Canada - British Expat Forum

The British Columbia Driving licence agency [ICBC] and the immigration rules are that you have 90 days from THE DATE WHEN YOU LAND to take your BC driving test. However, the ICBC will not allow you take the test until you have your PR Card in your hand which takes up to six weeks to arrive AFTER YOU LAND. I went to ICBC this morning to explain that the 90 day period is up nearly up for me and I still have no PR card. They explained that the rules appy, i had 90 days to take my test FROM THE DATE I LAND. They explained that had i just had one of these 3 month temporary work visa issued at the airport that would be acceptable but because i have gone through the many years and difficult process of applying for a PR card at great cost and stress then yes, I am in a difficult position. So it seems I am penalized for going through the process of getting the PR Card. Now if I don't get my PR Card in time it looks I am going back to England simply because I did not have my PR Card within time for the ICBC. Great


[Shifted by Site Admin. Sorry to hear about your problem, but could you please stop posting things on the Glossary board that don't belong there? Thanks. - Dave]

sorry Dave, I realized just as soon as i posted it that it was in the wrong place. will take greater care next time.

can anyone offer any help/advice or who know whats going on here with regards to my problem? Has anyone been through this in BC? At
the moment I am in total shock and stunned that my future is now facing the possibility of going back to the UK because I will not have my PR Card within the the 90 day period to satisfy the rules of the ICBC DRIVING AGENCY. I feel very hard done by because it is not my fault that i do not have my card yet. I thought that going through the process of getting my PR card was stressful enough but now I have arrived in Canada and gone through immigration it seems my nightmare is just beginning. worse still, I gave up my job in the UK and sold my house. I tried phoning cic immigration to ask when can i expect my PR Card but all i get is a message saying we are busy call back later.

I don't understand why you have to go back to the UK because of this?

First thing that comes to mind: in our local library, there are CIC-sponsored "settlement services" to help newcomers to Canada. Are there such services wehre you live? They might be able to help.

Is there any kind of organisation there to help new immigrants - and can you ask them for help?

Also, I would contact your local Member of Parliament and basically throw yourselves at their mercy and ask for their help. I've done this a cuople of times here with immigration problems and they sorted it out very quickly for me.

Can you apply for an international driving licence to tide you over?

Good luck.

thankyou Jessica for your suggestions BUT
we are very gutted and just feel that our problems are just never ending and are starting to ask ourselves is it really worth it anymore. Both my wife's and I have suffered health problems due to all the stress involved in the immigration process. When we finally arrived at Vancouver Airport as landed immigrints we thought that all the stress would be over only to find that it is about to start. The reason why we are facing going back to the UK is because the Driving licencing agency in BC require our PR Cards in order for us to take our theory and practical tests and we have 3 months to do this but we have not got our PR Cards yet and the 3 months is now closing in . I have tried contacting the cic to find out why they won't give us our PR Cards but we always get recorded messages that they are busy. I have also faxed them but to no avail. we get the feeling they are ignoring us. The thing is if I don't take my test within the 3 months then I have to start out as a learner driver and be supervised everywhere i drive for one year like a child [I am 40 and have been driving 23 yrs] and my job here requires me to drive. Who is going to sit with me and supervise my driving everywhere i go? So this is why I am now having to face going back to the UK . What I don't get is that in all other states you can just change your UK licence for a state licence with no tests or anything . When I explained my problem to the BC driving people their attitude was that if i don't provide my PR Card within 3 months and take my tests then I either take the supervised learner program for one year or go home. we are going home. Also, two employers have turned me down for employment because I can't prove I am legal here because cic will not give me my PR Card. Can any other British people who have emigrated to BC recently please please please tell me how they dealt with this or is just us and our pathetic bad luck.? we have had a rotten miserable start so far.

Sorry if I'm going on, I just want to explore more options:

There's quite a difference between the 90 days you have to take the test and the 42 days it takes the PR card to come - how much time do you have left? Is it worth booking a test now (if possible) for the last minute so that at least you have a time-slot set aside.

Do you have a temporary pr card? We got a paper one when we "landed" - will the driving people accept that because the plastic one's
"in the post"?

We used temporary driver's licences and temporary SIN cards until the real ones arrived - these were acceptable for opening bank accounts and buying a car so wouldn't the temporary pr card be suitable for the driving people?

What else have you tried to do apart from contact CIC and the driving licence people?

Are there any kind of new-immigrant-organisiations you can go to?

Can you go to the immigration office at the airport and ask them for some help - maybe they can give you this

Quote:

3 month temporary work visa issued at the airport that would be acceptable

if you explain the situation.

I woudl certainly give the MP a call and go to visit him/her. If you've checked out all the options, then you've nothing to lose have you? Paint the "we came here with hope and excitement to start a better life and this is the situation - can you help PLEASE?" picture. They have the authority to speak directly to CIC and the driving licence people.

http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E

This can't be the first time this situation has arisen in BC surely?

Good luck.

PS At the risk of sounding sexist, I found putting a little catch in my voice and expressing my huge fears without wailing and ranting while saying how much I felt coming to Canada was a huge privelege helped oil the wheels a bit And by then, it wasn't all acting....

As I said above, sorry if I went on a bit.

I agree with Jessica, ICBC can be difficult to deal with, but each ICBC office is different and seem to operate under slightly different rules. I'd try going to a different office and take your paperwork from the airport, tell them you haven't had the plastic ones in the mail yet but they'll be here soon.

The drivers license you get will be a yellow paper one and it takes a couple of months for the new enhanced license to be issued to you. I don't think they would insist on you starting with an L, and then taking a year to progress to an N, if they do that's the first time I have heard of that. Usually they will put you on an N and have you do the test later.
ICBC will accept licenses from people in Korea and Japan as equivalent, I just don't get why they can't accept the UK license as equivalent-probably some historical thing going on there.

I wouldn't give up with this, there is certainly a way to get around it, at the least you can use your international license and there are lots of people who still drive on their UK licenses. The beauty of being stopped and handing over the UK license is that if you get a ticket it doesn't follow you and wont show points or dollars on the ICBC license. Just make sure it isn't me who stops you though!!

no, your not going on. i value your imput greatly, you are extremely helpful. I am sorry i just sound so defeatist but i do feel pretty down about it and a side of me just feels like jacking it .
The thing is the ICBC have made it quite clear that they will not except anything other than my PR [yes I am a permanent resident] Card to book a test. that's it, they will not move on this. no card, no test. I am two months in from landing and still no card. On Monday I will be faxing a letter to cic stating that [or rather begging] that i need my card asap and explain that this is an urgent matter because i cannot work , eat or drive til i get my card. I bumped into an english person since my last post who stated that cic take it very seriously when you can't work or drive due to no PR Card and deal with the matter straight away. you just have to lay it on thick in the letter you fax to them. I don't need to-my health has geniunely suffered cos of all the stress. All i want to do innocently work and contribute to the economy. Why would the government want to stop me doing that? After all, they let me in so why would they not give me my permanent residence card. Life is a bitch but i guess i will struggle on. It's posts like yours that keep me going. thank you [sorry to sound such a drama queen].

failed my driving test today with the ICBC in British Columbia ! yipee! I need my class 5 licence for work so now i can't legally drive so now I can't work so now I am going back to England to start over. so after 4 years of getting my PR card it has come to this. Well done ICBC . hope your happy now you have runied my plans! Off back to UK. Byeeee!

Does that mean your PR card finally arrived ?

How soon could you retake your test ?

yes, PR finally arrived, but too little too late.
I think you can take the test a week later but I am not prepared to take my test again, this whole sorry business has cost me financially to the brink of ruin as it is. I have to cut my losses at some point. I can't keep jumping through hoops forever. I also have [or had] an interview with the B.C govt on Mon and one of the stipulations is that i have my BC Class 5 licence which i do not have now so thats's it. I hope the jobsworhty little man who failed me today on one small thing realizes how negatively he has affected my life and at great impact. I thought a british licence might mean something in "British" Columbia but clealy not, yet had i come from Korea it is just a straight swap of your licence. Don't get me wrong, nothing against the Korean's but why they don't have to sit a test and we do is beyond me. So thanks ICBC. Further, all i wanted to do is work hard and contribute my skills to the economy. Can't understand why they make the whole emigration process so difficult and depressing anyway. The whole thing from application for my PR has been nothing but a nightmare . I have come to the conlusion that they don't want people from the UK. I do know they want our money though, given the many thousands of pounds this whole pathetic escapade has cost me. I know us british are hated in the world but i thought Canada/BC might be more welcoming. How wrong i was. I am off, and I will put this down to a nightmare experience and pretend it never happened and get on with my life in the UK.

Some honest advice from a stranger ?

Do what's right for you, and don't make a decision too quickly. You are clearly wound up by all of this, and that's not a good state to be in to make such a big decision. Write down all the reasons why you moved to Canada, and why to left the UK. Are they still valid ? Are there other reasons you would add now you've lived in Canada ?

What's to lose from taking the test again next week ? Presumably, you won't have left BC before then anyway, and if you pass 2nd time round, life might seem different. Attend the interview, don't mention you've already failed, but say you have a test in the next few days.

your right, I am wound up to high heaven and very depressed by all this but you are clearly the voice of reason and talk sense. Thankyou . I will take on board what you say and I will sleep on it . Just wish my luck would change. It seems every hoop i jump through since i arrived , i just keep hitting a wall and getting a knock back and I am wondering if "it is meant to be", as it were.

Mark is right, time for a deep cleansing breath and a re-evaluation. The ICBC test isn't that difficult, perhaps you were too wound up about it; next time try some relaxation and fousing your thoughts on positive outcomes might help.
Good luck.
Graeme

you guys are so supportive, thankyou

I had to take my test on the 6th Jan which I passed but I got quite stressed out by it before hand. I had one lesson from a Brit driving instructor in kits which really helped.

If you want the contact number let me know. It was well worth getting a how to pass the test lesson.

It was not as bad as I thought but I can see how an experience driver could make a small mistake and fail because they were nervous.