Hi All,

I'm trying to get prepared for myself, wife and 2 boys (aged 15 & 22) to land in Vancouver on February 17th. No idea why, but I think I'll be nervous and just want to make sure I've got everything in order so it goes as smoothly as possible.

We are in BC for 2 weeks and using it as a recce trip at the same time. From the research we've done online and from friends we are concentrating on Okanagan region (Penticton, Kelowna & Vernon). I'm not going to go into the ins & outs but we've got to put a stake in the ground somewhere !

Anyway, the main reason for this post is to make sure 'all my ducks are in a row' for when we land. I've read through the WIKI's and think I've got things right in my head but just wanted to hear it from the horses mouths (not that any of you look like horses! Â

The 3 things I understand that I need to carry with me ready to produce when we travel are

1.     CIC Form IMM5292 - confirmation of permanent residence. I have one of these for each of the family members. Unsigned with a picture of each of us. I'm just expecting the Immigration official to take these off us and review. On the form it mentions Calgary (which was were we were thinking of moving to when the process started in 2007) but as mentioned we are landing and looking at living in BC. Is that a problem ? We have friends who live in BC who's address we will be giving for the PR Cards to be sent etc.

2.     Goods to Follow & Goods with us list. I'm compiling these now and will print out in triplicate for when we land. At the moment I'm putting everything on even if we don't think we'll be taking it with us - yep, we've got the dog on. I am looking at possibly making the move in August this year ready for the youngest to start high school - though my wife thinks he should finish his GCSE's in the UK which would mean us moving 2012 (that is the current 'discussion' in our household). What happens if we buy something before then and it isn't on the list? Is '1 x boxes of ornaments, 2 x boxes of garage equipment' or something similar acceptable or do I need to go into finite detail ?

3.     Settlement funds. I've got a front sheet with a breakdown of what funds we have available. HSBC UK - £5,500, LloydsTSB - £1000, HSBC CA - $11,000, Cash - $1000. This has a current exchange rate on and totals in CAD $. I'll also print out early February from my online banking system (everything is online and we don't get paper statements) a statement to show the figures on the breakdown as being correct as of 1st Feb etc. I think the current requirement for a family of 4 is $20,654 and at the current exchange rate and after I get paid at the end of the month (hence print out the statements on the 1st ) we'll have in the region of $22 - $23k. When we move in August the house would have sold and we'll have more.


Is that it all we'll need ??? Will I know where to go or will the immigration officer notice the visas in our passports and tell me etc ? I'm just scared of just 'being a visitor' and going through everywhere and finding ourselves landside and not correctly landed

I've got a couple of appointments (not interviews unfortunately) with people and companies when we are there but I'm aiming to go out in May on my own for 3-4 weeks to do nothing but job hunt so want to use the time in February to look at areas, school and just enjoy the time we are there - though I really need a job before the family moves out for good.

My apologies for the long winded email. Hopefully with any positive responses it will help me as well as anybody else in the same position.

Fingers crossed it all goes to plan and I find a job in May (or earlier as I'd go tomorrow and the family would follow).

Cheers

Looks fine to me, but we landed in 2006 so it might be different. The only thing I would add would be to take more recent print outs of your money. We took ATM printouts from the day we left Heathrow.

Sounds fine to me - just make sure that you get your 'goods to follow' sheet stamped. When we landed the guy just looked at it - we had to ask him to stamp it.

At Vancouver airport there is usually someone directing you where to go if you are landing - or at least a sign - so you won't get lost!

1. Fine - Re PR Card address just give it / write it down / dont mention if possible it is yr friends address - it may open a conversation that will lead to them refusing to send it to that address - If your photo is not good enough they take another one at immigration anyway.
2. Fine - We moved 18 months after landing obviously had a few additions but nothing major so dont worry about a few things being off the list that do actually go in the container - be generic, as in the end the number of boxes will be different to that on packing list because of the way freight companies pack - high value be specific - Outdoor stuff bikes etc ensure that they are cleaned and use JEYES fluid - the smell of disinfectant seems to keep them appeased if they do happen to open the container. Get the goods to follow list stamped and barcoded
3. Fine - ironically when we landed at calgary we were never asked although we had up to date statements ready to hand over


As a heads up when yr container does land - guessing at vancouver you will need to go to vancouver to customs with all yr docs to get clearance so bear in mind if you are in Okanagan that you will need to travel in to Vancouver on a specific day at a pre arranged time - I had to do this from Fernie - There is no way around this - you have to go in person

Hello Animal

When you land you will firstly go to passport control as per normal. But when you hand over your passport, you can then say (with a massive smile on your face) that we want to activate our PR visa. He will ask you for the customs card that was handed out on the plane. So dont forget to fill that out.

He will mark the visa and stamp the passport but he will also mark the back of the customs card then direct you to the immigration office where you will be asked for your IMM5292 form and passport. The immigration officer will/might ask a few questions such as "what type of visa do you have?", "Do you have an address?"...."Do you know how long you have to be in Canada to keep PR status?", "How much funds do you have available?".....we did not have to prove this but the figure was written onto the IMM form.

The immigration officer will get you to fill out the IMM5292 form and sign it. They will give you a sheet in return which is your proof of PR whilst your PR cards are being prepared (provided you give a forwarding address). They will also stamp your passport. You will then get directed out of Immigration office to pick up your luggage. You might get some leaflets etc as you leave that office.

After you pick up your luggage, you will head (with the rest of the plane passsengers) down towards customs where everyone has to hand in the customs card. You will notice they will check the back of the card and they will see that it has been marked to identify that you need to be directed to the customs area.

You will then get to meet a customs officer who will ask you for your goods-accompanying and goods-to-follow list. Neither need to be in great detail but if you are bringing any electrical items you should include make, model and serial number. They can ask you to show them items from your luggage.

If you have a laptop on you they might give you a green card that includes it's details so you can take it on your travels and you will not get any grief if you are stopped when you re-enter canada.

Once they have stamped your goods-to-follow and goods-accompanying lists, then you are free to leave the airport......you have made it into Canada

JB

(this is based on our landing experience on Oct 29th)

Just a note to about the goods-to-follow list from the stories of others who have landed recently. Some customs officers will take the view that, as you are only visiting and not settling at the moment, they will not process your goods to follow list. In this they seem to be technically correct as you are only allowed to import personal possessions free of tax and duty when you arrive in Canada to live for at least 12 months.

If this happens the you will need to present your GTF list when you do arrive for good. It solves the problem about acquiring stuff between now and then.

Very helpful comments. We are due to fly out to Calgary in May and you've clarified what I needed to know. Thanks!

When we landed in Vancouver, we were directed off to a department where everything was done in one go. Not sure if this was standard or because it was New Year's Eve

I take that was after passport control?

When we landed in VAncouver we were also immediately directed to the "immigration" bit. We didn't get near the conventional passport control. I don't recall being asked for the green card either - although we had completed them on the plane anyway - expecting to need them.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I don't feel as concerned after reading them and hopefully it will all go without a hitch.

Looking forward to it

Good luck with landing!

Does anyone know if the process is different if you are already living in Canada (on a TWP)?
For example, when we were asked to submit our full application, in the box where it says 'funds available' I put a line through it and wrote 'employement' as we had job offers and had started working for the company under TWPs. Also, with goods to follow, as we are living here already, we shipped (only) 4 boxes of things over back in 2009... everything else we have bought here..

just curious..

cheers,
Alan

It isn't a problem that your confirmation of permanent residence states Calgary when you are planning to live in BC. The immigration officer might ask you about it (in a conversational way), and will probably cross out Calgary on your COPR and write in your destination in BC.
NB that if there is any problem with your photos etc for your PR card between landing and arriving to live, you will be required to attend the CIC office closest to the town/ city written on your COPR for new photos - and I believe that is not negotiable.
That situation has just arisen for us, where 5 of us have to go to CIC in London Ontario (from the UK) before June to have new photos taken for our PR cards

This is true and happened with me

Thanks. We'll just have to wait and see what happens with that. I'd like to just get it all done and out of the way.

When I'm doing my list do I need to put a value on clothing, boxes of ornaments etc or just the high value electrical items.

What about my dog? Do I put a value for her