Sorry to hear that. Have you tried calling for an appointment to do the landing at a CIC office then? Is the wait time really bad?
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Rainbow Bridge PR Landing FAILED
- Thread starter luckysimsim
- Start date
I did my landing yesterday at Rainbow bridge.
Walked over to the US side, the officer asked me if I wanted to enter US or just go back with the white paper (I had US visa). Of course I chose to go back with the paper. Who wants to enter SAD! USA right? Literally just took 10 mins for the the whole thing.
Over to the Canadian side, in line with the previous accounts here, it was pretty crazy. It was 8 AM and already had at least 20-30 people waiting for various things, not just landing. The officers were polite but were strongly advising to go somewhere else since it might be 7-8 hours wait. I was called in at about 3 hour mark. I thought they might have prioritized landing people yesterday, just because it engages less of their time during the process. The actual interaction at the desk took at max 5 mins. Signed stamped and gave back my CoPR after the usual questions (convictions and bank statement).
That's it and I was done. Picked up a moose softy on my way back to mark the occasion. Lol.
Bottomline is, if you got car, avoid rainbow bridge.
Walked over to the US side, the officer asked me if I wanted to enter US or just go back with the white paper (I had US visa). Of course I chose to go back with the paper. Who wants to enter SAD! USA right? Literally just took 10 mins for the the whole thing.
Over to the Canadian side, in line with the previous accounts here, it was pretty crazy. It was 8 AM and already had at least 20-30 people waiting for various things, not just landing. The officers were polite but were strongly advising to go somewhere else since it might be 7-8 hours wait. I was called in at about 3 hour mark. I thought they might have prioritized landing people yesterday, just because it engages less of their time during the process. The actual interaction at the desk took at max 5 mins. Signed stamped and gave back my CoPR after the usual questions (convictions and bank statement).
That's it and I was done. Picked up a moose softy on my way back to mark the occasion. Lol.
Bottomline is, if you got car, avoid rainbow bridge.
Hey guys,
In the light of CBSA restriction on flag-poling wanted to share my experience of an unsuccessful landing "attempt" last night.
All 4 bridges in Niagara were turning people away last night. We ended up trying our luck at Queenston bridge and failed. We arrived there at 12:40-ish am today, Thursday June 22, passed the US checkpoint and got the flag-poling document no problem, but were denied an attempt to land by an officer at the Canadian checkpoint.
The officer told us that "they don't do it anymore" and advised to book an appointment with a CIC office, or, if we did want to try our luck again, - come back to the bridge during "regular hours" between Tuesday and Thursday.
The bridge was empty. We were the only car passing through. The parking lot by the building was practically empty - we saw a few cars parked and 3 people walking from the parking lot towards the building. The building (which is see-through glass from top to bottom) looked empty - no lines, not even a single person at a single counter.
Anyway, this sounds to me like an internal conflict between CBSA and CIC that is not getting resolved properly and the consequences of which are not being communicated to the public, and as a result people end up driving for hours only to be turned away.
If it's a long drive for you and you have to work the next day, or if you have children, etc. etc. - I advise to not go because at this point it appears to be useless and even though what happened to us last night contradicts the new "unofficial" CBSA policy where flagpoling is only restricted from Friday to Monday (but Thursday is listed as one of the days you could and should go, with no restrictions on the time of day) - this is the reality and they don't seem to care. We weren't even offered an option to wait "in line" even though there wasn't any.
Hope this helps and good luck to everyone!
Keep us posted about similar experiences - booking an appointment at CIC centre included.
In the light of CBSA restriction on flag-poling wanted to share my experience of an unsuccessful landing "attempt" last night.
All 4 bridges in Niagara were turning people away last night. We ended up trying our luck at Queenston bridge and failed. We arrived there at 12:40-ish am today, Thursday June 22, passed the US checkpoint and got the flag-poling document no problem, but were denied an attempt to land by an officer at the Canadian checkpoint.
The officer told us that "they don't do it anymore" and advised to book an appointment with a CIC office, or, if we did want to try our luck again, - come back to the bridge during "regular hours" between Tuesday and Thursday.
The bridge was empty. We were the only car passing through. The parking lot by the building was practically empty - we saw a few cars parked and 3 people walking from the parking lot towards the building. The building (which is see-through glass from top to bottom) looked empty - no lines, not even a single person at a single counter.
Anyway, this sounds to me like an internal conflict between CBSA and CIC that is not getting resolved properly and the consequences of which are not being communicated to the public, and as a result people end up driving for hours only to be turned away.
If it's a long drive for you and you have to work the next day, or if you have children, etc. etc. - I advise to not go because at this point it appears to be useless and even though what happened to us last night contradicts the new "unofficial" CBSA policy where flagpoling is only restricted from Friday to Monday (but Thursday is listed as one of the days you could and should go, with no restrictions on the time of day) - this is the reality and they don't seem to care. We weren't even offered an option to wait "in line" even though there wasn't any.
Hope this helps and good luck to everyone!
Keep us posted about similar experiences - booking an appointment at CIC centre included.
Hi Guys,
My experience flagpoling yesterday (21st June) was pleasant.
Drove to Lewiston-Queenston from Toronto..reached US side at around 9pm. Was asked for passport and made to wait for 10 minutes before being provided with the white paper(with name and dob).
Drove back to Canada border, was asked few statutory questions, was provided with yellow paper (mentioned flagpoling) and then was directed to park my car towards the border security office.
There were only 2-3 families at the office and was given the signed COPR after around 30 minutes of wait. The officer did inquire about having proof of funds.. luckily I had printed my bank statement earlier that day...in total it took less than an hour to complete all the formalities.
If any questions, please let me know..will try to help.
My experience flagpoling yesterday (21st June) was pleasant.
Drove to Lewiston-Queenston from Toronto..reached US side at around 9pm. Was asked for passport and made to wait for 10 minutes before being provided with the white paper(with name and dob).
Drove back to Canada border, was asked few statutory questions, was provided with yellow paper (mentioned flagpoling) and then was directed to park my car towards the border security office.
There were only 2-3 families at the office and was given the signed COPR after around 30 minutes of wait. The officer did inquire about having proof of funds.. luckily I had printed my bank statement earlier that day...in total it took less than an hour to complete all the formalities.
If any questions, please let me know..will try to help.
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Oh..!! I landed yesterday at around 9 pm at Lewiston-Queenston bridge...guess I was lucky to have successfully landed. I guess anything after midnight is "irregular hours" for them. But that's very weird and unfortunate for them to have turned you away..God luck next time..
Congratulations! Glad someone made it through. Maybe after midnight is the reason indeed... Not sure what's going on anymore...
Make sure to send a complaint, that's the only way your voice will be heard. This CBSA feedback from will help you out.
Did my landing yesterday at Rainbow Bridge, a PR now. I booked a hotel room at Niagara Falls on the Wednesday night and woke up early next day. It was around 7:50 am when I got flagpole from the US border. They start to process PR landing at 8:00 am, first come first served. There were already 20 people waiting in the building ahead of me, crazy. Completely lucky that I got it done at Rainbow Bridge since they can shut down the service anytime they want.
Overall, I attempted to do my landing 3 times at Rainbow Bridge, such a hassle. I did try to book an appointment with IRCC but it takes 2 weeks for them just to reply my request and set up an appointment that most likely another few weeks of waiting, but honestly who would wait that long just for this last f*cking step...
Bridges like Rainbow bridge and Peace bridge DO NOT process PR landing during Friday to Monday, don't even try, no matter how empty the offices are. They will just not participate.
Overall, I attempted to do my landing 3 times at Rainbow Bridge, such a hassle. I did try to book an appointment with IRCC but it takes 2 weeks for them just to reply my request and set up an appointment that most likely another few weeks of waiting, but honestly who would wait that long just for this last f*cking step...
Bridges like Rainbow bridge and Peace bridge DO NOT process PR landing during Friday to Monday, don't even try, no matter how empty the offices are. They will just not participate.