Hey, there! Wait, pardon me one second…
blows dust off the blog
coughs
That’s better.
clears throat
Bonjour, hello! Apologies for the radio silence since November. Things have been…a bit chaotic and uncertain these past few months. It’s all worked out in the end, but getting here has meant many weeks of stressful limbo.
I’m not even sure where to start, tbh. Since November 2022, I’ve:
- been laid off
- filled out a ton of additional paperwork for IRCC as part of the ExpressEntry PR process
- interviewed with half a dozen companies, one of which was interrupted when my wife called to get troubleshooting help with our EV so she could make a medical exam appointment 200km from our house as part of the PR application
- got a new job
- was told my PR application was accepted but not confirmed so I couldn’t start said new job
- flew home for the holidays
- came back to Canada to fight with the web-based PR confirmation portal over my uploaded passport-style photograph
- pushed back my start date by one week every Thursday for four weeks while waiting on my PR confirmation
I’m leaving out…so much. But that should give you some sense of everything that’s gone down in the last few months.
In the end, it’s all worked out, thank goodness. As of last Friday, I’m officially a Canadian permanent resident!
I have my eCOPR (electronic confirmation of permanent residence) in hand, which I’ve passed on to my new employer (Cisco) as proof of my ability to legally work in Canada. That means I can go back to work, and finally end the weird forced sabbatical I’ve been on since getting laid off by Elastic (they cut 12% of their workforce, so it wasn’t just me, those tech layoffs really are going around).
I’m still processing everything that’s gone on, tbh. Been so focused on immigration issues that I’ve neglected other things, like my writing (NaNoWriMo did not go well), my friends (I kind of dropped off the grid there for a bit), and projects for back in SD (there’s a mountain of paperwork my wife needs help with in regards to her mother and younger brother). I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
But at least now I have the mental head space in which to do it. With the PR behind me, I can focus on settling into my new job, helping my wife, and actually planning for the future (I’ve been unable to see past “get my PR” for so long).
So, happy (belated) new year! May your 2023 be more stable than my 2022, and give you the space to breathe and work to accomplish your goals, whatever they are.
