landing experience

Landing experience - Peace Bridge

Folks we landed in Canada over the long weekend and returned back to the US.
Thanks to this forum, the process was smooth. Its my turn now to provide my landing experience for those to follow.

We landed via the Peace Bridge (for directions, the address is: 1 Peace Bridge Plaza Buffalo, NY 14213-2494)

Following documents are needed to be filled in before hand:
1) Form B4E - Personal Effects Accounting Document i.e. List of Goods Imported i.e. you r carrying persoanlly with you. See attached.

2) Form B4A - Personal Effects Accounting Document i.e. list of goods to follow. See attached.

Make sure you attach photos of jewelry with Form B4A if you are importing jewelry later. Alos, if you have vehicle (s) to follow mention their make, model and VIN number(s) in it. Its a good idea to carry the proof of insurance of your vehicles to prove the VIN numbers. (They didn't ask me for them, though)

After crossing the bridge, you will come at the booth for primary inpsection. The lady there asked us to proceed to the main building to complete the landing formalities.

Inside, the immigration officer was courteous and explained the length of stay required to claim citizenship. he took the passports and Comfirmation of Permanent Residence (CPR) documents. He asked us some questions like "have you been ever refused entry to Canada?" etc. checked the money in possession (we showed the certified checks we were carrying and thre latest bank statement) He made us put initials and sign the CPR document. Then he gave us the carbon copy of the CPR and asked us to proceed to the Customs.

At the customs desk, we handed over Forms B4E & B4A. He issued us a receipt (Form B15-1) along with a copy of B4A with their stamp on it and stamp on the jewelry photo. This receipt and the stamped B4A are required later to claim goods to follow later.

That was it. While in Canada we applied for the SIN number.

Returned to USA with no problems - we had unexpired US visas and I-94's in our passports. The US immi officer asked us for the CPR.

Wish you guys all the best! If you guys have any specific questions, pl send a pvt message as I won't be checking this thread again. :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
landing experience on 11/12

My hubby and I landed in Toronto Pearson Airport on 11/12. We took off from LaGuardia via American Airline. The airline didn't take away our I-94s since we would be returning two days later.

The landing process was very smooth. The lady was polite and the whole process lasted about 5 minutes. She only asked to see the passports and the landing paper. Also asked me how much money we have available. We told her our total liquid asset and she wrote the amount on the landing paper. She didn't ask to see anything else. We only have $1000 USD cashier's check on us. She took our friend's address who lives in Vancouver. And yesterday (11/28), we were told that our friend has received the PR card.

We prepared two excel lists of goods to import and goods to follow and gave them to the customs officer.

Btw, the immigration officer did say "Welcome to Canada".

The return to USA took a bit longer time as the line was long. It took us about 1.5 hours to pass thru the US immigration check and get to our plane right when it was boarding.
 
Landing and Passport Renewal.

Hi All,
Congrats to all who landed done sucessfully!!!

We are going to Canada on 24-25th Jan,2005 to get our PR stamped which is valid till 25th Feb, 2005.After that we will leave for India and then come back to USA.

My Passport is getting expired in another 7-8 months.So before leaving for Canada & India we are deciding to get it renewed.

Question:If my PP gets renewed,then all my passport details will change.Do you think it would be advisable to change my renew my passport.If I carry my new & old Passport together, do you think there will be any problem.Did any one of you have faced such a situation.

Please do give your vaulable inputs!!

Many Thanks!!
Mona
 
Can you please reply to this...

rh2002 and srini88,

Can you please confirm which of the two Canadian ID's we have to show if we have to go their to pick up our PR cards? What other ID beside passport we can show for kids?

Thanks
 
Goods to follow question

Hello All,

With respect to the goods to follow photos of jewels, should we take photos of jewels individually or can they be taken in batches of a few jewels together. I know this is a kind of nitpick question but just wanted to make sure what the norm is.

Also what happens when you leave out a few items in the goods to follow list but do actually carry them when you enter canada permanently??

Thanks.
 
return to Canada

From what I heard at the counter - the lady at the mentioned that I could return to Canada in a rental car and all I would have to show is the photocopy of the COPR that was in my passport.( She stapled it in there )
so I dont think I need a travel doc to return to collect the PR card.
-lrugnevm
 
landed in Canada Successfully

Hi! friends, I have landed in Canada From Detroit-Windsor Tunnel On 25 th Nov.

I will share my Exp In detail in Couple of Days.

In short, It went very easy and smooth.

thanks to this Forum.
 
sapota1 said:
Hello All,

With respect to the goods to follow photos of jewels, should we take photos of jewels individually or can they be taken in batches of a few jewels together. I know this is a kind of nitpick question but just wanted to make sure what the norm is.

Also what happens when you leave out a few items in the goods to follow list but do actually carry them when you enter canada permanently??

Thanks.
Click to expand...

SAPOTA1:

You can click all the jewelry in one photo and that is OK as long as each individual piece is distinguishable. I had just laid out the jewelry against a dark background and taken one photo and printed it on 8"X11" paper. That sufficed.

As for the second part of your questions, please refer to my Landing Experience in which I have listed the forms for carrying the goods with you when landing.

All the best!
 
Do we need to apply for SIN when we land for the first time?
Since I am not moving to Canada for another 1 year, I am thinking to apply it later.
Is there any pros/cons of not applying SIN for the first time when we land?
Since there wont be any records for me staying in CAnada for 1 year,I dont understand what is the purpose of applying it now?
Appreciate anyone's response on this.
thanks much.
 
SIN card is required to apply for a job in canada. If you want to apply while sitting in US, then its a good idea to apply for it. It won't hurt and take 5 minutes to apply.
 
Landing experience Vancouver

I took rental from Seattle on 11/29 and tried to land but denied.

Reason - I did not apply for my kid who is US citizen and she was with me at the time of landing. I already had mentioned during the application process that I plan for my kid’s primary education in my home country and I intent to apply for her PR in future. But the immigration office was very rude and did not listen to me. I was told to show them the written arrangements done for my kid. They gave me two options. One, extend the visa date and second, send my kid to my home country before landing. Both were not possible at that time.

I spent some time at US immigration to change my expired I-94 by showing them the H1B extension and came back to Seattle.

I booked the tickets for my wife & kid and tried again to land on 11/30. There was different officer who said she is not convinced but let me land. She noted on my file that I was allowed to withdraw my earlier application to land. She asked me to apply for PR only after I permanently move and she told me twice that it is illegal to apply for PR card if you are not in Canada.

The custom officer stamped my Goods to follow list without any problem. I did not carry the photograph of jewelry but again it depends on officer.

PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO LAND WITH YOUR KID IF YOU HAVE NOT HIS/HER LANDING PAPER.
 
Make the list as big as possible

There is no harm in including each and every item u have but u have to pay duty if it is not in list.

I even added my Grill to the list though I do not plan to take it. Officer told me i can ship these item as and when i want. I listed items worth $48000

Hope this helps

sapota1 said:
Hello All,

With respect to the goods to follow photos of jewels, should we take photos of jewels individually or can they be taken in batches of a few jewels together. I know this is a kind of nitpick question but just wanted to make sure what the norm is.

Also what happens when you leave out a few items in the goods to follow list but do actually carry them when you enter canada permanently??

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Landing Experience For Canada.

Hi! I am back again with some Detail information for my Landing in Canada.
First let me give you some Approximate Processing date/time for my Canada File.

Applied: DEC 2002
Received File no: JAN 2003

In Between I have Provided FBI fingerprints and some paper requested by Consulate.

Medical Done (my self only): FEB 2004
Add Birth Of Child: APR 2004
Medical Done for Spouse and Child: MAY 2004

Passport Request: JUL 2004
Return Without stamp: AUG 2004
(Reason they said, failed/ Provide all Supporting Docs for Birth of Child).
I have Send some FAX And explained with Tracking number and processing Fees Cashed that It has been received by consulate.

Again got passport request: OCT 2004
Received Passport Stamp Back NOV 12, 2004

Landed in Canada: NOV 25, 2004
Land from: Detroit-Windsor tunnel

Following is my Landing Experience.
First of all let me tell you, it was very easy than I expected.
I have prepared all documents mentioned on Canada's Website.
Money Carried: 8,500 US $ Money Order and $1,100.00 Cash.
Land Using: Rent car

On 25 th Nov, I went to Detroit-Windsor Tunnel for Land. Because of Holiday in US, there was no traffic at all to reach my Destination.
At entry point to tunnel, I paid toll and ask for Immigration. Lady told me that At end of it, you will find Immigration Booth.

At Immigration Booth, office Asked: where do you live?
Then I mentioned, I am landing in Canada today.
He went to other booth and grabs Yellow Slip and Wrote "Landing" with some other information and points me to go to Main Immigration Building.
We went there and there was no Queue. It was completely empty (of course Officers were there).
I reach to Immigration window and Lady Asked me for My Passport and Landing Papers.
She looked and asked me, Will you return back US? I replied YES.(my Plan was to finish Landing formality and return back in US).
After some time, she come back again and got our signature on papers and Asked for Address in Canada.
I have provided my Friend's address. Looks like she was having hard time, to understand my Indian style English.
So, She asked me for Address Printout from which I was reading. During this time, she gives diff look. I realized she might have not liked it.

Anyway, Finished all formality in 30 mins at Immigration Counter and She informed we will get PR card by mail as specified address.

Then we went to custom and Submit Good to Import (Which has only 2 Item) and Good to Follow. Custom officer did some paper work and returned me second copy for both list.

We are all set.... Become Immigrant in Canada.

Went to Visiting Center For Canada next to tunnel for Local Map. Lady was very helpful and explained me in Detail how to reach to my friend's address.
We reached friends Place at about 1:00 PM. Then we went to Federal Office to apply SIN number.
Finished without any problem and then went to bank to open account. We have open account with TD Canada trust. It took longer time.
Deposited some 1200.00 CAN $ and after that Made one Transaction from ATM outside Bank.

Then In the evening, we headed back to US. At border officer Looked at our passport and asked, Why did you visit Canada?
That's it...
I hope this information will be helpful.
 
Congratulations..So..when do you plan to move to CANADA permanently? I bet the quality and efficiency of the overall immigration experience you had with the Canadian immigration process was far far better than the DHS or the INS experience....right? :D
 
Hi! maple_cartier
Ofcourse , Experience was far much better. So far I have never got chance to Deal with DHS or INS in USA.

I May be Plan to Move Canada After 2 yrs.
 
Landed via Rainbrow and returned via Thousands Island Bridge

Hi All,

I landed in canada last saturday and it was very smooth.
myself and my wife landed together.
Entered Rainbow bridge from US side and not much questions asked from US side. some questions like where do you work,where are you going in canada etc.,
When entered in Canada side, first the officer checked our land documents and then ask to go to another counter which is inside a small building.
we parked our car and then went in.
submitted our landing papers, passport and funds(12000 US dollars).
we were asked to sit for 10 minutes and after that the lady called us and told we have issued you the permanent status in Canada.
Since I have my US GC stamping in the passport, she told they will monitor my status closely and after 3 years if I cant stay in Canada, then I will lose PR status. So we got 3 years of time to decide if we have to stay in US or in Canada.
Then we were asked to go to Customs counter and give the goods to follow list.
they never asked what are the things we are carrying now.
only submitted the goods to follow list and the officer issued a seal and give a copy to us.
we took the copy of landing papers and goods to follow list and went in Canada as PR.

we came back to US on monday night via Thousands Island bridge(route 81 from newyork). I think this route is only for trucks mostly and hardly find any one or two cars. but only very few immigration counters.
the officer looked in our passport and asked about the status in US and I mentioned I have the PR status here.
Just asked what things are carrying in car and never checked anything.
just within 1 minute he told you are all set and you can go.
thats it.

My advice to all is:
take all the necessary documents with you.
take proof of funds and goods to follow list.
show proof of valid status in US when coming back.

The other thing I dont understand is:
there is no record of exit from Canada in our passport.
how come they know that we have left canada within 3 days?
how will the 3 years clock count based on the 3 out of 5 years rule.
any ideas on this?
 
there is no record of exit from Canada in our passport.

-- Not required

how come they know that we have left canada within 3 days?

---They do not have to, You have to prove you were in canada and not them to disprove

how will the 3 years clock count based on the 3 out of 5 years rule.

-- It has started from the day you landed

any ideas on this?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top