Hi again,

I'm flying to Victoria via Seattle,so with Seattle being the POE will this be a problem seeing as we will be residing in Canada and not the USA?

My wife raised this question last night and i haden't even thought about it befor then. Worried now!!

Mike

Seattle isnt your port of entry. Your POE is the first 'port' on which you set foot on CANADIAN soil, not the first place you land enroute.

Ok, it's just when i was there in Febuary i noticed that Victoria air port was quite deserted when i arrived and i'n getting in at the same time when i fly next weekend. Just thinking about how i'll get to declare my shipped items to follow.

But if you're flying from Seattle isn't immigration handled at the Seattle end and then the flight treated as a domestic flight? I thought that was how flights from the US were handled now, Immigration and Customs are at the originating end for flights between the two countries.

That.... I didn't know. Sounds a bit mad to me but hey !

Had heard this myself but didnt know that it had been set in stone yet

Ah right reading more about it (it's called the border preclearance) it's only from Canada to the US that is handled like that, not the other way around. Canada was going to do it in reverse but the sheer number of possible departure areas in the US made it logistically infeasible. So it's only from Canada to the US where that takes place. Should be okay then.

According to the Canada Border Services Agency's website, CBSA personnel are available to process immigrants at Victoria International Airport from 08:00 to 19:15, seven days a week.

What's your nationality - are you using the US visa waiver program to enter the States and are you travelling on a one-way ticket?

Hi, My nationalty is british,i'm not using the US visa waiver program(going on a work permit) and yes i'm on a one way ticket.

That's going to be close as the flight gets in at 1900hrs.

If you've got a full US visa that's great - a one-way on the visa waiver is not

so i'm in neither of these categories,now what??

You've confused me - if you're travelling on a British passport, you either will be using the Visa waiver scheme to enter the US (the green card you fill out on the plane, you'll be fingerprinted and photographed) - or you already have a valid US visa.

If it's the former, you need to check the rules about onward travel and one ways - their website states you must:


Have a return trip ticket to any foreign destination other than a territory bordering on the United States or an adjacent island unless:
You are a resident of an adjacent island,
This requirement is waived by the Attorney General under regulations, or
You are a visitor for business who arrives aboard a private aircraft that maintains a valid agreement guaranteeing to transport you out of the United States, if you are found to be inadmissible or deportable;

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id...us/vwp/vwp.xml

I don't know how they would deal with a not-yet Canadian resident, you might be fine, you might not be.

Fly to Victoria via Vancouver? I suspect you might have a problem transiting the US even with your ultimate destination being Canada. i.e. you might not get let into the US or in fact even onto the plane without a return ticket to UK, which clearly you wont have. Worth checking into before you go!