synaesthesia

Hey everyone,

I've just found out that the mattress fumigation exemption doesn't apply to people on a work permit as we don't count as settlers unless we're staying for 36 months or more. The rules seems pretty clear on this. I am however struggling to find much detail, only reams and reams of threads on here, reddit and other places of people saying that you don't need to do it. Is it just the case that all the things I've seen have been applicable to PR (many don't specify) or has anyone else on a work permit less than three years imported a mattress with/without fumigating - if so what's your experience?

Haven't the first clue where to start when it comes to fumigating mattresses and googling isn't too helpful (everything seems to be in London plus a looming potential lockdown isn't helping). Happy to cut my losses on one of the mattresses which was a £100 ikea job but the other is barely a year old and was very expensive...

Worth mentioning our shipping company hasn't said anything about fumigating...

spouse of scouse

According to this link yes, you need to have mattresses fumigated as you don't fit into any of the exempt categories (eg Canadian residents who've been away for less than a year, settlers)
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicat...9-1-7-eng.html

Whereabouts in the UK are you?

Siouxie

Are your shippers aware that you are coming to Canada for less than 3 years? If you were coming with the intention of staying for more than 3 years then your belongings would count as 'settlers goods' - as you aren't then you will most likely have to pay duties/taxes on all your belongings being imported. Is it really worth transporting your belongings just for a couple of years and then having to pay for them to be shipped back again? (You may be asked to give a hefty deposit to ensure you are removing your goods at the end of your stay, if you ship all your worldy goods). It may be better to use the money to pay for storage (Big Yellow or similar) and basics from Ikea / Walmart / dollar stores etc. You can buy a queen mattress for under $300.

ArekDeBoss

We live in Cheshire and have been quoted £50+vat for fumigation of the king size mattress.
I am however interested in duty on following goods on work visa? We are going to go on work permit in next few months but we are planning to stay.
Will we have to pay duty on our all house goods. We are bringing almost everything with us.

scrubbedexpat134

Shipping your belongings to Canada and back again within 3 years seems a bit strange. Put it in storage in UK and rent a fully furnished house/ apartment/ condo in Canada. You will probably have to replace alot of you electrical items due to voltage difference anyway.

synaesthesia

Wait, we would have to pay duty?! I'm sure the stuff I've read says personal belongings are duty free for work permit holders (with exceptions on tobacco, booze etc.). Gonna have another google now.

EDIT: the documentation from the shipper says that the following qualifies for tax and duty exemption:"Goods temporarily imported by a Work Permit Holder or student for personal use where the following conditions are met: 1) the goods cannot be used by a Canadian resident; 2) you are not permitted to sell or otherwise dispose of the goods in Canada; 3) the goods must be removed from Canada at the end of your temporary residence."

Edit 2: Just for anyone reading this who has just panicked like I did, the wiki links to a CBSA leaflet which states: Personal and household effects

When arriving in Canada for the first time,
you can temporarily import your personal and household effects free of duty and taxes. These items include furniture, tableware, silverware, appliances and motor vehicles. Though these goods are not normally subject to duty and taxes at the time of importation, the CBSA may require that you post a refundable security deposit. The following conditions apply:

• The goods cannot be used by a resident of Canada;
  
• You are not permitted to sell or otherwise dispose of the goods in Canada; and
  
• You must take all non-consumable items with you when you leave the country at the end of your temporary residence.
  

We are fairly likely to want to stay in Canada long term so we were going to apply via express entry while out there if we like it so it makes sense for us to bring our stuff. Also I did the maths and it wasn't much different to store everything than it was to bring it with us.

West Yorkshire

Siouxie

Sorry - I should have said "you may have to pay duties / taxes" -- but you also may have to pay a deposit (as I mentioned) to ensure that you take all your belongings with you when you leave Canada at the end of your TWP.
You had previously stated that you HAD to return to the UK after your term at the Uni for your post grad position... so I hadn't considered you might stay. You may want this info:
For anyone considering applying for PR during a TWP..

synaesthesia

Yes I saw the deposit thing. No indication anywhere of how much it might be though. I'm guessing it's discretionary and therefore depends on the CBSA agent. I'm hoping that as we can prove that my job continues in the UK after the two years in Canada and that bailing on said job would cost me ~£100,000 of funding repayments, that will be enough to satisfy them we intend to move our stuff back - because if we decide not to go for PR or we just don't get it, we obviously will want to move all our stuff back!

You have a great memory! Thanks for the extra info. Yes we do have to return to the UK for a year but on the advice of yourself and others, as we already have the points we need, we want to apply for PR as soon as possible if we like it out there. It's not possible right now as we don't have the money however if we apply from within Canada, my understanding is we won't need the 10k in the bank to prove we can move to canada because we will already be there. That way we can do the EE process from within Canada while on the TWP (which to be honest seems easier than it is from the UK) and hopefully get PR before we leave. Obviously we will need to keep an eye out on the turnaround times given the potential covid backlog. Then we have a year in the UK to build up our savings before my job ends and we move back. I'm aware we would be time limited in order to meet the conditions of permanent residency but we will have essentially a year's wiggle room from my job ending.

In terms of how that affects plans for our stuff, if we were successful with PR the intention would be to put the vast majority of it into storage in Canada, taking only the neccessities back with us, live in a furnished place in the UK for a year before returning to Canada and moving our things into a new home.

Lichisadave

We came over on a 3 year WP brought everything with us except for mattresses, because of the fumigation issues, we just bought new ones when we arrived and used them to sleep on while we waited for our container to arrive. We didn’t pay any duties or deposit when our goods arrived we where just told we’d have to take everything with us when we went back to the UK. One thing to note when we went to sign for our container a lady was there who hadn’t fumigated her mattress and they said she would have to return the whole container and get a fumigation certificate for all soft furnishings in the container as it had all been in close proximity to the mattress.

shaunc89

I’m doing the same as the OP and thought I’d share my experience of shipping on a TWP (IEC) back in feb. I didn’t ship the mattress because of the fumigation issues though. I shipped almost everything else.

when I arrived in Toronto I explained that I had some goods shipped separately (as he didn’t mention it after showing him the customs form) and he told me I’d have to go to secondary. When I went there, the guy was pretty disinterested and just nodded and asked me if I wanted my list stamped. I said yes, just to be safe and that was that.

A couple of months later I had to go to CBSA at Pearson to clear my goods. The officer there asked me if I was working and what I did (not sure if that was just chit chat or if he was sussing out my long term intentions). The only thing he called out was the gym equipment - which he said “must have cost a fortune to ship” but he was satisfied after I told him
it was by volume and there were spare boxes.

He didn’t say too much else to me after that. He did mention that the goods were imported until my visa expired and that was it.

ArekDeBoss

What fumigation issues? Is it just a certificate you didn't have or is there any specific/certain type of fumigation needed . I got a quote and it's £59+ VAT so not that expensive. Definitely cheaper than a new mattress I guess.

shaunc89

oh, maybe issues was the wrong word. But when I looked into it, I struggled to find anyone locally that would do it and issue paperwork that they knew would be accepted by the authorities.

I had a relatively cheap mattress so just opted to buy a new one when I arrived rather than trying to figure it out.

ArekDeBoss

Oh okI'm asking because I just purchased expensive new mattress and I don't want to leave it behind. Could not find anything specific about certificate of fumigation required so I hope it's just a certificate. So hopefully will be enough.

Siouxie

Yes, you may need to have the mattress fumigated and certified fumigated if you are coming over on a TWP for less than 3 years (may not be needed if you are moving over as a settler)... see this link (lots more information within this thread and in the wiki ) https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicat...9-1-7-eng.html
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Mattr...igation-Canada