Good day everyone,
I got my COPR and landed in Canada on the 24th of March. Ours was a party of 5. Myself, wifey and 3 boys.
To start with, we left Lagos on the 18th of March and had to go through the US. Plan was to fly to Canada on Sunday 22nd but that changed to Tuesday because of cost. Flight on Sunday between Newark and Calgary was US$3,430 - ONE WAY for EACH PERSON o. The same flight was 190 dollars for Tuesday. End of story. Lesson is that you should look at different days around your travel dates to see if you can make any savings. Trans continental flights look fixed but believe me, they still vary slightly.
I do not want to write for the sake of writing so I have listed the key points that I observed especially during landing and for the few days I spent in Canada.
1. Nobody really asked for POF at the entry point but I had to declare the money I had since it was more than the 10K limit in cash
2. The Immigration officer only asked me to sign the COPR. I couldn't remember the first 3 letters of the postal code and I was too tired to search my phone for it so the officer told me to go do it online when I get home and that's what I did. I didn't have to provide any address at the point of entry.
3. I was also told that I do not need to submit the list of "goods to follow" on the spot. I only need to be sure that I fill up the form whenever I am coming back into Canada with the additional goods. This can only be used ONCE within the next 12 months after landing date. What do I have to bring anyway? Buying things there may be cheaper for me than bringing stuff from Nigeria. It's more useful for folks living in the US already. They can simply bring their stuff and drive across the border.
4. I was looking for a bank that will not deduct monthly maintenance fees so I was directed to First Calgary since they have a no deduction policy. They have their limitations as a regional bank but I was ready to roll with them. However, they want us to book an appointment before they will attend to us and their requirements are sooooo many. They even want my hosts to be joint signatories on the account before they can open an account for us (wifey and self). Over wetin now? dem dey give plenty condition over say na my money dem wan take o. The following morning I was driving by a RBC branch and wifey reminded me that we once approached this very branch to open an account during our last visit to Canada and the only thing they requested was our landing paper, which we did not have then since we were just visiting. So we went in and we were asked to book an appointment (I don't know what their problem is with appointments). They also told us that they have a special package for new immigrants - free checking for 6 months and the account remains free if you have at least one investment account with them after the 6 months. Long story short, we were able to open an account with them. The Registered Education Savings Plan (savings for Children's education) qualifies as an investment account so I may be able to get the free account for a while. On the other hand, if they want to start charging maintenance fees, then I will move to First Calgary after six months since I will have most of the things they asked for by then.
5. SIN - No issues. Simply went to the nearest Service Canada office and got it sorted out.
6. Alberta health card - they requested for a proof of residence (bank mail or utility bill or a mail to an Alberta address with our name on it or a signed lease to indicate that you have rented an apartment). We didn't have this and we were ready to wait before someone told us to go back to the bank and tell them to print our statement (with our name and address). We took this to the Registry and it worked. Health Insurance settled.
7. Driver's license - This is by far the trickiest one for me. One, they didn't take the bank statement (by the way, the Registry handles both health Insurance and the driver's license). I was able to give them a signed lease though (after we got an apartment). Secondly, if you want to convert your license, they will collect the Nigerian license from you and validate it with some Nigerian Authority in Ottawa or so. Therefore, make sure your license is genuine before you leave naija. Also, bear in mind that they will not return the license to you. I had a couple of licenses with conflicting information so it was a real struggle for me. Eventually, I had to stick with driving with my Nigerian and International driver's license (of course this won't continue for long).
8. I wanted to buy a car and although I had the money for the car I opted to take it on credit and pay on a monthly basis. Why? To build a credit history. My host co-signed for me as a sort of guarantor. Please note that many people will not be comfortable to co-sign for you o. This na my brother, he knows my plans and he knows that I have the means to pay. This idea actually started when the dealer told us that they have a program that allows immigrants to pay on a monthly basis if they can show a proof of employment (with landing documents of course). I am not employed in Canada so we asked for alternatives and he told us about the co-signing option. I have two messages here - i). Ask almost everybody if they have a plan/package for new immigrants. Note that some of the plans need to be studied carefully. ii). Try to buy things on credit if possible so that you can build a credit history. Note that if you default on your payment schedule, you are killing the credit history that you planned to build.
I may not have made my points clearly so I'll be willing to clarify if there is need for that.
Finally, I want use this opportunity to show my appreciation to those that have contributed variously to making this thread a solid reference material for all of us.
