LANDING IN CANADA ??? -All You Need To Know.

[Lammawitch]

NikNike,

Exactly the same questions which are going through my mind. My trip is for 2 weeks and not sure If I have tell the truth to the Immigration officer regarding my short stay to ensure that I get the PR card smoothly. Can anybody help with the answers plzzzz. I am landing on 1st of May in Calgary.

Never ever lie to an immigration or CBSA official.

 

[niknike]

Reiterating...can anyone who had traveled by AIR (for short term) assist in below queries please:

Friends, please share your thoughts/suggestions (traveling to Canada by AIR for landing formality, for a week):
(1) During Landing, did Immigration/Customs officer questions about "Duration of our stay in Canada"? If we say- 1 week(or couple of days), then will it cause any issue for our PR Card Application? (I have heard that we should not mentioned if we are going for few days as it gives them impression that we are defeating PR purpose and they might not apply PR application until our next trip- is it TRUE? Shocked) How to tackle such situation?
(2) In the Customs Embarkation/Declaration Card(which we ll get in plane), are we fall under : Part B. Visitors to Canada, or Part C."Residents of Canada" ? Embarrassed
(3) If we have to fill, Part B. Visitors to Canada in the Declaration Card in the "Duration of stay in Canada" section, shall we write the exact "No. of days" we are planning to stay, or
it has to match the same duration which we will say to Immigration/Customs officer at landing, as per question 1 above?
Thanks!!

 

[niknike]

NikNike,

What I got from all this is that if we declare ourselves as visitors to Canada (for custom purposes) we dont have to make any GTF or GTA at this point. I will share what I am reading on CSBA website at the moment .

"Variation Between Customs/Immigration Legislation

9. A person's status for customs purposes is not always the same as their status for immigration purposes.

10. As an example, a person can become a permanent resident without the intention of residing immediately in Canada. However, this person is not determined to be a settler as defined in the customs legislation, and be eligible for the provisions of tariff item No. 9807.00.00. In this case, since the person does not have any intention of remaining in Canada at that time, and will live outside Canada for an undetermined period of time, that person is considered a non-resident of Canada and not a settler, for the purpose of the Customs Tariff, and is eligible to temporarily import goods under tariff item No. 9803.00.00."

This means that if we are visitors at this point, we will get our luggage into canada this time under tarriff item no 9803 (which is basically free of charge) and then when we come back to Canada to settle, we can import our goods under 9807 for which the B4 form is required. However my fear still remains and just to be on safe side I am making the GT list.

MastFadi,
If we declare/mark us as Visitors then I am afraid immigration officer will apply our PR application during this short trip!!
Thus maybe who have travelled by AIR in past for short duration can shed more light!!

 

[emamabd]

Reiterating...can anyone who had traveled by AIR (for short term) assist in below queries please:

Friends, please share your thoughts/suggestions (traveling to Canada by AIR for landing formality, for a week):
(1) During Landing, did Immigration/Customs officer questions about "Duration of our stay in Canada"? If we say- 1 week(or couple of days), then will it cause any issue for our PR Card Application? (I have heard that we should not mentioned if we are going for few days as it gives them impression that we are defeating PR purpose and they might not apply PR application until our next trip- is it TRUE? Shocked) How to tackle such situation?
(2) In the Customs Embarkation/Declaration Card(which we ll get in plane), are we fall under : Part B. Visitors to Canada, or Part C."Residents of Canada" ? Embarrassed
(3) If we have to fill, Part B. Visitors to Canada in the Declaration Card in the "Duration of stay in Canada" section, shall we write the exact "No. of days" we are planning to stay, or
it has to match the same duration which we will say to Immigration/Customs officer at landing, as per question 1 above?
Thanks!!

1) here's my two cents:

i) I don't think you will be asked that question - as a landed immigrant (i.e. how many days you plan to stay in Canada), unless you bring
it up voluntarily by yourself. Be smart, and answer wisely without revealing too much information. I was not asked this question when i
landed.

ii) there's nothing to worry about anyway, what you are doing is very common - lots of people don't move permanently upon first landing and
don't stay until their pr card arrives, worst case scenario would be to apply for a travel document at your visa office in order to return.
which shouldn't be an issue as you will have your landing papers and you have "officially landed".

2) the same issue was discussed in previous threads, seems there isn't any right or wrong answer...

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/customs-declaration-card-required-to-be-filled-by-newly-landed-immigrant-t70109.0.html

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/filling-out-customs-declaration-card-t174821.0.html

 

[sagarsa]

Hi Friends,

I am planning for a short trip to US, Seattle (I would be going on tourist visa) and then completing the landing formalities via border crossing(Seattle - Vancouver).

Has anyone done this before? Also, Do I need to stay there for a day or two? Or we can just return from the border after finishing our landing formalities?

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions!

 

[MKayes]

Dear Seniors and Experts,

I am planning to land Toronto on second week of May and seeking your expert opinion on the aforementioned issues.

(1) Am I supposed to present both B4 and B4 A forms?
(2) What is the difference of B4 and B4A?
(3) Am I supposed to declare the amount of landing POF into the forms?
(3) Am I supposed to declare all the items (like medicines, foods if any) into the forms?

Waiting for feedback.

Thanks, Kayes.

 

[merry_ivan]

I have planned to 'Land' in Canada at Peace Bridge next week.
1) I will be driving in my own car from USA along with my family.
2) I am carrying a Bank of America reference letter regarding funds in the bank and CAD $500 in cash.
3) I am also carrying lot of food items as I plan to stay in Canada for 3 days and return to USA
4) I am having a valid work permit and I-94 in USA
5) I am carrying passport, CoPR, B4 (Goods) and an xl sheet of Goods to Follow.

Can you all please let me know if I am missing something?

 

[steaky]

I have planned to 'Land' in Canada at Peace Bridge next week.
1) I will be driving in my own car from USA along with my family.
2) I am carrying a Bank of America reference letter regarding funds in the bank and CAD $500 in cash.
3) I am also carrying lot of food items as I plan to stay in Canada for 3 days and return to USA
4) I am having a valid work permit and I-94 in USA
5) I am carrying passport, CoPR, B4 (Goods) and an xl sheet of Goods to Follow.

Can you all please let me know if I am missing something?

What food items? You do know some food items are not allowed into the country?

 

[tm96]

Pls suggest till what time we can apply for SIN Card at Toronto airport so that I can book my flights accordingly. If someone lands by 6pm Or 7pm wld he/ she be able to apply at airport or wld hv to goto service canada office to apply fr SIN . Is it open on Saturday / Sunday also?

 

[sagarsa]

Hi Friends,

I am planning for a short trip to US, Seattle (I would be going on tourist visa) and then completing the landing formalities via border crossing(Seattle - Vancouver).

Has anyone done this before? Also, Do I need to stay there for a day or two? Or we can just return from the border after finishing our landing formalities?

Thanks in advance for all the suggestions!

 

[niknike]

It Seems there is no clear answer in previous posts too on : For new immigrants/1st time landing, what to fill in Part B or Part C of Canada Customs/Embarkation card (which we ll get in plane enroute)
E311: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/e311-eng.pdf

Query: Are we a visitor or a resident?
If visitor, then what to fill in 'duration of stay in Canada' field?
If resident, then what to fill in 'Date left Canada' field? Leave the field blank? or do we have to keep the customs card with us until we leave Canada?

 

[chasinglight]

My landing experience took two and a half hours. I landed in Toronto. The first officer took an issue when she asked if the address i listed was going to be my permanent address and said no its a friend i'm staying at for a few weeks and said she can't accept that to send my permanent residency card there and that I have to send in the form when I have a permanent address. Then I didn't have a goods to follow list so they sent me to another area to fill out that form and then they counted all the money I had on me.

 

[kwyatt75]

My landing experience took two and a half hours. I landed in Toronto. The first officer took an issue when she asked if the address i listed was going to be my permanent address and said no its a friend i'm staying at for a few weeks and said she can't accept that to send my permanent residency card there and that I have to send in the form when I have a permanent address.

Wow. I guess it was the few weeks that made it not permanent enough for them. It seems plausible to me that a person might have such accommodations planned without really knowing how long they will stay before they can arrange their own apartment or other housing. I guess for "permanent" they want an address that will last at least as long as it would take you to receive your first PR card. Current processing times according to the CIC website for new PRs is 43 days (if you provided your mailing address up front): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-card.asp

I'd like to hear from others who have landed about how they navigated this process. I mean, when one is Landing in Canada, they may not know exactly where they are going to live yet. It seem to me that many people probably find temporary accommodations at first either living with friends or relatives already there or in some sort of long-term stay hotel or rental of some sort. For me I know it could be a bit easier to have something planned out as I live in the US and can easily enter as a visitor to scout things out before I land. For others who don't have that luxury, I wonder what they do. It is even more compounded if they want to go back home to close out unfinished business before coming back permanently. Instead of leaving and having to then get a travel document, it seems it would be easier to stay long enough to get the PR card first to make the return easier.

Then I didn't have a goods to follow list so they sent me to another area to fill out that form and then they counted all the money I had on me.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It seems it didn't go too smoothly for you. It's good to share though so others can think about making sure they have their goods list to avoid problems or delays.

 

[Fig]

Hi All,

I have an urgent query.

I am planning to do a short trip to Canada in June 2015 to do my landing formalities and stay for 2 weeks.. then return back to India and resign from my job n then go back after 3months. Since I won’t get my PR card within 2 weeks of my stay at Canada. How can I re-enter Canada in September 2015 without PR card. I’m getting very stressed about this doubt in mind. Please suggest what is the best approach in this situation. Thanks a lot

 

[kwyatt75]

Hi All,

I have an urgent query.

I am planning to do a short trip to Canada in June 2015 to do my landing formalities and stay for 2 weeks.. then return back to India and resign from my job n then go back after 3months. Since I won't get my PR card within 2 weeks of my stay at Canada. How can I re-enter Canada in September 2015 without PR card. I'm getting very stressed about this doubt in mind. Please suggest what is the best approach in this situation. Thanks a lot

You will still be a PR but will need something to prove it to be able to re-enter Canada. Since you will leave Canada prior to receiving your PR card you will have to apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document. It is explained here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/travel-document/index.asp