Scouse

Ahaaa!! Things are beginning to make sense now!!

Thanks for the info.

Tiaribbon

Great news Geet!!! Congratulations!!

Migri

Hi Geet,
First congrats on your landing. I wanted to ask you specifically about how you got back to the US.

1) Since your visa already expired did you apply for a new one in Canada?
2) If not, did you stay for less than a month in Canada, and you did not apply for a new visa (since you don't need one for that short period)?
3) Also, have you been able to obtain your Canadian residence card? And how long does it usaully take?

Thanks a lot.
CM

Geet

Hi Migri,

Thanks for your wishes.

Answers to your questions are:

1)/2) I did not apply for a visa in Canada as I was there for only 4 days. The automatic visa revalidation rule from Dept of State (U.S.) clearly states that if you apply for a visa in Canada and it is rejected, you cannot enter U.S. with a valid I-797 and I-94. So, if you intend to stay in Canada for less then 30 days, don't bother with applying for a visa. Use the Livinston border crossing as I found the officers there most knowledgable and well aware for this rule. You should not have any problem.
3) The PR Card is mailed to the address that you provide at the time of landing. Takes about 3-6 weeks to arrive.

I hope this helps but please feel free to ask me any questions that you might have. Will be more than happy to help as I understand the anxiety landing brings along with it.

Take care.

houstonian

Hi,

My wife and I will do exactly what you just went through this coming weekend. The only different, we will do it at Peach Arch border towards Vancouver, BC. Here are my questions:

1. during landing, I would like to know what sort of questions the landing officer asked?
2. did you fill out the application for PR card during the landing process?
3. I will NOT have "goods to follow", should I still provide a signed "goods to follow" list (i.e. blank list )?
4. my H1b visa on my passport is expired, I know that I can use a valid I-797 and my I-94 to re-enter the US (automatic re-validation process). did you go through the US-Visit process (fingerprinting, etc.) both when you're out and into the US?
5. any further tips, guidance will be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks much and Congratulations!!

houstonian

Geet

Hi houstonian,

Firstly congrats on getting your PR Visa.
Now to your questions,
1) Only questions that were asked were,
1) Do you have a bank statement?
2) How much cash/bank cheques/traveller checks you have?
Thats it. The immigration officer stamped my passport and striked out my visa as it is for single use only. He also mentioned that I need to wait for my PR card if I want to travel abroard but said that U.S. will be OK. He also told me that I will loose my PR if I do not stay in Canada 2 years out of every 5 years and then welcomed me to my new home. (This was the best part )
Once this was done, he asked me to go to the customs desk and present my Goods to Follow list.

2) I did not have to fill a PR Card application. Its a process thats automatically triggered when the immigration officer enters your information in the system. (When you officially land) I was not asked for any photos and when I inquired about it, he told me that the photo on my COPR will be used for that purpose.

3) If you do not have a goods to follow list, just let the customs official know and they will enter the same in there system. You will not be able to bring anything into Canada without paying the duty. Make a list for the goods that you will be carrying with you so that you do not have any problems.

4) No, I did not have to go through and exit - entry process with U.S. Immigration. Infact, while exiting U.S., I didn't even know that I was out of U.S. until I saw the sign "Welcome To Canada", funny but thats how it was. If you are from a SR country, make sure that you stop and get an exit stamp in your passport even if no one stops you on the U.S. side of the border.

5) Try to just relax. Its a very easy process and just go with a lot of confidence. The actual tyring part is getting the SIN/Driver License/Medical Card and Bank Account. Note that in Canada, banks charge you a lot of different fees for using your own money which is unheard of in U.S. but "PC Financials" is the only bank that I found with a 100% fee free checking account. Check them out.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please let me know and I would be more than happy to answer them to my best ability.

Good Luck on your landing. Let us know how it goes.

houstonian

Hi Geet,

Thank you for your prompt response!! Yes, I believe, we're from an SR country, we will stop at US immigration and do the exit procedure.

Again thanks! we will keep you posted.

houstonian

houstonian

Hi Geet,

We just landed last Saturday and everything went very well. We just learned that we should not do anything with US Immigration when we exit the US and should just go ahead with the landing process with Canadian immigration. For landing purposes, we also learned that we could not do it at the Peace Arch and should do it only at the Pacific Hwy.

We'd like to share our experience for everybody who will land via auto at WA-BC border:
- Do the landing process at Pacific Hwy (not Peace Arch). We arrived at Peace Arch at around 8.00 pm on Saturday and the Canadian immigration officer told me to do the landing process at Pacific Hwy. So, we turned around, re-entered the US, luckily the US immigration officer understood the situation and even gave us the direction to Pacific hwy. Pacific hwy has a larger facility and more ample parking space anyway.
- We first stopped at the gate and told the officer that we're going to complete our landing process. He asked a couple of questions and filled out a form and asked us to park next to the building and bring the form along with our COPR and passport to complete our landing process inside. The landing process went very smooth and took approximately 15 mins. There was no queue at that time. The officer asked:
* Have you ever commited any crime or been refused for visa application? the answer is of course NO.
* Do you have any other dependants besides the ones listed in the COPR? again the answer is NO.
* How much money do you bring to Canada? You should show a bank statement, etc. to prove it.
After that they asked for our address in vancouver, crossed out our visa in the passport, stamped the passport, stapled the copy of our COPR to the passport, explained our rights and obligations as a PR and congratulated us. He also said that the PR card will arrive approximately 6-8 weeks and gave us an Address change form, just in case if our address for PR card to be sent is changed.
- The next step was to meet the custom officer (the same building/room). They asked about our Goods to Follow list and stamped our passport. That's it and we're officially Canadian PR's.

Thanks and good luck for everybody in this mailing list, and to all immigration consultants: Andrew Miller, PMM, and Jim Humphries.


houstonian

Geet

Hi houstonian,

Congrats on your landing buddy. I told you its a piece of cake.
Very happy for you and good luck for the future.

Keep us all posted.

houstonian

Hi Geet,

Thanks for your great tips! It works. Btw, I also checked my e-client and my address has not been changed. Should I wait for few days before I ask the webmaster? Do you have any experience/tips that you can share to us?

Thanks,
houstonian

Geet

Hi houstonian,

I guess wait for about a week or so and if it still isnt updated, then get in touch with the webmaster. Mine changed after 9 days.
Good Luck.

burmonk1

3rd of June must be an exceptionally good day. Really very pleased for you. Recieved my family passports with visa's this morning from the Canadian High Commission , London, after a 22 month process. Will be raising a glass or two this evening. Victoria by July.

Now it starts.