Preparing our travels started already months bevore the actual date itself. Especially figuring out departure dates for Christina and myself had to be taken care of quite early. Since my first working day would be on October 9th, and the house hand-over was planned for September 17th, I decided to depart on September 21st. This allowed me some more time with my wife in her temporary apartment in Lampertheime, as well as enough days in Ottawa to get familiar with my new environment before starting to work. Christina would follow me on December 21st, after having completed some exams she had to take.
The flight tickets had soon been booked for us. Those one way tickets were extremely expensive! For a flight in economy class from Frankfurt to Ottawa a total of more than 3000 dollars per person had to be paid. Quite a lot.
After travel dates had been set, there were only a couple small organizational things left to do. I had to officially apply for ETA online (Electornic Travel Authorization), made some copies of my passport, just to be sure. About two days prio to departure I received a 20 page document for immigration; forms, copies of my university degrees and records, proof of employment etc. Upon arrival I had to hand-over that package to the immigration officer, in order to receive my work permit. I also received some additional information about my temporary housing and instructions for my first days in Canada.
Only thing left now was: packing! Before we moved out of our house I already had to think about what I would need for my first two months in Canada. Not quite easy, given the fact that I’d be travelling in fall, and the days would quickly get colder. In the end I had four suitcases and one backpack. One case full of sports clothing and shoes only…
On September 21st my adventure finally started!
Continue reading with step 6: Permanent residency (coming soon)