Good Evening fellow applicants!
I wanted to give a brief update regarding my landing procedure. I went to the Tsawwassen border crossing (South Vancouver) - very small and low traffic rate. I staid in my vehicle and drove to the US border booth. The officer asked me 3 questions: What are you doing in Canada? What will you be doing in the US? What do you do for work?
I responded to them all and explained that I am simply going around the flag pole for my permanent residency landing (I handed him the COPR papers together with Passport). He immediately asked me to pull my vehicle into a parking slot located on the US border side immediately adjacent to the US border booth. He also provided me with a bright orange slip of paper (there was text written on this slip, however, it was in a 'coded' language meant to not provide any information to people unfamiliar with the same) and asked me to come inside the building after I park.
I walked inside the US border building and handed an officer my orange slip (Passport and COPR were already inside the building). He was extremely friendly and asked me to wait for 5 minutes. He returned with a 1-page white form that simply stated my intentions under the comments section - "Flag-pole, permanent residency". This document also had two sections with square boxes that were meant to be 'checked off'. I specifically remember one of the boxes stating "refusal of entry" - neither box was checked, which made me less anxious (I have always wondered about this form and did not want it to impact my future travels to the United States). I also posed my previous question to the officer since I figured that this information would be helpful and alleviate some concerns some other forum members may have. He told me that this form has ZERO impact on any future travels - including if an officer accidentally checks either of the boxes.
I was then given back my passport and COPR documents and was asked to proceed to my vehicle and drive back towards the Canadian border. I waited for another 5 minutes until I reached the Canadian border booth. An officer simply asked me for my passport. I handed him the COPR, passport, and the white paper given to me by the US border agent. He told me to pull around the back of the building and park my vehicle in one of the provided spots.
Inside the Canadian border building, I walked up to the counter and provided the officer with all of my documents. She asked me to sit back down and wait. After roughly 10 minutes (it took longer since I arrived during their lunch time and only 2 officers were working inside the building), she called me back to the counter and asked me the questions contained within the COPR. Have you ever been arrested and/or convicted of a criminal and/or other charge? Do you have any dependents and/or did your family makeup change since filing the original documents? Do you have any new medical conditions since undergoing the medical exam?
I answered no to all of them EXCEPT the criminality question. I must explain my choice of answer here: Since you are under oath at the time of the landing procedure and you must initial next to each posed question right onto the COPR document and eventually sign and date the very bottom of the document, CIC may, at any time during your future dealings with CIC (for citizenship purposes, etc.), refer back to your answers. I was convicted of a traffic violation under the British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act in 2009. Please keep in mind that I fully disclosed this conviction during my application process and Ottawa actually requested a 'court disposition' of this conviction. Also, I should note that this is NOT a criminal conviction (I have no criminal convictions anywhere in the world - which is another question they pose to all potential PR applicants during the landing procedure). Since answering no to this particular question would be a misrepresentation of facts, I chose to say the following: "I was never convicted of any criminal charges anywhere in the world, however, I was convicted in 2009 of a Motor Vehicle Act infraction ("Undue care and attention")". I handed her all the paperwork and court disposition in relation to this conviction and also provided her with the email correspondence between the CIC officer requesting the court disposition of the same in April of 2013. I provided the emails so that the border agent knew that this was fully disclosed and that, after reviewing this conviction, did not make me inadmissible. I also asked her to note that I fully disclosed this on my COPR and in her electronic records (in case there is reason to believe that I gave an inaccurate answer in any future proceedings with CIC). She told me that she was very grateful and impressed that I told her about this minor conviction and my scrutiny for accuracy and detail. After this conversation, she called me back to the counter (after about 5 minutes of waiting), and made me initial and sign the COPR document (I believe there are 4 or 5 questions requiring the applicants' initials).
After my signature was placed at the bottom of the COPR, I was smiling and thanked her for being so courteous. She then asked me for a mailing address to which my Permanent Residency Card will be mailed (she told me that this could take up 8 to 10 weeks and that I should avoid any travel outside of Canada until I receive this PR Card - she was also very adamant about never losing the signed COPR document stapled inside my passport AND my PR Card; she told me that I should remove the paper COPR document from my passport and keep it in a safe place and only carry my PR Card when traveling). She then congratulated me and removed my work Visa (which was stapled in my passport), and proceeded to rip it up in front of me. She then told me that I was free to work and live wherever I wanted and that I needed to maintain residency for at least 2 years in every 5-year period. She also provided me with some additional information regarding some requirements (obtain a new SIN number, health card, etc.) She then gave me a little Canadian flag and told me that I was free to go.
In summary, it was a very pleasant experience. My anxiety was not at all justified and I was pleasantly surprised to have been treated with such respect and kindness.
If you have any other questions regarding my above post, please don't hesitate to respond to this post - I usually check this forum every few days in order to help other applicants with my gathered knowledge over the past 3 years.
