Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
Dec 31st 2012, 12:19 pm
#1
Concierge
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: Oakville, ON, CA
Posts: 8,320
Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
Hi All,
Just thought I'd share our experience landing earlier this month at Pearson. I sponsored my then-fiance now-husband this year as Common-Law - full timeline is in the signature. Was pretty straight forward, only had one call from CIC about two weeks before PPR came, they called my husband to confirm that we did indeed get married. (I did email CIC as per the instructions, goes to show how good they are at linking up emails and files!
)
Anyways, this might be useful for others landing in the future!
We landed at Pearson on a direct flight from London. First stop was Immigration at the normal desks you see every time you come through. We didn't realise we were supposed to fill out separate landing cards (oops) but she was quite friendly and helped us fill out the separate ones - just scratched Husband's name off of my card using her awesome red crayon (really), then wrote Husband a new one, also in red crayon, then scribbled highlighter on most of it (I think so it would be more obvious when we went through the next checkpoint), handed us some papers, and sent us through to the next point. The landing card was pretty funny, it looked like a kindergartener's art project gone wrong.
So we get through the next checkpoint and Husband is told to go through a separate set of doors; I answer a few questions from one of the guys (how long in Canada, who are you staying with, etc) and he sends me on my way to wait for Husband.
Husband went into a separate room for processing, was asked a few simple questions and had to give his Canadian address (used my parents'), signed a few forms, a few stamps in his passport, and that was it! Super straight forward, all PR'd up. (He did get a Canadian tote bag with lots of information about Your New Life in Canada - it was actually rather cute. Congratulations on being a PR, here's your goody bag. It's a nice bag too!) We'd come prepared with a load of extra documents just in case, but other than confirming a few of Husband's personal and Canadian details, he was asked very little. He was in the room a grand total of about 5 minutes.
From there it was to baggage claim, then when we went through Customs, we went through to the separate room to sort out our Goods to Follow. We were not going to be staying on this trip (hoping to move permanently Summer 2013), but we had prepared our Goods Accompanying and Goods to Follow lists (the Wiki was super helpful in preparing for that!). We only had Excel printouts of our stuff and we kept the categories as broad as possible with generous estimates on the value of items. The only things we specifically listed were those of higher value - electronics, jewellery, a few sports equipment bits, etc. Everything else was very broad categories - linens, clothes, etc. We didn't fill out the other Appendix B form or whatever it is (the Wiki's multiple colours thing on that made me laugh). We filled out the form with the Customs guy, and he was happy with our printouts. Everything was stamped and filed, and with that, our experience was done.
Overall it took us maybe another 20 minutes longer than what it would otherwise have taken to clear that whole process - nothing particularly hard or strenuous. Really straight forward and smooth, just waiting for his PR card to be delivered and my parents will courier it over to us in the UK.
Next step: Jobs!
Just thought I'd share our experience landing earlier this month at Pearson. I sponsored my then-fiance now-husband this year as Common-Law - full timeline is in the signature. Was pretty straight forward, only had one call from CIC about two weeks before PPR came, they called my husband to confirm that we did indeed get married. (I did email CIC as per the instructions, goes to show how good they are at linking up emails and files!
)Anyways, this might be useful for others landing in the future!
We landed at Pearson on a direct flight from London. First stop was Immigration at the normal desks you see every time you come through. We didn't realise we were supposed to fill out separate landing cards (oops) but she was quite friendly and helped us fill out the separate ones - just scratched Husband's name off of my card using her awesome red crayon (really), then wrote Husband a new one, also in red crayon, then scribbled highlighter on most of it (I think so it would be more obvious when we went through the next checkpoint), handed us some papers, and sent us through to the next point. The landing card was pretty funny, it looked like a kindergartener's art project gone wrong.
So we get through the next checkpoint and Husband is told to go through a separate set of doors; I answer a few questions from one of the guys (how long in Canada, who are you staying with, etc) and he sends me on my way to wait for Husband.
Husband went into a separate room for processing, was asked a few simple questions and had to give his Canadian address (used my parents'), signed a few forms, a few stamps in his passport, and that was it! Super straight forward, all PR'd up. (He did get a Canadian tote bag with lots of information about Your New Life in Canada - it was actually rather cute. Congratulations on being a PR, here's your goody bag. It's a nice bag too!) We'd come prepared with a load of extra documents just in case, but other than confirming a few of Husband's personal and Canadian details, he was asked very little. He was in the room a grand total of about 5 minutes.
From there it was to baggage claim, then when we went through Customs, we went through to the separate room to sort out our Goods to Follow. We were not going to be staying on this trip (hoping to move permanently Summer 2013), but we had prepared our Goods Accompanying and Goods to Follow lists (the Wiki was super helpful in preparing for that!). We only had Excel printouts of our stuff and we kept the categories as broad as possible with generous estimates on the value of items. The only things we specifically listed were those of higher value - electronics, jewellery, a few sports equipment bits, etc. Everything else was very broad categories - linens, clothes, etc. We didn't fill out the other Appendix B form or whatever it is (the Wiki's multiple colours thing on that made me laugh). We filled out the form with the Customs guy, and he was happy with our printouts. Everything was stamped and filed, and with that, our experience was done.
Overall it took us maybe another 20 minutes longer than what it would otherwise have taken to clear that whole process - nothing particularly hard or strenuous. Really straight forward and smooth, just waiting for his PR card to be delivered and my parents will courier it over to us in the UK.
Next step: Jobs!
Dec 31st 2012, 1:56 pm
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2011
Location: Somewhere between Vancouver & St Johns
Posts: 19,849
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
They let me use a red ball point pen so I must be doing something right 
The whole landing process is easy if prepared and not as intimidating as it seems. If unprepared then yes it doesnt go as smoothly as it should.
The whole landing process is easy if prepared and not as intimidating as it seems. If unprepared then yes it doesnt go as smoothly as it should.
Jan 2nd 2013, 1:36 am
#3
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Joined: Oct 2010
Location: A Briton, married to a Canadian, now in Fredericton.
Posts: 4,854
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
Congratulations! Your experience was very similar to ours. It's all a bit of an anti climax in a way....you get all worked up....I was so nervous I could barely sign my name... and then everyone is pleasant and it's remarkably straightforward. Best of luck.
Jan 2nd 2013, 2:27 am
#4
Just Joined
Joined: Sep 2012
Location: Burlington
Posts: 29
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
Congratulations
I am just about to send my paperwork off this week, it took me and my wife ages to get our marriage licence and for me to get my police certificate. Do you have any advice while waiting for it all to go through? I am currently living in Canada and on a visitors visa, How long from sending your papers off to getting approved did it take?
I am just about to send my paperwork off this week, it took me and my wife ages to get our marriage licence and for me to get my police certificate. Do you have any advice while waiting for it all to go through? I am currently living in Canada and on a visitors visa, How long from sending your papers off to getting approved did it take?
Jan 2nd 2013, 7:11 am
#5
Concierge
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: Oakville, ON, CA
Posts: 8,320
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
Congratulations
I am just about to send my paperwork off this week, it took me and my wife ages to get our marriage licence and for me to get my police certificate. Do you have any advice while waiting for it all to go through? I am currently living in Canada and on a visitors visa, How long from sending your papers off to getting approved did it take?
I am just about to send my paperwork off this week, it took me and my wife ages to get our marriage licence and for me to get my police certificate. Do you have any advice while waiting for it all to go through? I am currently living in Canada and on a visitors visa, How long from sending your papers off to getting approved did it take?
The waiting can be a real pain, but this forum does help! There were are few others I know applied around the same time as me - ChrisBrockhurst and Teacher1000 for a start - so I was able to compare what was happening with my application with theirs, though everyone's case is different, some people get approved quickly, others take longer.
My timeline is in my signature; I also used the below spreadsheet as a guide - add yourself to it, it's useful to see when people around you are hearing, though again don't take it as gospel as everyone's experiences are different.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...CJyi-IYE#gid=0
Biggest advice: DO NOT CHECK ECAS EVERY FREAKING DAY. It barely changes, when it does it's not a clear message, and often it's not even accurate. All it does it stress people out.
DO keep an eye, though, on what others around you are doing, and know what the advertised processing times are. For example, CPC-M has on their website "Currently working on applications received on [x date]." Until your day has passed, don't bother contacting them - they aren't working on your application. However, if [x date] changes and it's now after when they received your application, and you haven't heard, go get in touch with them!
The London stage is a bit different - most people hear from London in 2-4 months... if you go longer than that, do send them a case-specific enquiry. You might have to do this a few times, though... have a poke around the Timeline for Spousal via London thread, there's a billion pages but a few people have had to contact CIC and it's pretty well documented in there.
DO check your Spam messages! Others here have been stung because they didn't check Spam and missed an email from CIC.
Other than that, hang out here and pass the time!
Jan 3rd 2013, 4:04 pm
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2011
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Posts: 340
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
Hi All,
Just thought I'd share our experience landing earlier this month at Pearson. I sponsored my then-fiance now-husband this year as Common-Law - full timeline is in the signature. Was pretty straight forward, only had one call from CIC about two weeks before PPR came, they called my husband to confirm that we did indeed get married. (I did email CIC as per the instructions, goes to show how good they are at linking up emails and files!)
Anyways, this might be useful for others landing in the future!
We landed at Pearson on a direct flight from London. First stop was Immigration at the normal desks you see every time you come through. We didn't realise we were supposed to fill out separate landing cards (oops) but she was quite friendly and helped us fill out the separate ones - just scratched Husband's name off of my card using her awesome red crayon (really), then wrote Husband a new one, also in red crayon, then scribbled highlighter on most of it (I think so it would be more obvious when we went through the next checkpoint), handed us some papers, and sent us through to the next point. The landing card was pretty funny, it looked like a kindergartener's art project gone wrong.
So we get through the next checkpoint and Husband is told to go through a separate set of doors; I answer a few questions from one of the guys (how long in Canada, who are you staying with, etc) and he sends me on my way to wait for Husband.
Husband went into a separate room for processing, was asked a few simple questions and had to give his Canadian address (used my parents'), signed a few forms, a few stamps in his passport, and that was it! Super straight forward, all PR'd up. (He did get a Canadian tote bag with lots of information about Your New Life in Canada - it was actually rather cute. Congratulations on being a PR, here's your goody bag. It's a nice bag too!) We'd come prepared with a load of extra documents just in case, but other than confirming a few of Husband's personal and Canadian details, he was asked very little. He was in the room a grand total of about 5 minutes.
From there it was to baggage claim, then when we went through Customs, we went through to the separate room to sort out our Goods to Follow. We were not going to be staying on this trip (hoping to move permanently Summer 2013), but we had prepared our Goods Accompanying and Goods to Follow lists (the Wiki was super helpful in preparing for that!). We only had Excel printouts of our stuff and we kept the categories as broad as possible with generous estimates on the value of items. The only things we specifically listed were those of higher value - electronics, jewellery, a few sports equipment bits, etc. Everything else was very broad categories - linens, clothes, etc. We didn't fill out the other Appendix B form or whatever it is (the Wiki's multiple colours thing on that made me laugh). We filled out the form with the Customs guy, and he was happy with our printouts. Everything was stamped and filed, and with that, our experience was done.
Overall it took us maybe another 20 minutes longer than what it would otherwise have taken to clear that whole process - nothing particularly hard or strenuous. Really straight forward and smooth, just waiting for his PR card to be delivered and my parents will courier it over to us in the UK.
Next step: Jobs!
Just thought I'd share our experience landing earlier this month at Pearson. I sponsored my then-fiance now-husband this year as Common-Law - full timeline is in the signature. Was pretty straight forward, only had one call from CIC about two weeks before PPR came, they called my husband to confirm that we did indeed get married. (I did email CIC as per the instructions, goes to show how good they are at linking up emails and files!
)Anyways, this might be useful for others landing in the future!
We landed at Pearson on a direct flight from London. First stop was Immigration at the normal desks you see every time you come through. We didn't realise we were supposed to fill out separate landing cards (oops) but she was quite friendly and helped us fill out the separate ones - just scratched Husband's name off of my card using her awesome red crayon (really), then wrote Husband a new one, also in red crayon, then scribbled highlighter on most of it (I think so it would be more obvious when we went through the next checkpoint), handed us some papers, and sent us through to the next point. The landing card was pretty funny, it looked like a kindergartener's art project gone wrong.
So we get through the next checkpoint and Husband is told to go through a separate set of doors; I answer a few questions from one of the guys (how long in Canada, who are you staying with, etc) and he sends me on my way to wait for Husband.
Husband went into a separate room for processing, was asked a few simple questions and had to give his Canadian address (used my parents'), signed a few forms, a few stamps in his passport, and that was it! Super straight forward, all PR'd up. (He did get a Canadian tote bag with lots of information about Your New Life in Canada - it was actually rather cute. Congratulations on being a PR, here's your goody bag. It's a nice bag too!) We'd come prepared with a load of extra documents just in case, but other than confirming a few of Husband's personal and Canadian details, he was asked very little. He was in the room a grand total of about 5 minutes.
From there it was to baggage claim, then when we went through Customs, we went through to the separate room to sort out our Goods to Follow. We were not going to be staying on this trip (hoping to move permanently Summer 2013), but we had prepared our Goods Accompanying and Goods to Follow lists (the Wiki was super helpful in preparing for that!). We only had Excel printouts of our stuff and we kept the categories as broad as possible with generous estimates on the value of items. The only things we specifically listed were those of higher value - electronics, jewellery, a few sports equipment bits, etc. Everything else was very broad categories - linens, clothes, etc. We didn't fill out the other Appendix B form or whatever it is (the Wiki's multiple colours thing on that made me laugh). We filled out the form with the Customs guy, and he was happy with our printouts. Everything was stamped and filed, and with that, our experience was done.
Overall it took us maybe another 20 minutes longer than what it would otherwise have taken to clear that whole process - nothing particularly hard or strenuous. Really straight forward and smooth, just waiting for his PR card to be delivered and my parents will courier it over to us in the UK.
Next step: Jobs!
What a nice summary on the landing experience this is; and it surely eases out our anxieties as well. From what you say, the custom officals seem to be very nice warm towards the immigrants as well. We are going to go through this same experience on 15th Jan; and reallyyy wish that we also have such an easy sail through the customs.
If you dont mind, can you pls point me to the wiki for "Goods to Follow" and "Goods Accompanying". Just wanaa double check we are in right direction.
Wish you & your OH a happy 2013; and all the best in your job search!!
Jan 3rd 2013, 4:05 pm
#7
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Joined: Oct 2007
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Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
HTH.
Jan 3rd 2013, 4:08 pm
#8
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Location: Winnipeg, MB
Posts: 340
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
Jan 3rd 2013, 4:10 pm
#9
Lost in BE Cyberspace
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Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
You can also read this brochure regarding goods
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...f5113-eng.html
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...f5113-eng.html
Jan 3rd 2013, 5:01 pm
#10
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Joined: Dec 2011
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Posts: 340
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
You can also read this brochure regarding goods
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...f5113-eng.html
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...f5113-eng.html
(a) Alcohol : Is the max limit mentioned for per adult, or family?
(b) Medicines : Is it alright to carry small quantities (like 10 to 30 pills each) for generic drugs like Paracetamol, Anti-biotics etc?
Jan 3rd 2013, 5:08 pm
#11
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Location: Winnipeg, MB
Posts: 340
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
also how shall we manage our existing long term investments that have lock-in period and cant be dissolved? Should we submit a separate XLS worksheet, with local currency and converted CAD?
Jan 3rd 2013, 5:25 pm
#12
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Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
Thanks @christmasoompa , @Former Lancastrian. Went through the wiki as well as the URL. Have a couple of questions, if you could answer them for me pls :
(a) Alcohol : Is the max limit mentioned for per adult, or family?
(b) Medicines : Is it alright to carry small quantities (like 10 to 30 pills each) for generic drugs like Paracetamol, Anti-biotics etc?
(a) Alcohol : Is the max limit mentioned for per adult, or family?
(b) Medicines : Is it alright to carry small quantities (like 10 to 30 pills each) for generic drugs like Paracetamol, Anti-biotics etc?
Prescribed medicines or OTC should be carried in their original containers as opposed to a plastic baggie or other container along with a reasonable amount required for duration of stay.
As for investments as long as they are declared then no further problems as most get the funds wired to their Cad accounts.
Jan 3rd 2013, 11:52 pm
#13
Binned by Muderators
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 11,682
Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
The immigration officer might also ask how much cash or cash equivalents you have with you. Just tell them how much. Regardless, you always have to declare if you are carrying more than $10,000 in cash or cash equivalents.
You do not need to mention any funds you have in locked-in accounts, or any other funds you have overseas for the landing process or to travel through immigration.
However, you may need to disclose these funds when you file an income tax return.
Jan 6th 2013, 12:55 pm
#14
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Re: Landed! Our experiences landing Common-Law at YYZ.
@former lancastrian, @jonboyE
Hope you are having a great time at first weekend of 2013
Thank you for the kind reply. So, about 5x10 pills of OTC meds won't do any harm.
About the long term investments.... Kindly let me know if my below understanding is correct :
I can declare the current value of investments in my first tax return. Then, after 5-7 years, when I get money... I can pay tax on the bonus/interest earned, & retain the principal amount as untaxable. (with understanding that I am going to wire the money over to Canada as soon investments mature).
Thank you.
Hope you are having a great time at first weekend of 2013
Thank you for the kind reply. So, about 5x10 pills of OTC meds won't do any harm.
About the long term investments.... Kindly let me know if my below understanding is correct :
I can declare the current value of investments in my first tax return. Then, after 5-7 years, when I get money... I can pay tax on the bonus/interest earned, & retain the principal amount as untaxable. (with understanding that I am going to wire the money over to Canada as soon investments mature).
Thank you.
