We are nearly, nearly Canadian

Last week we received a letter from those lovely people at the Candian Consulate in LA to say that our application for permanent residency in Canada has been approved.

Things we can now do -
- live in Canada indefinitely without having to renew work permits every 2 years.
- work for any company, although I'm happy where I am. My work permit tied me to ISL.
- live anywhere in Canada, although ditto. My work permit tied me to Edmonton.
- apply for citizenship.

Things we can't do -
- vote.
- stand for political office.
- have a Canadian passport.
- live outside Canada for more than three years in every five.
- remain in Canada if we are convicted of a serious criminal offence.

So we've couriered our passports down to LA to get them stamped, and then when we get them back, we have to leave Canada and enter again to get landed immigrant status which is what permanent residency is known as. Some people do this just by driving down to the US border and back again. However, it should fit in well with our trip back to the UK in October.