kobo

Just need a rough idea how long it takes once you land as a family in canada with your visas. Are we going to be hours with our two children in tow at the airport.
We hope to land spring 2007, then return to the UK to sell house etc.

Almost Canadian

Which airport will you be landing at ?

suecakes

We landed our visas in feb this year at Vancouver, we were there approx 5 hours, which after a long flight is exhausting, it very much depends on the queue!! we also arranged our PR cards at the same time which obviously added time, especially as the lady had her break in the middle without telling us!. Our agents advised us to get our PR cards but you need a canadian address to send them to, they won't post them to the UK. Unfortunately even though we gave a relatives address, the PR cards never arrived and there's no way of contacting them from the UK. In retrospect we wouldn't have bothered with the PR card bit.

Moral of the story - be prepared, hope it all goes well.

kobo

Vancouver airport

Almost Canadian

See above post

It would appear that the longest delays are experienced at the busiest airports (Vancouver, Toronto) and how many people are going through the process at the same time as you are - obvious, I know

Marcingy

I landed at Vancouver this time last year. There were 2 of us and it took about about 45 minutes to actually land. There was no one in front of us in the queue and we had new photos taken. In fact it took just as long to queue up for passport control.

kobo

Thinking back on the last holiday to Vancouver we had to wait two hours, so I guess it's all down to how busy it is like you said
Thanks

kobo

I sometimes wonder if we are going about this the right way.
Most people receive their visas then away they go.
But because of certain commitments here in the Uk we are unable to do this. So our two weeks in spring 2007 is to check the usual things out and my husband will arrange for some interviews.
Then it's back to the Uk to make some final decisions.
Is it easy to move to and throw between the UK and Canada after you have landed, do you need any specific paperwork?
We may have to do this what with selling the house and working out notice at work although I hope it doesn't come to that.

MrGreen

We landed in the afternoon at vancouver in August and it took about 15-20 mins to do - it really was a complete breeze and realised we'd been worried about nothing. Same with the goods to follow etc. They were very laid back and chiled out with no probs.

suecakes

If you don't get your PR (permanent resident) cards when you land your visa's you will need to apply for re-entry, you can download the form from the Canadian Commission, it costs C$200, your passports have to be sent with the application and they come back stampled as PR which lasts for 6 months. On some other threads under "PR cards" some say you can re-enter on your passport but to check with your airline if you are travelling on a one way ticket, we decided not to take a chance and applied through the commission, we are returning to Canada in January.

britishvixen21

I landed at Toronto mid afternoon and it took us 1/2 hour to get through the whole airport.

But even though it wasnt busy we did have a game plan in action.

We booked seats as close to the exit of the plan as humanly possible, we hustled off the plane and literally ran the mile and half to immigration. we were one of the first people to be seen at the first desk by a big butch horrible women, she then directed us to Immigration ran again and were first in line. the girl was very efficient and had us landed in about 2 minutes, even had time for a quick cry. Our luggage was first off and the customs guy said if i didnt have any goods to follow to walk right through!!

Bsidebaby

Is Immigration the separate desk to the right of the great big queuing system in the middle as you get off the planes?

britishvixen21

In Toronto you first go to a row of desks and see the initial drones at customs and immigration, then behind the desks is a glass partition thats the immigration section behind it with more desks. when you are passed through the first desk you walk through and another guy checks you and if you need to go to immigration you go through another door and you are in the bit with the glass partition. does that make sense?

JAJ

The cost is C$50 per person.

If you were concerned about the airline it might have been simpler (and perhaps no more expensive) to purchase return tickets. Then you could have used your passports without a problem.

Cowtown

Landed on Labour Day in Toronto ... didn't take very long at all