So today I girded up my loins to go to the Canadian Consulate in the morning and the Argentine Customs in the afternoon.

Canadian Consulate

It was a lovely morning and the consulate is located in a pleasant, leafy area, so I didn’t mind the walk. When I got there, I first had to give up my cell phone to the guard on the front desk. Then, at the reception desk, I explained what I wanted.

I had found out from the website that they were open Monday to Thursday, 8.30 am to noon, and 2 pm to 4 pm. But now I was told that they don’t see members of the public in the morning, just in the afternoon. However, I could go into a little booth and hit the yellow button and I would be connected with Natalia, who was the one I wanted to talk to. (Why did I think this would be easier just because it was Canadian? Dealing with any government is never easy!)

Anyway, even though it seemed a silly way to have a conversation, her upstairs and me down in the lobby, she did give me the information I needed. I have to get my fingerprints taken here and then they have to be sent (on paper, not electronically) to a designated fingerprint company in Canada. They will digitize the paper prints (!) and send them to the RCMP. The RCMP process takes about three days, and then they will send the document to me, or someone I designate — by Canada Post! Then that person has to have the document notarized and then take it to be authenticated by Global Affairs (where all the problems started last time). Then it must be sent to the Argentine Consulate in Toronto or Montreal for legalization, and finally sent back to me in Buenos Aires. Only then can my residency application continue.

Fortunately, through my CAPS connections, I have found someone who will take care of all the steps for me in Ottawa, so it shouldn’t take more than a few weeks. Of course I can’t do the fingerprints until next Wednesday, because they are only open on Wednesdays and Fridays!

My Boxes

We went back to Customs and Immigration this morning with my list of contents duly translated into Spanish. Imagine our surprise when they told us everything was now in order! Did that mean we were done? Well no, not quite. The file will now be sent to Customs (in another location), and if all is OK they will tell this morning’s person when we can go to release the boxes. But of course they can’t advise us of this by email or phone or anything 21st century, so we have to go down there again next Friday. The guy told Cecilia if they are not ready then he will “see what I can do”!

But I must say I feel this is very close to done now. I think my boxes will soon be mine again.

Isn’t this fun?