Yesterday I woke up at 5:30 and left the house at 6:45 so I could be downtown before it opened at 8:00. I was the third person there and the eighth person to get a number. I was very prepared and had a pretty good idea of what to expect.
I waited for my number to pop up on the screen, then handed my application to a lady who said that another lady would call my number so that I could pay. So, I sat down and waited for my number again.
When the screen flashed my number, inviting me to give money to Canada, I went to the cashier's counter and was informed that the price had gone up $10 since I last checked the website (two days ago!). There's a bank machine downstairs, she told me, and agreed to wait for me.
I went downstairs and paid a $3 fee to take out some money. The lowest denomination the cash machine gives is $20 and I needed $10, so I also had to go buy a juice. The Canadian Consulate does not give change.
I went back upstairs and paid the lady, who told me to sit down and wait for my number to be called AGAIN. When my number appeared on the screen for the third and final time, it directed me to interview booth 7. Interview booths in Seattle are not as friendly as interview booths in Calgary. In Calgary, the interview booth's are nice little desks with boxes of tissue in case you cry. In Seattle, the interview booth is a small room with some chairs, which is separated from the interviewer by glass. No boxes of tissue.
In interview booth 7, I was told that I had not been out of Canada long enough to be eligible for a study permit.
I sort of "went off" on her, quoting Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and basically refusing to accept her reasoning. I couldn't help it, I love Canada and the words just started spewing out of my mouth. After I was done talking, I immediately became really scared that she would not like my attitude. Maybe she'd rip up my passport right in front of my eyes or tell me that I was never allowed back into Canada.
Instead, she read the portion of IRPA I had quoted and agreed that I had, in fact, been out of Canada for long enough. After the technicalities of the law were sorted out, she asked all of the normal study permit questions and issued me an acceptance letter (I get the actual permit when I cross the border).
7 comments:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Way to do your homework!!! You deserve to study in Canada!
Wahoo. Now Adlai doesn't have to keep going around saying you are in Seattle.
Way to stick it to the man. Perhaps instead of being a teacher you should be an immigration lawyer.
HURRAH!
Can't wait to see you hanging about at bethany!
That's amazing Ash.Just what i needed to hear this morning.
Wow,the fact that you had it in you to speak up about it goes to show that when you Love something that much you must be prepared to do anything (even at the high risk of losing the object of your love) for it.You were prepared Ash, you deserve to have it.
And you have made me a very happy and inspired person.
You should be talking at TED.
Yay!
Good for you for doing your homework!
So excited that you get to live in Canada again.
By the way, a girl in my lab is (oddly enough) from Calgary, and she says she knows a guy who will marry you (by the way she talked about him, I suspect he is not so much into women...) for the sole purpose of you becoming a Canadian citizen...er, you should probably delete this after you read it...in any case, she didn't say it directly, but I'm pretty sure the stipulation is that I have to provide a guy who will marry her so she'll become an American citizen. Just thought I'd give you a heads up :)
oh, and she was completely serious. she also said something about a college that is in Calgary that is way cheaper than the main one (university of calgary, maybe?) that has credits that are mostly transferable, so she advised that if you aren't already taking advantage of it, save the dough and go to the smaller one until you're almost done, and then transfer.
Congratulations!
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