4 of 4 people liked this comment.
Oh Canda…Any Day! God Save the Queen!
You can always go to Mexico where you can guarantee that you will be loathed on sight and racism in Mexico is as nasty as it gets anywhere on the planet! I don't care what anyone says, Canada is our best freind and ally. God Save the Queen!
posted by uscitizen on Nov 6, 08 at 11:23 am |
7 of 7 people liked this comment.
Canada, whatever
I have traveled abroud in Mexico, some very rural areas and was always treated as a welcomed guest. I have a 16 year old DWI that will not allow me to enter the country without a bribe, oops I meant the rehabilitation fee. Canada sucks.
posted by ganjed on Nov 6, 08 at 12:42 pm |
0 of 2 people liked this comment.
Okaaaaaay
So the people screaming “socialist” at Obama want to move to a socialist country to escape Obama's socialism? As I suspected all along they don't seem to have a clue as to what socialism means. Regarding some of the anti-Canadian sentiment in this thread: Canadian healthcare might be less convenient (and less inclined to accomodate whiners) than the US system, but their outcomes are approximately the same as ours for far less money. While there are strongly anti-American Canadians there are even more who think America is the greatest place on earth. Finally, I have crossed the border many times and it has always more of a hassle to get back into America than it is to cross over into Canada, not that it was a big deal either way.
