Landing: How does it work?

[Habibti]

Merry Christmas to all! My husband from Morocco will take the plane for the first time when he will immigrate to Canada in January. We are both anxious and insecure, especially him since he has never been anywhere out of his country. His port of entry will be Montreal. Is there anyone who can explain step by step what happens once he gets off the plane in Montreal? His next flight for Vancouver will be with another airline. Does he have to claim his luggage first or he has to go through customs first? When does he have to meet an immigration officer? What is the sequence of things to do once he lands in Canada? Any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot!

 

[Sweden]

Merry Christmas to all! My husband from Morocco will take the plane for the first time when he will immigrate to Canada in January. We are both anxious and insecure, especially him since he has never been anywhere out of his country. His port of entry will be Montreal. Is there anyone who can explain step by step what happens once he gets off the plane in Montreal? His next flight for Vancouver will be with another airline. Does he have to claim his luggage first or he has to go through customs first? When does he have to meet an immigration officer? What is the sequence of things to do once he lands in Canada? Any guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot!

Hey Habibti,

Congrats on making it to the end! I understand that it is a big step for your husband and I hope all will go well, but I'm sure he will be fine! also because all borders officers are bilingual, so if he is more comfortable in french than english for example, then he will be able to get help in french as well - and given that he is going through Montreal, quite a few people should be able to speak french there too...

Once he gets off the plane, he will be (with everybody else) going through border control. When he gets to the officer, he has to tell that he wants to "land as a PR" but it will be pretty obvious from his type of visa. He will most likely be taken aside to another room, where he will be asked a couple of questions - is he still married, is the information on the COPR correct, what will his address be in Canada (because the PR card will be sent there directly), and he will be ask to put his initials in 2 or 3 places on the COPR, and sign it in front of the officer. - do not have him sign anything before he gets there!

Sometimes the officer will take time to explain the basics of PR ( how to maintain the residency, the obligations), some border controls have a "welcome to canada package" with info in SIN etc, but you can do without... once he has signed - welcome to Canada, he is officially a PR! if he is bringing goods into the country, make sure he has with him the B4 list to be stamped at the same time as landing ( if he is bringing 2 suitcases of clothes and nothing else, then he probably doesn't need it, but in case, just have it ready. if he has "goods to follow" then it's important to declare it them, and ask for papers to be stamped).

Most likely he will be then escorted back into the "normal line" and he will follow through with procedure - clearing customs for his own luggage, and then going on checking them back again ( usually it's no worries as a lot of people are doing the same... he just has to follow "connecting flights" and there will be agents along the way to guide him), and going to his gate to Vancouver.

Good luck with the landing, I'm sure it will go fine, for most people it's a really easy and nice experience! nothing to be stressed about.
Merry Christmas!
Sweden

 

[Habibti]

Hey Habibti,

Congrats on making it to the end! I understand that it is a big step for your husband and I hope all will go well, but I'm sure he will be fine! also because all borders officers are bilingual, so if he is more comfortable in french than english for example, then he will be able to get help in french as well - and given that he is going through Montreal, quite a few people should be able to speak french there too...

Once he gets off the plane, he will be (with everybody else) going through border control. When he gets to the officer, he has to tell that he wants to "land as a PR" but it will be pretty obvious from his type of visa. He will most likely be taken aside to another room, where he will be asked a couple of questions - is he still married, is the information on the COPR correct, what will his address be in Canada (because the PR card will be sent there directly), and he will be ask to put his initials in 2 or 3 places on the COPR, and sign it in front of the officer. - do not have him sign anything before he gets there!

Sometimes the officer will take time to explain the basics of PR ( how to maintain the residency, the obligations), some border controls have a "welcome to canada package" with info in SIN etc, but you can do without... once he has signed - welcome to Canada, he is officially a PR! if he is bringing goods into the country, make sure he has with him the B4 list to be stamped at the same time as landing ( if he is bringing 2 suitcases of clothes and nothing else, then he probably doesn't need it, but in case, just have it ready. if he has "goods to follow" then it's important to declare it them, and ask for papers to be stamped).

Most likely he will be then escorted back into the "normal line" and he will follow through with procedure - clearing customs for his own luggage, and then going on checking them back again ( usually it's no worries as a lot of people are doing the same... he just has to follow "connecting flights" and there will be agents along the way to guide him), and going to his gate to Vancouver.

Good luck with the landing, I'm sure it will go fine, for most people it's a really easy and nice experience! nothing to be stressed about.
Merry Christmas!
Sweden

Thank you so much Sweden! It is the second time you give me such a detailed answer. Before I tell anything to my husband, I want to understand well. So the steps would be as follow:

1. Get off the plane first lol
2. Go through border control
3. Go to another room to meet with an immigration officer.
4. Get his baggage on the carousel
5. Go to the Air Canada counter to check in his two suitcases
6. Security control?
7. Go to his boarding gate and wait for the plane for Vancouver

 

[stevelo]

Hi guys,

Still waiting for copr, but it doesn't hurt to think about the next step!

So from what it sounds like, the Landing Interview is not really an interview at all? Does anyone ever fail the landing process, or are we 100% good after we get COPR (c'mon hurry up snail mail!) those CBSA ppl are scary!

Hey Sweden where did you land? was it an airport or US border?

Also was there anything that you needed to bring to the landing? Stuff like marriage certificate, proof of funds, criminal record checks, etc etc.

 

[Sweden]

Hi guys,

Still waiting for copr, but it doesn't hurt to think about the next step!

So from what it sounds like, the Landing Interview is not really an interview at all? Does anyone ever fail the landing process, or are we 100% good after we get COPR (c'mon hurry up snail mail!) those CBSA ppl are scary!

Hey Sweden where did you land? was it an airport or US border?

Also was there anything that you needed to bring to the landing? Stuff like marriage certificate, proof of funds, criminal record checks, etc etc.

The landing interview is indeed not an interview, more so the CBSA officer takes time to check your identity, and review the information on the COPR ( to make sure that name is correct, DOB etc - for example in mine for place of birth it only stated the country, not the city - seems to be something quite common, nothing to worry about, I was not the only one in that case) so the CBSA officer asked me to add it to the COPR, and then sign it - really nothing scary, the officer was extremely nice and helpful, and from what I gather from other people, it was the same elsewhere - CBSA officers seem to be quite happy to welcome you in the country! theoretically you should bring a copy of your marriage certificate, but very few people are asked for it. But always worth to be prepared... other than that, the passport and the COPR is enough...

I did my landing in Victoria, BC. because I had to get on a ferry (no flagpoling as there is no border to walk across, it's the sea!), I actually went to the US, waited for the ferry back (2h in Port Angeles) and landed when coming out of the ferry. Very easy process altogether.

Hope your COPR arrives soon, but yes - you're pretty much done now, nothing to worry about for sure!
Merry Christmas,
Sweden

 

[Sweden]

Thank you so much Sweden! It is the second time you give me such a detailed answer. Before I tell anything to my husband, I want to understand well. So the steps would be as follow:

1. Get off the plane first lol
2. Go through border control
3. Go to another room to meet with an immigration officer.
4. Get his baggage on the carousel
5. Go to the Air Canada counter to check in his two suitcases
6. Security control?
7. Go to his boarding gate and wait for the plane for Vancouver

Yes - that's pretty much it. When he gets his suitcases in Montreal, he will probably go through security control right away, before he checks them in again, and then go to his gate.
I checked Montreal Airport website to see what they were saying about connecting flights, and here is their description :

Connecting flights / International-Canada
If your flight originated from outside Canada or the United States and you need to take a connecting flight to a Canadian destination, you must clear Canadian customs. It is very important to remember that you must personally pick up your luggage, which you may then leave at the connecting-flight counter located immediately after you leave the customs hall.

You must then follow the normal procedure for Canadian departures and pass through the pre-boarding screening checkpoint “A.” Please note that liquids, gels and creams in containers larger than 100 ml must be carried in your checked luggage. Such items, even if sealed, will not be allowed through pre-boarding screening checkpoints.

I did that in Toronto last year while coming for a visit, and it was really easy, as there were plenty of people in the same case. Your husband luggage will be labelled all the way to Vancouver, but he needs to pick the suitcases up in Montreal, clear customs ( fill out the card etc, if he is travelling with the normal amount of suitcases, it won't take long. if he has more, he has to fill out a B4 - for goods with him and accompanying goods that he may ship later), and then leave them at the connecting flights counters, where they will send them on to the next plane - as they are already labelled all the way to Vancouver, there is no need to queue at the counter or anything, most of the time there is just a belt for connecting flights luggage and you put it there, and that's it - not a long process.

Good luck to your husband, but I'm sure he'll do fine!
Merry Christmas,
Sweden