Landing Process and Necessary Info

10000 USD limit

10 K limit is per person. You can check this on the US customs website or call them.

For canada immigration you need about 9 K canadian dollor or equal to it.

So you may take check or money order of little less than 10 K if you don't want to declare.

Be remember in 10 k limit applies to cash, meaning cashier's check + cash in your pockets.

So plan accordingly.
 
Landing question

Hi All,

I am planning to land in Toronto (Pearson Intl airport) on May 19th and fly back to US after a couple of days....I will be giving my friend's address in Toronto for mailing my PR card..Since I live in TX, driving is not an option for me....I have a H1-B visa/stamp in my passport which is valid until June'07....I am not sure if this is a good/safe option....Can someone please let me know if its safen to land with a confirmed round trip air ticket.....

Thank You for your time....

-Josh.
 
Kingosu - You should be fine

You should be fine flying in and out. Actually from what I have gathered its the best option to fly in if you have a valid US Visa stamp in your passport and you are not using automatic revalidation.
If someone asks you about the return ticket you can always say you are going to tie up loose strings an will finally immigrate at a later date. The Immigration law allows you to be out for 3 yrs (kinda) so you aent doing anything thats not allowed.
We are from TX also and will be flying in to Pearson at the end of this month, and will be returning back after a weeks stay......will let you know if we encounter any major issues.
 
texascanadian

I want to ask you some questions in private can you PM me your email address or allow me to PM you

Thanks
 
We are from Texas too. For landing (which we did end of Dec 2004). We flew to Chicago(we chose chicago because we wanted to go there too), rented a car and landed at the Detroit Windsor border. So for those who are far away to drive, this is also another option(flying to detroit or buffalo & then driving) if you have expired US visas.

Looks like there are a reasonable number of canadian applicants from US states like Texas and California which have screwed up immigration backlogs.
 
Info. Please

Hello,

We are from Florida, need to land canada by next month.

I have a expired visa on my passport and H1B and H4 approval for another one year.

Which one is the best option, Flying to Toronto or fly to Detroit and drive from there?

Do we have to get appointment for US visa stamping in US consulate? or is the automatic visa revalidation applies in this case?

Also we are visiting India by June, so visa revalidation needs to be done before.

Please Help.
 
We are in the same boat too.

We have to land in Canada by the end of this month. Our H1B and H4 have expired on the passport. We are planning to go to Ottawa. We are wondering whether to drive or to fly. If we drive, which city or town will we have to go through at the border is what we want to know. And do we need to open a bank account and also utitlity bills in Canada. What else do we need? How long does it take for us to get the PR once we land?

Thanks in advance,

Bitspen.
 
You can do either, my personal suggestion is to fly, takes away the hassle of rental car, and if you take personal car having to make sure you don't pay duty etc. Now with automatic revaldation you can come back in 30 days if you travel to Canada or mexico with a valid I-94 and expired visa as long as you don't apply for a new visa in Canada.

I went ahead and got my visa renewed in Toronto since I didn't want to take a chance with revalidation but other have done it. It takes usually about 1-2 months to get the PR card, you can go to cic.gc.ca and check processing times for PR cards

No need to apply for bank or utlility unless you are planning to permanently move. If you are NOT returning to US then apply for SIN and health benefit card too.
 
Driving to Ottawa from New York?

Hi everyone,

We are planning to drive to Ottawa from New York end of this month. Can anybody post their experiences regarding this? Also, which bordertown will we have to go through and how's the experience there?

Thanks in advance,

Bitspen.

Also, thanks a million to Srini 88. He answered most of my questions regarding utility bills, bank statements, etc.
 
No problem I am not an expert here but having been to Montreal and since Ottawa is 30-45 min away from there , you could probably dive through Vermont, Burlington which would you put right next to Montreal, although others might have better suggestions
 
bitspen- be very careful

Bitspen,
I would be very careful if you are driving to Ottawa via Vermont. The US border with Canada in Vermont is with Quebec province. There have been many incidents where many intending immigrants who have qualified in the federal skilled worker category have had many issues up to and including being denied entry into Canada. You may be aware that Quebec has the right to select its own immigrants who are issued a CSQ in addition to visa.
You can ofcourse tell the border guards that you are only driving through Quebec to get to Ottawa, but you are taking a chance. Maybe you should take printout your hotel reservation etc......
Or best thing would be to land in Canada via Buffalo/Fort Erie or Niagara falls and then continue to Ottawa.

Also if I were you I would go ahead and apply for the SIN card. The SIN card takes 3 weeks to come and if you really do need to go to Canada for good and you get a job immediately you will need the card and number to work--- why go through the hassle at that time to expedite.
In your case it also makes sense to take an appointment and get the visa stamp, since you will be going to India in June anyway. From what I have been told waiting lists for US visas is currently very long in India with lives going as much as 2-3 months in Mumbai and Madras.
 
Landing in Toronto

Thankyou srini88 & texancanadian,

I think, flying will be the best option since I have a 8 month old baby.

Based on getting ticket I have to decide.

Do I have to get Us Consulate appointment from here ? or Can I go Toronto and get appointment?

Also advice on list of documents needed while Landing.

How many days do I need to stay in canada?

Please advice.

Thanks
 
Srini 88

Srini,
I tried to send a message but it tells me I need to change my profile and I cant figure out how to do so.
Why dont you post your question in general terms on the forum and I will try to answer as best as possible. Maybe someone in the future may also benefit.
Thanks
 
To TexanCanadian

Hey,
Thanks a lot for the info. It looks like we will be flying to Ottawa, after all, so that we dont have any driving hassles. How long does it take for the whole process to be complete including applying for the SIN Card?

Thanks,

Bitspen.
 
Bitspen: I would say take your family and go for a short vacation

Well SIN card should only take 15 mins to apply. However it must be a weekday.
I would suggest to everyone to make use of this trip and go for a short vacation with your family. You are spending the money on plane tickets anyway so you might as well see and visit Canada which is a beautiful country (especially in the next few months of summer). Atleast learn to love this great nation who is willing to accept us (as opposed to the great red white and blue which after years still considers us temporary non immigrants). The very fact that you applied for Canadian PR means that you do feel there is a chance you will one day make it home, so might as well go and check out your future home.

I really dont like it when people say they landed and came back the same day. One day mark my words it is such crass and "dont give a damn" attitude which is going to make Canadian immigration much more stricter. If tomorrow you need to prove ties to Canada what are you going to say - I have been here 4 hrs ??????????????

Anyways I think it takes time to get an appointment at the consulate so work on that first and plan the rest around it.
 
texancanadian

I wanted to ask this to the guys in the forum who have been the longest, bhand11683 PM'ed by saying it should be fine and this topic has been kind of beaten to death slightly but I wanted to be 100% sure so I hope you don't mind my asking this again..:)...

Are there any issues with living in windsor and working in detroit since if you are a canadian citizen then it seems fine but if you are a Canadian PR is there a possibility that the border authorities might see it as suspicious that you are crossing the border every day, is it perfectly legal and will that get you residency points towards PR requirements since isn't the condition to maintain PR is that you need to stay in Canada but you can work elsewhere or do both have to be satisfied in canada? I wanted to make sure that after putting in that effort, a Canadian immigration officer doesn't look at it negatively that I was working in the US

Also I read on some posts that if you are doing this and your GC is concurrently being processed and you reach the I-485 stage then you need to stay in the US and cannot apply from Canada? Is that true, to that some replied that if you do CP you can get around it, any thoughts?

Lastly have you found any good tax links that discusses how the taxation works in this scenario. I have heard you have to pay the difference but was looking for more details, sorry for the long post.
 
sunven

Texancanadian should have answered most of your questions, DO NOT under any circumstances go to Toronto for an on the spot appointment it, it is not allowed, you have to schedule it through www.nvars.com or call them, in my case it did get filled up 2-3 months in advance so book an appointment in advance. It is very straighforward it takes them a day to give back the passport.

For landing cic.gc.ca will guide you through the list of documents, like goods to follow, funds etc, go to the start of this landing forum and you will see a lot of posts on this, including members who have posted sample goods to follow documents.
 
Srini 88/ Bhand

On your Detroit/Windsor and 485 question I have answered in the "Maintaing Residency" section since you had posted the questions there.

On taxation please do a search and look up the archives for pasts by "dimple". I think she had some good input on US/Canada taxes as well as implications on 401K/RESP retirement saving account. Also she ( I believe dimple was a lady) used to regularly commute between Detroit and Windsor first on PR and now on Canadian Passport.

Bhand : do you still commute regularly between Missisauga (Toronto suburb) and Buffalo ?
 
texancanadian said:
On your Detroit/Windsor and 485 question I have answered in the "Maintaing Residency" section since you had posted the questions there also.

On taxation please do a search and look up the archives for posts by "dimple". I think she had some good input on US/Canada taxes as well as implications on 401K/RESP retirement saving account. Also she ( I believe dimple was a lady) used to regularly commute between Detroit and Windsor first on PR and now on Canadian Passport.

Bhand : do you still commute regularly between Missisauga (Toronto suburb) and Buffalo ?
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