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Americans Flock to Canada's Immigration Web Site

Discussie gestart

Frank S

Americans Flock to Canada's Immigration Web Site

Fri Nov 5, 2004 02:22 PM ET
 
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The number of U.S. citizens visiting Canada's main immigration Web site has shot up six-fold as Americans flirt with the idea of abandoning their homeland after President Bush's election win this week.

"When we looked at the first day after the election, Nov. 3, our Web site hit a new high, almost double the previous record high," immigration ministry spokeswoman Maria Iadinardi said on Friday.

On an average day some 20,000 people in the United States log onto the Web site, www.cic.gc.ca -- a figure which rocketed to 115,016 on Wednesday. The number of U.S. visits settled down to 65,803 on Thursday, still well above the norm.

Bush's victory sparked speculation that disconsolate Democrats and others might decide to start a new life in Canada, a land that tilts more to the left than the United States.

Would-be immigrants to Canada can apply to become permanent resident, a process that often takes a year. The other main way to move north on a long-term basis is to find a job, which requires a work permit.

But please spare the sob stories.

Asked whether an applicant would be looked upon more sympathetically if they claimed to be a sad Democrat seeking to escape four more years of Bush, Iadinardi replied: "There would be no weight given to statements of feelings."

Canada is one of the few major nations with an large-scale immigration policy. Ottawa is seeking to attract between 220,000 and 240,000 newcomers next year.

"Let's face it, we have a population of a little over 32 million and we definitely need permanent residents to come to Canada," said Iadinardi. "If we could meet (the 2005) target and go above it, the more the merrier."

But right now it is too early to say whether the increased interest will result in more applications.

"There is no unusual activity occurring at our visa missions (in the United States). Having someone who intends to come to Canada is not the same as someone actually putting in an application," said Iadinardi.

We'll only find out whether there has been an increase in applications in six months."
The waiting time to become a citizen is shorter for people married to Canadians, which prompted the birth of a satirical Web site called www.marryanamerican.ca.

The idea of increased immigration by unhappy Americans is triggering some amusement in Canada. Commentator Thane Burnett of the Ottawa Sun newspaper wrote a tongue-in-cheek guide to would-be new citizens on Friday.

"As Canadians, you'll have to learn to embrace and use all the products and culture of Americans, while bad-mouthing their way of life," he said.
#1 - 08-11-2004, 11:55 uur
Iedereen heeft recht op mijn mening.

pellemans

Ja, mijn vrouw (ze is Amerikaanse) wilt ook best wel weg uit de VS nu Bush gewonnen heeft.

-Peter
#2 - 10-11-2004, 07:09 uur

Jez

Zolang ze maar niet naar Nederland wil, want dat is momenteel ook geen optie! (En waarom willen er zoveel mensen weg uit Nederland ;D) Oh, maar ik wil best met jullie ruilen, hoor, ik neem Bush wel voor lief  ;D ;D ;D
#3 - 11-11-2004, 12:35 uur
Reisverslagen: www.eysbroek.nl - Instagram: @jezphotos

Chiefram

Sterker nog: ik omhels Bush!  ;D :D
#4 - 11-11-2004, 16:02 uur

PetraVS

Canada is one of the few major nations with an large-scale immigration policy. Ottawa is seeking to attract between 220,000 and 240,000 newcomers next year.

"Let's face it, we have a population of a little over 32 million and we definitely need permanent residents to come to Canada," said Iadinardi. "If we could meet (the 2005) target and go above it, the more the merrier."



Ja, ik ken me toch een stel Canadezen hier, die *absoluut* niet terug willen naar hun land!  Ook mijn broer en schoonzus, die nu in Ottawa wonen, zouden een baan hier met beide handen aangrijpen.  
The grass is always greener.
#5 - 11-11-2004, 21:57 uur

Frank S

In de Orlando Sentinel van vandaag wordt het nog eens in breder perspectief geplaatst. Wel een vermakelijk stukje:

Canada, here we come

The re-election of President Bush has a few Americans thinking warmly about our neighbor, where the beer is cold and the politics are liberal.

By Linda Shrieves | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted November 15, 2004

Canada might seem like the Great Frozen Tundra to those of us who live below the Mason-Dixon Line. But to some Americans, Canada is starting to look warm and friendly.

After President George W. Bush won re-election, thousands of Americans flocked to their computers in a wave of post-election grief to check out Canada's immigration Web site. On a typical day, the site -- www.cic.gc.ca -- gets about 20,000 hits. The day after the election, more than 115,000 visitors checked out the site, and the majority were Americans. And in the days since, the Web site is getting far more hits than normal.

Not since the Vietnam War has there been so much interest in Canada from those of us down under.

And the Canadians, bless them, aren't exactly turning people away.

"Let's face it, we have a population of a little over 32 million, and we definitely need more permanent residents to come to Canada," says immigration department spokeswoman Maria Iadinardi. Canada wants to attract 220,000 to 245,000 new residents next year.

"If we could meet [the target] and go above it, the more the merrier," Iadinardi said.

But before you start stuffing your worldly possessions into the minivan and heading for the border, hold on. The Canadians may embrace Americans, but changing one's nationality isn't easy. Just getting permission to move to Canada could take six months to a year.

That doesn't deter people such as Patrick Rubero of Orlando.

Long before the TV networks called Ohio for Bush, Rubero, 41, had a sinking feeling that the president would be re-elected. So six months ago, he started searching the Internet for alternative places to live.

His first priority was to find a bustling economy. Unemployed for nearly a year, Rubero has struggled to find a job in retail management. And, as a gay man, he also wanted to find a place that's not hostile to gays.

Now he has narrowed his choices to Vancouver, British Columbia, or Mexico.

In six months, after he obtains the necessary paperwork and wraps up his financial obligations, Rubero will pack his bags and move.

"Priority No. 1 is to get settled," he says. "Priority No. 2 is to get a job."

Warm thoughts
From liberals to gays to greens, a bunch of Americans woke up depressed after Election Day. And Canada, where the beer is cold, the medicine is socialized and the politics are liberal, looks like a nice home away from home.

In Casselberry, Chuck Weirauch finds himself dreaming of the Great White North.

Overnight, the idea of multicolored money (blue $5 bills, purple $10 bills, red $50 bills), snowy winters and frostbitten fingers seemed welcoming and warm -- even to a Michigan native who has lived in Florida for 20 years.

Weirauch, 57, says he has grown tired of explaining American voters and their mind-set to his foreign friends. He is weary of discussing the "religious right" and the country's "moral values."

Just thinking about moving to Canada makes him feel better, even if his wife isn't tempted. He says he's about "50-50" on the idea. She rules it out.

Still, he can always retreat to his escapist dreams. "I used to go skiing in 15-below weather," he says. "I sail here. I could go back to snow-skiing up there."

Denmark? Mexico? No
Canada isn't the only place that looks inviting to distraught Democrats. Immediately after the election, Sandra Thorpe of St. Cloud began talking about immigrating to Denmark, where she has plenty of cousins.

For days, she weighed the pros and cons. On the negative side, Thorpe, 70, doesn't speak Danish. On the plus side? Most Danes speak English, thanks to years of English instruction in school. Ultimately, however, she concluded that she could never stand the Danish weather. Which of course, led her to wonder about moving to Mexico.

After a few days, however, Thorpe, a loyal Democrat who has worked in every presidential campaign since she began knocking on doors for Harry Truman, vowed to stick around and fight.

"I can't just walk out on that kind of mess," she says. "It wouldn't be prudent -- to quote George the First."

Turning red to blue
And although Canada may experience an influx of frustrated Democrats, beware, Florida. They may be coming here too.

In chat rooms and on Web logs throughout cyberspace, angry Democrats are talking about moving from blue states to battleground states, in hopes of turning those red states to blue.

That has inspired Californian Daniel Carr, 54, and his wife, Vickie, to think about moving to Florida.

"Before the election, my wife and I would periodically talk about moving to Canada if Bush was re-elected," says Carr. Sometimes they were joking; other times they weren't.

After the election, however, they decided they couldn't abandon their civic duty. "We are much more likely," says Carr, "to move from our cozy blue state to a red one that shows some promise of turning blue."

As for jobs, Carr, a librarian, and his wife, a high-school guidance counselor, aren't concerned. Besides, he says, "I love the tropics and Florida is about as tropical as you can get, continentally speaking."

GOP isn't worried
Republicans are amused by some Democrats' talk of fleeing from a Bush administration. But Lew Oliver, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, doubts most Democrats are serious.

And he isn't exactly trembling at the thought of Democrats moving here to turn Florida blue.

"In Florida, they'd need about 450,000 of them," Oliver says. "Yeah, that's amusing." Perhaps, he counters, such a Democratic migration would inspire Republicans to move to blue states and begin converting Democrats.

All this hot-headed talk of moving to Canada, however, has sparked chuckles from our brethren north of the border.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin says Americans are welcome, though he wouldn't advise them to apply for "refugee status." Single Canadians have set up a Web site -- www.marryanamerican.ca -- offering help to single Americans who are, as one said, "less geographically fortunate."

And a columnist for the Toronto Sun offered advice for Canadian-bound Yanks.

"As Canadians, you'll have to learn to embrace and use all the products and culture of Americans," wrote Thane Burnett, "while bad-mouthing their way of life."
#6 - 15-11-2004, 14:45 uur
Iedereen heeft recht op mijn mening.

xerxesc

Sterker nog: ik omhels Bush!  ;D :D

That's pretty scary!!!!  
#7 - 15-11-2004, 20:59 uur

Chiefram

Nieuw!
Nou... figuurlijk dan he...! LOL!  :D ;)
#8 - 15-11-2004, 23:01 uur
« Laatst bewerkt op: 15-11-2004, 23:01 uur door Chiefram »

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