Oath email April 7 (Virtual Ceremony - Vancouver BC Itinerant Services)
Virtual Ceremony was today at 9 AM PDT, Vancouver Services, 111 participants.
Ceremony was relatively short, we were done by 10:15 AM. When put in breakout rooms for ID verification and cutting up the PR cards, we were asked about travel plans and we said we have a flight on Sat May 9 (in 11 days). The IRCC coordinator told us that we need a passport (which we knew) and that he would make a note in the system to work on our certificate fast so we could get one.
We emailed the oath forms immediately after the ceremony ended, and I was able to download the citizenship certificates for both of us at 11:30 PDT. Overall, pretty fast!
Below are my thoughts on becoming Canadians, I hope everyone here gets there very soon! Cheers!
Never quite understood nationalism. Borders are lines invented on a map, and the place where we are born is an absolute matter of chance. Deep down, we all want to be a part of something bigger, and I think we seek that in a nation, although it is often misused to make another separation between "us" and "them". Migration is deeply human, as much as some want to convince us otherwise.
Yet, there is a pride, an identity, when we say we are from a country. We have always been and always will be Chileans, but not because Chile is "better" (although it is the best country of Chile), but because it is part of us, in good and in bad. We love Chile, and living outside has never been an "I want to leave here", it's always been an "I want to go there". Today after 6 years we can say we are Canadians, too, and it's not because Canada is "better", but because this country is also part of us. The people who have loved us, the landscapes that have amazed us, the culture we have learned and shared.
Being Chilean-Canadian is a privilege that we carry with pride and that we share with love. To so many people who have given us so much thanks! We love you, here there and everywhere!