The B4 form! B4 you go! Make a list! (any advice?)

[juice]

Hi folks!
You should have a list of your personal belongings before you arrive. If you can download and print the B4 form, fill it out, and when you run out of space use the B4A form for your other belongings.
Jo and I have been having a lot of fun with this one.
I have tried to explain to her that Canada is like an overprotective mother, or a suspicious police state. They would like to know what you are bringing, but why? If you are allowed to bring all these things, why is it so necessary to compile the list? Apparently if you are rich beyond compare, you may bring very valuable items tax and duty free!
So, our question is:
Should we have a laugh and list everything? I really don't want to be bothered, especially with all the articles of clothing. How specific must we be?
Are we meant to count every toothbrush, nail file and underwear? I basically refuse to do this, and Jo thinks it's silly.

 

[heatherusa]

Hi folks!
You should have a list of your personal belongings before you arrive. If you can download and print the B4 form, fill it out, and when you run out of space use the B4A form for your other belongings.
Jo and I have been having a lot of fun with this one.
I have tried to explain to her that Canada is like an overprotective mother, or a suspicious police state. They would like to know what you are bringing, but why? If you are allowed to bring all these things, why is it so necessary to compile the list? Apparently if you are rich beyond compare, you may bring very valuable items tax and duty free!
So, our question is:
Should we have a laugh and list everything? I really don't want to be bothered, especially with all the articles of clothing. How specific must we be?
Are we meant to count every toothbrush, nail file and underwear? I basically refuse to do this, and Jo thinks it's silly.

I listed things in the following way (example):


5 boxes used womens clothing $200
3 boxes small kitchen appliances 150
6 boxes living room knick knacks 200
8 framed pictures 200
3 computers 150
2 laptops 2000
bedroom furniture 1000
dining room furniture 1000

get the idea?

The values can be used values based on what you would get if you resell it - garage sale values...

 

[rubyalabar]

you can divide them into 8 categories (no. of rows in B4), that way you don't need to fill up B4a

i.e. personal effects, linens, electronics, etc. etc.

i think you only have to be detailed with jewlery, those that have a really high value...from what i have read in this forum, you need to attach photos of each piece of jewelry. the reasoning is that jewelry is hard to describe...but i don't know if it's necessary

heatherusa, you have landed right? if you have, did you bring photos of jewelry that you brought with you or no need?

 

[fenna1]

Me and my husband are only taking what clothes we can fit into our suitcases, is this under 1 catagory and a rough estimate of how much it costs?

 

[rubyalabar]

maybe you can just have 2 categories and the estimated cost

1. men's clothing
2. women's clothing

Me and my husband are only taking what clothes we can fit into our suitcases, is this under 1 catagory and a rough estimate of how much it costs?

 

[heatherusa]

you can divide them into 8 categories (no. of rows in B4), that way you don't need to fill up B4a

i.e. personal effects, linens, electronics, etc. etc.

i think you only have to be detailed with jewlery, those that have a really high value...from what i have read in this forum, you need to attach photos of each piece of jewelry. the reasoning is that jewelry is hard to describe...but i don't know if it's necessary

heatherusa, you have landed right? if you have, did you bring photos of jewelry that you brought with you or no need?

I was a returning resident and my husband the PR but yes, we are landed. I did not include any pictures of jewelry.

I listed it all as costume jewelry with a value of a few hundred dollars. The only thing of value is my wedding and engagement ring and I didnt list them separately.

 

[heatherusa]

maybe you can just have 2 categories and the estimated cost

1. men's clothing
2. women's clothing

Thats what I would do... except maybe include your camera or any electronics you also have

 

[StillSmilin]

I just want to make sure I understand this correctly... as long as we list what we are bringing and the approximate value of the goods, we will not be charged any taxes or duty? Even if something is really expensive? We are going to be bringing in a dining room set that was a hand me down from his parents and some computer equipment.

 

[heatherusa]

I just want to make sure I understand this correctly... as long as we list what we are bringing and the approximate value of the goods, we will not be charged any taxes or duty? Even if something is really expensive? We are going to be bringing in a dining room set that was a hand me down from his parents and some computer equipment.

A settler has no value limitation, but you do have to list anything over 10k separately

 

[rubyalabar]

also there's such a thing as B4 Goods accompanying list and B4 Goods to follow list, you have to separate what you will be bringing with you when you land and those that will be arriving later via sea/land/air freight.

you need to prepare 2 copies of the B4, your copy should be stamped, especially the Goods to follow list so when the delivery comes and it's held up at customs/CBSA you can show it to them and they won't charge you any duties/taxes

 

[StillSmilin]

my husband is bring everything with him in one shot... driving it from the U.S., so what forms does he need to fill out? I am confused between the B4 and B4a forms? Do I have this correct that you list your goods you are bringing on form B4 and when you run out of space you use B4A? These are all goods he will be bringing over at one time.

 

[juice]

Thanks everyone. I hope this clears things up for anyone else who is perturbed, confused or concerned...

I still maintain that it's intrusive and unnecessary, considering. "A settler has no value limitation"
Why should the inbound settler have to indicate the value of his or her clothing and personal effects?

 

[minna]

Having just recently gone through the B4 process, I would also recommend that you include any serial numbers (for computers, electronics, musical instruments, if applicable, audio/visual equipment - pretty much anything high dollar. The agents at the border may or may not be interested in matching up the high dollar value equipment that you have in the car (or shipment) with what you are declaring - the agent at the border when we crossed started out wanting to check everything out, but realized that we had our list really organized and stopped short of actually making us open up boxes.

On a related note - if you have receipts for high dollar value stuff, you should attach the to the form, as well. We had bought our tv about 7 months before crossing the border, and the agent thanked us for including the receipt.

Hope this helps!

 

[heatherusa]

Having just recently gone through the B4 process, I would also recommend that you include any serial numbers (for computers, electronics, musical instruments, if applicable, audio/visual equipment - pretty much anything high dollar. The agents at the border may or may not be interested in matching up the high dollar value equipment that you have in the car (or shipment) with what you are declaring - the agent at the border when we crossed started out wanting to check everything out, but realized that we had our list really organized and stopped short of actually making us open up boxes.

On a related note - if you have receipts for high dollar value stuff, you should attach the to the form, as well. We had bought our tv about 7 months before crossing the border, and the agent thanked us for including the receipt.

Hope this helps!

It is interesting how different each border crossing is.

I crossed with my "half" of our stuff (returning resident) in Coutts Alberta and had a list of everything in the UHaul. They had me transfer it on to a B4 and B4A and assess values.

My husband landed in Portal Saskatchewan with a typed list with values assigned to everything and they just attached the barcodes to each of the three pages he had.

Neither border gave us any issue with what we were bringing or the serial numbers. We had that information it just wasnt attached to the list.

I wish they would be consistent from one place to the next.

 

[juice]

What should we put in the place of the importer's address, for a new settler? The intended address in Canada or our address here in Thailand???