Interview Time at First Canadian Point of Entry?

[CanadianPrairieGent]

Just wondering if anyone who's gone through this lately can advise me, please. My wife and step-daughter are coming from Ukraine, so the routing of flights is limited, since they don't have the required transit visas for many countries (Schengen also expired a few years ago), and obtaining these visas can take more time than we would like, and it can be quite a hassle (going across Ukraine just for an interview to get a transit visa). I'm also trying to not have them overnight anywhere, since they don't have the requisite visas, and having two women stay overnight in an airport isn't something I would ever do.

Long story short, I'm pretty much limited to one flight, which has two very nice and short layovers, but I'm worried that my wife might not have time to clear Immigration with her daughter and their permanent residency documents (though some have said that the "interview" was actually quite brief). Our whole application process has been a breeze, straightforward and no unexpected "bumps." When my wife visited me in the summer, she had the same 2 hour and 35 minute layover in Toronto, and she said she was waiting at the gate for her flight at least an hour before boarding. I know that a 4 hour layover at the first Canadian point of entry would be the ideal. What are your collective experiences? Her flight would land at 8:25pm, and the connecting flight leaves at 10:55pm. At 8:25pm, would there be a crowd/line up of people immigrating to Canada? Would she be able to ask CBSA agents for priority courtesy and for them to take her to the front of the Immigration line, to help ensure she makes her connection? Suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Shineon39]

My wife landed at Montreal Trudeau airport and it was her final destination. The interview it self took 15 min but she had to wait 1h30 before. For the flight look if Ukrainian are allowed to transit without visa in schengen area. My wife is from Thailand and she was allowed to transit in Germany without Schengen visa if she was not staying overnight and had valid visa for final destination.

 

[Hasan9999]

Just wondering if anyone who's gone through this lately can advise me, please. My wife and step-daughter are coming from Ukraine, so the routing of flights is limited, since they don't have the required transit visas for many countries (Schengen also expired a few years ago), and obtaining these visas can take more time than we would like, and it can be quite a hassle (going across Ukraine just for an interview to get a transit visa). I'm also trying to not have them overnight anywhere, since they don't have the requisite visas, and having two women stay overnight in an airport isn't something I would ever do.

Long story short, I'm pretty much limited to one flight, which has two very nice and short layovers, but I'm worried that my wife might not have time to clear Immigration with her daughter and their permanent residency documents (though some have said that the "interview" was actually quite brief). Our whole application process has been a breeze, straightforward and no unexpected "bumps." When my wife visited me in the summer, she had the same 2 hour and 35 minute layover in Toronto, and she said she was waiting at the gate for her flight at least an hour before boarding. I know that a 4 hour layover at the first Canadian point of entry would be the ideal. What are your collective experiences? Her flight would land at 8:25pm, and the connecting flight leaves at 10:55pm. At 8:25pm, would there be a crowd/line up of people immigrating to Canada? Would she be able to ask CBSA agents for priority courtesy and for them to take her to the front of the Immigration line, to help ensure she makes her connection? Suggestions? Thanks.

Short transit time at the Canadian port of entry will carry mental stress as you never know how long will it take to reach the immigration desk...may be so quick or long time owing to heavy traffic!


8.25pm to 10.55 pm.....that's two & half hours at Toronto Pearson Airport! Landing will not take much time but waiting in the line may take considerable time depending on incoming traffic...
Hasan

 

[profiler]

Just wondering if anyone who's gone through this lately can advise me, please. My wife and step-daughter are coming from Ukraine, so the routing of flights is limited, since they don't have the required transit visas for many countries (Schengen also expired a few years ago), and obtaining these visas can take more time than we would like, and it can be quite a hassle (going across Ukraine just for an interview to get a transit visa). I'm also trying to not have them overnight anywhere, since they don't have the requisite visas, and having two women stay overnight in an airport isn't something I would ever do.

Long story short, I'm pretty much limited to one flight, which has two very nice and short layovers, but I'm worried that my wife might not have time to clear Immigration with her daughter and their permanent residency documents (though some have said that the "interview" was actually quite brief). Our whole application process has been a breeze, straightforward and no unexpected "bumps." When my wife visited me in the summer, she had the same 2 hour and 35 minute layover in Toronto, and she said she was waiting at the gate for her flight at least an hour before boarding. I know that a 4 hour layover at the first Canadian point of entry would be the ideal. What are your collective experiences? Her flight would land at 8:25pm, and the connecting flight leaves at 10:55pm. At 8:25pm, would there be a crowd/line up of people immigrating to Canada? Would she be able to ask CBSA agents for priority courtesy and for them to take her to the front of the Immigration line, to help ensure she makes her connection? Suggestions? Thanks.

Which port of entry are you hoping for? When my wife (from Moscow) would fly to Canada (Toronto) we would try to avoid stops as well. I know Finland does allow visa free transit, so does Germany and France (so I expect all Schengen countries do). My wife has passed through all of those spots without a Schengen visa (despite requiring one for visiting) just fine.

 

[Shineon39]

Which port of entry are you hoping for? When my wife (from Moscow) would fly to Canada (Toronto) we would try to avoid stops as well. I know Finland does allow visa free transit, so does Germany and France (so I expect all Schengen countries do). My wife has passed through all of those spots without a Schengen visa (despite requiring one for visiting) just fine.

Some country in schengen area does required transit visa but they have exception if you have valid visa for Canada or USA and if you dont stay overnight

 

[profiler]

Some country in schengen area does required transit visa but they have exception if you have valid visa for Canada or USA and if you dont stay overnight

A Transit Visa is not for staying overnight. You can't leave the airport.

That said, I believe the intent is to try to get to a fast port of entry to clear Immigration. I was suggesting a straight flight isn't really required. My in-laws has stopped over enough times in Europe. So a flight from Kyiv to either Montreal or Toronto should be no problems at all if there is a stop in Europe.

More to the point, guessing from the OP's moniker, he is from the central part of Canada (Alberta to Western Manitoba perhaps?). So, I suspect he wanted to connect her flight in either MTL or TOR, have them land, and then board the last leg to the Praries.

If so, I was going to suggest he meets her in MTL or TOR and they overnight there. The flight from eastern Europe to even Toronto is pretty bad (long). So I am sure she would appreciate the break, and there would be loads of time for landing. Could even make a small trip of it...

For outland, isn't the sponsor required to attend landing? For inland they are..

 

[Shineon39]

A Transit Visa is not for staying overnight. You can't leave the airport.

That said, I believe the intent is to try to get to a fast port of entry to clear Immigration. I was suggesting a straight flight isn't really required. My in-laws has stopped over enough times in Europe. So a flight from Kyiv to either Montreal or Toronto should be no problems at all if there is a stop in Europe.

More to the point, guessing from the OP's moniker, he is from the central part of Canada (Alberta to Western Manitoba perhaps?). So, I suspect he wanted to connect her flight in either MTL or TOR, have them land, and then board the last leg to the Praries.

If so, I was going to suggest he meets her in MTL or TOR and they overnight there. The flight from eastern Europe to even Toronto is pretty bad (long). So I am sure she would appreciate the break, and there would be loads of time for landing. Could even make a small trip of it...

For outland, isn't the sponsor required to attend landing? For inland they are..

For outland the sponsor is not required to attend the interview. In fact, if the sponsor is waiting at the airport he's not allowed to attend because they do the interview within the security zone (I don't know if PA land buy driving to canadian border). The only way to attend the interview it's if the sponsor travel back to Canada with the PA. In our case the cbsa officer ask my wife if I came to pick her up at the airport but he didn't call me to verify.

I agree with you to make her land at Mtl or TOR and make a trip out of it, no stress about a connecting flight. My wife landed at Montreal and drove 6h to meet her there and spend few day visiting Montreal.

 

[UA2014]

My wife is also from Ukraine, KLM (Amsterdam) and Air France (Paris CDG) fly daily from Kyiv (sometimes flight shared with Ukraine International Airlines) and I know for a fact a layover in Paris isn't a problem. My wife and stepdaughter had a 12 hour layover in Paris on the way home after staying in Canada this summer on a TRV due to an error when my wife purchased the tickets.They cannot leave the airport of course but they found an area to have a rest and everything was fine. I picked them up from Pearson as I'm about an hour outside of Toronto.

 

[UA2014]

And you do realize that your wife is probably pretty tough already from living where she comes from? The level of criminality in an International Airport in Europe or Canada is not even in the same league as on the street or at a train station in Ukraine. And the police will actually do something about it. I didn't think anything of it, I know my wife can take care of herself.

 

[profiler]

Finnair and Lufthansa also fly daily from the region. Lufthansa's trans-atlantic leg is actually on an Air Canada tripple-7.

We always just use a service like CheapTickets to provide the best routes and fares. It hasn't let us down so far!

 

[Shineon39]

We always just use a service like CheapTickets to provide the best routes and fares. It hasn't let us down so far!

I used to cheapticket also but google flight work great too.

 

[CanadianPrairieGent]

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone. After much time, most of which was wasted, I finally found a good itinerary, and a great price (KLM from Kiev, to Amsterdam, to Toronto, and then to Regina), with a reasonable layover in Toronto that allows for delays with Immigration. Sadly, my career doesn't afford me the time off to meet her in Toronto.

As an aside, I've heard everyone raving about Google Flights, and it was even recommended to me by a lawyer I met on my last flight to Ukraine, but it's been nothing but a disaster for me. I spent the better part of 2 days searching Google Fights (as well as glancing at Skytracker and Hopper), and when I finally found the flight and price I wanted on Google Flights, I was advised to call the airline to book the flight. I did this immediately, only to be told that the price of each ticket was about $850 more (almost $2000 total for each ticket) than what was showing on Google Flights. Pretty sure it wasn't a CDN-USD conversion either, particularly since I eventually found the same flight (and date) for $1100 each.

Good luck to all of you, and again, thanks for the feedback!