Tag: PR

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – September 22 2021: Vancouver, BC – We Are Permenent Residents!

Kim & Curtis Hale

We did it!

We officially got accepted for permanent residence here in Canada!

So what does that mean?

This means we no longer have any restrictions like we did on our permits and we can stay here in Canada for 5 years before we need to renew it (which is apparently easy).

What next?

We need to get our PR cards, which we can do online and once we get those, we can get our new SIN (social insurance number).

Once that’s done, the process is done! Then, we’re able to come and go as we please and work here as we please for 5 years.

This is all exciting! We are glad the process is finally done and we’re residents of Canada!

🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Mr and Mrs Hale

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Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 518: Vancouver, BC – X-rays

Kim & Curtis Hale

X-rays

We were up around 07:00 this morning and ready to go!

We had to get x-rays as the last part of our medical and it’s a walk in clinic for that, so we wanted to get there for when it opens so we’re in and out as quick as possible.

It opened at 07:30 and we got in and out of there pretty quick and we’re back home by 09:15, but did stop to buy a coffee on the way home!

Curtis’ Day

As soon as he got home, Curtis had a busy day!

He had meeting right when he got back and then did a lot of tickets right up until lunch.

Once lunch was done, he had more tickets to do and did some troubleshooting with someone.

It was an entire day of tickets but a busy and successful one!

Kim’s Day

To start her day Kim updated spreadsheets and made notes for the next few weeks and months. At midday she then joined her team meeting to discuss the ongoing projects and the next steps for them all. Kim then hosted the social call where everyone just had a chat and caught up, it was so nice.

For the afternoon Kim joined her colleague discuss the plans for the next year or so for the team. It was such an interesting call!

She then had a call with someone so that they could help Kim send the first offer letter on the new HR system. It was so great for Kim to have that support from someone who has a little more experience with the software than she does.

For the rest of the afternoon Kim worked on a few projects and eventually sent the offer letter out.

Evening

Curtis watched hockey after work whilst Kim was working.

We then had Mac and cheese for dinner, homemade of course!

We ate that and watched some TV and headed to bed at a decent time as we were up early this morning.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 516: Vancouver, BC – Gathering Paperwork

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis did some tickets in the morning and then had a meeting for an hour with his team.

After that, he had some more tickets to do and a bit of Norwegian homework, then he had another team meeting for about an hour.

Curtis did a little more work and then he had some lunch with Kim.

After lunch, Curtis and a little more work to do and a bit of admin for some project work he had just been given.

After work, Curtis watched the Leafs game whilst Kim continued to work.

Kim’s Day

Kim spent the morning setting up two laptops for a couple of her teammates. She also managed to get some admin done. Just after midday Kim joined a team meeting where they all caught up and made plans for the week.

Kim’s colleague came and picked up their laptop after the meeting and they had a quick chat too. It got cut short because of a facilities meeting email that came in. As a result of the email Kim set up a meeting with a few people so they could all discuss next steps on the project. The meeting went really well!

After that Kim had a meeting with her colleague to go over some of the immigration paperwork. They completed a form, collected a few of the other needed documents and also made a note of other documents needed.

Kim then dropped the other laptop off to her other colleague. To finish her day Kim helped her two colleagues set up their laptops and was also able to get some HR stuff done, too!

Evening

We had some homemade lemon chicken with rice and the lemon chicken had been marinated for a while so it was very lemoney, which we love!

We watched TV and relaxed for the evening.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 496: Vancouver, BC – A Bank Meeting

Kim & Curtis Hale

We woke up at a decent time today, but we did sleep in today, especially compared to yesterday.

We had some toasties for breakfast and watched some TV.

After showering and getting ready, we remembered that we had a bank appointment to go to, so we went and did that. We were at the bank for about an hour or so, but in that time we got some things done which we need both for our PR application but also for some other things that we had needed for a while and just never got around to doing.

We got back home and had some pizza and a coffee and played some games.

After that, we made sausages, potato gratin, peas, carrots and gravy.

We ate that and went back to playing some Minecraft but then watched some TV.

There’s been rainfall warnings today, so the weather isn’t likely to get any better, so it’s unlikely we’ll be doing anything exciting (not that we can anyway!).

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 493: Vancouver, BC – Boxing Day 2020

Kim & Curtis Hale

We woke up at 11:30, which was late but it was the plan. We felt great when we woke up too, which was good.

We had our remaining croissants and strawberries and watched some TV.

Eventually we got ourselves ready and we did a bit of PR application-related admin, then we went out for a bit of a walk and to get a coffee, mostly just to get us out of the house.

Once we got back, we played some games for a bit and then had leftovers from yesterday.

We watched Soul on Disney+ whilst we ate and the animation was incredible, though the film itself was just ok.

We then watched some more TV and had some cheese and crackers as a snack. That was pretty much our day. Nothing special, but nice and relaxing.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 490: Vancouver, BC – Permanent Residence Invite!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis’ day started great, getting invited to apply for Permanent Residence!

It also turns out that Kim gets to piggy back off of this, so she doesn’t have to apply for anything herself (though we still need a lot of documents!).

Curtis spent a lot of the day gathering and uploading the documentation as well as trying to get information and documents that we don’t have yet.

He did also did do some work. He had some admin to do and he had a call with someone to help them with something.

There was also a team call to explain how to do something, which was interesting.

Curtis had to do an offboard in the afternoon so he got that done and then signed off for the day.

Kim’s Day

Kim was planning on heading into the office to wait for another delivery, but then she was informed that it had arrived the day before. As she had no where to be, Kim decided to snooze for a bit in the morning.

Kim had a call with a new starter in the morning so she got up and was ready in time for that. She had a great chat and gave the new starter the accesses and log ins that they need.

After the call Kim popped out to pick up a delivery for Curtis, a colleague of his made and sent some holiday treats! So kind and lovely! Kim quickly popped home before heading back out to collect the delivery from the office. On the way home Kim stopped at the supermarket to pick up a few items that they were out of stock of yesterday.

Kim then made some fancy chicken hot sandwiches for lunch when she got home and they were tasty! She had a couple of small things to do for work, so Kim decided to quickly sort that out. She sent some information via the HR system and created a template to use in the future.

One thing that Kim and Curtis enjoyed earlier in the year was having the English food to snack on. So Kim popped out to the same shop to pick up a few English goodies, she even got some party rings, which was exciting!

Evening

We went out for a walk and to the liquor store to stock up on booze! We actually really enjoyed the walk, too.

We got back home and Kim made a vegetarian chilli which was terrific!

We watched some TV and chilled out for the night.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 476: Vancouver, BC – PNP Received!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis had a team.meeting at 09:30 and then after that he had to remove 2 mailbox permissions for someone and then just on a call with them and make some changes on their email.

After he did that, he did the same with another person.

Curtis then had to reach out to someone to figure out their equipment for when they start in the new year, as well as obtain their address.

After lunch, Curtis did some tickets and then did a LONG questionnaire he needed to do for work.

Curtis got an email in the early evening stating he had been accepted for his provincial nomination, which means he now should be able to apply for Permanent Residency, as well as being able to get a work permit, which is excellent!

Kim’s Day

Kim started her day with a team meeting where she updated their manager about the recruitment process for a new hire and discussed the possibility of adding another role for recruitment, which was approved. As a result Kim started some research and began to form a job listing, she has also reached out to the head of technology to see the needs that his department would have from this new position.

For the rest of the morning Kim set up a laptop for a new starter and arranged for a laptop sent out last week to be returned as that person is currently working from their machine and a new starter will joining would use it more. So she arranged a same day courier for that, which was great as Apple were out of stock for the laptop that Kim needs.

In the early afternoon Kim hosted the weekly social call where only one other person joined. It was so nice to have a chat with this person as they only started with the company this week so ot was a great time to have an informal chat and get to know each other.

After the call Kim sat down to take a better look at the spreadsheet of new information for the facilities project. She reviewed it, added notes and then sent it back for the person to gather more information and set up meetings.

Kim then popped out to ship the laptop she set up in the morning out to the new starter for next week. She also took the time to drop the company card back to her colleague. They then joined Kim on the walk back home (both in masks and distanced) to get out and enjoy some fresh air.

When she got back home Kim focused on setting up the other laptop that was delivered while she was out for the other new starter who joins soon. Once that was set up Kim focused on some more HR learning and had a call about the facilities project.

As she was in the zone with all things HR Kim took the time to update peoples info on the HR system and reach out to people to remind them if gaps that they have in their profiles.

Evening

Curtis had the remaining leftovers and Kim had some chicken, potato and vegetables for dinner.

We watched some TV and some YouTube and then we each reached out to our former companies to get reference letters confirming that we worked there, which we’ll need for the next step of the process.

We watched more TV and played some games and then headed to bed.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 474: Vancouver, BC – Interviews

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis was back at work today! He had 400 emails to go through as well as some messages.

People clearly realised he was back as he got a flurry of messages asking for him to do different things and asking him questions, but he had fun doing it and was glad to be back at work again.

After his weekly team meeting, Curtis helped someone with an unusual request to add a logo to a couple of places on their file document storage space, so they are more recognisable for each team, which was not something he had done before!

Curtis figured out how to do this but then it didn’t work, but he got it working after some troubleshooting.

Curtis had a bit of other work to do and still had some emails to go through and then he had a meeting with some people from the Vancouver office to discuss the culture and how it feels to work for the company at the moment. They’re gathering information so they can make improvements if needed.

Curtis had some lunch and then his afternoon was a bit more relaxed.

He had some more work to do and caught up with a few more bits of information and prepared a bit for work tomorrow.

Curtis also completed one of his PR applications (for the BC PNP), paid for & submitted that so now he just waits until he can submit his work permit application!

Kim’s Day

Kim spent a lot of her day on various calls with her colleague. The first they went over a few questions they each had and Kim showed her colleague a few things in the HR system.

Shortly after this call they both joined an onboarding call where they met two new hires and helped them set up a few things. Then they joined a couple of the execs to discuss the facilities project and were able to move forward. Kim and the CEO will have a meeting and check things out on Thursday afternoon.

Kim then hosted her first interview! It went so well and she really enjoyed the experience. The candidate was great and it was so interesting. After the interview Kim and her teammate had a chat about the candidate and how it all went. Kim then worked on a few smaller tasks like looking at other candidates for the position, sending out an invite for the gift exchange and she called to chase a laptop, but had no response.

Later in the afternoon Kim hosted a second interview, again it went well and was interesting. Her colleague called after the interview again and they discussed it and then looked over more candidates waiting to be processed. They also then had a chat with a department manager about the onboarding process and how happy he was with it.

Evening

Once Kim was home, we had leftovers from our roast yesterday and we watched some TV.

We then played a whole host of games that recently became free, so we had a fun night trying out some different games!

Kim then watched some more of a movie she was watching and Curtis played some games.

We watched a bit of TV together and relaxed for a bit before heading to bed.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 470: Vancouver, BC – Company Holiday Gift!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis woke up around 09:30 and had some breakfast, a shower and a coffee.

Once Curtis was done with his coffee, he walked down to the nearest post office as he had been told he had a package waiting for him that his company had sent him!

Curtis had to wait in the queue for a bit, but he got the package and headed back home.

The package was a holiday gift from his company, which he forgot they were sending! Each person got one of these and they contain a variety of snacks (mostly dark chocolate, which Curtis LOVES) and then he also got some socks in there, as well.

Curtis played games whilst Kim worked in the afternoon.

Kim’s Day

Kim started her day in the office and she was happy to see that the most of the fruit flies were now gone. She finished the laptop set up and then had a meeting about the interview she was in yesterday and the next steps for that process. After that she called a company that she ordered a laptop from to see where it was, she got through to voicemail so left a message an emailed the company too.

There are a few new hires over the next couple of weeks so Kim went to pick up a laptop from her colleague, but it wasn’t ready yet. So Kim drove home and shortly after joined a recruitment meeting to go over all the top candidates for open positions. It was an interesting meeting and some candidates that Kim liked for a new position are moving forward and will be interviewing with Kim next week.

Kim then hosted the weekly social call, for a while only her teammate was on the call so that had a great catch up. Then one other person joined so the three of them played a game of among us with another colleagues kid and it was so fun! They were only small and quick games, but really enjoyable!

Shortly after that Kim joined the team meeting and they went over some plans for the next few weeks. Then Kim went and picked up the laptop from her teammate, set it up in record time and managed to get it to fedex before the cut off time. Well, actually she was way past the cut off time, but they were running late!

When she got back Kim had a call with the external person about the facilities project. They talked about how the meeting yesterday went and what the possible next steps are. Then to finish the day Kim wrote up a chart about the difference in contractors that the company has to give some structure to the HR system and finance. She sent it off to her teammate and manager for their review.

Evening

We spent some time together writing up an email to send to our local MP. We are doing this to see if they can assist with our work permit situation, which is ongoing.

Once we did that, we went out to get an onion and have a bit of a walk!

Kim made a vegetable bolognese for dinner which was terrific! We had the final episode of Alex Rider to watch, so we watched that and also played some games/watched other shows.

We both have the day off tomorrow, so we plan to hang out and relax!

Curtis got the confirmation today that ice hockey is currently suspended by the province due to COVID-19, but there is a hope it will return at some point.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 468: Vancouver, BC – Application Consultation

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis got up when Kim was up and had some breakfast, showered and then played some games for a little bit.

After that, he had his Norwegian lesson and then just played games and chilled out for most of the remainder of the day.

When Kim had her consultant chat with regards to the PR and work permits, Curtis followed along and did some research for it.

Kim’s Day

Kim joined the weekly company meeting and they did the usual stuff and updates before wishing someone a happy birthday! Kim organised gift vouchers for everyone so they can get cake, and then use the rest of the voucher for the winter party coming up. They all sang happy birthday and ate cake and it was amazing!

After the meting Kim went out to look at offices, she saw two new ones and popped by one from last week to take a video of it. Then when she was back at home Kim updated the photos and videos as well as made a few notes about each of the spaces.

For the early afternoon Kim made email profiles for new starters and continued to update the onboarding process for new hires.

Kim also had a meeting about a new role that the company is hiring for, its the same role Kim wrote the job posting for. They spoke about the kind of candidate they are looking for and some of the aspects of the role.

Kim had a chat with a PR consultant about our application, the chances of us being accepted and the remaining steps etc. We got some good information and clarity there!

Kim finished her day by looking into a new software for a department within the company and working on the winter partys quiz.

Evening

We had a very healthy dinner of potato, chicken nuggets & corn with Nandos sauce and then some nacho cheese on top for good measure!

We watched some TV, played some games and did some more research, made some decisions and discussed our PR application and some related items around that.

We then watched some more TV and chilled out.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale