Back to the Future

This story really begins earlier than 2 November 2004, but, for all intents and purposes, let's begin there. Now, if that date doesn't call to mind "the election," then we're probably not of shared mindset. But, hey, read on anyway. I recall watching the election returns and thinking, "We have to leave, this place is getting dangerous." You might - or might not - recall that, on that day, 11 - count 'em - e-l-e-v-e-n - states passed legislation to amend their constitutions to prohibit same-sex marriage. A sign of things to come I'd say. Call me crazy, but I'd rather live in a place where my family is protected and, if not protected, at least not attacked. So, we started investigating the immigration process.

If you haven't already discovered this for yourself, Canadian immigration (CIC) has an incredible web site. It took six months to gather the information, but in May 2005 we submitted our applications for permanent resident visas. It shouldn't take six months, but when you've got 30 years between your eighteenth birthday and the year you're preparing your application it does take a while to collect everything. And, by everything, I mean every address, job, school, and what you were doing when you weren't working or in school. If you have military service, that's' another hurdle. Who was that commander back in 1979? Add to this the fact that, while CIC does have a great web site, it's impossible to get a response from the Buffalo Consulate and you see why it took six months. Even with a Ph.D. and a J.D. I finally decided to hire an immigration attorney to answer the annoying little questions and get the paperwork done. We are now approaching the magic date of 13 April, ten months from the date our application was acknowledged. In immigration lingo that's our AOR, acknowledgement of receipt. Hopefully we'll hear something soon! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

In the interim we have, like many others whose blogs I've found, been doing what we can to prepare for such a move. We've got the requisite "settlement funds" stashed away. We've been trying (and not being terrible successful) to get the stalled home projects completed. We've been getting rid of "stuff" that we won't take with us. And, we've been visiting Canada, a lot.

In the past year we've been to Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Victoria, Vancouver, Whistler, and Toronto. I also took a short trip to Kelowna. We had hoped to visit Nova Scotia this summer, but I don't think that's going to happen. BTW, we would love to hear from anyone in the Atlantic Provinces, especially immigrants from the US!

The purpose of this blog is to have fun and potentially post useful information about the process. There are lots of blogs and useful sites out there, but every story is a little different so, what the heck! But, I guess an introduction is in order, eh?

We're two moms, both in academia, living in the Upper Midwest, with our five year old son, one cat, and one dog. I was raised on the east coast, my partner in Missouri. Our son was born here in Minnesota. The obvious question - and many others have addressed this - is something along the lines of "You'd really move to Canada? Why?" Sometimes followed with the suggestion that we're "giving up" or "selling out." I hope to address this in a separate post when I have more time. For now, I'll just say that, as far as I know, you only go around once. We'd rather raise our son in a place that, on the whole, is more consistent with our values. Yes, it's that simple.

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll soon be posting that we're on the next step in our journey!