Hmmmmm????

So how can you make comments regarding a British international removal company, who have been in business for over 30 years, been shipping goods to all over the globe and to Aus, USA, Canada, etc.....and you have never lived in England or used an English shipping company

Please, do not take offence of the above comment, I am not trying to argue here, I am just trying to get all the facts!!

Britannia have been in business for a long time and they have assured me that I do not need to fill these forms in , as they have completed an inventory for us........

Over to you....

Brian

Popcorn anyone?

I'll have some!!!

The fact that Britiannia is a British moving company is irrelevant, because Canada Border Services Agency's rules are the same, regardless of the shipment's point of origin.

But I now realise I was wrong in what I told you, and I'm sorry about that. On reflection I have recalled that the new settler does not have to show up at the port of entry with a completed Personal Effects Accounting Documents, Forms B4A (05) and B4E (05).

What the new settler does have to show up with are lists of previously owned possessions that they are importing into Canada. Those lists have to be itemised, with values (expressed in Canadian dollars) assigned to categories of goods. The settler does not have to assign a value to each single item, but they do have to assign a value to each group of items. For example, the list can state "6 boxes of books ....... $XXX).

There have to be two lists, one itemising the goods that the new settler has brought with them to the port of entry by plane, ship, train or car, and another itemising the goods that will follow later. The values on each list have to be added up. Then the subtotal for the goods that are accompanying the settler and the subtotal for the goods that will follow later have to be added up to make a grand total.

If the new settler does not arrive with copies of Form B4A (05) and B4E(05) that they have completed ahead of time, the customs official will whip out copies of those forms from a pile of forms under their desk, and the customs official will complete Form B4A (05) and B4E(05), using the lists that the newly arrived settler has submitted. The customs official will write on the relevant B4 form the total value of the goods, and they will staple to the B4 form the list of goods to follow.

For this reason you need at least two copies of each list, one to give to the customs official and one to keep for yourself. Also, as I said before, you need two lists, one list of goods that will follow you later and one list of goods that you've brought with you. So you need two lists, and you need two copies of each of those lists.

The part of your previous post that I reacted to, without thinking it through properly, was the part where you stated, "It seems that the PERSONAL EFFECTS ACCOUNTING DOCUMENT (B4-05e) is only filled in for people that are packing and shipping their own goods themselves....."

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) does not differentiate between people who have had their goods professionally packed and people who have packed their goods themselves.

Both kinds of people have to show up at the port of entry with lists of goods that have accompanied them and goods that will follow them later. Both lists have to have values in Canadian dollars assigned to categories of goods. Each list has to be in two copies, one to be kept by CBSA and the other to be kept by the newly arrived settler.

CBSA doesn't care who prepared the lists, the newly arrived settler or a moving company.

If the newly arrived settler happens to have completed Forms B4A (05) and B4E (05) in advance, it's nice, as it saves time. But if the newly arrived settler has not filled out those forms in advance, it's okay. The customs official completes them using the information from the lists that the newly arrived settler has brought to the port of entry.

Forms B4A (05) and B4E (05) are not very detailed forms. They are not, in themselves, very lengthy. The detail is contained in the lists that are attached to them.

I hope that clarifies the situation.

Thanks for your detailed reply, Judy. I must apologise as well as I have had a couple of stressful months with all things Canadian!!! If I did say something, or if the tone of my replies did upset you, then I am sorry.

Your detail has been informative throughout this post. Keep up the good work (for newbies like me!!)

Thanks again

Brian

We did, yes. Every item (every book, even) had a description, year, condition and either price or replacement value. But that was really only because Souvette was a returning diplomat/soldier. The rules are different.

I'm glad you mentioned this Judy. I've only recently looked at the forms (decided filling in the sponsorship and immigration forms was enough for now!) and, having read other threads on this topic, I couldn't see how on earth you were meant to fill your life's accumulated bits and bobs on such a short form!
I mentioned to OH that we should start on a Goods to Follow form in the next couple of months so it doesn't create an issue (being positive here) when OH lands next spring - his response was "well that shouldn't be difficult" I don't think he realises the scale & detail (albeit no of boxes of books rather than number of books) that will be needed! he will!! lol

am I correct in thinking that the GtF forms will need to be done at time of landing regardless of whether we stay on that trip or come back to the UK to tidy up?
and that it's better for the forms to be done in the immigrant's name rather than the returning resident (do i remember reading something somewhere that immigrants get duty-free but RRs would have to pay duty?)

thanks for the advice guys - i really appreciate it

If that is the trip on which your OH "lands" in Canada, then the answer is, "Yes."

Well, I have no personal experience of this, that is, a situation in which one partner is a returning resident and the other partner is migrating to Canada for the first time.

Here is the Canada Border Services Agency's website about Moving Back to Canada. Here is CBSA's website about Settling in Canada (for the first time).

I've just had a quick look at those two publications -- I emphasize a quick look. The only difference I could see between the rules that applied to them was that a returning resident would be charged duty if he/she imported a single item that was worth more than C$10,000. He/she would be charged duty on that portion of the item's value that exceeded C$10,000. This restriction did not apply to the settler migrating to Canada for the first time. (This assumes that the people involved have owned and used their belongings for six months or more, although an exception to that rule is made for wedding gifts.)

Hope that helps.

We had separate PR and RR goods to follow forms, all stamped and sorted at the airport. When it came to clearing the container though, the officer was adamant he could only take 1 list per shipment. Luckily mine contained everything Mr B's (from his landing months earlier) had. Well, I say luckily, I would have fought for the officer to accept both lists if it hadn't... but having 1 complete list of contents saved time and hassle over combining 2 partial lists and convincing an unwilling officer to do that in the first place.

There doesn't seem to be any consistency in these things though, you might be able to present 2 lists for 1 shipment without them batting an eyelid, you never know!

I think RRs are allowed new replacements for broken items, but I'm not sure about that - Judy's link will say for certain. I had a few new things that I intended to say that for if asked, which I wasn't.