It's No Fun Being An Illegal Alien

May 2007 brings me closer to all out carpet bombing in my war for immigration. My ECAS still hasn't changed since November 2006. My calls to CIC still yield the same response: my file is in process. Now, however, CIC has changed the processing time of the local office where my file sits in its rapidly accumulating dust. The time now for the Etobicoke office is at 12 months. I protest this vigorously with the Call Center agent and point out to him that when I called a few months ago, I was told it was going to be a 9 month wait. He explains that the office has updated its delay and now nothing will be done until November 2007.

I have run out of new and fresh ideas in this campaign, so I turn to the web. I do random google searches on immigration to Canada. Most of what I find is sites for 'immigration consultants' and immigration lawyers all shouting about Canada's virtues and how easy the immigration process is. Then I found this forum and was amazed at what I read. There were others on this planet that were finding Canada not all it was cracked up to be. They point to the blatant racism and the double standards applied to immigrants. I read on, intrigued, and trying to fill myself with as much knowledge on the topic as I could to continue my personal battle with CIC.

Eventually, I landed on this forum. This site was intended to help individuals get through the CIC processing, and I found it invaluable for bouncing ideas off other 'in-process' individuals from all over the world. I read all the posts every day. It became an obsession. I would wake up in the morning, check my ECAS, then check the forums. After 'lurking' for a month, I started posting myself. I posed my situation and asked for feedback. There wasn't much response and people were generally not in my situation. I did learn some interesting facts though. Things such as: it is faster to apply from outland than inland (from the U.S. instead of going directly to CIC in Alberta); getting AIP does not give the applicant the right to work; health care is different from province to province, etc.

One of the more frightening things I discovered, was that I was, technically, now an illegal immigrant in Canada. According to CIC rules, a visitor (even if from a visa exempt country such as the U.S. and the U.K.), has a time limit imposed on their visit: 6 months. After 6 months in country, the visitor has to renew that status or leave the country. For a U.S. citizen, it is technically feasible for them to drive their car to the U.S. and turn around and re enter Canada to restart the 6 month period. The other option is to apply for a visa extension and pay the appropriate fee. The visa extension must be applied for prior to the current visa expiring, or you are just SOL. Since CIC is holding Nemo (my overpayment refund) hostage, I refuse to give them one more penny.

Since I did visit my daughter in Minneapolis in June 2006, my visitor visa technically expired on December 2006. Then, I was under the mistaken belief that my processing was nearing an end anyway, so my legal status in Canada wasn't forefront on my mind. It is there now, but now I do not have the means to fix this little problem. I could drive to Niagara, cross the bridge, spend the day 'shopping' and come right back. For now, I sneak around my neighborhood and run behind trees and bushes when I see the Immigration Police driving down the street. Actually, I have never seen that, but I am prepared for it when I do.

The Prized Canadian 'Free' Healthcare

Fortunately for everyone, I have only needed to see a doctor once since my arrival in Canada. Same goes for 'The Kid.' When I did come down with a bladder infection that just wouldn't go away and started working into my kidneys, I finally broke down and decided I needed some antibiotics.

First, I spent about an hour researching the OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) on the web. I didn't have any medical coverage and everyone around the world has heard about Canada's free health care. I read, right there in black on white, that all I needed to be eligible for the program is:

You must have Ontario health insurance to use Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care funded health care services. You are eligible for the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) if you are included under one of the following categories :

• you are a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or landed immigrant, convention refugee, or are registered as an Indian under the Indian Act
• you have submitted an Application for Permanent Residence or an Application for Landing and have been confirmed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada as having satisfied the medical requirements for landing
• you are a foreign worker who holds a valid work permit or employment authorization which names a Canadian employer situated in Ontario and your prospective occupation and is valid for at least six months
• you are a foreign clergy member who will be providing services to a religious congregation in Ontario for at least six months
• you hold a Temporary Resident Permit or Minister's Permit with a case type 80 (for adoption only), 86, 87, 88 or 89
• you are the spouse, same sex partner, or dependent child (under 19 years of age) of a foreign clergy member or eligible foreign worker who is to be employed in Ontario for a period of at least three consecutive years
• you hold a work permit or employment authorization under the Live-In Caregivers in Canada Program or the Foreign Domestic Movement
• you have been issued a work permit or employment authorization under the Caribbean Commonwealth and Mexican Season Agricultural Workers Program administered by the federal department of Citizenship and Immigration
• and you make your permanent and principal home in Ontario
• and you are in Ontario for at least 153 days of the first 183 days immediately following the date you establish residency in Ontario (you cannot be absent for more than 30 days during the first 6 months of residency)
• and you are in Ontario for at least 153 days in any 12-month period

Read that second bullet again. I got excited. I called OHIP and asked what they needed from me. I was advised I needed a 'medical pass' letter from CIC. I turned around and immediately called CIC to get one. The friendly CIC agent tells me "I cannot issue that as your medical results have not been reviewed." For some reason, I am just not surprised. They have had my medical results since November 2005 and I guess I must be rushing them thinking that by May 2007, they might have reviewed them.

Ok, so no OHIP for me or The Kid. I go to a walk-in clinic, pay $150 cash, wait for about 3.5 hours and finally get in, get my prescription, and leave.

My previous encounter with the wonderful health care system was a few months prior when my husband injured his neck. He is a OHIP benefit recipient. We spent 4 hours at the emergency room basically moving from one waiting area to another waiting area without ever seeing a doctor. My husband informs me this is how the program works. You can go to a family doctor, but they don't have x-ray machines or even labs for the most part, so you end up going to the hospital anyway. Some people must think this is a great system, but I think it is horrendous. It is a case of you get what you pay for. Unfortunately, all of us pay for it in the form of GST. I pay for it every time I venture to Walmart and purchase laundry detergent.

To add insult to injury, OHIP by its own rules only requires that ' you have submitted an Application for Permanent Residence or an Application for Landing and have been confirmed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada as having satisfied the medical requirements for landing.' In reality, OHIP additionally requires that you have received AIP as well. I searched the OHIP site thoroughly and couldn't find that requirement of AIP, but if you call them, that is what they will tell you. AIP + medical pass letter from CIC gets you access.

Job Search Canadian Style

Knowing that CIC must be nearing the end of their first stage approval process (AIP), at least according to their processing times as posted on their website, I decide now is the time to dip my feet into the job market pool and start shopping around. CIC's process is to first, go through your file, and if everything is satisfactory by their standards, they wave their magic wand and grant AIP, or Approval In Principle. This AIP allows you to get a work permit and a temporary SIN (Social Insurance Number).

I use tools like Monster.com and the local newspaper, which inevitably leads me to recruiters. In the past, my success with finding employment has been split evenly between using recruiters and direct applications to employers, so I decide to stick with proven success, at least in the U.S. Canada proves to work the same and after just two days, I have a three interviews lined up. I am excited about this. Perhaps this will work out anyway.

I attend my interviews and some are just 'HR' interviews. The HR manager decides if you are presentable enough to actually interview with the hiring managers, department heads, etc. Some of the interviews are with the recruiters themselves who decide if you are presentable to their clients. It's all good either way. The interviews keep coming. Some are at first round stage, others I am at my second or third round. I just keep booking interviews and hoping my immigration process keeps up with me. Some employers have gone so far as to verify my education by requesting transcripts from the university itself and get references from previous employers. But, no formal offers are ever made.

I had been honest with the recruiters and prospective employers about my current status in Canada. With the recruiters, I told them upfront that I had not received authorization to work yet, but I expect it any day now. I suppose it is obvious since beyond providing them a resume, they ask that you fill out an employment application and I don't have anything to write in the SIN block. At the end of it all, I got many "Give us a call when you have your work authorization" type responses from both the recruiters and the employers.

I quizzed one of the recruiters about getting a Temporary Work Permit. This involves the employer proving to the paper worshiping Canadian government employees that they have exhausted the Canadian labor pool and can find no one else on the planet, other than me, to fill the position. Once that is done, I would send in a form, with a $150 fee and would be granted a temporary work permit. Once the permit application is processed, the employer can hire me. The recruiter, very eloquently, said, the chances of me getting an employer to sponsor me this way had the odds of slim to none, in their experience.

Not knowing how much longer CIC will take with their processing, I elect to wait it out and I stop pursuing employment until I get that elusive SIN. With my heart a little heavier, I return to taking up space and waiting.