09.18.08
Legitimate!
Woohoo! I am no longer confined to Canada! I got my work permit yesterday, which gives me the right to re-enter Canada. As soon as I handed in my thesis, I could no longer enter Canada on my study permit. I was legally allowed to stay for 90 days to look for a job, file for permits, etc., but crossing the border would have voided that right.
I have heard two theories behind the re-entry restriction.
- If people bolted the moment they finished their degree, that called into question how committed they actually were to staying in Canada.
- The Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) processing centre in Vegreville, Alberta, is chartered to work for people who are in Canada. If you leave, you are not in Canada, and hence out of their scope.
We talked to a border agent before I graduated, and he seemed to strongly insinuate that they would probably look the other way for short trips into Bellingham, as that didn’t violate the spirit of the law, just the letter. However, that didn’t seem like a risk worth taking.
So now we have our permits, and I am a happy camper.
I want to say that I adore Canadian bureaucracy. Aside from some minor difficulty entering for the first time on my study permit due to the border agent being a bit unclear on what my permit allowed me to do, all of my interactions with Canadian bureaucracy have been pleasant.
I have a total heart-throb crush on the CIC bureaucracy in particular. My interactions with CIC have not only been pleasant, they have been astonishing.
- I forgot a form on my last study/work and Jim’s work permit extension paperwork. They *phoned* me to tell me that, and to ask what I wanted to do about it — do two of the three permits and get a refund, or fax in the form?
- Vegreville keeps up-to-date a website on how long they are taking to process forms. International Post-Graduation Work Permit (a three year permit not tied to any employer) is listed as only 13 business days. They processed ours in TWO!!!! Wow.
Vegreville, xoxoxoxoxox I love you!!!
