Landing questions

[xxdieselxx]

I know this is rather early in the process to be thinking about as we just filed last week, but I am trying to figure out what to sell and bring as early as possible. A little background is that I am a Canadian Citizen by birth and my wife is a filipina. I am a PR of the Philippines and we are currently residing in the PH until our outland file is complete. We then plan to travel together to Canada for my wife to "Land". We plan to sell most of our stuff here (or give away to family) and just take suitcases to Canada. My questions are:

Do I "Land" too, as far as having to meet with customs etc. and do I have to list all my "stuff" in my suitcase? Or is my stuff treated just like I am returning from a holiday? We plan to bring some household stuff like kitchen knives, utensils, cameras, laptops, ipads, iphones, clothes, shoes etc. For Jewelery, wedding rings, a few other rings, fashion jewelry and I have a bit of a watch fetish and have been collecting a few watches over the years and have maybe 5 or 6. Will they check them if they are in my bags? Will I need appraisals done on them and claim them? they are all used and a few of them were purchased in Canada way back and I do not have receipts.

Can anyone tell me what is to be expected when we land together? From the best of my knowledge, (from the majority of posts I have read on the forum), most applicants seems to be traveling solo and meeting up with their spouses in Canada when they "Land".

When you get the visa, how long do you have to wrap things up and move? Like does it expire within a month or so?

Any help would be appreciated as I am feeling a little anxiety as to what to keep or sell.

Thanks,

D.

 

[Sweden]

As a "returning Canadian" you have an allowance that is a bit superior to what you would have if you had only spent a few weeks outside of the country as a tourist. Check CBSA website for what you can bring, and how is the process for customs. In general: as long as it's not too much, and in the list that they provide, you should be able to bring things back into Canada without issues. http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5087-eng.html

For your wife, as she will be landing as a PR, and as such, she can brings things with her into the country, without paying taxes, as long as the list (called a B4) is stamped when she lands... if you will be shipping things, you can have a list of "goods to follow" stamped at the same time, which will allow you ( or her) to clear customs later on when the shipping boxes arrive.

The landing process for your wife is fairly simple. WHen she arrives at the border, she can tell the officer that she wants to land as a PR ( but it will be obvious from her visa), and she will be taken aside to another office. You might be able to go with her (most spouses are) but it's not guaranteed. The process itself is not scary or problematic: they will confirm her identity, check that the info on the COPR is correct, ask for her address in Canada to be able to send the PR card later on (make sure that she has an address in Canada to give them, it can be friends, family etc, it doesn't matter), then sign the COPR and ask her to do the same, as well as the B4 if applicable. That's it - welcome to Canada! the process itself usually takes about 10 min. If many people are landing at the same time, there might be a queue, but usually it goes quite fast.

Your wife will be issued a visa (in her passport) and a COPR ( confirmation of PR), and she will travel with both. The validity of it is 1 year after the medicals, or the expiry of the passport, whichever comes first. Now - since you're going through Manila, and the waiting time is fairly long, there is a good chance that your medicals will expire (they are only valid 1 year) before they issue the visa.They might extend the medicals (which will give more time to land), or ask to do a re-medical (also more time to land). In general, if the issue date of the visa is close to the expiry date of the medicals, they might ask if you would be able to land by that date - as once issued, a COPR can not be extended, and if you don't land by that date, then it's lost and you have to start all over again.

One option (if the expiry date is very close) is for your wife to get on a plane, go and land by herself, and get back on a plane a few days later ( you can go with her if money is not an issue!), then wrap everything up, and move to Canada a bit later. THe PR card will arrive in Canada and somebody will have to courier it to you, it currently takes abotu 2.5 months to get the card. If you want to move to Canada before that, your wife will have to obtain a travel authorisation (from Manila) see here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5529ETOC.asp

Good luck,
Sweden

 

[xxdieselxx]

As a "returning Canadian" you have an allowance that is a bit superior to what you would have if you had only spent a few weeks outside of the country as a tourist. Check CBSA website for what you can bring, and how is the process for customs. In general: as long as it's not too much, and in the list that they provide, you should be able to bring things back into Canada without issues. http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/pub/bsf5087-eng.html

For your wife, as she will be landing as a PR, and as such, she can brings things with her into the country, without paying taxes, as long as the list (called a B4) is stamped when she lands... if you will be shipping things, you can have a list of "goods to follow" stamped at the same time, which will allow you ( or her) to clear customs later on when the shipping boxes arrive.

The landing process for your wife is fairly simple. WHen she arrives at the border, she can tell the officer that she wants to land as a PR ( but it will be obvious from her visa), and she will be taken aside to another office. You might be able to go with her (most spouses are) but it's not guaranteed. The process itself is not scary or problematic: they will confirm her identity, check that the info on the COPR is correct, ask for her address in Canada to be able to send the PR card later on (make sure that she has an address in Canada to give them, it can be friends, family etc, it doesn't matter), then sign the COPR and ask her to do the same, as well as the B4 if applicable. That's it - welcome to Canada! the process itself usually takes about 10 min. If many people are landing at the same time, there might be a queue, but usually it goes quite fast.

Your wife will be issued a visa (in her passport) and a COPR ( confirmation of PR), and she will travel with both. The validity of it is 1 year after the medicals, or the expiry of the passport, whichever comes first. Now - since you're going through Manila, and the waiting time is fairly long, there is a good chance that your medicals will expire (they are only valid 1 year) before they issue the visa.They might extend the medicals (which will give more time to land), or ask to do a re-medical (also more time to land). In general, if the issue date of the visa is close to the expiry date of the medicals, they might ask if you would be able to land by that date - as once issued, a COPR can not be extended, and if you don't land by that date, then it's lost and you have to start all over again.

One option (if the expiry date is very close) is for your wife to get on a plane, go and land by herself, and get back on a plane a few days later ( you can go with her if money is not an issue!), then wrap everything up, and move to Canada a bit later. THe PR card will arrive in Canada and somebody will have to courier it to you, it currently takes abotu 2.5 months to get the card. If you want to move to Canada before that, your wife will have to obtain a travel authorisation (from Manila) see here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5529ETOC.asp

Good luck,
Sweden

Thanks a lot for the info Sweden! It is much appreciated. I will check out the links. We don't plan to ship things or take extra bags or overweight bags because we have done it too much in the past and it just isn't worth the hassle for us anymore. We plan to just take what we need and have the big stuff sold and the little stuff given away. We should have no problem leaving within a few weeks to a month after the visa is approved.

Do you know if they typically go through all the bags to inspect them? Should I have all my stuff separate from hers? That might get expensive as it's usually two checked bags included per person for a total of 4 for the both of us and she usually has 3 and I have 1!

 

[Sweden]

If you bring 2 suitcases each, then you probably won't have to declare anything. (not sure about the watches, you might want to read the CBSA website a little closer to see if there is more info, but for the rest in general). I don't think it's an issue to have things mixed up, as you are a couple, and as long as you're aware of what is in the suitcases, it's all good.

I traveled with my partner and we had 2 bags each, and they didn't check anything. Of course - it's only my own case, it doesn't mean that the same will happen to you. But - if you both have the maximum allowed by the company, and traveling together, I don't see any issues at the border.

Sweden

 

[xxdieselxx]

Thanks again Sweden! That puts me at ease a little.