|
 |
 |
|
Complete story by Alexandre Bezlatni. 1. IN THE BEGINNING... (May 1998) In the very beginning was the phone call. A friend of mine phoned me and said: "Alexandre, have you ever thought of emigration?".... Stop! It would be better to tell that I was trying to find a job abroad since the end of 80s - beginning of 90s. Maybe you remember that bloom of advertisements in newspapers (something like: "Looking for a job abroad? We are the answer! Call us immediately!!!"). I approached some of them and even paid twice or thrice for a "service". Usually, the payment was 60-75 roubles. You know the final result: nothing. Silence was the answer. There were a lot of "emigration/immigration" variants of such advertisements but their prices!.. I had a big salary that time, but it looked funny in US dollars -- about $12 (the rate was 90), so I could not afford that -- even if I had been so stupid to pay off. :-)) So, my "intention to emigrate" is about 10 years old. A young child, but in the duration of time this child has grown up -- and became a white-bearded grandfather. :-( I made up my mind that the immigration (not emigration) process is a VERY difficult thing... Well, let's get back to spring 1998. The phone rang up and my friend asked me: "Alexandre, have you ever thought of emigration? If you don't know, there is a country in the world, named Canada and it is possible to immigrate there. Let's try together! I'm afraid of doing it alone..." "Vasya!" I replied (the name is fictitious). "Are you in a good mind? No headache? Maybe you haven't slept enough? I'm perfectly aware about Canada, its immigration policy and so on. Do you think I will spend a LOT of efforts, money and time for such a gamble? Look at me! I am not a young man, I have never won a million-dollars jackpot, I haven't even got a university diploma! Finally, I am divorced. Canada is a Catholic country, they don't like divorces!" "Don't answer immediately!" he said. "Just look at some files I've got recently." He came to me and brought three PDF files -- you guess which ones. That was IMM 0008, IMM 5406 and "Guide for Independent Applicant" of course. 2. DECISION. I read the "Guide". That was a real shock for me. I realized that I had got a CHANCE! There were a lot of unclear details there, but the chance was visible. I sent a preliminary form at the end of June and got a reply at the end of October. Being in the dark about underwater rocks hidden in IMM 0008, I spent these four months collecting all documents necessary for the application and trying to clarify those uncertainties. Now I meet the same questions on "ImmList" (and a lot of answers), but in October 1998 I didn't have an opportunity get to Internet, I knew nothing about "WRConsulting" and even about "ImmList". Positive "preliminary" response from the Embassy was another shock for me -- pleasant shock, or course. The chance grew up. There were old IMM 0008 (08-89) and I-03 (04-96) forms in the Embassy's package and I was slightly confused by their obsoleteness. Finally, I decided to submit just this variant of forms instead of new ones. It took me about 1.5 weeks to make a final decision. (I'd like to note: there is one strange but sometimes useful side of my nature: I have a big "inertial mass". Not "weight" -- I am tall and thin. I mean: it is difficult to make me DO something, but if I've STARTED to do it -- it is even harder to stop me). Well, I started up. One thousand tons of inertial mass began to move. Faster and faster. I designed my papers with Corel Draw -- all of them, from A to Z. One more detail about myself: I can't sleep well till the last mote is removed from what I am doing. That's why I made each IMM 0008 form not on four separate pages as many people do, but on ONE sheet of paper as an original form was (11x17 inches = "tabloid" size). That's why I threw away nineteen copies of it and brought the best two copies to the Embassy. That's why I printed the documents on color (!) laser printer. That's why I made a translated copy of work book, using my personal letterhead instead of empty sheets of paper. There was a nice logotype at the top of each page. There were scanned images (color!) of work book there. The translations were placed below. In my opinion that was a real masterpiece. If that printer was able to operate glossy paper, my documents would look not worse than "Cosmopolitain" or "Vogue" magazines. Trying to notarize papers I visited four notaries and got a very nice collection of answers on the matter: "why it is impossible to notarize such documents". Finally, all obstacles were overcome. On December 12, 1998 I got on the train and left for Moscow. A little detail: there was a rainy day when I left home. Rain! In the middle of December! In the Urals! Hey, who told about rainy Vancouver? 3. AT THE EMBASSY. December 15, 1998 (Tuesday). I arrived at the Embassy early in the morning. Temperature was -16 C and (after waiting for almost three hours in the air) I was as cold as ice. Do you remember a cartoon personage named Chilly Willie? (sorry, maybe wrong spelling). He is a little penguin which is always frozen. We were very much alike. Having entered reception hall, I read a new checklist. What a surprise! Since November 16th all the documents had to be translated and notarized. Sure, I only had brought a copy of work book. All other documents were in originals. I just followed Embassy's instructions I got by mail. Many people were captured in the same trap and asked each other "what to do?" I decided not to leave the Embassy immediately. I stayed there for about 2 hours and looked around. That was very interesting experience in all respects. For example, I saw a man who was trying to speak English with the immigration officer. It took him 30 seconds to push out: "I...was...in...Germany..."
Almost everything he said was grammatically incorrect but I really respect that man because he SPOKE English! No matter how bad, no matter how strange but anyway he spoke. He knew exactly what he wanted and went straight forward to his goal. I think he definitely will see Canada because such people are unstoppable by their nature. I respect them. I spent almost three days in Moscow filling lacunas in my portfolio. By the way, I notarized seventeen pages of documents at the cost of 85 roubles in my town. And I paid 1260 roubles having notarized seven pages in Moscow! Avoiding misprint I will spell: one thousand two hundred and sixty roubles. That's Moscow. It likes money. On Friday (18th of December) I was at the Embassy again. Fortunately, it was warm (near 0 C), so I even took off a fur cap trying to keep my hairdo in order. I was 20th in the line. Again three hours of waiting and again I'm inside. The reception hall was overcrowded (approx. 90 visitors). Well-known "Kolya" (security) commented: "If you ever saw what a crowd was here yesterday!..." One pretty woman came for a visa (already!!!). She was sitting relaxed and waiting. Others were looking at her as if she was an alien (or extraterrestrial, spaceWOman, saucerWOman... I can't pick up the correct word). Long staying in the line... (skipped) Finally, I'm at the wicket. The wicket to destiny... I don't remember how the reception lady looked exactly (sorry...). I was so concentrated on the crux of a subject that I doubt I could be able to notice even an earthquake. She greeted me in Russian. I greeted her in English. I'm almost dying of laugh (or horror) remembering how brave I was forcing English variant of conversation. That was the second time in my life when I spoke English! The first time was eight years ago, when I visited the Moscow's affiliate of IBM. I only said that time: "Don't worry, we can wait for a couple of minutes..." -- their interpreter was busy and the boss didn't know what to do. That's all. That was all my experience in conversational English at that moment. Sure, I could read almost fluently, I could write with some mistakes, but speaking!... Such an insolent fellow. The officer asked me a lot of questions. Fortunately, I was able to catch up the sense of her questions, so I didn't ask her to repeat. But I'm amazed of how SHE could understand my answers! My cheeps were so weak (no comments about my accent!) that "nobody else but she" could accomplish such a feat. An interrogation about my divorce was especially tight: - How many times have you been married?
In such manner we went through entire IMM 0008 form. I failed after the question: "Why didn't you serve in
Military Army?" Indeed, how can I explain in Canada (and in English!) Russian... no, not Russian -- Soviet term:
"Po brOni ot predpriyatia"?! I even forgot to say "Thank you very much" and went out as if I took part in a great battle. Waifs of smoke were over
my head...
4. EPILOGUE.
At the end of April 1999 I got a letter from the Embassy, which said: "You passed without a selection interview".
The last and the greatest shock.
By the way, this is a good lesson for pessimists. Only one year ago I was the last person in the world who
could believe in such a fairy-tale -- Canada. Now (Oct. 1999) I'm waiting for a Promise of Visa Letter.
The second lesson: the information is the most valuable thing in this world. Even if you are short of money, it
would be much better to get an information how to earn them, rather than to get $100 as a gift.
If I had knew earlier all the details of immigration to Canada I would have been there few years ago.
Thus, I'd like to say my greatest thanks to Inga Clemens and to all people who support this website.
They give us INFORMATION !!! Free of charge.
Sincerely,
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
