Rachael is back to talk about her experiences thus far in trying to immigrate to Bermuda.
Take it away Rach!
Hiya, if you haven’t seen my writing on here before, allow me to briefly introduce myself! My name is Rachael, and I live and work as teacher about an hour outside of Toronto, Ontario.
I also tend to travel more than the average person my age. I’m in a long-distance relationship right now with Sam, my partner of 5 years. It’s incredibly difficult at times, but we make it work and travel every few months to see one another.
Sam lives and works in Bermuda, though he was not born there. He is a resident of the island, and he has called Bermuda home since he was nearly 10 years old.
Sam and I are at the point in our long distance relationship where we would like to eliminate the “long-distance” part from the title, and just go back to being in a relationship. One where we can see each other more than just for a week or two every couple of months.
After some discussion we came to the conclusion that it might be time for me to start relocating, so at the start of this year in late January, I began the long, sometimes confusing (and a bit frustrating) process of immigrating to Bermuda.
Unfortunately for me, Sam came to Bermuda at a very young age and he only moved to the island because of a unique job opportunity that his father was given. All of the things he knows and remembers (which truthfully isn’t much), aren’t very helpful for me.
I am embarking on this journey mostly by myself, with only his emotional support to help me, and let me just be honest and say… I can already tell that this process is going to be a long one that may leave me in tears at some point.
In January of this year, after Sam and I talked about it and decided it was time to start moving me to Bermuda, I sat down and tried to come up with a list of everything I would need to get sorted in my “new home.”
The list took me over 2 hours to create. If I’m being honest, it only took so long because every time I came up with another item on the list, I spiraled down a rabbit hole of stress and stared at my ceiling for a good 10-15 minutes. Every. Single. Time.
Every time I came up with another thing I would need to get or complete in order move to Bermuda, I was reminded how difficult this would be. However, Sam reminded me every time I went down the rabbit hole that he would help me wherever he could, and that it would all be worth it once I was here.
So, I pushed through and finished my list. It currently looks as follows, but I’ll likely need to add more to it.
(Yes that is really the title that I chose to use in the notes app on my phone)
So, that’s all I have as of right now and I’ll let everyone in on a secret… I have not accomplished much of anything from my list yet. This list will be the death of me, especially item number 2, and I’ll tell you why.
There are 2 ways to permanently live in Bermuda. One is by obtaining a work Visa. To do this you need to be hired by an employer, and then the employer will then apply for your Visa, but it can take months before the Visa is accepted. This is the route I am currently trying to take.
Option number two is to marry a citizen/resident of Bermuda. However, Sam and I have already discussed that moving to Bermuda is not a good enough reason to force a marriage when it will happen at some point anyways (I am not going to be a green card bride).
If in a year or two I still haven’t found a job and gotten a Visa, I’m sure we would revisit option number two, but please all pray for me that it doesn’t take that long. I think I would actually go insane.
From my list I have have only managed to tick 2 of the items off of my list, because many of the items on here rely on another to be completed first. So far, from my list I have managed to transfer my teaching license and credentials into a Bermudian license, and I have managed to find an esthetician and a hairdresser, but the rest of the list remains unsolved.
As I just mentioned above, the major problem is that items 3, 4, 5 and 6 rely on me completing item number 2.
It makes sense that I can't find a medical provider, a dentist or have benefits unless I have a job. I need to have a job and be secure in the country first with my residency and my Visa before I can begin looking for a GP, and a dentist, and before I can begin filing for a health card or a driver's license.
Unfortunately, I'm just going to have to trust the process and myself, and hope that everything falls into place the way it's meant to and in the timeline that it's meant to happen.
I don’t want to make it seem like I'm not doing anything to find a job there because believe me, I’m searching the Bermuda Job Board every other week to make sure that I haven’t missed any available positions that I am qualified to apply for. I also “market myself” whenever I can when I am physically in Bermuda.
So far, there are many tricky things that I've mentioned about immigrating to Bermuda, but there is one thing that I have failed to mention up to this point and I think now is the perfect time to explain it.
To start I should mention that I visit Bermuda roughly every 3 to 4 months, sometimes for a couple weeks sometimes for a month or more.
In any situation, when I'm visiting I am visiting on a visitor's Visa. While I don't technically have to apply for that Visa and I’m granted that because I hold a Canadian passport, it does mean that I still have certain limitations.
On a visitor's Visa, there is a time limit in which you are only allowed to stay a certain amount of days in that country consecutively. In Bermuda's case I believe it's just under 6 months that you are allowed to stay for (180 days). This is a fairly long time but there is one other catch, you are not allowed to apply for jobs or interview for jobs under any circumstances while you are there on a visitor's Visa.
As with many other countries, if you do try to interview, apply for, or present yourself for a job while you are there you could potentially be blacklisted from coming back for not following the rules of the Visa.
It is not a guarantee, but the risk of it is enough to stop me from breaking this rule. It’s because of these rules that while I do “market” myself when I go to Bermuda, I'm very cautious of how I do it, where I do it, and who I do it around.
All of this is just to say that immigrating is hard.
I have barely started my journey and most days I have no idea what I am doing. I keep pushing through it all because I know that both Sam and I are tired of never seeing each other enough, but the truth is 99% of the time I have no idea if what I’m doing is actually pointing me in the right direction.
Immigrating somewhere new, without a ton of help from anyone is scary, and it’s something I didn’t ever think I would have to do. I grew up assuming that I would be living in Canada my whole life.
I am so grateful for where life has taken me and the path that I am on now. However, as someone in their mid 20’s, who still asks their mom for advice about laundry and cooking, immigrating somewhere new on my own is a seriously daunting task for me to be faced with. I’m sure anyone who has done it or is currently in the same boat would testify to that.
I know it will be worth it in the end when I am living in Bermuda, doing the job that I love (well most days I love it), but right now the stress seems only to be piling up higher. For now I just have to keep my head up, keep applying to the jobs until I finally get an interview and take it from there.
My mom loves to remind me, since I tend to overthink everything, that I can only do things one step at a time, so there is no point in worrying about the rest of it yet anyways. Things in life tend to follow a domino effect, one change sparks another, and I am slowly learning to be okay with this slow rhythm of life.
One day, I will be living in Bermuda, even if the country is doing their best to keep me out of their schools right now. (Bermuda Government, if you’re reading this, that was a joke, please still let me in… I promise I am a great teacher!)
I'm sure anyone who's immigrated before can sympathize and empathize with Rachael's current stresses and struggles. She is right in saying that things will happen if and when they are mean to happen. For now patience is key, even if it's difficult at times. The right opportunity will present itself soon enough, I just know it!
Let's all keep cheering Rach and Sam on as they continue their journey towards building a life together in Bermuda!
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