Hello. I'm writing this post to share my landing experience. Hope it will be useful to some people.
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We landed on April 10th 2019 in Toronto Pearson International Airport around noon with Air Canada from Frankfurt - as we’re living in Germany. The flight was 8h20m and the entertainment system of Air Canada was not working - so it was a very long one for us.
During the flight they gave us the Customs Declaration card. I advice that you fill this up even if you’re going to use the kiosks. In fact, we didn’t use the kiosks and used this physical card as kiosks were busy. You need to fill one card per family of four - not per person.
The moment you are off the airplane you will be walking to Arrivals. Just follow the signs until you reach to a large area of passport control. There is a separate line for International passports, follow the signs. Remember you should have already checked in with kiosks or have your Declaration card in hand when approaching the first officer. In addition, you need your CoPR and Passports in hand.
This is your first interview. You need to mention to the officer that you’re new immigrants and here for your landing. If your dependants are landing with you, all of you should approach together. The officer asked if we’re traveling with more than 10K, then marked the Declaration card with a red Z sign and crossed it with a pink marker. He sent us forward where you are guided to a different room to meet the Immigration Officer.
In this area you stand in line until the next available Immigration Officer is available. You should have CoPR, Passports, marked Declaration card and the PR Card address in hand when you’re approaching the Immigration Officer. He first checked the documents, asked if anything is changed in our situation (i.e. marriage, kids, death of spouse etc.) and asked us to confirm all the information mentioned on CoPR is correct. Then asked how much cash exactly we are traveling with. Then asked if we were convinced in any country, expelled from Canada before or denied entry to. You are then asked to provide an address where PR Cards will be delivered to. He stamped our single-entry VISA and crossed it with a pen to void it. He then stamped and signed both copies of CoPR, asked us to do so as well. He kept the one with photos attached to him and the other copies he returned to us. NOTE: You need your copy of CoPR all the time, for getting the Canadian citizenship or even when applying for your retirement at the age of 65. Keep it safe and clean.
At this stage you’re almost done. He gave us two pieces of small papers where you mention your parents name and some other details while you stand in line for Service Canada which is next to where you met the Immigration Officer. You need your CoPR and Passports when you approach the counter for SIN number. The whole process takes about 10 minutes. The SIN is a piece of paper with a number on it that you need to keep secret. She asked to only share this number with bank, employer or lawyers.
After this you are guided to Welcome Canada booths where you receive some booklets and useful information about how to start your new life in Canada. You are then out of the Immigration area down to Baggage claim after this. You need to find your luggages and be prepared to meet the Customs officer. Follow the signs to exit where the officer would see your marked Declaration card and ask you to go to another area instead of exit to meet Customs officer.
You need to have your CoPR, Passports and Goods to Follow list in hand at this stage. Make sure you have two copies of the list with all your items along with photos of the jewelries. All items should be listed with approximate CAD value and a grand total at the bottom. The officer asked how much cash exactly we’re traveling with and gave us a piece of paper to sign where that amount was logged to their systems. Then for the Goods to Follow, he asked from which country it is going to be shipped and what is the address to which we’re going to ship it. He then stamped all the papers we have, attached it to a blue printed form. Then guided us to exit.
That’s it - You are done at this stage. The whole process took about 2-3 hours because the lines were busy. We then took the UPExpress to Union Station to go to our apartment.
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We landed on April 10th 2019 in Toronto Pearson International Airport around noon with Air Canada from Frankfurt - as we’re living in Germany. The flight was 8h20m and the entertainment system of Air Canada was not working - so it was a very long one for us.
During the flight they gave us the Customs Declaration card. I advice that you fill this up even if you’re going to use the kiosks. In fact, we didn’t use the kiosks and used this physical card as kiosks were busy. You need to fill one card per family of four - not per person.
The moment you are off the airplane you will be walking to Arrivals. Just follow the signs until you reach to a large area of passport control. There is a separate line for International passports, follow the signs. Remember you should have already checked in with kiosks or have your Declaration card in hand when approaching the first officer. In addition, you need your CoPR and Passports in hand.
This is your first interview. You need to mention to the officer that you’re new immigrants and here for your landing. If your dependants are landing with you, all of you should approach together. The officer asked if we’re traveling with more than 10K, then marked the Declaration card with a red Z sign and crossed it with a pink marker. He sent us forward where you are guided to a different room to meet the Immigration Officer.
In this area you stand in line until the next available Immigration Officer is available. You should have CoPR, Passports, marked Declaration card and the PR Card address in hand when you’re approaching the Immigration Officer. He first checked the documents, asked if anything is changed in our situation (i.e. marriage, kids, death of spouse etc.) and asked us to confirm all the information mentioned on CoPR is correct. Then asked how much cash exactly we are traveling with. Then asked if we were convinced in any country, expelled from Canada before or denied entry to. You are then asked to provide an address where PR Cards will be delivered to. He stamped our single-entry VISA and crossed it with a pen to void it. He then stamped and signed both copies of CoPR, asked us to do so as well. He kept the one with photos attached to him and the other copies he returned to us. NOTE: You need your copy of CoPR all the time, for getting the Canadian citizenship or even when applying for your retirement at the age of 65. Keep it safe and clean.
At this stage you’re almost done. He gave us two pieces of small papers where you mention your parents name and some other details while you stand in line for Service Canada which is next to where you met the Immigration Officer. You need your CoPR and Passports when you approach the counter for SIN number. The whole process takes about 10 minutes. The SIN is a piece of paper with a number on it that you need to keep secret. She asked to only share this number with bank, employer or lawyers.
After this you are guided to Welcome Canada booths where you receive some booklets and useful information about how to start your new life in Canada. You are then out of the Immigration area down to Baggage claim after this. You need to find your luggages and be prepared to meet the Customs officer. Follow the signs to exit where the officer would see your marked Declaration card and ask you to go to another area instead of exit to meet Customs officer.
You need to have your CoPR, Passports and Goods to Follow list in hand at this stage. Make sure you have two copies of the list with all your items along with photos of the jewelries. All items should be listed with approximate CAD value and a grand total at the bottom. The officer asked how much cash exactly we’re traveling with and gave us a piece of paper to sign where that amount was logged to their systems. Then for the Goods to Follow, he asked from which country it is going to be shipped and what is the address to which we’re going to ship it. He then stamped all the papers we have, attached it to a blue printed form. Then guided us to exit.
That’s it - You are done at this stage. The whole process took about 2-3 hours because the lines were busy. We then took the UPExpress to Union Station to go to our apartment.
