landing experience

Hi Guys,

I will be landing through Vancouver since I am in Seattle and will be coming back using AP. Did any one completed his landing process through Vancouver, how was the process? I have a couple of questions, which will be awesome if you guru's can answer?
1. Should I take my own car or should I rent a vehicle? Are there any problems in driving your own vehicle?
2. Do I have to take a money order or Cashiers check with me now?
3. Do I have to tell the immigration officer that I am going back to US?
4. I am from Pakistan so have to go through NSSER or whatever it is, will there be any problems (will really appreciate of someone has a experience)?
5. Do I have to use the Canadian customs form or an excel sheet is good enough?
6. When I got my Visa I also recieved a couple of forms with it for self and family do I have to take some other documentation?

Thanks in advance!!!!
 
How long we will out of canada , I have PR cards just arrived. and don't know when I will go there permenently. I have US GC in process. Guys let me know your thaughts.
 
landing & sin ques

Hi,
can we apply SIN any where in canada?I have decided to Land in Vancover next week and give one of my friends Toronto Address as my perm address.
1)Is there any problem if i land in Vancouver and give Toronto address?
2)Can I apply SIN at Vancouver?

Guru's please advise me.
Thanks for your help
 
AVR (Automatic visa revalidation )

Hi All,
I got my Canada visa for Landing. I have a valid H1b which expires on Jan 2010. My visa stamp has expired two years back. I will be staying in Canada for may three days for completing the landing process. Can I use the AVR to reenter into USA ? My Canadian Attorney is not able to confirm this AVR option.

Thank you.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Landing through Windsor tunnel, No problems

I owe it to this thread for useful information, so here is my experience:

We landed through Detroit-Windsor tunnel last week. Paid the $3.50 toll and drove to the Canadian border booth. The officer asked about our citizenship and purpose of visit and directed us to park our rental car and go to the immigration/custom building. Extremely friendly officer. Congratulated and welcomed us to Canada. No questions asked. Just asked us to sit while he finished the paperwork and then asked us to sign in the box. Friend's address was accepted for the PR card with no problem. That was it. No other questions asked and no other documents (proof of fund, ...) requested. Very smooth and nice. ~10 minutes max.

Custom was ok too. We already had the list of goods to follow, (fillable forms from http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=220438 ). ~15 minutes.

We spend about a week in Toronto and Montreal and absolutely loved both cities. We also applied for the SIN card at a Canada Service Center in Ontario. Then came back to the US through Sarnia/Port-Huron border using advance parole. It took us about 1 hour in vehicles line to reach the custom/immigration booth. Then we were directed inside the building and spent another hour in people's line and ~ half hour to clear our advance parole documents. No problems or anything, just took longer than it should have. The officers would frequently leave you and go do other stuff. Could have been a lot better. The officer was nice though and explained to us about the confusion in the advance parole expiration date. The expiration date is the date printed on the advance parole (which is one year from the date of issue), not the date on the stamp (which is one year from the date of crossing the border).

Our strategy was to always tell the truth, but don't say anything more than what was asked. No more explanation than needed. Just answer the simple questions the officers ask in the most honest and concise way. It worked for us and hopefully will work for everyone. I should add that unfortunately I do believe that the experience one might have either on the Canadian side or the US side largely depends on the officer and his/her mood at the time. So a little good luck never hurts!

Good luck to everybody!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Landed successfully :)

Thanks to everyone who posted their experiences and other valuable suggestions which helped us a lot knowing in advance what to expect. So here is my contribution:

Landed this weekend thru Peace Bridge. Didn't have to stop at US side, pulled over straight to Canadian Immigration post. The lady officer asked routine questions like citizenship, status in US, purpose of visit and then directed us to Immigration/Customs building. Both Immigration and Customs officers were super friendly. Immigration officer looked for proof of funds, we took $9000 in cashers check and rest in bank statements. He totalled it up and put the total amount. Asked for an address in Canada, gave my cousine's address. He asked whose address it was, told him the truth. He said that's fine and even noted down cousine's name and advised me to make sure someone is there to receive the PR card when it arrives.

Customs officer asked about the car, told him it was a rental. Took our goods to follow list and photographs of jewelleries and stamped them. That was it. Whole process took maximum 30 minutes.

Returned next day thru Rainbow bridge. US Immigration officer took our passports, H1 papers, asked about the purpose of visiting canada, scanned the visas and gave back. AVR works! It took just 2 - 3 min.

Once again, thanks to everyone. Keep this forum alive.
 
Using Rental Car for Landing

1. Does anyone know if there are rental car companies around Buffalo that allow you to rent and drive car across border to Canada?

2. On landing, if you tell Canadian Customs/Immigration officer that you're driving a rental car which implies you will go back soon after landing, does that cause any issues? Does it imply you are not landing for good at this moment?

3. What if there are visa/AVR problems while returning to US? what happens to rental car? Can you drop it off across border in Canada? I may saying so becuase I plan to use AVR and have heard different experiances on using AVR rule to return.

Thanks in advance.
 
Some questions on Landing

I am planning to Land in Canada in couple of weeks from now. I will rent a car in Buffalo to cross the peace bridge. I am using the AVR since I wont be staying more than one day in Canada. My questions are:

1. Is US driving license valid to drive in Canada ?

2.Do the rental people give a car for rent if we say that we are going to Canada from US for one day ?

3. I have expired visa, Original valid I-94 and copy of my I797(H1). Original I797 is with my employer. Is it ok if I show original I-94 and copy of H1 to come back to US using AVR ?

4. After completing the Canadian Landing process, I want take break for one hour and can I come back US on the same day?

5. Should I take off the original I-94 from the passport while entering Canada and reattach before entering into US, so that US officers can have it as a proof?

When I went to India two years back, my company's attornt did not give me the original h1 but they said the copy will be sufficient. And did not had any issues while returning to US, then. I do not know how what happens now.:confused:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello GCHelp 123 and others

GChelp123 said:
Hello,

I have landed, with my family, via Rainbow bridge and completed the final step towards the Canadian PR.

Paid the toll, drove over the bridge on the Canadian side, on the border

Officer: reason for travel to Canada
Me: we are landing as permanent resident

Officer: How many people are in car
Me: told the number of people

He gave a yellow paper and directed to go into the building behind his cabin.

Inside, the first desk are of customs department, when I showed the paper, they directed to go around the desk towards the immigration department. I handed over the piece of paper and upon asking gave all COPRs and passports.

Immigration office: Are you landing today
Me: Yes, but I'll move permanentaley after 2 months. (I should have just said Yes and nothing else)

IO: Why
Me: I have wind up in US yada yada...

At this point he didn't like that I was not landing permanently

IO: What is your status in US
Me: H1

IO: Do you have papers
Me: gave the H1 and H4 approvals

IO: You have such and such period left, so technically you can stay in US untill that period
Me: Yes, I can stay, but I will be moving permanently in 2 months

IO: proof of funds
Me: gave the cashiers checks of $8500

IO: any other proof of funds
Me: No..

Intialled and signed the COPRS for myself and my kids, my wife signed her. (Make sure the signature doesn't go outside the green box.. I had a hard time keeping my signatures within the box)

Finally he asked us to sit on the bench as he completed the formalities. After about 15 minutes, he called and gave all the passports with stapled COPRS.

When I asked, where the PR cards will be mailed, he said, when you move here permanently we'll update your address. I said thank you, he didn't even said welcome to canada or any other gesture...

At the customs counter I handed the yellow paper and B4/B4A forms, they stamped B4/B4A and photographs of jewellry. In one of the forms I mentioned the details of car, the officer asked about the title, which I didn't had, luckily I had a letter from financing bank, showed that letter and she was ok.

Came out of the building, and went towards the Niagara falls, I was looking for a public phone, finally found one. I called 1-888-242-2100 (you can call this number only from canada) and updated the address for our PR cards, alternatively you can update the address online too.

Stayed for one night... and left for US next morning. On the US side, gave all the passports and H1/H4 papers

Immigation officer scanned the visas into his computer and after couple of minutes he handed over all the papers and let us enter the US.

Bottom line.. the toll free number and AVR works.

I Thank everybody on this forum for posting their questions and answers and landing experiences, without which I couldn't have completed my journey towards the Canandian PR.

Thanks and good luck to all.
Click to expand...

***************************************

Congrats on your canadian GC.

I also did landing on aug 7th through Ottawa Airport.

The lady in the counter said that she will update the address once i move permanently there . i said OK and moved on to customs etc..

i updated the address through online link while i was there . i was there for 3 days ( did H1 stamping done) . For some reason when i log back into online services today, the new address is not showing up . i am now back in US . does that mean that when they say "we will update the address when u move permanently", we can not update through online service?

Did you also had same problem with teh address notification system?

anybodyelse facing same problem . Your response will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ravi
 
Munnaed . did you get any answer . i am in same boat

munnaed said:
Hi All,

I did the landing process in the month of Sept but the canada immi officer was not accepted the c/o of address for PR Card to issue. He asked me to submit the address for PR Card when i move to canada permanently.

How to submit the canada address in order to receive the PR Card?

Please advice me. I really appreciate your help.

Thx
ED
Click to expand...

Did you get replies to ur question . i am in same boat. i was told that they will update the address when i move there permanently .

however i updated the address on the online link for address notification . but for some reason my new address is not showing up there . i dont know why .

i landed on aug 7th . please let me know what happned next inyour case. any more info etc.

Thanks in advance for your reply

Ravi
 
Hi donot worry they update the address once they mail the card till that time it shows the old address--my experience
 
information please

We have read all the thread. We just being cautious. We have expired F1/F2 visas (husband and wife) which dated long back. Now we have valid H1/H4 visas. AVR should be work for us (we read the threads). IS iT?
We are going thru Vancouver BC via Seattle (driving). We also from SR country. Is it advisable to stop at US POE and ask if we are ok using AVR? What should we ask them? Do we need to ask them some evidence?:eek:
Is it harder going thru Seattle - Vancouver border? Most all the threads were about Peace and Rainbow bridge. Please let us know.
 
PR landing and AVR experience

Landed last week for Canadian PR at Rainbow bridge and returned using automatic visa revalidation (I-94 from H1B approval, H1B approval notice, and old expired F1 visa stamps). 485 is pending but no questions were asked by either Canadian or US officials about that. Only trivial questions were asked by US officers (where we live, what job we do, etc). While landing and return were successful we do not know how 485 application will be affected.

Canadian officer demanded to look at our H1B papers and we showed them to her. H1B was valid for more than two years. The officer asked if we are going to live in Canada now. We said no. Although she said PR card could not be issued now because we were not going there to live this time, she said it will be issued when we finally move to Canada. Till then, according to her, we can use the Confirmation of PR document she attached to our passports for entry to Canada. We thought that was good because now they would not call us for fresh pictures for PR card to Canada.

On the whole no issues.
 
This may sound trivial, but can we make our landing at any time of the day or night? There are no restrictions on this, I suppose?
 
puhrince said:
This may sound trivial, but can we make our landing at any time of the day or night? There are no restrictions on this, I suppose?
Click to expand...

No restrictions on the time of landing, as long as the POE is open (if you are "landing" by land). If the flight arrives, then the airport (POE) must be open! :)
 
Thanks! Yes I will be going by land..I actually live in Canada now and had recently gone to Buffalo to get my immigrant visa stamped. On my way back I tried to do my landing, but they asked for a statement of funds which I didn't have..so I had to move on. Thinking back, I am wondering how was I let in (especially since the visa is single entry), maybe because I already live in Canada..? Does this mean I can leave the country again and come back in without doing my landing (and hence choose when I want to land)?
 
puhrince said:
Thanks! Yes I will be going by land..I actually live in Canada now and had recently gone to Buffalo to get my immigrant visa stamped. On my way back I tried to do my landing, but they asked for a statement of funds which I didn't have..so I had to move on. Thinking back, I am wondering how was I let in (especially since the visa is single entry), maybe because I already live in Canada..? Does this mean I can leave the country again and come back in without doing my landing (and hence choose when I want to land)?
Click to expand...


You were allowed to come inside the country (Canada) not because you live in Canada but because you had a single entry visa. Single entry visa (if valid) works as a multiple entry visa if you travel between Canada and the US. But in case you leave the continent (N America), then you will not be allowed back into Canada and need another valid visa.
 
So can I go to the US and come back without having to do the landing? I would like to do it though but my wife travels to work often to the US and we weren't sure if she could enter back unless she did her landing, which she wouldn't be able to do unless I am with her (me being the primary applicant).
 
puhrince said:
So can I go to the US and come back without having to do the landing? I would like to do it though but my wife travels to work often to the US and we weren't sure if she could enter back unless she did her landing, which she wouldn't be able to do unless I am with her (me being the primary applicant).
Click to expand...


Yes you can. Make sure that your visa is valid though (not expired). But why don't you accompany her and then land together? And just curious, right now, what status do you have in Canada?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top