32 minutes - Yep. That's how long it took from the moment I walked in to the immigration office at the border until I had the work permit in hand (and a good chunk of that was spent in the cashier line!).

I still can't quite believe it. The officer who processed me was formal but in a very polite, professional way, not in that I've-got-the-power-here-buddy kind of way. The only question he asked was if I was the same person who had also applied for a permanent resident permit back in January, to which I answered, "Yes." He scanned my passport, looked through the offer letter, studied my resume and glanced at the originals of all my degrees/licenses/certifications.

Needless to say, I was literally shaking the whole time. I had brought some magazines to read but who was I kidding. I was barely able to do anything beyond basic bodily functions like blink and breathe, for which I still need some internal reminders to do.

After about 15 minutes of checking all my documents, he looked up over the counter and said, "You clearly meet the NAFTA requirements so I'll give you a one year work permit." I stood up and as coached by my immigration guy, I tried to dicker a bit, *shaking even harder* "Is there any way you could make it for 2 years so I'll be covered while the other permit is processed?" To which he responded, "No, I can only do one but I've looked through your other permit (huh, is my whole life scanned into some Canadian Immigration database already?) and you should get it before this one expires."

So that was that. I paid the bill. Brought him the receipt. The form was printed and stamped and stapled in my passport and I was on my way to Toronto to celebrate for the evening over dinner and drinks with my partner in my soon to be hometown.

I'm still in shock. And honestly, a little embarrassed now at how much energy I spent on my anxiety. Then again, I've never done this before and hope not to have to do it again. Anyone who knows me knows I'm an adrenaline junky big time but this was even more than I usually like.

Now, I guess I'll need to shift my "need for speed" to the cardboard/packing side of things.