Hello folks, thought of sharing our soft landing experience at the Toronto YYZ airport which was quite different than most threads that we have read so far. (Apologies for the long post)
Declaration Card:
=================
We took a air canada flight. We had been through several threads where it was mentioned that declaration card is now automated and we would need to fill it at the kiosks right outside the gate once we land. However we are not sure what happened, there were no kiosks in sight. Upon checking, the airport staff directed us to the immigration officer at the 1st checkpoint. Here the officer actually asked for the physical declaration card which we received as soon as we boarded the flight. So I guess it's a good idea to fill in these cards while in flight to avoid such surprises.
Immigration Interview at checkpoint#1:
=======================================
Here we told the officer that we are landing for PR.The only thing she asked was a COPR, Passport and the declaration card that we got on the flight.
In the declaration card we had filled everything in except:
1) Purpose of visit: The only options were: Business, Study and Personal. None of them seemed close to landing/immigration.
2) Do you have any unaccompanied goods: Although this was going to be a soft landing, we thought we would check with the officer and get a clarification if we should be filling yes or no for this question. Upon explaining we would not be staying for more than a week and would be going back and would come later as a settler with the goods, she marked yes for this question.
She also drew a big Z on our declaration card.
She then asked us to goto the Immigration officer at checkpoint#2 and later goto customs.
Immigration Interview at checkpoint#2:
=======================================
Again after reading the forum, we thought we would be taken to a separate room, however we stood in a big queue probably coz we had landed in the evening when it was quite busy. We told the officer#2 that we were landing for our PR.She asked us to produce COPR, Passport and only the goods to follow list.
1) Goods to accompany/follow list:
We told her that we are not going to stay for more than a week. When she still insisted, we just gave her both the accompanying and follow list however we again told her that since we are not settlers we haven't ticked the box on the BSF form. After this she asked us if me and my husband would be shipping out stuff in separate shipments. The reason she probably asked us this question was because we had filled 2 declaration cards as we work and stay in different cities in U.S. When we replied that this can be a possibility and we might have multiple shipments as well, she was bit confused I guess. She returned our goods accompanying list without signing/stamping it. I had to tell her that the goods follow and accompany are mutually exclusive and I am not sure if it will be problem later when we get these items as settlers.
2) COPR Document Requirement:
She then asked us the standard questions and asked us to sign at 3 places on the COPR document which she had stamped , signed and dated. She told us the standard 2/3 residency requirement and that we "ALWAYS HAVE TO KEEP THE COPR DOCUMENT WITH US, EVEN AFTER WE GET CITIZENSHIP". We didn't know about the COPR document thing hence thought of highlighting if anyone doesn't know as well.
3) Canada Address:
She then asked for the canada address, "handwritten/ printed on a paper". I guess they discourage people reading address to them as it might be risky as they might misinterpret it which is a good thing.
4) Returning all the documents:
She then took our passport(struck the one time VISA received with COPR), declaration cards, COPR , goods to follow + accompany list and asked us to take a seat. After about 5 minutes or so she called us and returned everything. The goods to follow list were all signed/stamped and a standard 0 dollar tax receipt was attached to it. Since we had cars too in the goods to follow list she asked us if we knew about the export requirements and attached some documents which had instructions on how to get it done. She also told us that we can ship our stuff in multiple shipments which was a welcome relief
. She then signed and stamped the accompanying list and told us that she is doing that so that we don't have any problems in the future if we get these items for good. She had ticked marked,signed/dated the settlers section on the BSF form. Finally she gave us a big warm smile and told us we are all set and we should get our SIN done. We asked her that if we need to goto customs to which she replied no. This experience was quite surreal as every thread that I have read on canadavisa forum mentions people going to customs to submit the goods list after checkpoint#2 or after SIN.
Welcome to Canada:
======================
We thanked the Immigration officer#2 and as we were heading out, we were stopped by a lady and she took us to a different booth. There she asked for our COPR and while she was making photocopies of it, the lady at the front desk gave us a big red bag, our "Welcome to Canada" book/pamphlets and told us about SIN, OHIP , free french classes etc. She was really nice. We thanked her, took the COPR and on our way out one of the immigration officers again asked us to show our declaration cards.
SIN:
==========
As soon as we came out, we were again greeted by this young lady who seemed to be as happy as us for our PR. She told us about the importance of SIN and directed us towards the Service Canada center. I was quite surprised that the center was still open as I guess it was already around 7:30- 8 pm. Apparently at YYZ it's open until 9 PM. We got our SIN done, all that we had to show was the COPR+passport I believe. While were standing in the queue we were given a slip wherein we had to fill our full name, father's name, mother's maiden name, phone number, email address and canadian address. We asked the person at the service canada counter about the address as it was our friends and if could change it later. He told us that the address is immaterial and doesn't hold any significance nor do we ever have to update it for SIN. He was very friendly.
Exit:
=======
That's it folks, on our way our out we just took some canadian dollars at the airport exchange, submitted the declaration cards before exiting the airport.
As I said the experience was quite different and part of it was nothing like we had read on the forum, so my advice is be prepared for anything ,don't hesitate to re-iterate things and when in doubt ask questions.
Declaration Card:
=================
We took a air canada flight. We had been through several threads where it was mentioned that declaration card is now automated and we would need to fill it at the kiosks right outside the gate once we land. However we are not sure what happened, there were no kiosks in sight. Upon checking, the airport staff directed us to the immigration officer at the 1st checkpoint. Here the officer actually asked for the physical declaration card which we received as soon as we boarded the flight. So I guess it's a good idea to fill in these cards while in flight to avoid such surprises.
Immigration Interview at checkpoint#1:
=======================================
Here we told the officer that we are landing for PR.The only thing she asked was a COPR, Passport and the declaration card that we got on the flight.
In the declaration card we had filled everything in except:
1) Purpose of visit: The only options were: Business, Study and Personal. None of them seemed close to landing/immigration.
2) Do you have any unaccompanied goods: Although this was going to be a soft landing, we thought we would check with the officer and get a clarification if we should be filling yes or no for this question. Upon explaining we would not be staying for more than a week and would be going back and would come later as a settler with the goods, she marked yes for this question.
She also drew a big Z on our declaration card.
She then asked us to goto the Immigration officer at checkpoint#2 and later goto customs.
Immigration Interview at checkpoint#2:
=======================================
Again after reading the forum, we thought we would be taken to a separate room, however we stood in a big queue probably coz we had landed in the evening when it was quite busy. We told the officer#2 that we were landing for our PR.She asked us to produce COPR, Passport and only the goods to follow list.
1) Goods to accompany/follow list:
We told her that we are not going to stay for more than a week. When she still insisted, we just gave her both the accompanying and follow list however we again told her that since we are not settlers we haven't ticked the box on the BSF form. After this she asked us if me and my husband would be shipping out stuff in separate shipments. The reason she probably asked us this question was because we had filled 2 declaration cards as we work and stay in different cities in U.S. When we replied that this can be a possibility and we might have multiple shipments as well, she was bit confused I guess. She returned our goods accompanying list without signing/stamping it. I had to tell her that the goods follow and accompany are mutually exclusive and I am not sure if it will be problem later when we get these items as settlers.
2) COPR Document Requirement:
She then asked us the standard questions and asked us to sign at 3 places on the COPR document which she had stamped , signed and dated. She told us the standard 2/3 residency requirement and that we "ALWAYS HAVE TO KEEP THE COPR DOCUMENT WITH US, EVEN AFTER WE GET CITIZENSHIP". We didn't know about the COPR document thing hence thought of highlighting if anyone doesn't know as well.
3) Canada Address:
She then asked for the canada address, "handwritten/ printed on a paper". I guess they discourage people reading address to them as it might be risky as they might misinterpret it which is a good thing.
4) Returning all the documents:
She then took our passport(struck the one time VISA received with COPR), declaration cards, COPR , goods to follow + accompany list and asked us to take a seat. After about 5 minutes or so she called us and returned everything. The goods to follow list were all signed/stamped and a standard 0 dollar tax receipt was attached to it. Since we had cars too in the goods to follow list she asked us if we knew about the export requirements and attached some documents which had instructions on how to get it done. She also told us that we can ship our stuff in multiple shipments which was a welcome relief
. She then signed and stamped the accompanying list and told us that she is doing that so that we don't have any problems in the future if we get these items for good. She had ticked marked,signed/dated the settlers section on the BSF form. Finally she gave us a big warm smile and told us we are all set and we should get our SIN done. We asked her that if we need to goto customs to which she replied no. This experience was quite surreal as every thread that I have read on canadavisa forum mentions people going to customs to submit the goods list after checkpoint#2 or after SIN.Welcome to Canada:
======================
We thanked the Immigration officer#2 and as we were heading out, we were stopped by a lady and she took us to a different booth. There she asked for our COPR and while she was making photocopies of it, the lady at the front desk gave us a big red bag, our "Welcome to Canada" book/pamphlets and told us about SIN, OHIP , free french classes etc. She was really nice. We thanked her, took the COPR and on our way out one of the immigration officers again asked us to show our declaration cards.
SIN:
==========
As soon as we came out, we were again greeted by this young lady who seemed to be as happy as us for our PR
. She told us about the importance of SIN and directed us towards the Service Canada center. I was quite surprised that the center was still open as I guess it was already around 7:30- 8 pm. Apparently at YYZ it's open until 9 PM. We got our SIN done, all that we had to show was the COPR+passport I believe. While were standing in the queue we were given a slip wherein we had to fill our full name, father's name, mother's maiden name, phone number, email address and canadian address. We asked the person at the service canada counter about the address as it was our friends and if could change it later. He told us that the address is immaterial and doesn't hold any significance nor do we ever have to update it for SIN. He was very friendly.Exit:
=======
That's it folks, on our way our out we just took some canadian dollars at the airport exchange, submitted the declaration cards before exiting the airport.
As I said the experience was quite different and part of it was nothing like we had read on the forum, so my advice is be prepared for anything ,don't hesitate to re-iterate things and when in doubt ask questions.
