random17

Like others said, it various a lot depending on where you're living. Per person, my wife and I spent about $125 per month on groceries in Boston, a little under $200 per month in London, UK, and currently between $200 and $250 per month in Toronto. Toronto doesn't include alcohol and London doesn't include cat food and litter, but other than that we pretty much bought the same things in all three cities.

I chose to bring my car from the States to Ontario and register it here, but it wasn't that bad. You don't need to formally import your car and pay import fees as long as you're a student since it's technically only here on a temporary basis. The most annoying bit was gathering proof of my driving and insurance history so that I could get lower insurance premiums, but other than that it was just a question of finding time to get my car inspected and to switch my license and registration. At my university, you need to have an Ontario license to be able to drive any of the university-owned vehicles, so that was an added motivation for switching everything. At least in Ontario, if you're officially bringing your car in Canada (instead of keeping it on your parents' US insurance/registration) your US registration needs to be in your name when you cross the border. In my case, this meant transferring the title from my parents' name to my name in the States and then reregistering it when I moved here a month later. Annoying, yes, but not too bad, especially if you live in a state where titles fees are cheap. Then again, if you're going to Montreal I'd double-check all this, 'cause Quebec often has different rules.

We went through one of the Buffalo/Niagara crossings and the people dealing with all the immigration stuff were great. We knew going in that whether or not they'd issue my wife an open work permit depended on the whims of the officer, so were quite excited when they gave her one for 4 years. In my experience, the people who work in the drive-through booths are much more hit or miss--I've gotten really nice people and very obnoxious people on both the US and Canadian sides. Technically, if you're in Ontario for more than either 60 or 90 days you need to switch your driver's license car registration. Insurance is much more expensive here than anywhere I lived in the US, though. Try to get a letter from your current insurance company stating the number of years you've been with them and if you'd had any claims. The license bit is pretty simple, if you've had your current license for more than two years. You go to a DriveTest center, fill out some paperwork, I think pay a fee but I can't remember for sure, and exchange your US license for an ON one. Some states require that you have an official driving abstract and it's good to get one even if you're from a different state. (In my case, when they went to look me up in the system there was some sort of problem with my Massachusetts driving history, but because I had hard copy of my driving abstract from the state issued within the past month, they put in an override and gave me the license anyway.) Also, you technically only need 2 years of driving history, but it's good to show proof of as many as you can because your insurance will be cheaper if you can show a driving history of more than 5 or 7 years. Also, keep in mind that driving abstracts from certain states only have the history from your current license, not any previous ones you might have had in that state. (In my case, my NH driving abstract only showed the license I got when I was 21, not the one I got when I was 16, which meant having to track down another piece of paperwork for the insurance company to prove I'd had a license since age 16.) As someone entering the country on a study permit, you're exempt from officially importing your car. Because your car is only here temporarily there are certain restrictions (e.g. you can't sell it for at least a year) but you also don't have to make the modifications that someone permanently importing a car would (e.g. installing always-on daytime running lights). I know I didn't have an official copy of the title of my car at the time and I think they were fine with just the registration, but it's probably good to have the title on you just in case. The car does have to be listed in your name, not anyone else's. You should get a Casual Goods Accounting Document with the car included on it when you're at the border, but you don't have to pay any fees. The other thing you need to do at the border is fill out is a Form 1, because you'll need that when you try to register your car in Ontario. Once you're here and have switched over your license, you need to get insurance, get your car inspected (it needs a DriveClean report and s Safety Standards Certificate), and then bring all the paperwork (including your current title, registration, the Form 1, and I think also the Casual Goods Accounting document) to a ServiceOntario office where they'll give you a new registration and plates. Let me know if you have more questions. I spent a fair bit of last summer stressing over all these details, so I'm happy to help someone else figure it out, too!

I agree with everyone who suggests talking to your advisor about what your options are. I'm in a similar position in that my supervisor is moving to a different university this summer, but he's been very open about my options and supportive of my choice to remain at my current institution rather than moving with him. In the end, he's keeping an appointment here, which means that he can stay my supervisor and I continue to work on my current projects that are funded by his grants.

First, you haven't missed any sort of deadline. As an American, you can actually just apply when you get to the border. I did this when I moved to ON last summer, because I was bringing my partner with me and thus ineligible to apply online. At the border immigration office, we gave them our passports, my acceptance letter from the university, my funding letter from the university, and a copy of our marriage certificate and half an hour later I had a 4-year study permit and my partner had a 4-year open work permit. Applying online ahead of time probably gives you more piece of mind, but again I don't think you need to worry about being out of time yet. When my brother started school in BC last summer, he filled out the online application less than a month before he moved. How much is your scholarship? What you need is proof of your ability to pay tuition plus access to $10,000 for living expenses. If you're not getting that much of a stipend from the university, copies of your bank statement are probably the easiest solution. It depends on your own comfort level, obviously, but I've done that for another visa and know other people who have, as well, and have never heard of it being a problem. None of my things were notarized, though I think I tried to make sure I used the original copies of all my paperwork. In my brother's case, all the documents he used were uploaded scanned copies and I'm also sure that none of them were notarized. Hope that helps...

Anytime you connect through a US airport and are arriving from another country, you have to go through immigration and collect your luggage anyway. In that sense, it wouldn't matter if the final destination isn't the US because there isn't anything stopping you from leaving the airport. However, I can imagine that it would cause red flags at immigration if you have a continuing ticket and don't plan to use it, even though you will also have a valid visa. I think you'd be better off not having a round-trip ticket back to Europe and instead having the return flight terminate in NYC.

If you know your US mailing address before you arrive (or have a school address you can use) I think Bank of America will let you set up an account online.

In my dept., 1.5 to 2 years to finish a Masters is typical. In that case, it's up to you and your supervisor to figure out funding for the second year. Other depts. at my university have set the funded cohort to be Masters students in years 1 and 2 and PhD students in years 1-3, so it depends what field you're in and what school you're applying to, probably. Essentially, if you're admitted, you should be guaranteed the same funding package as a domestic student. Where it will be harder for you is if you need to come up with your own funding at some point, because you won't be eligible for most Canadian fellowships.

PhD, but the same is true for Masters students in my department;they just only get one funded year instead of 4.

As an international student in Canada I'm guaranteed full funding for four years. This includes tuition (the amount I'm given is equal to the higher international tuition) and the same stipend the domestic students get. I also get free health care through the university-it's a very basic plan but it's designed to be equivalent to the provincial healthcare. It is harder to get admitted as an international student, however, because you cost the university more money. I know my department has a quota and only lets in 3 or 4 non-Canadian students per year. In terms of OGS, I'm not sure how the new rules affect it. My department has X OGS awards to give out this year and I was allowed to submit an application as a non-Canadian, but I don't know if it will be considered for the department's awards or if all the international applications are put in university-wide pool or what. Also, not being Canadian means you're not eligible for NSERC/SSHRC, which are the other fellowships grad students are encouraged to apply for.

Is it actually a requirement that you find a different person? When I applied for my MS, the prof I was applying to work with wrote one of my letters of recommendation. The fact that I was applying to her school/department didn't make a difference--it was still the same "I worked with this student for two summers and thus think this student has high research abilities because..." letter that she wrote for my applications to other schools. In my case, my potential advisor wasn't on the grad admissions committee, however, so if that's the problem in your case I could see how it might be a conflict of interest.

As an American in Canada I've looked into this, but all the fellowships I know of (NSF, DoE, etc.) require you to be studying at a U.S. university.