Personal Effects Accounting Document

One of the bittersweet part of being an emigrant is packing your things. Oh my heart. After going through months of ordeal just to have a permanent resident visa then comes the realization that we are actually living our home country and people we love, especially our parents, cry mode.

Every time I gets too emotional because of high levels of separation anxiety, I just think of our little R, that he/she is waiting for us or hopefully them (praying for twins here) in the maple leaf country. Then and there the separation anxiety's level goes down.

Anyway, as discussed in my previous post on PDOS seminar, CFO staff will instruct you where to get your forms relating to goods to bring and goods to follow and that is from Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) website.

Note that as per Memorandum D2-1-5 dated 18 November 2015, CBSA renumbered:

(1) Form B4 to BSF186 (Personal Effects Accounting Document). For goods to bring. You may download Form BSF186 HERE.

(2) Form B4A to BSF186A (Personal Effects Accounting Document [List of Goods Imported]). For goods to follow. You may download Form BSF186A HERE.

Download and read Memorandum D2-1-5 HERE. Note, however, that B4 and B4A is written at the lower left margin of BSF186 and  BSF186A, respectively. Confusing it is but that is what is in the forms.

We have been packing since last year when we sold our house and most of our furniture and fixtures. We donated most of our personal belongings since childhood. LOL, I think this only applies to me. I even donated 2 balikbayan boxes of stuffed toys to Jollibee. And then, when we rented an apartment and moved to the province after resigning from work, we again disposed and donated our belongings. Mostly shoes again, LOL. I think this is a so-called girl thing, like Imelda Marcos collecting shoes, LOL.  So, our things were cut down to clothes, shoes and personal items. My husband's problem now is with regards to (1) my photo albums (oh, I so love pictures and I do not want my albums to be left behind, LOL); (2) my framed cross stitches and pictures (almost 10 frames, hahaha. I cannot leave them because I was given 4 eyes here); and (3) my wedding gown and all its accessories (girl power here, LOL).

Okay, so we have 4 luggages. Two for each one of us that is one large and one medium sized luggages. After how many months of debating, even asking opinions from the family circle, we finally decided to bring with us my photo albums. Good thing my husband has lesser clothes so instead of bringing a box for the albums, we put them to my husband's luggage, LOL. The smaller black luggage is my husband's things only hahaha then the bigger black luggage is for you to guess, LOL. I do not have other recourse but to declare my framed cross stitches, some framed pictures, my wedding gown and all its accessories to "goods to follow list".  I am not sure if I will bring them someday to Canada but just the same I listed them to "goods to follow" in case I change my mind.

What I did is I group all together (1) clothes, (2) shoes, and (3) personal items for "goods to bring". This 3 will be written down to Form BSF186. The itemized list of goods for each groups where put in a separate excel sheets. I printed and attached them to Form BSF186.  I printed 2 copies for each documents.  I listed only the cross stitches, picture frames and wedding gowns plus accessories to our "goods to follow" to Form BSF186A and also printed 2 copies. Below is the printed list of our "goods to bring":

Afterwhich, I entered only (1) Clothes, (2) Shoes, and (3) Personal Items to BSF186. Put on the total for each group and also I indicated Annex "A", "B" and "C" hereof, respectively for each. I chose to over comply, I always do, LOL. I even applied over compliance in our previous applications but, hey, at least they all fit in the 4 luggages below, LOL, and all of them are below 23kgs. (allowed weight for Air Canada).

So there, we are done with packing and so happy all our things were put in 4 luggages only. Oh, I forgot to tell, we also have our own backpacks as our carry on, LOL. Our backpacks are intended for our personal documents and some clothing (for changing in Toronto [our Port of Entry]). We will also just carry our laptop bag and a sling bag.

Our journey to the maple leaf country, to chase our dream of becoming parents, is just starting. Until now, we cannot believe that we are leaving our country. We know that our journey will not be easy but isn't it that our infertility journey is way too hard, not to mention, emotionally and financially draining. Whatever life brings us, we know that God is in control. He directed us to the maple leaf country and we know He will continue to guide us as we settle there and eventually grants the desire of our hearts...our little R. Thy will be done, Oh Lord, according to Your will.

PDOS Seminar

Last Monday, 25 April 2016, we attended our Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) conducted by Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO). This is a mandatory seminar required by the Philippine Government for Filipino emigrants to prepare them for settlement overseas. This is mandated through Batas Pambansa Bilang 79 and a fee of Php400.00 per person is collected for payment of a sticker stamped on our passport as shown below:

An emigrant is different to that of an immigrant. Emigrants are those individuals who did not land yet on their destination country and that they have the right to migrate to other country. Immigrants are those who already landed in their destination country with privilege to migrate to other country. The speaker says that right and privilege are two different words and that having only the privilege would sometime have a negative effect. which is, being an immigrant can be taken out from you if and when you do not follow your duties and responsibilities given by your host country.

Anyway, to attend for a PDOS, especially here in Manila, an emigrant is required to register online to get a schedule. Note that CFO is strictly implementing a no schedule, no PDOS policy. So, it is highly advise that an emigrant has a ready visa and that you did not book a flight yet.  Ours is a total opposite. We do not have a visa yet and, yes, we already have a scheduled flight. Good thing, God answered our prayers. Why? Because if you have read my previous posts, the return of our passports took more than a month from submission to VFS Global. We received our passports with visa stamped on it on a Thursday (21 April 2016) and a Monday (25 April 2016) for our PDOS. We are one lucky couple, LOL.

So, if you already have a visa, you need to register HERE. Click on "I already have my immigrant visa and I wish to register with CFO". Like I have said, we still do not have a visa but time here is our dilemma because we do have a booking. See, this has been stressing us for the past days and weeks. I even emailed CFO to give us a slot for the PDOS Seminar but no reply. What I did, I went on to register and one problem I faced is that it is asking for a Visa Number, oh my heart. I tried to enter 123456 and a date, LOL, and it went through. Then there goes our schedule PDOS seminar, hahaha. Please do not attempt to do what we did to avoid additional dilemma and anxiety on your part. I know it is a very desperate move and you may end up not as lucky as we are. We are just thankful, all went okay.

Note that I did not printed our online registration form. Only the schedule with a barcode. In addition, you must also register your husband or common law partner. At the seminar, I was stubbornly telling my husband, what will they do on the wrong visa number. I tried to correct it but I cannot go through. So when the CFO staff called our number, I was relieved that he corrected the error I "intentionally", LOL, put on our registration forms.

During the seminar, the speaker talked mostly what CIIP seminar discussed. They only added on forms you need to fill when you are (1) bringing more than USD/CAD10,000.0, and (2) goods to bring and goods to follow. I will discussed these on my next posts. The seminar starts at 9:30 AM for Canada emigrants but we are required to go at CFO 2 hours before the seminar. It is a 2 1/2 hour seminar but ours is at 3 hours. After the seminar, they will release the passports with a PDOS sticker stamped on it and a booklet as shown below:

The booklet contains mostly of what is discussed during the seminar. I know we need to read and read but my mind is not already absorbing the reading thing. Even the blogging is just a so-so, hahaha, I think I am just excited and the separation anxiety is now at its maximum level. So please bare with the postings.

One very important learning we learned during the seminar is about our Social Security System (SSS) contributions. It is not true that our SSS contributions are of no use to immigrants like us, since it is not withdrawable. The speaker told us that our SSS contributions can be combined to our Canada Pension Plan (CPP). He told us that Canada and Philippines has a bilateral agreement that SSS and CPP can be consolidated. We just need to complete the 120 contributions, number of contributions required for Filipinos to avail of SSS pension. Wow, my husband and I will attend to our SSS when we come home after 3 or 5 years.

So, done with our PDOS. Stress and anxiety went on vacation now. I think the crying mode is set to land in our system anytime soon. Thy will be done Oh Lord, according to Your will.

PagIBIG Provident Fund

Today, we went to PagIBIG to submit our Application for Provident Fund (APB) Claim form as shown below:

Just ask my friend google about the above form and it will give you the downloadable PagIBIG file. Reason for the APB claim is "permanent departure from the country". Do not forget to bring also the following:

(1) a notarized Sworn Declaration of Intention to Permanently Depart from the Philippines. My friend google gave me this sample which is also from PagIBIG: 

(2) Passport with Visa Stamped on It. This is required before claiming your APB; and

(3) Special Power of Attorney (SPA) (if member cannot claim personally). Here is a sample which my husband and I used:

When my husband inquired last year on where to claim APB, he was re-directed to PagIBIG Housing Main Office in Shaw Blvd. Thus, we went there first. Why? Because we had a housing loan with them but that was before where I am the principal borrower but he is my co-borrower. We already sold our house to use it as our settlement fund but since they saw it in their system PagIBIG wanted to make sure we no longer have debts at their expense, LOL.

After we were cleared of the Housing Loan, they told us to go to the branch where our last company remits our contributions. Mine is in Makati City while my husband is in Imus, Cavite. We decided not to claim my husband's APB anymore because of distance and time constraints.

So, we went to PagIBIG Buendia Branch, Makati City. My total No. of Contributions is 151. I presented only 2 employers and I believe I started contributing with PagIBIG in 2003. The total accumulated value of it is Php49,253.14. This is inclusive of my contribution, employer's share and a dividend of Php10,500.29. Now, if you have a salary loan, PagIBIG will have to deduct this. I just renewed my salary loan I think 7 months ago or more so I still have Php31,022.58, inclusive of penalties. Yay, the last payment I made is on February 2016 (effectivity of my resignation), I have 2 months penalty, LOL. Thus, my expected APB claim is more or less Php18,000.00. Not bad, LOL. As per the staff of PagIBIG, our check will be ready for pick up 2 to 3 weeks from my application date. This is were the SPA will be used by my authorized Attorney-in-Fact.

Do not forget to ask for copies of your total contributions and your salary loan. I have mine but it is so blurry, thus, I am not taking selfies of it, LOL.

Can you feel now the excitement. Done with PagIBIG. Only one seminar left and off we go to the province.

Permanent Resident Visa On Hand

It is with much relief to humbly share with everyone that after more than a month from passports submission before VFS Global, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines, we finally, finally get to picked up our passports with visa stamped on it and our Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR).

So, here goes the story. Just when we thought everything in our application went smoothly from NBPNP nomination to CIC PPR, the last of the trend left so much anxiety and pressure. Imagine waiting for more than a month thinking we still have to withdraw our provident funds with Pag-IBIG, attend a Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) which requires a passport with visa on it, plus this and that. And, I have been away with my dad and mom for 2 weeks now which is making me sad day by day. I know. I know. But, you see, we will be leaving soon and it will be years when I get to hold and hug them. I wanted so much to go home but I cannot with our PR visa stressing me on the side. Anyway, here is now our timeline:

NBPNP EOI - 3 September 2015
NBPNP ITA - 26 September 2015
Docs Sent - 20 October 2015
NBPNP AOR - 26 October 2015
Nomination - 8 December 2015

CIC ITA - 18 December 2015
Docs Uploaded - 28 December 2015
CIC AOR - 28 December 2015
Schedule 4/4a - 30 December 2015
Medical Passed - 6 January 2016
RPRF Payment - 27 January 2016
BG In Progress - 1 March 2016 
CIC PPR - 11 March 2016
PP Submission - 16 March 2016
CIC Final Decision - 15 April 2016
Visa On Hand - 21 April 2016

Everyday, I always go to VFS Global website and clicks on chat to inquire on the status of the return of our passports. I do that a minimum of 2 times a day. However, everyday VFS Operator will always reply to me that our passports is still on process with Canada Embassy Manila (CEM). Came 1 month, 15 April 2016 to be exact, I emailed CEM to inquire on the status of our passports. And, we are so happy that even if there is no reply from CEM, our PR Visa Application's Final Decision was approved in the afternoon of 15 April 2016. Again, I was expecting that in 2 days time (a Tuesday, 19 April 2016), our passports will be coming home to us but no, it took another 4 business days. Honestly, yesterday, I emailed again CEM, hahaha, I told them that it is already more than a month and 4 business days from PR approval and still no passports. Then came this morning. Sis genuinelyjenny message me on whatsapp, saying that their passports are now out of CEM and is due for courier on Tuesday (hehehe, sorry sis Jen, me and my big mouth). She told me to ask VFS Global again. My husband and I were actually in Waltermart, no, not Walmart yet, LOL, because of so much anxiety, I tried to contact VFS Global using only my Globe. Sadly, Globe was not behaving. I did entered in the chatroom but its connection says 3G (nope, not LTE) to E (error). Oh my heart, hahaha. So, we went home straight to use a more reliable internet connection.

I again clicked on chat at VFS Global website, the Operator will usually asked for the birthday and tracking number. Overly emotional but I was actually crying while chatting with the Operator because I was praying and talking to our dear Father God. I do not want to see anymore the replies so I just closed my eyes. Unknowingly, my husband is at my back waiting for the replies to come out. And yes, he was as tensed as me. Then he said loudly with so much happiness in his voice, "your application is ready for collection/pick up..." Waaaa, I am so happy, we hugged each other and we are both crying. It is indeed a very happy day today.

Then and there, we prepared ourselves to travel from Cavite to Manila just to pick up our passports, LOL. Funny, pick up time is at 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM and it is only around 11:00 AM when we received the good news. Oh, never mind, we will just wait. So, came almost 3:00 PM, we were already at VFS Global. Good thing we were early because we were part of the 2nd batch to enter (seniors are priority, LOL) VFS Canada. The line is long which only means that there are backlogs. Why? Because some of our co-applicants gets there visa only at 2 weeks, ours is more than a month so maybe that is the explanation of the long line or I maybe wrong. Anyway, when you get your PR visa, you know the drill, do your selfies, LOL, here's ours:

Happy Graduation to us, LOL. Little R, this is for you. Mama and Papa are coming for you. A little more little one. A little more.

Tomorrow, 22 April 2016, we will try to apply for the withdrawal of our provident fund. We will just execute a Special Power of Attorney just in case we cannot go to PagIBIG to claim it. On the other hand, we will be attending our PDOS on Monday, 25 April 2016, go home to the province and just hug my parents tight and of course pack our things.

Now, at least, we can breath, we are very grateful for an answered prayer for the nth time. Thank you, Lord. No more cry baby when it comes to our Canada applications. Just so much greatness and relief. It was indeed an overwhelming day. All glory and praise to You our dear Father God.

CIC Final Decision

Finally some updates with CIC. The past weeks were super pressure and stressful for me and my husband since, after 2-weeks from passports submission with Canada Visa Application Centre in Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines (VFS Manila), all we heard from them is our passport is still in process. 

Schedule of our Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) is so near and yet no Visa on Hand (VOH) yet. PDOS is one seminar that immigrants to Canada has to attend and a schedule is given once you register online. No walk-ins, we must get our schedules online. It is indeed a very stressful weeks.

I thought once an applicant received a PPR from CIC then everything will just fall into their right places but NO. Passport stamping, issuance of visa and Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) are another things to consider. I just really thought it will go smoothly too just like when we received our PPR which is at 2 months and 2 weeks or just like other fellow applicants at Manila Visa Office (MVO) which is at 2 weeks. In our case, our passport stamping went to I do not know where. As of writing, at 1 month, no VOH yet.

This morning, at around 9:00 AM and after discussing with my husband, I emailed MVO to inquire on the status of the return of our passports. I wrote the most courteous and kindest email letter to MVO, LOL, but it is true. I do not know if it helped us but this afternoon, about 1 hour ago (hahaha, blogging myself to remove all my worries and stressful state), I again opened our MyCIC. While scrolling down, my mind says "submitted again (sad face)" but Oh my God it says there "updated".

This is now how it looks with our submitted applications for Permanent Residency and Express Entry:

I screamed while saying "updated", sit straight and my husband is on panic mode, bwahahahaha. I was crying already while opening "check status and messages" and I am calling our Father God. Praying for His mercy. I breakdown when while it is circling (like buffering thing) I already saw the word "Closed" in Application/profile status. I did not read all, I just hugged my husband. I cried. It was a relief, so much relief in the heart and mind. After my melodrama, I grabbed my ipad and screened shot CICs final decision as shown below.

Then after gaining my composure, LOL, I opened VFS Manila. Clicked on chat to inquire on the status of the return of our passports. Sadly, the VFS Operator still says it is still in process with the Embassy. Okay, fine. What is important is that our PR Visa application is now closed, completed and approved. We just need to wait for the return of it. They say it will take another 2-3 days. I just pray not more than that because we are scheduled for PDOS for the next few days.

Thank you dear Father God. You saw me crying and so impatient for the past days and weeks. Last night, I was so low, I cried my heart out but just like before I went to instaGodministries IG page and talked with You. You will always say in Your messages to trust You, to believe. Just last night, I re-posted this quote from instaGodministries in my IG account. Your message pacifies me overnight.

This morning, I kept on telling myself, trust God, He will provide. Keep calm. Then out of the blue came the very good news I prayed last night. I prayed for peace of mind, that our PR Visa application reached its final decision, that it be approved. Then and there will I have the peace of mind because I know when it has a final decision comes the return of our passports with visa stamped on it and our COPR. Thank you dear Father God for another answered prayer.

Also, I want to thank you for holding me when I am so stubbornly became very impatient. All glory and praise to You our dear Father God. A little more our little R. A little more.

CIIP/COA Seminars

As researched, Canadian Immigrant Integration Program (CIIP) or Canadian Orientation Abroad (COA) are separate free seminars offered by the Federal Government of Canada for first time immigrants. CIIP is to prepare us in finding our first job while COA is to provide overview of life both in Canada.

However, when it was our time to register on said free seminars above, we were informed by COA that we need not to register with them since we are already registered with CIIP because as of date, both partnered to cater service with first time immigrants. So, if you have tried registering for both entities, CIIP and COA, you will notice that both will redirect you to PLANNING FOR CANADA.

Here is a screenshot of COAs reply email to me with my query why when I tried registering with them I was redirected again to Planning for Canada.

So, you will notice that CIIP is a 2 days seminar and it requires both the husband and wife to register or common law partners. It is also suggested that you do the seminar a month time or more before your departure in our country. It will be explained later when you will attend CIIP. Note that I cannot divulge more information in our seminar because it is copyrighted by the Federal Government of Canada and I do not want breaking some laws here, LOL. Thus, attend the seminar and I promise you, the seminar is of great help for first time immigrants like us. 

Anyway, on 11 April 2016, is our Day 1 of our CIIP seminar. True enough, CIIP tackled on living, working and others in Canada plus an overview of its 13 provinces and territories. In the seminar, my favorite parts to where I really took down notes are as follows:

1. If we want to study just to have a Canadian degree, we must ask our college if they offer scholarship, bursary and award so we can be entitled for free schooling or allowances while we are studying. Of course, competition is at stake here so we need to eat lots of peanut so our minds will be sharpened again, hahaha, funny me. Why college not a university? In Canada, a college offers short-term courses where you will choose what to specialize on like bookkeeping, etc. In our country, I think this our vocational courses where you choose what specialization you want to study for a maximum of 2 years. A university offers a 4-year course. Note that in Canada, you can finish a bachelors degree in a university then study again in a college just to specialize on something. Example given to us is Accounting. Finish a 4-year course in Accounting in a university then enroll in a specialization course in auditing in a college. Make sense, right? 
2. For us to get a Canadian work experience, we need to look for internships, volunteer jobs, temporary work offered by recruitment agencies and others. If we have these work experiences, we can now then add these to our CVs. Indeed, an instant Canadian work experience. 
3. During interviews, we should and must not answer a "NO" in a question even if our answer is "NO". As our speaker says, you will instantly fail on your interview. One example given to us is "Do you have a Canadian work experience?" Our answer of course, as first time immigrants, is NO but a sample answer to this is "I have with me a universal work experience which is applicable in my country and in Canada as well". Boom, LOL. Indeed, a Miss Universe like answer to a question. 

Bottom line is that the speaker says that we should not just aim for a survival jobs. We went there with our credentials on hand then we must be patient in finding a job based on our school credentials and work experiences. We just need a little of the Canadian word added to degree and work experiences. That is why CIIP/COA is there to help us. Thus, do not forget to register with one of them.

A lot more were discussed in the seminar but as stated above, I will not go into detail because it is copyrighted by the Federal Government of Canada. Even taking picture is prohibited but they took a group picture of us, LOL. Oh, and did I tell you we have unlimited coffee for an 11 participants plus 2 boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts, LOL.

We started at 7:45 AM and ended at around 4:20 PM for Day 1 seminar. We were asked to come back the following day for a one-on-one seminar where they will also linked us to some partners in our selected provincial destinations.

On Day 2, 12 April 2016, we went back for a 1 and 1/2 hour of one-on-one session to one of their speakers. We were scheduled at 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM. At the session, we were asked what they want to expound based on the session on Day 1. We asked more on jobs. And what is clearer for me and my husband, especially me as the principal applicant, is that no need for me to find jobs on NOC 1311 only but I can also scout on NOC 1242 or NOC 1241. If we are permanent residents to Canada, they will no longer check on our jobs. At least now I can apply for more jobs same as with my husband. A 2 weeks or more volunteering jobs, internships is plus points on our CVs, so we will target on this. Then the speaker told us that they will connect us to their Focal Point Partner (FPP) in the eastcoast which is located at Hallifax. FPP then will contact us for more information we wanted to know or ask. Lastly, the speaker explained to us our respective My Action Plan (MAP) to guide us in our immigration journey.

Done with our CIIP seminar but you know what is the best thing in the seminar? At Day 1, we were asked the reason why we are migrating to Canada. I told them because we wanted to have a child. It is just so amazing how our Father God sends angels on earth. The lady speaker told us that she wishes to see us after our session with regards to having a child. Thus, on Day 2, after our session to the guy speaker, we asked him if we can have a minute with her. She went inside the conference room and told us her story. That she and her husband went to infertility treatment also. Thus, she advised us that once we visit a Family Doctor, we should tell the doctor that we wanted to be referred to an OBgyne doctor specializing in reproductive endocrinology or infertility. She told us that we must do this because getting a specialist aside from our Family Doctor will take 4-5 months. She shared more on inferlity drugs, procedures and so on. We are one lucky couple. Can't help but whisper thank you again Father God.

Anyway, at the end of the 2-day CIIP seminar. We were also given a Certificate(s) of Completion as shown below. All we need to do now is wait for so many emails (you will know what all these soon) then we read and read and read.