I landed on Monday, Feb4. Having Read couple of horror stories and
having known a couple from bangalore who were denied landing, severely Interrogated and scared into fleeing from the scene, I had my own Apprehensions.
But, I took courage from reading the experiences of Ex-Landers on
this forum and decided to bite the bullet and get done with it.
1) I parked my car in the Rennaissance centre parking lot.(10$ per
day.)
2) I went looking for the tunnel bus pulling along my heavy suitcase
(why a Heavy suitcase?. If the Immig Authorities suspect even for a
minute that you are planning to get back the same day, they have
every right to refuse landing.). The bus took me to the Immig Office
and I was asked to present my Documents To the officer. A older
gentleman looked at me and warily asked My Nationality and seemed to
Brighten up when i told him i was from India. From then on it was all
downhill. he lazily asked for my destination etc. asked me how
much $$ i carried. i said 10k.he did not even bother to check whether i carried it at all. Finally, he asked me for the list of Goods and the list of goods to follow. I had made nice little list on a Excel sheet. he complimented my work.
Finally, he said "Welcome To Canada" and stapled the landing paper to my passport.
3) I made a short trip to the SIN office & applied for my SIN. Then i took a bus to the license bureau and got hold of a Driving Handbook to take the test some other time.
4) Finally, i decided to get back to US. The US customs were quite
strict. They checked my luggage. They glanced at my H1 stamp on the passport and let me in.
Important lessons:
1) Having know some people who were refused landing, my guess is it all depends to quite an extent on the officer who interviews. But, if you are prepared solid like carrying Travellers checks, Resume, a proper address in canada, you should be okay.
2) Transaction in canada is in canadian dollars. make sure you stop at a bank in canada and ask them to break your US money into canadian.
3) Canadians are *very* helpful people. Whether it was the City bus driver who on seeing that i did not have canadian dollars, changed his Bus route and stopped right in front of the bank and waited until i got my money converted!! or a lady on the tunnel bus on seeing that i feel short of 75 cents, paid for me.
I am looking forward To really moving to canada sometime in the next few months and hope this experience of mine helps somebody. Thanks and Good luck!
Jai Jawan!! Jai Kissan!!
having known a couple from bangalore who were denied landing, severely Interrogated and scared into fleeing from the scene, I had my own Apprehensions.
But, I took courage from reading the experiences of Ex-Landers on
this forum and decided to bite the bullet and get done with it.
1) I parked my car in the Rennaissance centre parking lot.(10$ per
day.)
2) I went looking for the tunnel bus pulling along my heavy suitcase
(why a Heavy suitcase?. If the Immig Authorities suspect even for a
minute that you are planning to get back the same day, they have
every right to refuse landing.). The bus took me to the Immig Office
and I was asked to present my Documents To the officer. A older
gentleman looked at me and warily asked My Nationality and seemed to
Brighten up when i told him i was from India. From then on it was all
downhill. he lazily asked for my destination etc. asked me how
much $$ i carried. i said 10k.he did not even bother to check whether i carried it at all. Finally, he asked me for the list of Goods and the list of goods to follow. I had made nice little list on a Excel sheet. he complimented my work.
Finally, he said "Welcome To Canada" and stapled the landing paper to my passport.
3) I made a short trip to the SIN office & applied for my SIN. Then i took a bus to the license bureau and got hold of a Driving Handbook to take the test some other time.
4) Finally, i decided to get back to US. The US customs were quite
strict. They checked my luggage. They glanced at my H1 stamp on the passport and let me in.
Important lessons:
1) Having know some people who were refused landing, my guess is it all depends to quite an extent on the officer who interviews. But, if you are prepared solid like carrying Travellers checks, Resume, a proper address in canada, you should be okay.
2) Transaction in canada is in canadian dollars. make sure you stop at a bank in canada and ask them to break your US money into canadian.
3) Canadians are *very* helpful people. Whether it was the City bus driver who on seeing that i did not have canadian dollars, changed his Bus route and stopped right in front of the bank and waited until i got my money converted!! or a lady on the tunnel bus on seeing that i feel short of 75 cents, paid for me.
I am looking forward To really moving to canada sometime in the next few months and hope this experience of mine helps somebody. Thanks and Good luck!
Jai Jawan!! Jai Kissan!!