My husband asked when I will post something on my blog. I've tried several times unsuccessfully. Let's start with what I was up to since last December.
A quick overview :
-A little get-away in the Netherlands for the new year. My husband suggested Germany, but instead we went with "familiar", so Amsterdam it was.
-Then, we had a one-day trip to Paris to legalize my birth certificates, mine and my parents. I got to visit the C.a.m.b.o.d.i.a.n embassy. I can't believe that there was so many people lining up for a visa. We then headed to the Canadian embassy, there was nobody and the security check was ridiculous excessive, similar to an airport. I had to wait 30 minutes because some girl needed her birth certificate to be legalized. She seemed in distress because she only had a copy of her birth certificate and not the original. Apparently, she wanted to apply for health care in France and they needed the document to be legalized. When I first arrived in 2005, nobody asked for a legalized document, just a birth certificate and I had the "carte de séjour" rapidly. We also slashed a tire on a sidewalk in Paris while parking (I was not driving), but managed to return home without a problem. Let's just say that my trip Paris didn't come cheap. And now our car needs to be checked too for its 65 000 km. So January is the month of spendings, with "les Soldes" (sales clearing), so I'm totally broke. What a great way to start a year.
-The winter is really mild so I'm not complaining.
-I drove 700 km so far, with my husband. Two more months, and I can pass the driving test. I am still struggling to park. I have to stick a logo behind the car to let everybody know that I am a "learner". And that encourages other drivers to be aggressive. In Canada, we don't have to put a "learner" sign.
-I have an appointment this Friday with the Préfecture to drop my naturalization application. My husband has to come too because it is a naturalization by marriage. I'm annoyed by the whole process and I'm pretty sure they will ask for another ramdom document.
So, that pretty much it for now.
ps: Here's a few pictures of Amsterdam, it was rainy and grey, but never boring.
I tried to go to the Canadian embassy in Paris once a few years ago. I say "tried" because I didn't manage to get in there because security didn't believe I was Canadian. Well, it isn't that they didn't believe me, it's that I didn't have a Canadian passport to prove my citizenship so they told me that they couldn't help me. And that's the story of how I got turned away from my own embassy!
ReplyDeleteThe winter's been really mild, but I'm waiting for the cold to explode any day. If it doesn't come, I have this feeling we'll be inundated with rain until July.
Those learner signs are ridiculous. Ridiculous because the conduite accompagnée sign is a lot less conspicuous than the new driver sign. You can see that big red A from a mile away but the conduite accompagnée sign just looks like any old sticker than a driver would attach to their car.
Congrats on handing in your naturalization application!
I know you have your italian passeport, but a Canadian one can come in handy. From the Embassy, it is easier to renew it (if you have one that is still valid, no document needeed). If not, bring a proof of your citizenship. Before that, you would have to ask for a signature from someone I know (doctor, friend, neighbour), not necessarily from Canada. I did that once. Since I was naturalized at early age, I have a citizenship certificate, that I keep preciously. Your birth certificate is your only proof that you are Canadian or the certificate.
DeleteI don't know if people who aren't Canadians can just drop by. What if they need information about going to Canada....It used to be easier to get into the Embassy.
As for the "conduite accompagnée", trust me, they notice. Drivers like to go in front of me even if this is dangerous, or they like to stick just right behind my bumper. Do they know that learners can break without notice!
I went to the Paris embassy to try and get a new Canadian passport. They told me that they couldn't be sure that I was really Canadian because I had no other ID (you need 2 pieces of ID including the birth certificate or citizenship certificate) that was on their approved list so they couldn't verify that I was the person on the birth certificate. My old passport had expired (and I lost it soon after it expired) so I couldn't use that as a proof. As you know, I learned how to drive over here in Europe so I have no Canadian driving licence, no Indian status, my health card is expired, no federal employee card (actually, I've just re-checked the list and I noticed that the list of acceptable IDs is shorter now - no more health cards). Thanks for letting me know about the changes for the guarantors - that's great news.
DeleteThis is part of the reason why I haven't had a Canadian passport in years. Now that the new passports are out I really want to try and get one. So I'm going to try and battle this one out next summer when I visit. I hope I can come to some sort of agreement over the ID problem... I really don't want to have to pass a driver's theory test again just to be able to get an ID so I can get a passport. I'll keep you posted!
Scratch what I said - health cards are accepted, I was just looking in the wrong place.
DeleteYou should apply in Canada, when you are visiting Ottawa, you can get after 10 days (if you pay extra). I had problems finding a photograph in France that would do take the odd size photo for passeport.
DeleteYes, that's what I'm going to do. Good luck with driving and your citizenship application.
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