So after completely forgetting my password & username for this website I finally recovered it (my duh moment of the day) and things have changed for sure.

I'm not sure if I'm in just a mood or what but I have been missing my home more than usual lately (in Victoria, BC) and if I could pick up my family and move back I would in a heartbeat. While I love living in Seattle things haven't been what I expected. My husband and I made the choice to move the states because financially it made sense, of course it didn't help that three months after me immigrating he was laid off unexpectedly (then had surgery two days later, great timing). I think what is bugging me the most is that we would have moved to Canada hands-down if we would known my husband was going to lose his job. It was a hard step for us to decide where build our life - in Canada or the US and unfortunately the only valid reason is not quite so valid anymore. I miss my family and I'm craving structure right now. While I love my husband’s family they don't have the best track record for supporting him (parents divorced, mother remarried had more children - father is not the most reliable person in the world), there is his mother's family, his dad's family... and him. I keep telling myself if I move back that I need to be coming from a strong point: bills paid, immigration finalized, career solidified but living in the US right now just doesn't feel 'right' and to be honest it never really did.

I'm looking into my options, neutralization for me then moving back to Canada possibly (legally I will need to confirm it). I've also entertained the idea to just THROW everything out the window and move - my future and happiness is more important than money spent.

I think a fair question to ask in addition to my nice rant is - Do you miss Canada? Would you move back if you could? What do you enjoy about living in the States?

Oh for sure, every day.. from when I go to the coffee shop in the morning (no Timmy's), to the conversations that happen at work (pro war/ pro bush), to just the general weirdness that I feel around here being such "the hippy" as my husband says. I miss my family BIG TIME, and I miss having real "old" relationships - people who know my history and i'm 100% comfortable with. Right now most of our friends are PHD's and Medical Dr's, etc. and it's very hard for me to find common ground and/or not be intimidated by them. Where I work 80% are x-military (as well as hubby) and that feels strange to me as well (i'm the outsider not being a USC and never known what it's like to be in the military).

Would I move back? Hopefully someday, but we need to be here right now for hubby's children. He needs to work his job to make money to take care of them, and we don't want to move any geographically further away from them than we already are.

What do I enjoy.. hmmmmm.. I do enjoy the "newness" of it. the change and the adventure of going out and seeing new things. believe it or not I am enjoying hearing the different perspectives (as much as they annoy me sometimes), and I do enjoy the variety of things to do and see (esp in my area being close to NYC, Boston & DC). I love my hubby!! And he made the promise to me that he would make what I was coming to better than what I was leaving behind, and he has done that AND more..

I do feel for you.. esp. since you are just a ferry ride away from home it must be so tough!

yes, very much, especially the ocean, and being away from my family.
yes, and we're hoping to figure out a way to make it happen.
road trips with the hubby

Hands down yes...we want to move back. Well, it will be home for my husband. For me, a new life. Other than my husband and our daughter, there is nothing in the States for me. Yeah, I do have friends...friends that I've made here too. We still want to move to Canada (Nova Scotia for us). I have no family here...his family and friends are all back home in NS. Healthcare is way better there (that's another topic on here as well) and quite frankly, I'm more comfortable there than here. He moved here because I couldn't move there. *sigh* Some day though...

YEP!

Its been hard to completely separate myself from my 'old' home and my 'new' home and my feelings lately haven't helped.

I can relate when you say that you feel intimidated and it's hard to find common ground in social situations. My husband, poor guy, is not a socially includined person so meeting new people has been hard.

As long as I'm with him though it's ok

Yeah the Healthcare in Canada is for sure a big one. I know that my husband loves Victoria and is just as comfortable there as I am, it really is a no-brainer for us. We just need to work everything out.

Hell no. Well someone had to say that ha ha. Definatly not though. I visit once every year or so and that's good enough to visit for a few days. Moving back? Never would want to. My wife on the other hand wouldn't have an issue, but being that I spent my life dreaming of leaving I would cringe at the thought.

Sure my family and I do have a lot of friends there, but we visit, in fact my parents are comming out here for a vacation soon. There's really nothing I miss from Canada at all either, other then little things like Olives with the pits in them, and Harvey's hamburgers etc. Nothing really important.

Since you're in Washington and your family is just north, you seem to be pretty close to your home anyways. Isn't it possible to just travel there for the weekends or something every month? Not sure the exact distance, but seems that you could easily visit a lot if you wanted to...

Yes, I'd move back. Definitely. We've talked about sometime in the future settling in B.C. (I'm from Toronto).

So far the only thing I really like here is my husband, the rent (way cheaper than what I used to pay, but that's only because of this city) and the postal system. Oh and ordering stuff online without it getting stopped by customs at the border and dinged for duty charges.

Warlord, your case is a little different than ours though since you actively sought to move and didn't move for a fiance/spouse.

Misa, I'm glad you like your hubby!!

Heh, it would kind of be a problem if I didn't!

To be honest with you at first I was like YES, I'M FREE but now I know it was superficial - it's cliche but I never knew how good I had it until I left. I'm pretty sure this post is stemming from my feeling of being isolated right now for a lot of reasons. I would love for my future children to grow up where I did and have their grandparents play an active role in their life.

As it stands right now I live an hour and half away from Canada and my family, my parents in particular are just a ferry boat away - It's close but still inconvenient.

Your post made me giggle - my husband is a online-shopaholic and has made it clear that he has never been impressed with "online shopping system" in Canada.

I'm glad you like your husband too!

I would move back in a heartbeat, but my husband has a great government job with an excellent pension, etc., so we won't be moving back until we retire (in about 10 years).

I miss my two adult sons (24 and 26) that still live in Canada soooooooooooo much, and I am missing them more every single day that I am here. Thankfully, my daughter (19) lives here with us and is attending college.

The thought of missing out on being part of my grandchildren's lives (when the time comes) makes me want to cry. I have not made really close friendships since I came here and I miss my friends back in Canada terribly.

We're about 3 1/2 hours (by car) from my boys and my friends, and we visit as often as we can, but it's not the same as actually living there and having them over for dinner whenever I want.

I just dread the thought of doing the immigration process for my husband to move to Canada when the time comes!!!! Anybody know if it's really complicated????

It's a little different then immigrating down to the states, you will have to "sponsor" your husband for him to be a permanent resident. When you sponsor a spouse, to become permanent residents of Canada you must be able to support them financially. Therefore, a big part of the application is that you have to meet certain income requirements. I know there is an additional step if you are a Canadian citizen living in another country but all and all it seems to be a one step process.

Wow, of all the days for me to come back to VJ (have been playing hooky lately) and to read your post. I am so glad I saw this!!! Nice to know we're not alone. I am the USC, but am really wishing right now that I was the one to make the move to Canada. Who knows what we will do in the future. Hubby wants to stay in the States for a few years at least since we have done all this immigration stuff. We live in NH and am relatively close to my family in CT, which is a plus. After adding hubby to my healthcare and having to pay an extra $433/month, am REALLY wishing we were in Canada.

$433/ month for hubby!! HOLY FLIP!!!!

OH MAN don't get me started on the health care here. I started working in January 2007 and started receiving benefits blah blah blah etc. Well, naturally I went to the doctor when I wasn't feeling good and they ran tests and everything was fine.... until I got the BILL!

My health insurance is pretty good, $10 co-pay and a lot is covered... or at least it should have been. When everything was said and done my husband and I received bills totaling over $1000 for my doctor visits because when I moved down I had neglected to send in my PREVIOUS health care information stating I had prior coverage. APPARENTLY if you do not prove that you had previous health insurance for a specific amount of time the health insurance place will code it as a "pre-existing" condition and therefore you are responsible for paying out of pocket. WHATEVER... yes ladies in the end my yeast infection (sorry TMI) was a pre-existing condition that I had to pay out of pocket for *snort*

To make things even better my health insurance provider while they acknowledged they had my paperwork immediately after I submitted it, did not process it until 4 months after the fact and the clinic was threatening collection!

Anyways that's my story, I apologize if this was common knowledge and some of you are like "duh", I guess we were spoiled with our previous health care.

We've done the Canadian immigration process for my Husband, compared to this it's a cakewalk

That's the only part I'm worried about. I have a 23yr old son and a 19yr old daughter, but who's going away to University this fall, so she's not coming with me. I know I'm going to miss them so much

I am still in the process of deciding if I miss Canada or not.

I didnt like my life back then, I didnt like the city life, I am not that close to my family other than my mom. Honestly the thing I miss the most is my job because I havent started working here yet and I am scared of where I will end up..

My husband's family is in Michigan, and we drive 3 hours every few weeks to go see them. I've seen a sunset on lake Michigan and the houses are really cheap and really nice, and there is also a lot of barns and horses (a passion I have never realised so far because I was living in the city). And on top of that the lab where I used to worked know a big place that could hire me in a second and its about 40 min away from where his parents live.

My husband as been living in Illinois for 13 years because of college, and then ex wife and kids. So we are currently living here in Illinois because of the kids. He has a really good job but even if he would go down in salary (if we moved and he didnt have the kids) it would change much because it would be the same as his salary now - child support. And my husband as been dying to move back in Michigain for years.

So anyways. I think I miss more Michigan than I miss Canada......

I haven't quite moved yet, but I know my fiance and I are already talking about moving to Canada. He wants better health care for us, and he knows that I'm extremely attached to Vancouver (for the food, the weather, etc). The only reason why I'm moving down there is for the change of pace and for his family, whom he's extremely close to.

He also wants to become a Canadian citizen someday, so we've been kinda poking around at sites to see how hard it's going to be. The regulations have almost put him off doing it altogether, but he's still considering it because he's not very happy at what's going on in the States right now in terms of health care and his current president.

A good solution will be for you to complete your process to the US, get your green card and eventually apply for your citizenship. Then, you can sponsor him to Canada as your spouse, return to Canada and you then have the option to live in either the US or Canada without worrying about immigration battles. The Canadian immigration process is a lot easier - for one, spouses do not have to meet a minimum financial requirement for sponsorship!

Wait, what exactly do you have to provide to the insurance company? Your medical record or your previous policy when you move to the US?

I figure that will be what we do. Although, unfortunately, it wouldn't be so easy of a case if after moving back to Canada, to move back to the States, for my future step-daughter, would it? There's no such thing as a K4 without a K3, is there?

For me I had to submit my Carecard (from BC), BlueCross card (Canadian Health Care provider) and a statement showing that I had prior coverage (with dates) in Canada up until the point I moved to the US. I'm not sure if this a universal thing but it's a major pain in the butt.



You can sponsor family members as well

Re: Insurance. My husband had to submit photocopies of my Ontario health card and my previous Sun Life coverage through my old job as well to prove I had health insurance before too. He says it's called "creditable coverage" so that nothing can be considered a pre-existing condition if it's discovered later. Something like that. I sort of blank out when he talks about health insurance.

i'll miss my homeland for sure but i doubt it will makes me urge to move back... i already live away from my mom and my brother... my dad passed away close of 6 years ago, i'm not close of the rest of my family and i have no kids...

i know for sure i'll work in the same field than i do here ( woodworking / carpentry ) it's one of my hobbies...

so for me it's an opportunity to start a new life with the most precious person of this world, my fiancee

I'm having a really hard time....... been here in the US since March.... I have 3 grown daughters all married..... 24, 28 & 30 and 4 grandkids....... if I would of known it would be this hard for me I would never have come........ I was a single mom for almost 20 years, my kids were my world and now my world is gone..... I hate it....... I don't get through one day without tears...... everyone on VJ says it gets better after a while......I find it gets worse every day!

I was only required to submit my SSN. Methinks it depends on the provider what things you have to submit.

Aw WOMAN your going to make me cry already!!
My son has wandered off on his own, he's a butthead right now anyway and my daughter is going to be starting a new life too .....cept he's not always going to be a butthead, and she won't be able to run home to mommy They've made sure I have this new computer and made sure I have a digital camera like they do, so hopefully.... My daughter is planning on coming to see me on school holidays, like she would if I were here.

Susan, I wish I could tell you it really will get better, but here's hoping, and here's hoping that when I get down there you or someone will tell me the same

It will get better, but it will take time to adjust without them around you.

Been here two years now and my 23 year old son is still in Canada. My 18 year old son is here with me.

Not a day goes by I dont think about Matthew. I have my days where I cry but not as bad as when I first got here. Just takes time.

Two of my friends just brought their husbands to Canada. It took 2 months from the time they mailed the application to the time their husbands stepped foot in Canada. You are right...it is way way way easier and less stressful and so straight forward.

I looked into getting my husband landed immigrant status in Canada and they can have it as long as they are living with a Canadian citizen abroad for 2 out of 5 years. Something like that...but it is possible and it is only taking a couple of months...at least in Alberta it is dont know about the rest of the provinces.


A

Tough one for Canadians I guess.

Neither Bren or I are Canadians, so I guess it's a non-issue for us. And both being academics, moving to Mexico (my lovable and fantastic homeland) would not be a wise decision, financially speaking. We are also childless by choice, so that's another thing we don't have to worry about. We want to be close to Bren's family; be able to be at my parents' house in Mexico city in less than one day (try flying from Edmonton to MX" pricey and looooooooooooooong); and have more than 3 options to work in higher education. But that's us. Each couple has its own story

I'm sure you guys will find your way, and will make a common decision that fits both of you. I wish you the best of luck!!!

Peace, L.

Personally...I cant wait to get the HECK outta edmonton. I am sick and tired of seeing crappy FordF150s everywhere and the garbage service you get when you go to any restaurant....BUT unlike the others...i have not left yet....still waiting!

Interesting...my husband and I are looking forward to the day when we can move home. Well, home for him and a new home for me. The area he's from in NS is small and not too far from the port city of Yarmouth. I love it there...always have...and if it had been possible for me and my daughter to emigrate there, we would have done it.

oh Lord, don't move to Oklahoma or texas then!!!!

What? And miss those awesome winters where you have to leave your Ford F150 running while you're in that crappy restaurant?

LOL no i have a car starter and i usually sit beside the window so i wont have troubles starting it when its -30.

Thank goodness for this forum (CANADIAN) I have only been here 3 weeks though I was back in canada for 1 week for an annual AGW (all girls weekend). I really miss my family,I talk to my mom almost daily,and keep up with the news of home.I'll see them all next week at the family reunion in sask. Health care isn't an issue yet, the kids are covered. I was a single mom for a few years,so i got used to being on my own, the kids are kinda bored here, but once school starts i'm sure it will be different I'm just tired of paperwork for every thing.I don't think hubby would ever consider moving to canada he won't even discuss it at all.His kids are here and now grand children too,though I had to leave my son behind (he didn't want to move). YES I MISS HOME. His kids don't knock and just walk in whenever they feel like it (age 21 and 20). I better stop before i have a meltdown.Still can't get my drivers license i need a abstract from manitoba( probally the only province with no access from out of province) LIFE WILL GET BETTER FOR US ALL JUST REMEMBER HOW MUCH YOU LOVE YOUR SPOUSE.

Oh TRKCKL11, sorry to hear things have been a little difficult. Remember, this is the Canada forum and you can rant and vent all you like.

Whats wrong with your husbands kids! They are old enough to know that people who had a long long longggggggggg haul through immigration want to finally experience life as husband and wife...and sometimes those people do it. Put up a sign or something.

A

I hope things will work out for you and your husband (they always do, in the end! )

Since I've just moved here last Autumn, it's safe to say that I'd move back in a heartbeat if my husband should lose his job and not find another one (for us, it was also mostly a financial decision)... in fact, due to union rules, I'm still guaranteed a teaching job back in Ontario for another year should I decide to move back.

I think as the years go by though, my roots here will become deeper (better job... starting a family of our own... buying a house... etc.) and it'll be harder to move back. But still, my family and friends are in Canada, so if anything should go wrong, it'd definitely be a strong option for us to move there.

I guess things aren't all that bad I finally got them to see i'm not the (money tree).Once school starts and I can start working then things will change. When your used to solitude with only 2 kids,and then 8 more come in its crazy here. When i get down i think of hubbys coworker making fun of us.."SMITH FAMILY PARTY OF 42". going through a drive through requires 3 cars lol. in a month and a half we will have a new grand daughter to add to the mix of 7 daughters 1 foster daughter 2 sons 2 son-in-laws, and 4 grand daughters.

Holy geez, that is a crazy large family! I'd hate to see what your food budget looks like for everyone!

WOW! Thats lovely! I cant imagine how hard it would be to adjust to a huge family like that...but atleast your not alone. I love big families. Best of luck to you!