Exchange

I finally severed all financial ties with the UK over the last two nights. The exchange rate between the dollar and pound - which has been in the toilet for approaching five years now - has never given much impetus for making the final transfer. But in the last couple of weeks, the rate has risen back to the level that I'd deem acceptable for a transfer. The rate hasn't been this high since Christmas, and before that sometime in 2010. It's all going to be squirreled away on Monday when I have another appointment at the bank to invest it in various vehicles, where it can hopefully work to offset the loss in the 2008 exchange rate and the ridiculous number of charges involved in transferring it over here. It's sod's law that the exchange rate is still going up right now as I write, though.

My UK account now has ten pounds in it, which is probably the least there's ever been in it since it was opened at some point in the 1990s. I pretty much don't exist over there now; not tax resident, no assets, no NI contributions, credit rating most likely disappeared, not on the electoral register.

Glass Half Full

It's been a long long time since I had two days in a row at work that I actually enjoyed. In the grand scheme of things, what I've done in the lab could at best be desribed as mundane, but it's getting me ever closer to finishing what'll be the longest manuscript I've ever written (fifty-fiive pages of and counting!). Seventeen compounds fully characterised and written up, only three more to go; by the end of next week, everything should be finished. It's signalling that things are hopefully going to turn out OK.

The mood's been helped by the approval by university admin of my work extension till the end of May. The HR powers that be changed university policy about postdoctoral fellows, such that beyond five years of a PhD you can't take that job title; instead you have to be called research fellow, the position must be advertised, interviews held and so on. I can understand the university wanting to protect the PDF position so newly qualified PhDs can get the job - rather than some grizzled old lag like me hanging on in perpetuity - but at the same time I think such rules should be grandfathered, rather than potentially dumping people out of a job at four weeks' notice. The upshot was that we had to appeal very high up the ladder to the person who wrote the policy to get his OK to waive the requirements.  If you read the letter written by the boss, you could hear violins playing in the background. Fortunately, the OK was  very swiftly granted on Tuesday morning, after a sleepless few nights.

It means that there is no more uncertainty that's been hanging round for months, almost back to last August. First I was finishing at the end of February, then I might be staying. I then had to wait for three weeks, for confirmation, and then I was. Then there was a significant problem. Now the path is clear: finish off my bits of the project. Sponsors visit in April. Finish the end of May. Submit visitor visa application for after the work permit expires (end of August) and entertain any potential visitors this summer. Oh and lose this extra 30-40 pounds that I've been carrying for years.

(come and visit Beige Towers! Pay your way by buying me groceries and IKEA stuff and taking me out for dinner!)

If the residence thing went speedily, I could be done by September. My pay cycle would mean that there would only be July and August to live off the savings, which would be much more doable. So on that front,  almost the best thing about today was this evening; a quick check of that immigration website I was talking about two posts down, has shown that the first September applicant has now received his/her acknowledgement from immigration. Getting ever closer to the front of the queue!

It's Finally Here

My new work permit arrived on Friday. When I got home an anonymous brown envelope from Citizenship and Immigration Canada was waiting for me in my mailbox; there was a bit of a nervous moment as I opened it but it was obvious it was a new document rather than a rejection letter by the type of paper it was printed on.

It means that renewing my social insurance number and the continuation of my health insurance is now much less problematic. It also means I (and others) can press ahead with travel arrangements for later in the year safe in the knowledge I won't be having to leave this coming Friday!

Nearly a year gone....

...and suddenly I'm getting letters left right and centre about things that rely on my work permit. The completed extension application arrived in Vegreville on December 22nd, but no sign of the new one yet. In and of itself this isn't a problem seeing as long as I submitted my extension application at least 30 days before the permit was due to expire, I am allowed to stay in the country until such time as I hear positive news. I'm trying very hard not to think negatively; those who know me well know this is easier said than done

But it's now getting slightly problematic in that both my state health insurance and Social Insurance Number require a valid work permit for me to renew into a second year. Both require me to present the new document in the various offices downtown. But what if it hasn't arrived by March 5th? I'm not allowed to be paid without a valid SIN, and I wouldn't be medically insured. Time to get on the phones again I think. I've also received the local equivalent of the P60 end of year tax form which is ridiculously complicated when you consider it's only A5 sized. It's also only for the first two months that I've been here. Have the Canadian Revenue Agency forgotten about all those other taxes I've paid? Can I have them back if so?

:-)