All,
Just want to share latest landing experience at YVR, I haven't seen any latest posts around this topic so thought of posting my own.
We just got back to US from YVR after completing our soft landing and obtaining our SINs. We chose to fly from SFO to YVR directly on United and after some initial delays we reached YVR around noon on July 15, 2018. Upon arrival, immigration lines were long due to morning arrival rush. However, because we had a 3 month old baby with us, we were requested to skip line and go directly to the front of the line. Upon entering immigration hall, there are kiosks where one has to scan their passport and complete custom declarations. After completing customs declaration kiosk will print the confirmation receipt which you take with your passports to the immigration officer.
At first immigration officer desk, we showed our passports and informed him that we are here to Immigrate. He then stamped our custom declaration and passport and requested us to proceed to baggage claim to collect our luggage and then head to the right side to Immigration hall where new immigrants are processed.
After collecting our baggage, we headed to the immigration hall. There were only 2-3 people in front of us and quickly after 2 min. wait an officer called us. We were requested to show our COPRs and then answer simple questions such as state name, marital status and swore that we were not convicted of any crime or ever denied entry into Canada. We were also asked to provide a Canadian address where our PR cards will be mailed, I gave my friend's address in Ontario and officer did not question us on why we are landing at Vancouver when address is in Ontario.
Once we did that, officer asked us to take a seat and then processed our COPRs. Since we had a 3 month old with us, fellow officers and officer processing our documents were chatting with us and joking/playing with the baby while working on our papers. It was already a great experience of Canadian hospitality & friendliness. Officer even told us that we love immigrants here and kept chit chatting while we were seated and he was processing our papers. He also gave some tips on what to do and where to go in Vancouver during our short stay there as we told him we'll be returning to US the next day.
After he was all done with COPR processing, I asked him about the goods to follow list as we had not brought anything with us and were planning to move entire household from US by road when we eventually move to Canada.
He told us that he won't process any goods list at this time and I'll need to complete the goods declaration process while bringing in the goods. It was a surprise but I didn't argue with him and accepted to figure things out at a later date when time comes to bring the goods.
We exited the airport and walked few meters to rental car counters, collected our rental car and headed to the Hotel. As we had a baby with us, we didn't get to explore Vancouver much as we had to take it slowly. As July 15, 2018 was Sunday, we didn't get to apply for SIN and had to wait till the next day for Service Canada office to open.
On Monday morning, after leisurely breakfast at the hotel we checked out around 11:30AM and headed to Service Canada office in Richmond, BC. Upon arriving at the office, we were requested to take a seat for 10 min and another officer called our name. We were requested to show our COPR papers and Passports and lady officer entered all of our information into the system. After she was done, we were issued SIN numbers and confirmation letter was printed and handed out to us.
Throughout the landing & Service Canada process, we were treated with respect and friendliness which is not that common in US, especially at Government offices. In US after many years or stay and interacting with many officers I feel that lot of them are rude and/or indifferent. While these 3 separate Canadian officers that we interacted with during our short stay were extremely friendly and welcoming. They made us feel valued and had our best interest in mind.
Return Experience to US -
We were done with SIN around 1PM and had plenty of time to kill as our return flight to SFO was at 7:00PM. We roamed around a bit and then headed to airport around 4:00PM. Upon rental car return and short walk to the terminal, we checked in for flight and headed to security and immigration. During check-in, electronic kiosks were unable to process my ticket as I had an expired visa. I had to talk with the checking agent and upon confirming AVR use, she issued the boarding passes. For my wife & baby, there was no issue and they also received the boarding passes.
After checking in, we headed to the baggage scanners where we dropped our luggage and headed to security. After security was cleared, we entered the US immigration hall, there was no queue for US visa holders and officer immediately called us to the processing booth.
I had an expired visa from my previous employer in my expired passport but a valid H1B- I797 approval notice with I-94 and new passport with me. My wife had valid visa in her expired passport. We showed it to the officer, he then collected our fingerprints and issued us an entry stamps. I got it for same expiration as I-94 on the existing I-797 notice while my wife got it till her visa expiration. For US born baby, he simply looked at the passport and then returned it back without even looking at the baby. We were not asked any other question or requested to show paystub/client letter etc. during this enter process. Eventually we made our way to the gate and then after delayed flight reached SFO around midnight on July 16, 2018.
Overall, it was a smooth landing experience and we liked the way Canadians treat new immigrants which is totally different from US. Even US immigration officers stationed in Canada seemed much more friendly than the ones I have encountered at SFO
Hope it helps other folks who are planning to land at YVR, good luck to everyone!
Just want to share latest landing experience at YVR, I haven't seen any latest posts around this topic so thought of posting my own.
We just got back to US from YVR after completing our soft landing and obtaining our SINs. We chose to fly from SFO to YVR directly on United and after some initial delays we reached YVR around noon on July 15, 2018. Upon arrival, immigration lines were long due to morning arrival rush. However, because we had a 3 month old baby with us, we were requested to skip line and go directly to the front of the line. Upon entering immigration hall, there are kiosks where one has to scan their passport and complete custom declarations. After completing customs declaration kiosk will print the confirmation receipt which you take with your passports to the immigration officer.
At first immigration officer desk, we showed our passports and informed him that we are here to Immigrate. He then stamped our custom declaration and passport and requested us to proceed to baggage claim to collect our luggage and then head to the right side to Immigration hall where new immigrants are processed.
After collecting our baggage, we headed to the immigration hall. There were only 2-3 people in front of us and quickly after 2 min. wait an officer called us. We were requested to show our COPRs and then answer simple questions such as state name, marital status and swore that we were not convicted of any crime or ever denied entry into Canada. We were also asked to provide a Canadian address where our PR cards will be mailed, I gave my friend's address in Ontario and officer did not question us on why we are landing at Vancouver when address is in Ontario.
Once we did that, officer asked us to take a seat and then processed our COPRs. Since we had a 3 month old with us, fellow officers and officer processing our documents were chatting with us and joking/playing with the baby while working on our papers. It was already a great experience of Canadian hospitality & friendliness. Officer even told us that we love immigrants here and kept chit chatting while we were seated and he was processing our papers. He also gave some tips on what to do and where to go in Vancouver during our short stay there as we told him we'll be returning to US the next day.
After he was all done with COPR processing, I asked him about the goods to follow list as we had not brought anything with us and were planning to move entire household from US by road when we eventually move to Canada.
He told us that he won't process any goods list at this time and I'll need to complete the goods declaration process while bringing in the goods. It was a surprise but I didn't argue with him and accepted to figure things out at a later date when time comes to bring the goods.
We exited the airport and walked few meters to rental car counters, collected our rental car and headed to the Hotel. As we had a baby with us, we didn't get to explore Vancouver much as we had to take it slowly. As July 15, 2018 was Sunday, we didn't get to apply for SIN and had to wait till the next day for Service Canada office to open.
On Monday morning, after leisurely breakfast at the hotel we checked out around 11:30AM and headed to Service Canada office in Richmond, BC. Upon arriving at the office, we were requested to take a seat for 10 min and another officer called our name. We were requested to show our COPR papers and Passports and lady officer entered all of our information into the system. After she was done, we were issued SIN numbers and confirmation letter was printed and handed out to us.
Throughout the landing & Service Canada process, we were treated with respect and friendliness which is not that common in US, especially at Government offices. In US after many years or stay and interacting with many officers I feel that lot of them are rude and/or indifferent. While these 3 separate Canadian officers that we interacted with during our short stay were extremely friendly and welcoming. They made us feel valued and had our best interest in mind.
Return Experience to US -
We were done with SIN around 1PM and had plenty of time to kill as our return flight to SFO was at 7:00PM. We roamed around a bit and then headed to airport around 4:00PM. Upon rental car return and short walk to the terminal, we checked in for flight and headed to security and immigration. During check-in, electronic kiosks were unable to process my ticket as I had an expired visa. I had to talk with the checking agent and upon confirming AVR use, she issued the boarding passes. For my wife & baby, there was no issue and they also received the boarding passes.
After checking in, we headed to the baggage scanners where we dropped our luggage and headed to security. After security was cleared, we entered the US immigration hall, there was no queue for US visa holders and officer immediately called us to the processing booth.
I had an expired visa from my previous employer in my expired passport but a valid H1B- I797 approval notice with I-94 and new passport with me. My wife had valid visa in her expired passport. We showed it to the officer, he then collected our fingerprints and issued us an entry stamps. I got it for same expiration as I-94 on the existing I-797 notice while my wife got it till her visa expiration. For US born baby, he simply looked at the passport and then returned it back without even looking at the baby. We were not asked any other question or requested to show paystub/client letter etc. during this enter process. Eventually we made our way to the gate and then after delayed flight reached SFO around midnight on July 16, 2018.
Overall, it was a smooth landing experience and we liked the way Canadians treat new immigrants which is totally different from US. Even US immigration officers stationed in Canada seemed much more friendly than the ones I have encountered at SFO
Hope it helps other folks who are planning to land at YVR, good luck to everyone!
