obtaining PR card in Toronto

[uccemebug]

Once we've gotten a PR visa for my wife, what's the best route to picking up the PR card from Toronto? Is "flagpoling" down in Niagara still required or is it possible to get this done perhaps at immigration at Pearson?

(PS, I'm sure this has been answered a thousand times but I can't put in a search that gives me an answer!!)

 

[scylla]

The fastest way is to drive down to the border and then cross and land. (You can't land at Pearson unless you're arriving on an international flight.)

You could also make an appointment with the CIC to land in Toronto by going to one of the local offices (not sure exactly how this works). However I understand the waiting times for an appointment are anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months (depending on location).

 

[uccemebug]

The fastest way is to drive down to the border and then cross and land. (You can't land at Pearson unless you're arriving on an international flight.)

You could also make an appointment with the CIC to land in Toronto by going to one of the local offices (not sure exactly how this works). However I understand the waiting times for an appointment are anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months (depending on location).

Thanks for that, Scylla. I had determined that there must be some way of doing so within Toronto, but a look through the CIC website revealed nothing. You'd think that Service Canada locales would manage this? They say so on their site, but then reference the CIC call centre....

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/goc/pr_card.shtml

You'd also think that this process would be documented somewhere, but immigrants are explicitly excluded from the only documentation I was able to find (which strikes me as odd indeed).

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/pr-card/apply-how.asp

Can anyone comment; if doing the border route, is it simply a matter of entering the US and turning around, or is it best to go to the office in Buffalo?

 

[PMM]

Hi

Thanks for that, Scylla. I had determined that there must be some way of doing so within Toronto, but a look through the CIC website revealed nothing. You'd think that Service Canada locales would manage this? They say so on their site, but then reference the CIC call centre....

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/goc/pr_card.shtml

You'd also think that this process would be documented somewhere, but immigrants are explicitly excluded from the only documentation I was able to find (which strikes me as odd indeed).

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/pr-card/apply-how.asp

Can anyone comment; if doing the border route, is it simply a matter of entering the US and turning around, or is it best to go to the office in Buffalo?

1. Yes, the information is on the CIC site, you phone the call centre 1-888-242-2100 and you make an appointment with a inland CIC. There is an OPs bulletin on it. Service Canada is not CIC.
2. You "flagpole" at the US border, you tell the US officer that you are there to return to Canada to "land". They will give an administrative rejection (doesn't effect future entries) and you return to Canada with the letter to "land" at the Canadian side. You can't "land" at the Buffalo office.