Are there any real people at the Canadian High Commission?

I've been trying to contact the Canadian High Commission in London, but end up trapped in an endless automated phone system that never leads to a real person on the other end of the line. This would not be a problem, if I could find out the information I need on their Internet site, but we have an individual situation, which can only be dealt with on a personal level. So perhaps, somebody out there knows how to crack through their automated system?

We are a family living in the UK. I am Canadian, but have lived in the UK for nearly 12 years. My husband is British, We have 4 children, all born in the UK. My eldest has a Canadian Citizenship card, and we are in the process of applying for citizenship for the other 3. Now it gets complicated. My husband has been offered a visiting post at a university in Canada for a period of 6 months next year, but we want to stay for 8 months in total - does a temporary work permit cover the entire period, even if his contract has officially ended or does he need some other leave to remain type document? What health and education benefits are the children entitled to, as they are certainly eligible for Canadian Citizenship? Having lived abroad for so many years, do I need any special permit to return to Canada? Do we all need to submit photographs with the work permit application?

So you can perhaps understand why it is frustrating to not be able to reach an actual human at the High Commission. Currently, I have sent them an email in the vague hope of receiving a useful reply.

But if anyone out there has any info, it would be much appreciated. Cheers!

Beleive me, I tried for months to get hold of them and the only way to speak to someone there is to go there! But beware, they are only open from 8am until 12.00pm and the line ups are normally long and thre don't get to see everyone. The best way is to stay in LOndon overnight and get there 7.30am the next morning. Once inside they are the most unhelpful bunch you will ever meet to be prepared and take everything you'll need. Hope this helps!

I know where your coming from, although my plight isn't anywhere as bad as your i have such a time trying to re-new my passport every five years. I have lived in England since moving here as a 11yr old, i kept my canadain nationality as apossed to selecting to go for dual mationality. And every 5 years i have to go through the long drawn out process of sorting through paper work and sending off for my new passport, which i can only ever do if i take the time to travel to London. And as you said there is no point in trying to speak to a real person on the phone, and trying to get anything done between their working hours 08:30 - 13:30 is a pain (didn't realize people worked such short hours...)
I hope you have managed to sort out your problems.

They will respond to faxes, but that's about it. You're better off phoning the CIC in Mississauga. They only have an 888 number now to stop people from calling them from outside the country, try phoning the Federal building in Toronto and asking them for the local number. If you do this, there are additional forms the High Commission requires which are listed on their own website. (Yes, all this hassle just to talk to someone on the phone).

In your situation I think you basically have to sponsor him, file the immigration paperwork with the High Commission and they process it and he gets an immigrant visa. I don't think work permits are an option in this situation because he is married to a Canadian citizen and has dependent Canadian children, which means he doesn't meet the requirements of having non-immigrant intent to get a work permit. Also there's no guarantee his job is even allowed on a work permit, the employer would have to get the labour certification from HR Canada.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/English/immigrate/ ... spouse.asp

Once he gets his immigrant visa, he immigrates, gets his PR card and as long as he remains married to a Canadian citizen he can renew his PR card indefinitely regardless of where he lives.

Probably more sensible to do it that way anyway as it's a permanent solution, although work permits only take a month or two to get, whereas doing the sponsorship takes a long time - but if it's 2010 the job starts, you should be able to get it by then.

All you have to do personally is make sure you have a valid Canadian passport, ditto for your kids.

If you're only going for a few months you're probably better off filing your taxes as a non-resident, which means you have to file a non-resident T1 and claim a foreign tax credit in the UK. UK taxes are usually higher so you may have to pay some additional UK income tax on top of the Canadian tax.

You'll also need to complete CBSA forms B4 and B4A to declare any personal effects you are bringing with you.

For healthcare you'll need to register in whichever Province you move to. Each Province has a different procedure.

the high commission in london does have people who read e-mails. my wife received an e-mail less than two weeks ago, which said that the high commission was unable to tell her where to mail her canadian tax return. not the most helpful reply, but a reply nonetheless! prior to this, she arrived at canada house on spec, where she was given a name card for the information centre (political affairs & public diplomacy division) at canada house, but prevented from entering (it must have been after 1330!).

if u want to try ur luck, then ldn.publicaffairs@international.gc.ca is the e-mail address.

ian.

International Tax Centre in Ottawa, I know that one.

I made a mistake in my above posting, if your husband becomes a Canadian LPR, then under the tax treaty he will have to file taxes in Canada forever because a claim of permanent residency is exactly that.

This is one thing the CIC glosses over on their website, they make it sound as though it is a simple thing to maintain LPR status if you're married to a Canadian. Well it is, but there are responsibilities that go along with it.

So in fact if you are married to a Canadian and are both moving to Canada temporarily it is quite an awkward situation because you don't appear to have non-immigrant intent but in fact you do.

Whether in fact the CIC, CRA and the CBSA really give a toss at the end of the day is an interesting question but legally that is the situation.

If it were me I'd do the LPR route for my spouse, and worry about the CRA later if they ever cotton on.

I'm not sure how much help this will be, but I was training with the Canada Border Services Agency and one of the things we were taught is that all Canadian Citizens enter the country by right. In other words, no matter how long you've been outside Canada, if you are a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada it is your right to enter. If you have been outside of Canada for more than a year you will enter as a Former Resident which means that you can bring your belongings back with you into Canada tax and duty free if you have own, used, and possessed them for 6 months prior to their import.

Goodluck!
Harry