Urgent, please advise for landing and H1b (ext) stamping

[cvask]

Hello friends,

I would like to request your insights/advise into my situation.
Please bear with me while I provide all the details.

My Background –

I am currently living in the US (TX) working on h1b from 2013. Right now I am on my first extension which will be expiring next year in 2019.

My first H1b visa was valid from 2013-2016 which I got it stamped in India in 2014. My current H1b visa (transfer) is being processed at USCIS (which will most likely will expire in 2019). I have applied for premium processing which I expect to get final decision by June 10th, 2018.


My Current Situation –

My wife & kid is a Canadian citizen currently living with me in TX. I got my PR approved in December 2017. My immigrant visa (for PR) is expiring on June 24th, 2018. Which means I need to make landing (soft) before June 24th to keep my PR status as we are planning to permanently move to Windsor, ON by September of this year, as my contract with current employer is ending then. Since my H1b approval was taking so long I have applied for premium processing recently for which I am expecting final decision by June 10th,2018.


Since my wife and kid are Canadian citizen already and also due to some constraints, I am planning to travel alone for soft landing this time and when we are ready for final move we will all travel together at the later stage.


Following are my set of questions pertaining to different areas that I anticipate to face during my (soft) landing next month –

• H1b Stamping
  1. Do I need to get a new H1b stamping in my passport before re-entering US after my landing process?
  2. Since mine is an extension, is there drop box facility available like it is in India for h1b extension cases?
  3. If I have to go for an interview in person, assuming my visa is approved by US consulate, how long does it take for them to mail my passport?
  4. Will it make any difference (for courier delivery speed) if I give Toronto address vs Windsor address for passport delivery?

• Landing Questions
  1. Since my PR visa (immigration visa date) is expiring on June 24th, I am planning to land in Canada on June 17th, 2018. Since this is just a week before the visa expiry, will there be any issues at the Canadian border?
  2. Since mine is a family sponsorship, is it okay from Canadian immigration perspective, to come for landing alone without my family (since both wife and daughter are Canadian citizens already)?
  3. Will it be acceptable by border officials when I tell them that the reason why I am alone for landing is because I am here for soft landing and I will be making final settling with my family once my work contract is completed in September and after that we plan to settle by moving all our belongings from US to Canada?

• Address Proof in Canada
  1. I understand that at the time of my landing I will be required to apply for my PR card which will be mailed to my Canadian address in 2-3 months’ time. For this, I have already made arrangements with a family friends of mine in Windsor, ON to rent basement space in their house for first 3 months’ time until we find permanent house/apt to rent. Can I provide this address as my contact address for CIC to mail my PR & Health card? Will there be any issues if I do this?
  2. I do not have any rental agreement as we verbally agreed in person when he came to my house in TX. Do I need to provide any (rental) documentation showing that my friend has agreed for us to rent his basement space?
  3. If yes for showing rental documents for renting basement for our initial stay, what sort of documents do I need to get it from my friend? I am thinking of sending him an email asking him to reply that he agreed to let us rent his space. Will that be enough or is there anything in specific I need to show?
• Goods to follow
  1. Since I am coming to Canada just for the purpose of landing this time, what do I need to do to make sure I am allowed to take my belongings without paying customs at the later stage when we are making a final move?
  2. Is this acceptable by immigration officials that I will be bringing my belongings at a later stage?
• Applying for health card
  1. Since my Kid is a minor, can I apply for her health card at same time of applying for mine at the time of landing?
  2. Will it be allowed since she won’t be available in person at the time of landing?

Thanks for reading through all my questions.
Any insights/advise provided will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!

 

[harirajmohan]

H1:
1. No, as long as long as you have printed/stamped valid I94.
2. If you are new to this embassy location then you are not eligible for dropbox.
3. I hear it takes 1-2 weeks+ sometimes. So plan accordingly.
4. No difference i guess as I got next day in Windsor. Not sure if you get it on same day (i doubt) in Toronto.
Landing:
1. No one cares about other country visa expiry.
2. As long as you are principal applicant in the PR application (doesnt matter if you are through state/employer/family sponsorship) and principal applicant should land first.
3. Just tell that they will be moving with me later once you complete the formalities and the work in US is over in Sep.
Address:
1. It doesnt need to be home address. I gave ups box address in SK. So no different for PR card anywhere. Officers know that we wont have home initially. If you have someone's address is also good enough.
You can give some residential address (but they will ask for address proof) to apply for health card. Also you will get the health card close to 90 days of move-in date. Without permanently moving if you apply for health card and then while reentering cbsa will ask if you already applied for health card and might be in trouble. So apply after moving permanently - i know that its a gap of another 3 months but applying early is risky. They asked me if i already applied (while i was moving permanently and i was few times earlier without moving there).
2. Yes as they cant know for sure if you moved or not at service centre ontario.
3. Go through the list in site at service centre ontario https://www.ontario.ca/page/documents-needed-get-health-card#section-1.
Goods:
1. Take the print out of goods to follow list https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/bsf186-eng.html and get it signed and stamped.
If you are including the car, make sure you add respective car detail without forgetting it.
2. Yes you can use the above stamped/signed doc to bring in your things later whenever you like on any number of times.
Health card:
1. yes but same waiting time applies for anyone.
2. No, any individual who seek health card should be present.
Car import:
Before you move finally or before you bring the car to import during / before your final move date, you should have your export clearance done at US side and then clear your import process at Canada side. So start planning now on getting it done and plan accordingly.
Driver license:
Get your driver license record/letter of validatity from your US state (in original) to get your ON license. Just with uncertified driving record, ON wont issue license. They need originals. Refer the site.

 

[cvask]

H1:
1. No, as long as long as you have printed/stamped valid I94.
2. If you are new to this embassy location then you are not eligible for dropbox.
3. I hear it takes 1-2 weeks+ sometimes. So plan accordingly.
4. No difference i guess as I got next day in Windsor. Not sure if you get it on same day (i doubt) in Toronto.
Landing:
1. No one cares about other country visa expiry.
2. As long as you are principal applicant in the PR application (doesnt matter if you are through state/employer/family sponsorship) and principal applicant should land first.
3. Just tell that they will be moving with me later once you complete the formalities and the work in US is over in Sep.
Address:
1. It doesnt need to be home address. I gave ups box address in SK. So no different for PR card anywhere. Officers know that we wont have home initially. If you have someone's address is also good enough.
You can give some residential address (but they will ask for address proof) to apply for health card. Also you will get the health card close to 90 days of move-in date. Without permanently moving if you apply for health card and then while reentering cbsa will ask if you already applied for health card and might be in trouble. So apply after moving permanently - i know that its a gap of another 3 months but applying early is risky. They asked me if i already applied (while i was moving permanently and i was few times earlier without moving there).
2. Yes as they cant know for sure if you moved or not at service centre ontario.
3. Go through the list in site at service centre ontario https://www.ontario.ca/page/documents-needed-get-health-card#section-1.
Goods:
1. Take the print out of goods to follow list https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/bsf186-eng.html and get it signed and stamped.
If you are including the car, make sure you add respective car detail without forgetting it.
2. Yes you can use the above stamped/signed doc to bring in your things later whenever you like on any number of times.
Health card:
1. yes but same waiting time applies for anyone.
2. No, any individual who seek health card should be present.
Car import:
Before you move finally or before you bring the car to import during / before your final move date, you should have your export clearance done at US side and then clear your import process at Canada side. So start planning now on getting it done and plan accordingly.
Driver license:
Get your driver license record/letter of validatity from your US state (in original) to get your ON license. Just with uncertified driving record, ON wont issue license. They need originals. Refer the site.

Thanks a lot for taking time to answer all my questions patiently.

Also, thanks for providing info regarding car import and drivers license. It’s a great help and appreciate your time

 

[bobARC]

H1:
1. No, as long as long as you have printed/stamped valid I94.
2. If you are new to this embassy location then you are not eligible for dropbox.
3. I hear it takes 1-2 weeks+ sometimes. So plan accordingly.
4. No difference i guess as I got next day in Windsor. Not sure if you get it on same day (i doubt) in Toronto.
Landing:
1. No one cares about other country visa expiry.
2. As long as you are principal applicant in the PR application (doesnt matter if you are through state/employer/family sponsorship) and principal applicant should land first.
3. Just tell that they will be moving with me later once you complete the formalities and the work in US is over in Sep.
Address:
1. It doesnt need to be home address. I gave ups box address in SK. So no different for PR card anywhere. Officers know that we wont have home initially. If you have someone's address is also good enough.
You can give some residential address (but they will ask for address proof) to apply for health card. Also you will get the health card close to 90 days of move-in date. Without permanently moving if you apply for health card and then while reentering cbsa will ask if you already applied for health card and might be in trouble. So apply after moving permanently - i know that its a gap of another 3 months but applying early is risky. They asked me if i already applied (while i was moving permanently and i was few times earlier without moving there).
2. Yes as they cant know for sure if you moved or not at service centre ontario.
3. Go through the list in site at service centre ontario https://www.ontario.ca/page/documents-needed-get-health-card#section-1.
Goods:
1. Take the print out of goods to follow list https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/bsf186-eng.html and get it signed and stamped.
If you are including the car, make sure you add respective car detail without forgetting it.
2. Yes you can use the above stamped/signed doc to bring in your things later whenever you like on any number of times.
Health card:
1. yes but same waiting time applies for anyone.
2. No, any individual who seek health card should be present.
Car import:
Before you move finally or before you bring the car to import during / before your final move date, you should have your export clearance done at US side and then clear your import process at Canada side. So start planning now on getting it done and plan accordingly.
Driver license:
Get your driver license record/letter of validatity from your US state (in original) to get your ON license. Just with uncertified driving record, ON wont issue license. They need originals. Refer the site.

So if I followed you correctly: you were able to drive in to Canada (presumably in your own car), complete your landing, and drive out.
Was CBSA happy with you driving your own vehicle without importing it in? Is this even allowed?

 

[cvask]

So if I followed you correctly: you were able to drive in to Canada (presumably in your own car), complete your landing, and drive out.
Was CBSA happy with you driving your own vehicle without importing it in? Is this even allowed?

I didn't drive my own car. I took a tunnel bus from Detroit to Windsor to complete my landing procedure. I declared both my vehicles in GTF form to import them at the time of final move with rest of my belongings later this year. CBSA had no problems and everything went smooth.

 

[DEEPCUR]

So if I followed you correctly: you were able to drive in to Canada (presumably in your own car), complete your landing, and drive out.
Was CBSA happy with you driving your own vehicle without importing it in? Is this even allowed?

This is better avoided and take a rental car. They don't like that. If you are taking personal car, they would let you complete the landing, but will ask you to go back immediately after landing without getting inside Canada. Even for this your miles may still vary, and they will give you unnecessary hard time while completing the landing procedure

 

[harirajmohan]

So if I followed you correctly: you were able to drive in to Canada (presumably in your own car), complete your landing, and drive out.
Was CBSA happy with you driving your own vehicle without importing it in? Is this even allowed?

If it was not even allowed then how would i had been entered Canada without any issues? Does cbsa do favour for me to break the law? No.
They allow as long as we dont move permanently with the unimported car - thats all they care about.
We dont care if they are happy and they dont care if we are making them happy - cbsa and travellers need to follow rules which is what important for both.

 

[bobARC]

If it was not even allowed then how would i had been entered Canada without any issues? Does cbsa do favour for me to break the law? No.
They allow as long as we dont move permanently with the unimported car - thats all they care about.
We dont care if they are happy and they dont care if we are making them happy - cbsa and travellers need to follow rules which is what important for both.

Did you enter Canada proper (drive past the border check), OR did you drive to the CBSA post to return back to the US. Just wanted to know how CBSA views non-imported cars.

Reading thru this forum, looks like CBSA doesn't want people to 'drive' around in Canada without importing their cars. That's alll

 

[harirajmohan]

Did you enter Canada proper (drive past the border check), OR did you drive to the CBSA post to return back to the US. Just wanted to know how CBSA views non-imported cars.

Reading thru this forum, looks like CBSA doesn't want people to 'drive' around in Canada without importing their cars. That's alll

I did not enter for revalidation purposes. I entered (by road) to search for apartments before i move. So had to travel for 3 times before moving permanently - each time at least a day i stayed. I imported after my final move as i did not have documents ready but from the date of final move i could not bring the car (as cbsa told that i should not bring the car with me during the final move unless i import it on that day) and took the rental car for 2 weeks to prepare the documents and completed my import after 2 weeks of final move. I did not plan or else i should have done it together.