Shakyuk

I have booked my flights to Canada but I have just re-read the CoPR paperwork and it says immigration procedures are performed at the initial point of entry. I missed this when I read it last time. I land in Vancouver then fly to Calgary but there is only 2 hours between the flights. I was thinking I'd just go and land in Calgary. I land in two weeks so not a lot of time.


Is it an absolute rule that I must do the immigration procedures in Vancouver or could I wait until Calgary? From what I've read I don't think 2 hours is long enough.
Also I believe the landing paperwork is just:

• CoPR
• Goods to follow
• Proof of funds
• Advised to also have birth certificates, marriage certificates (if applicable) and qualification assessments.

For the proof of funds, do they need the full 6 months like I supplied during the application? I can I just print out the balance sheet from my bank account?


Thank you in advance!

Former Lancastrian

Well they won't land you in Calgary as the flight from Vancouver is a domestic one so you wouldn't be clearing Customs.
If not wishing to do it in Vancouver then once in Calgary you could make an appointment at the local IRCC office which would have them wondering why you didn't do it when you flew to Canada with COPR in hand.
As for what you need well some are asked for proof of funds others not been asked. Are you establishing a residence in Canada or just doing the landing and going back to the UK?

Zoe Bell

You have to land at your first port of entry
flying from Van to Calgary , you'll fly as domestic , so no opportunity to land even if you wanted to

Shakyuk

Oh damn... It looks like I'll have to change my connecting flight.


We're landing and establishing a residence. We'll be in Canada for the foreseeable future.



Thank you


Do either of you know how long landing takes? We're arriving in Vancouver at 16:50 on a Saturday.

GermanytoCanada

I cannot remember anyone on this forum saying that they were asked for POF evidence when landing. Best to be on the safe side though - a copy of your bank statement should suffice.

We also landed in Vancouver and the process was surprisingly quick (under one hour and that was with negotiating a small child through the airport and process). So two hours may be sufficient anyway (purely down to luck as to how busy it is).

Is there any opportunity to call the airline (or whoever you booked with) and change the internal flight to a later one? Worst case, if you take too long at immigration and miss your internal flight to Calgary, what will the airline do when you tell them you were stuck at immigration? This must happen all the time and I can't see the airline charging you for a new seat - you will have to wait for seats to be available on a flight (accepting that this could be some time worst case) but I would be surprised if you were charged (or charged full fare).

Otherwise, you are probable stuck with doing it in Calgary as suggested by FL. Do all land border crossings offer this service? The nearest border is less than a 3 hour drive???

Former Lancastrian

Not all land border crossings do flag poling. Calgary has a local IRCC (CIC) office that with an appointment that would do the landing. Calgary airport probably won't do it if not arriving off a trans border or international flight.
At this time of year who really wants to drive 3 hours there and back to do a flag pole.
Checking for a later flight would be my preferred choice. A 2 hour connection is pushing it though it can be done if no delays on inbound flight, YVR hasn't got half a dozen big flights landing at the same time, other people from all over the world aren't wishing to also use Immigration and a few other things.

Hurlabrick

You should only need your CoPR, passport and goods accompanying / goods to follow. You dont need POF (assuming you are spousal sponsorship?). You wont need certificates (they were assessed as part of the process to issue a CoPR.

Actual processing time once you get to the desks is probably a total of 30 minutes, but is in two chunks, first to land you and sort CoPR, second to do goods to follow. BUT the delay comes with the line of people trying to do the same thing in front of you and how many staff they have on, which no one can say. But 2 hours much to short IMHO, I certainly wouldnt risk it.

Vancouver may have those new customs declaration screens instead of the old paper customs forms, just so you know what to expect.

Zoe Bell

the "how long to land question" is problematic. it isn't so much how long it takes them to process you , but how many people are in front of you

land at a quiet time and you could be in and out within half an hour, land behind a jumbo jet of people with dicey immigration issues and you could be there all day

GermanytoCanada

Good point made above - our 'under 1 hour' was only for the landing section as we deferred the goods to follow declaration until a later date.

I would plan on it not happening in Vancouver unless you can change your internal flight.

Shakyuk

I haven't read of anyone needing POF either, but it does say on the CoPR email we got that POF may be checked and should be carried with us, it just doesn't detail what they're expecting. I'll just take bank statements like you say.


I'm going to change the flight, I'll get charged but I'd rather get the landing done straight away. I haven't got a job lined up and I want to get job hunting asap so I'd rather not have to worry about flag poling or anything like that.



We're Federal Skilled Worker through EE route and don't have jobs so we needed POF for our application, the CoPR 'email' also says POF is required and it advises the other documents are present in case we're questioned. I've never read anyone needing anything other than CoPR, Passports and Goods to Follow like you say but their email does say all the other stuff too.






Thank you everyone for your replies, much appreciated

Hurlabrick

Oh and IIRC a couple of people on this forum who landed recently at Vancouver have reported that CBSA only processed their CoPR, then ushered them out of the airport without mentioning the goods to follow lists.

Be prepared to tell them quite forcefully that you have a goods to follow list that they must process and stamp (this was done at a second desk after the CoPR when we landed), or you will have to make a trip back later.

A lot of stuff to remember, especially when you are both excited and jet-lagged I know!

Shakyuk

Thank you, I'll have to remember that!

Gorbzilla

@Shakyuk - when I came to Canada to do my landing, I booked a flight to Vancouver but it was indirect (cheaper) and stopped in Calgary first. At immigration they told me I had to do the landing there as I would not go through immigration at Vancouver.

I explained how I had a connecting flight, and they said that the customs officer would rebook me on the next flight free of charge.

And that did happen! Once I was fully landed in Calgary, I went to the Westjet check in desk and they put me on the next flight, no issue at all.

I don't know if this standard everywhere, but saved me some stress when I landed.

At landing the immigration officer processed me in about 5 minutes (I said I had a flight to catch). Missed the flight by a couple of minutes but as mentioned i was put on the next flight without issue.

I hope you can do the same as me, best of luck!

PS post edited as I accidentally posted the message before finishing it, phone fail..

Ps I've dealt with immigration now at Calgary (landing), Vancouver (goods to follow), and Toronto (where I've decided to settle) - Calgary and Toronto they are all very nice, but the man I dealt with in Vancouver was a complete a-hole.

Interestingly immigration at Calgary said I can provide my goods to follow list up to 7 days after landing, but the immigration guy at Vancouver (angrily) disagreed. Seems they are inconsistent in their approach. Either way follow the aforementioned advice of telling them you have your goods to follow list handy.

Shakyuk

Thank you for the information mate, it's good to read experiences. I am going to try and change the flight myself though as I like to have it all sorted then it's one less thing to think about. Hopefully I don't get the grump of Vancouver on landing!

GermanytoCanada

The guy who landed us in Vancouver was pleasant and fairly (for an immigration officer) helpful.

Don't worry, I believe only around 10% now get subjected to the body cavity search on arrival.