Final Stages In The Canada Application

Borrowed photo

Indeed, who knew?

At 20 months, we were informed via the CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) website that our application was finally being processed. Who would have thought that the next step in the process was just weeks away?

2 weeks later, on a chance outing, I went to our local post office to check our postbox for mail. Imagine my surprise when I received the ever-elusive brown envelope. It looked like an ordinary A5 brown envelope, neither thick nor thin, but inside, it held so much hope and future.

I could hardly contain my excitement. I read the information letter several times as it finally sank in - this was it! The next step to the end. The letter had instructions for us to pay the RPRF (Right of Permanent Residence Fee) and for the family to undergo medical examinations within 60 days from the date of the letter.

The RPRF is paid for the main applicant and the accompanying spouse. At the time, this fee amounted to $490 each for my husband and me. I scheduled to go to the bank and arrange for a bank-guaranteed cheque. I went to the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria the next day to personally deliver the cheque.

Organising the medical examinations with the doctor was a little trickier than normal. You see, it was December when we received the instructions. So when it was time to book the examinations, the doctors were going on holiday already. The earliest booking that I could get was January.

Once the medicals were done and dusted, it was just the last wait for the passport requests. And on the 23rd month, we were summoned.