annegirl

Update: I made my manifest list and printed it out twice and they didn't even ask me any questions besides where I was coming from and where I was going. I even specified that I was a student moving back and they didn't even ask for it. but that's Murphy's law I guess.

Update: I've moved back to the US today and since they didn't even ask for me to roll my back windows down or ask any questions they didn't even know I had a cat. So that went well. Now I'll just set up his updated shots for November.

Thanks! Yeah I won't be bringing any food or spices or open cat litter with me across the border if i can help it.

Thanks I figured so.

I'm moving back to the states (U.S. Citizen) and I was wondering whether I need to make a manifest list of all my items again even though most of them came with me to Canada a year ago and my list of Canadian items is under the 800 dollar for duty exemption and 48 hour rule. I'm guessing I do but I'd thought I'd ask?

Hi I'm a u.s. citizen returning to the States after a year in Canada. I have had a cat since the beginning of the summer. He has his rabies tag which his previous owner said was good until Dec. 2014. I have looked online for any specific documents I would need for importing a cat to the states in Michigan but it is unclear whether I absolutely need a vet certificate of health or not? He's healthy and I plan to take him to my vet in another state in November or sooner to get him checked-on and to update his rabies. If I really need a vet certificate from a canadian vet to avoid problems I will get one but I would rather go to my family's vet and I would have to pay for a taxi or a pet taxi.

Thank you for this. I've had issues with depression for ten years but my depression and anxiety got worse during college not better. I've felt like an impostor since I started this program. I feel like my family means well but they just would like me to finish for the sake of finishing rather than me dealing with my mental health issues.

Hi everyone, I'm an american Public History student in Canada currently on LOA for medical/mental health reasons. I have my internship and late coursework to finish up. Unfortunately I don't have the funds to get an paid or unpaid internship anywhere I would like so I am probably going to have to do mine if I can get one around home. I lost my access to counseling services when I took my LOA so I apologize for the following but I don't really have anyone else to rant to besides friends who aren't in grad programs and haven't been in school for a few years. However, since I will be going home I'd much rather just get a job if I can and work since my research assistantship at a historical society here in Canada was the one thing I really enjoyed and learned from. Plus I need a car under my own name and my own health insurance and I would like to rent a room somewhere like a normal adult. Also, my dad (who has lent me money to come here) has informed me that my grandmother is "getting old" and has started showing signs of forgetfulness and has made some weird financial decisions etc. I am the one who is probably going to be her caretaker if she gets sick in the future. Therefore my family has asked me to come home for the next semester which to me seems like it would lessens my chances I think of finding job closer to the midwest or east coast in the future. All of this is really disheartening since one of the reasons I came this far north is to find a job in the midwest or west coast. My family doesn't seem to get that and has made comments about how far away I am going from them. There are few entry/master's level jobs in the South from what I have seen. Usually a day's drive or more from where my family is. So the thing is I would like to go back home but I would like to get a job and just move on with my life and prepare myself to take care of sick and dying family members. But even though I've learned a lot here that doesn't matter because I won't have the degree. Even though I have seen first-hand Master's and Ph.D's resumes being rejected from my minimum wage job that I gave up to come here because they were "over-qualified." I guess I'm asking for advice of how to break it to my family that I'm not good enough or strong enough to finish this measly portion of my degree. Not to mention my grades have been average to abysmal from the start so I'm afraid of even trying to reapply elsewhere later. They had such a hard time with me doing an LOA though. On the hand they have been supportive of me trying to take care of myself (I was very close to suicidal) and on the other they have asked me over and over why I can't just end my LOA in the middle of the summer semester. Since i'm doing a bit better now and do my internship (which isn't really available anymore). I guess I could really try to do that but I don't know what that would mean financially or administratively (I had a scholarship but most of it was used up during the fall/winter). Not to mention I would feel really awkward trying to come back in the middle of the summer after all the major events I would have helped with are over. If they even had room for me since I know they had several other interns coming in when I abruptly took my LOA and were most likely delegated my tasks. I know i'm shooting myself in the foot either way but any advice of how to frame this in a positive light would be helpful. I'm still alive and breathing?

Yeah I just double-checked with the international student office. I went home and came back with no problem.

Thank you, this helps. I come from a hot state but even so my families cars are over 10 years old at least. Maybe I'll be able to sell of my most of things and then ship a few large boxes and fly back to the states.

Hi all, I'm an american grad student in Canada at the moment. I'm finishing my degree work here before heading back to the states at the end of August. The thing is i've been doing great with public transport for the past year but I don't have a car to get back home and I'm not sure family or friends will be able to help me. I have a tiny bit of money saved up to buy an 15-20 year old car. I'm wondering though whether I should be trying to buy it from the states and using it when I move or do I buy a canadian car and try to export it? I'm finding all the information on various websites confusing on the rules about importing and exporting. I know older cars (25+ years) have some sort of exemption on something. I know I would be doing it backwards since I didn't get a car from the get-go when I moved here but oh well. I'm not from any of the border states so it makes it harder to think about importing to canada. I don't know, should I be looking at renting a canadian car from the airport maybe to travel to the border states and then go on from there?

I don't have a visa only a study permit as I am a US citizen. My study permit was good until November 2014. When I asked about all this my school said I just needed a new permit/extension for the fall semester so I could be finished with my degree by December.

well I am officially on a leave of absence. I feel it was the right decision. However with the new changes to immigration I am thoroughly confused. I explicitly asked whether I would be allowed to stay in Canada for the summer (as I have a locked lease until august and my health options were better here than at home for the time being). I wanted to go home for a few days to visit family and come back to finish researching papers from this past semester on my own time, but now I'm worried (paranoid probably) that I won't be allowed to return for some reason? I have emails from my director stating the according to the school of grad studies I would be allowed to stay here for the summer. I have had no issues for the past month while i'm on leave at the moment. I just want to do the right thing. I don't want to lose my possessions or be unable to move out properly for some reason just because I wanted to visit home for a few days?

I thought I would give an update in case it would help someone. I saw the doctor and i've been on an anti-depressant for week. My mood and the endless looping thought process of guilt and shame have started to level off. I'm sleeping better. Though I still am dealing with the side effects of this anti-depressant they are manageable and are dissipating as time goes on. I went to see the disabilities counselor and she suggested I ask for extensions on my assignments that I'm having trouble with and let my director know that something is and has been going on. I am hoping I will be able to graduate on time now.

That's good news. I had no idea anything like was available in the states too. That would have helped me immensely in undergrad.

I'll be honest I almost canceled my disability appointment because I felt silly and pathetic because I can do the bare minimum to be "functional" however its really messing with my grades. It's on monday. Thank you for your encouragement.

Thank you for this. I got a different med this time. I'm still kinda lethargic and my appetite comes and goes but i'm going to try to stick with this one. The doctor I saw was very nice and made sure he didn't give me anything in the Lexapro family.

Thank you all. I contacted my uni's disabilities department and I have an appointment this week. I have a regular doctor's appointment scheduled as well because my last anxiety attack was physically painful.

Hi everyone, i'm an international MA in a one year program in Canada. I'm studying history. I'm a research assistant which I love. However that is the only thing I really like about grad school. I've suffered from some form of depression for the past ten years. I tried taking half of the lowest dose of Lexapro for a week before getting painful breakouts on my skin which makes me very reluctant to try other medications. Merely thinking about saying something in class makes me anxious. I tried to figure out a way last semester to set up appointments with counselors but between classes, trying to eat enough, my RA, and the mountain of projects I had. Basically it feels like I would have to either fall behind again on my work or tell either my RA supervisor/professors that I won't be coming to classes. Because of how depressed I was last semester my grades are really low. I haven't talked to my professors because of how ashamed I am. The only reason I didn't try to drop out last semester is because we had several group projects and I didn't want to leave anyone hanging. It doesn't help that most of my classmates are very Type A sort of people and excel at group work activities. To make matters worse, I'm supposed to be looking for an internship (which is mandatory to graduate) this summer but that rules out any internship looking for a transcript because my transcripts don't show my GPA (don't ask) and my school's grading system is very strange. Plus I can't even think of asking any of my professors for a reference because of how badly I did last semester. Right now I just feel really low. Not suicidal but on the verge of not going to classes at all this week because I can't deal with it. If my program was more than a year I would feel better about asking for a leave of absence or dropping out. I would try counseling/medication if I had the time. There's no after hours services on campus. I don't have a car and the buses can be sketchy at night. I guess I'm asking if there is good way to ask for a leave of absence (even for a few weeks?). There is no information on how the process is done in my handbook or on the school website besides calling the registrar's office.

Thanks for sharing your experience! Thankfully I'm only taking about 8 boxes and a few random things so I hope it won't take too long. Since I can't find a detailed explanation of what constitutes household goods and personal goods I'm assumed one bottle of liquid soap would be okay to bring? The same with my cosmetics?

hello everyone, I am going to be a grad student at a canadian university this september and I was wondering if anyone who has crossed the border would mind telling me how detailed my list of personal and household goods should be? Am I to list out every single spoon, book, and t-shirt with a description and estimated value or can I group things a little into "this many t-shirts" estimated value? The B4 form looked really short to me so I'm confused. I'm not bringing any food, wine or plants and I know to list the serial numbers on my electronics. Thank you for any suggestions!

Thank you so much! Now I'm wondering if people at the border crossing I'm planning to cross through are just really cranky (understandably, but still) because everyone I have talked to who has been to Canada has told me *not* to go up to the border early and just apply there. I'll get everything signed just in case they've changed some things? My assistantship covers tuition plus maybe some random expenses, but not living expenses. I do have the required 10k in the bank though. Do you have any info on bringing your own car into Canada? (like do I need a license etc?)

Hello everyone, I was hoping there would be a few kind american international students studying in Canada who would help me on this. I've accepted an offer to a school in Ontario and I'm an American so I will be needing a study permit. I've read the application guidelines over and over but I'm still terrified that I will miss something. And now I'm scared that I've missed some deadline for getting this in on time (online). I was wondering if anyone knew the best way to prove that you have enough funding besides a scholarship (which I have)? I know people have scanned bank statements but that seems really dangerous with all of my information on it. And would anyone know exactly what documents need to be signed and stamped by a notary? Any help with these questions would be wonderful.

Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone has insight as to when it would be a good time to apply to UK schools with rolling or very late (April/May) application deadlines? Lots of the scholarships I would be qualified for are based on merit and proof of acceptance/matriculation and those with deadlines are in April. I was thinking about applying in early November but I'm wondering if that is too soon?