- Jan 10, 2019
- 22
- Category........
- FSW
- NOC Code......
- 2173
- App. Filed.......
- 22-01-2019
- Nomination.....
- 30-01-2019
- AOR Received.
- 01-03-2019
- Med's Done....
- 12-04-2019
- Passport Req..
- 14-05-2019
- VISA ISSUED...
- 13-06-2019
- LANDED..........
- 30-09-2019
Warning: incoming wall of text; I’ve written in excruciating detail both as a record for myself and in case someone finds this helpful.
——
I flew from JFK to Vancouver via Portland and Seattle. I arrived in Vancouver around 6.30 in the evening. Vancouver’s been having a string of gorgeous sunsets this past week and the one I saw as I landed was equally beautiful. The sky was a wash of pink and orange flecked with radiant streaks of red, bathing everything in a warm glow as the sun slipped gently below the horizon. I’ve always loved the nature out here in the Pacific Northwest but seeing the jagged peaks of the Rockies on the horizon, peppered with outlines of shapely conifers, all hazily melting into the crimson pink of the sky, with the waters of the Sound ablaze in the colors of the heavens above was really something special. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome from Mother Nature.
We landed with other flights from Dallas and London and the terminal was busy with people. I saw signs in English, French, Punjabi, Chinese and Japanese, which is kinda interesting since I’ve become so used to seeing only English and Spanish in the US. I filled out a customs declaration form and got into the “Foreign Passports” line. The line moved quickly and when I got to one of the officers in the front (there were 2 officers processing all the foreign passports), I informed them that I was there for a soft landing for my permanent residency. They asked me to get into another shorter line. I stood in that line for about 5 minutes before I was called by the officer. I told this officer that I was there for a soft landing and she asked to see my passport, the customs form and my confirmation of permanent residence (copr). She asked me what I did in the States and I explained that I work there. My passport has an expired US work visa (I actually have an appointment at the US consulate this week to get a new one stamped), which is what probably what confused her because she asked again whether I still work. I reiterated that I did and offered to show her my USCIS documents (not that they’d care) but she declined. She stamped my customs declaration, and asked me to collect my baggage and then head over to the immigration counters.
At this point, I had to look a bit for the carousel where all the baggage for my flight ended up. After I located my backpack, I headed over to the immigrations section. There was a lady with an Eastern European accent standing outside who asked me to leave my backpack with her and go inside for the processing. She reminded me to not forget to collect my backpack when I was done.
As I walked in, I saw there were separate lanes for immigrants, new students and refugees, cordoned off with stanchions. There were a handful (less than 10) of people in the whole area. Not at all as busy as I expected. A kind lady with an Turkish/Iranian accent helped me out with my papers. She took my copr and my passport. She asked me what my first language was and was slightly incredulous when I said English (I’m from a developing country but it is the first language that I learned
). She then asked me if I had an address where I’d like to have my pr card sent. I do have an address of a friend’s parents who live in Ontario but I didn’t want to use that if possible since they’re quite old and I’d rather they not have the hassle of receiving my documents. Also, I’d read on this forum that IRCC doesn’t send PR cards to friend’s addresses. As it turns out, they didn’t really care, at least in my case. I explained to her that I’d be heading back to New York in a couple weeks and I’d rather not use my friend’s parents address since they’re old but she repeated multiple times that, while I was free to choose either way, I could provide their address if I wanted. She strongly recommended I provide an address and change it later if I wanted because, in her opinion, it would be easier to update an address later rather than create a new one from scratch. I ended up not providing an address but just know that you have the option, contrary to what a lot of posts here say. I personally plan to rent a UPS mailbox in the city tomorrow and have them send my PR card there so I told her I would provide an address later. She conferred with another coworker to make sure that I wouldn’t have any issues and he said I should be good. At this point, I told her that before I landed, I actually tried to log in to the address notification system as an experiment but it kept telling me it couldn’t find my records. She said it might be because I hadn’t actually landed at that point but that I should ask the immigration officers to make sure. After we got through that, she asked me which province I would return to eventually. I told her BC (gotta have those sunsets!) and she made a note of that in the system. She then gave me a list of brochures for services for newcomers. She explained that I should go to Services Canada tomorrow and get my SIN number. After all of that was done, she handed me back all the documents and asked me to get in line to see the immigration officers.
As I said before, there were very few people in line. Everything was quiet and orderly. Not at all like the chaotic shitshow and churlish officials I’ve come to expect at US immigrations. I waited a few minutes while the person in front of me got processed. Then I was called up to the counter. I handed the officer my documents. He looked them over and asked the statutory questions about whether I was single, I had children and if I’d been convicted of any crimes. I truthfully replied in the negative to all of those and he made a note of my responses on the form. He then asked if I had an address to provide to receive the PR card. I said no and he told me that’s fine and gave me a (badly photocopied and barely legible) form to fax my address in. I told him about the online address notification system not working and he said that it was because I hadn’t actually landed as yet when I had tried to use it. I noticed that the web address mentioned on the form he had just handed me was different from the one on the newcomer services brochure (this latter one was the address notification system URL that I tried using before) and he said (I’m paraphrasing) “oh yeah that’s an old form I just gave you; I wouldn’t go by that. I’d rather use what was on the brochure.” That was a slightly wtf moment for me: your counter is supposed to be the source of truth for new immigrants in your land: how do you not have the most up-to-date information to hand out to people? I then asked him what I should do if the online system still refused to recognize me and I couldn’t reach someone on the phone. He reassured me that one of those methods should definitely work. After this discussion, he asked me to sign both the copies of the copr and when that was done, to take a seat. He made a few more notes in the system about something, asked me which flight I’d come in on, and stamped my copr copies with today’s date. After that, he handed back one copy to me and asked me if I had any further questions. I said I couldn’t think of any and he wished me good luck and that was that. I went out, picked up my backpack (the lady safeguarding it had vanished and all the bags were just lying out there in the open) and headed out the airport.
No one at any point asked me about a list of landing goods or goods to follow. The customs officers past immigration were collecting declaration forms cursorily. There was a lady of Indian descent who kept repeating in a loud voice “make a single line” for customs and to “have the declaration form out and ready”. She kept saying “一高!” in Chinese every now and then, which was kinda funny. No one at any point said Welcome to Canada! I’m still a bit salty about that (I kid, I kid). Seriously though, I came expecting a lot of questions and a lot of red tape à la the good ol’ US of A but the process was surprisingly quick. The whole thing was a bit anticlimactic, really.
I took the Canada Line to the Waterfront, walked into Gastown (walked past the steam clock quite by accident actually) and got some Mexican food (what better way to celebrate the Great White North, eh?) and then took the Seabus to my Airbnb. I met a nice American lady on the way over to North Van and we chatted for a bit about Canada and her impressions of it, having settled here many years ago. I was dead tired by the time I got to my Airbnb and showered and went to sleep.
P. S. As an aside, I thought it was very interesting that, apart from one person, all the immigration officials I saw were either of Indian or Asian descent.
P. P. S. As I imagined, the address notification form still refuses to recognize me this morning (no wonder I’m cynical about bureaucracies). Luckily, I’ve found out that you can also notify them of a new address via a CSE by choosing the “Permanent Resident Card - Initial Card” option.
P. P. P. S. Here are some recent stats about Canada’s population growth last year. Temporary and permanent foreign immigrants accounted for 82% of growth last year. Sustainable or not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Still here? Thanks for reading my ramblings
Questions? Let me know below!
——
I flew from JFK to Vancouver via Portland and Seattle. I arrived in Vancouver around 6.30 in the evening. Vancouver’s been having a string of gorgeous sunsets this past week and the one I saw as I landed was equally beautiful. The sky was a wash of pink and orange flecked with radiant streaks of red, bathing everything in a warm glow as the sun slipped gently below the horizon. I’ve always loved the nature out here in the Pacific Northwest but seeing the jagged peaks of the Rockies on the horizon, peppered with outlines of shapely conifers, all hazily melting into the crimson pink of the sky, with the waters of the Sound ablaze in the colors of the heavens above was really something special. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome from Mother Nature.
We landed with other flights from Dallas and London and the terminal was busy with people. I saw signs in English, French, Punjabi, Chinese and Japanese, which is kinda interesting since I’ve become so used to seeing only English and Spanish in the US. I filled out a customs declaration form and got into the “Foreign Passports” line. The line moved quickly and when I got to one of the officers in the front (there were 2 officers processing all the foreign passports), I informed them that I was there for a soft landing for my permanent residency. They asked me to get into another shorter line. I stood in that line for about 5 minutes before I was called by the officer. I told this officer that I was there for a soft landing and she asked to see my passport, the customs form and my confirmation of permanent residence (copr). She asked me what I did in the States and I explained that I work there. My passport has an expired US work visa (I actually have an appointment at the US consulate this week to get a new one stamped), which is what probably what confused her because she asked again whether I still work. I reiterated that I did and offered to show her my USCIS documents (not that they’d care) but she declined. She stamped my customs declaration, and asked me to collect my baggage and then head over to the immigration counters.
At this point, I had to look a bit for the carousel where all the baggage for my flight ended up. After I located my backpack, I headed over to the immigrations section. There was a lady with an Eastern European accent standing outside who asked me to leave my backpack with her and go inside for the processing. She reminded me to not forget to collect my backpack when I was done.
As I walked in, I saw there were separate lanes for immigrants, new students and refugees, cordoned off with stanchions. There were a handful (less than 10) of people in the whole area. Not at all as busy as I expected. A kind lady with an Turkish/Iranian accent helped me out with my papers. She took my copr and my passport. She asked me what my first language was and was slightly incredulous when I said English (I’m from a developing country but it is the first language that I learned
). She then asked me if I had an address where I’d like to have my pr card sent. I do have an address of a friend’s parents who live in Ontario but I didn’t want to use that if possible since they’re quite old and I’d rather they not have the hassle of receiving my documents. Also, I’d read on this forum that IRCC doesn’t send PR cards to friend’s addresses. As it turns out, they didn’t really care, at least in my case. I explained to her that I’d be heading back to New York in a couple weeks and I’d rather not use my friend’s parents address since they’re old but she repeated multiple times that, while I was free to choose either way, I could provide their address if I wanted. She strongly recommended I provide an address and change it later if I wanted because, in her opinion, it would be easier to update an address later rather than create a new one from scratch. I ended up not providing an address but just know that you have the option, contrary to what a lot of posts here say. I personally plan to rent a UPS mailbox in the city tomorrow and have them send my PR card there so I told her I would provide an address later. She conferred with another coworker to make sure that I wouldn’t have any issues and he said I should be good. At this point, I told her that before I landed, I actually tried to log in to the address notification system as an experiment but it kept telling me it couldn’t find my records. She said it might be because I hadn’t actually landed at that point but that I should ask the immigration officers to make sure. After we got through that, she asked me which province I would return to eventually. I told her BC (gotta have those sunsets!) and she made a note of that in the system. She then gave me a list of brochures for services for newcomers. She explained that I should go to Services Canada tomorrow and get my SIN number. After all of that was done, she handed me back all the documents and asked me to get in line to see the immigration officers.As I said before, there were very few people in line. Everything was quiet and orderly. Not at all like the chaotic shitshow and churlish officials I’ve come to expect at US immigrations. I waited a few minutes while the person in front of me got processed. Then I was called up to the counter. I handed the officer my documents. He looked them over and asked the statutory questions about whether I was single, I had children and if I’d been convicted of any crimes. I truthfully replied in the negative to all of those and he made a note of my responses on the form. He then asked if I had an address to provide to receive the PR card. I said no and he told me that’s fine and gave me a (badly photocopied and barely legible) form to fax my address in. I told him about the online address notification system not working and he said that it was because I hadn’t actually landed as yet when I had tried to use it. I noticed that the web address mentioned on the form he had just handed me was different from the one on the newcomer services brochure (this latter one was the address notification system URL that I tried using before) and he said (I’m paraphrasing) “oh yeah that’s an old form I just gave you; I wouldn’t go by that. I’d rather use what was on the brochure.” That was a slightly wtf moment for me: your counter is supposed to be the source of truth for new immigrants in your land: how do you not have the most up-to-date information to hand out to people? I then asked him what I should do if the online system still refused to recognize me and I couldn’t reach someone on the phone. He reassured me that one of those methods should definitely work. After this discussion, he asked me to sign both the copies of the copr and when that was done, to take a seat. He made a few more notes in the system about something, asked me which flight I’d come in on, and stamped my copr copies with today’s date. After that, he handed back one copy to me and asked me if I had any further questions. I said I couldn’t think of any and he wished me good luck and that was that. I went out, picked up my backpack (the lady safeguarding it had vanished and all the bags were just lying out there in the open) and headed out the airport.
No one at any point asked me about a list of landing goods or goods to follow. The customs officers past immigration were collecting declaration forms cursorily. There was a lady of Indian descent who kept repeating in a loud voice “make a single line” for customs and to “have the declaration form out and ready”. She kept saying “一高!” in Chinese every now and then, which was kinda funny. No one at any point said Welcome to Canada! I’m still a bit salty about that (I kid, I kid
). Seriously though, I came expecting a lot of questions and a lot of red tape à la the good ol’ US of A but the process was surprisingly quick. The whole thing was a bit anticlimactic, really.I took the Canada Line to the Waterfront, walked into Gastown (walked past the steam clock quite by accident actually) and got some Mexican food (what better way to celebrate the Great White North, eh?) and then took the Seabus to my Airbnb. I met a nice American lady on the way over to North Van and we chatted for a bit about Canada and her impressions of it, having settled here many years ago. I was dead tired by the time I got to my Airbnb and showered and went to sleep.
P. S. As an aside, I thought it was very interesting that, apart from one person, all the immigration officials I saw were either of Indian or Asian descent.
P. P. S. As I imagined, the address notification form still refuses to recognize me this morning (no wonder I’m cynical about bureaucracies). Luckily, I’ve found out that you can also notify them of a new address via a CSE by choosing the “Permanent Resident Card - Initial Card” option.
P. P. P. S. Here are some recent stats about Canada’s population growth last year. Temporary and permanent foreign immigrants accounted for 82% of growth last year. Sustainable or not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Still here? Thanks for reading my ramblings
Questions? Let me know below!
