My soft-landing experience at Toronto international airport on 11/03/2019. Landed at 05:04 PM and was done with the entire process by 05:45 pm.
Flew in from USA . No bags with me except my carry on and personal item.
Had a list of goods to follow (including my car which I will drive later)
Here is my experience -- the conversations are not verbatim but they do capture the gist of the whole process
Step 1 – Passport control at self-help kiosk
At YYZ, after deboarding the plane, you walk through a long corridor till you get to passport control. It is a huge room with lots of self help kiosks (I did not count but from the look of it, it seemed there were around 50 kisosks)
The First thing you do is Scan your passport, the machine then asks a few questions regarding your self and the purpose of the visit. It will then take your photo. A few additional steps later, it will print out a receipt.
You will then go to a line with everyone else and wait for your turn to go to the first CBSA officer for step 2.
Step 2 – Meet CBSA officer1 with the receipt
Officer1 - Receipt and passport
Officer1 – Reason for visit?
Me – establish residency
Office 1 - First time landing.
Me - Yes
He used a marker to check off my receipt and showed where to go next.
You walk towards baggage claim but right before baggage claim, there is a well-lit room on your left with a sign for immigrants and students. You go inside this room for step 3.
Step 3 – Meet CBSA officer2 to complete landing procedure (sign COPR and request PR Card)
Went inside the room, no one in front of me, had to wait for a minute or 2 as the agents where talking internally.
One agent called me to his booth, Very friendly and welcoming fellow.
Officer2 – are you here to establish residency
Me – Yes
Officer2 – first time landing?
Me – yes
Officer2 asked for receipt (from step1) COPR and passport
Officer2 – have you been charged of any crimes inside or outside of Canada
Me – no
Officer2 – do you have any dependents not listed on this COPR?
Me – no
Officer2 asked me to sign at 3 places on each copy of COPR and kept one copy (the one with the photograph) for himself and gave the second copy to me and asked me to keep it securely.
I had the address I was going to, written on a post-it notes on top of my folder and it was in bright color so the officer noticed it and asked if that was the address I was going to stay at? I responded yes, he was happy that I had written it down. He asked if he could use it to enter the address for the pr card to be delivered. I agreed.
He entered the information on the computer and said welcome to Canada.
Having been through US immigration before, I was surprised that it was this easy and so I exclaimed “that’s it?”, he smiled and said yes, and asked if I had goods to follow? I said yes, he asked me to collect my bags and go to the customs.
Since I did not have any bags I just started walking towards the exit where there was another officer collecting the receipts right before the exit.
He asked me for my receipt, before handing it to him, I told him I have goods to follow. He asked if I was landing for the first time and I agreed, and he smiled and asked me to go down a corridor where he said they will take care of it.
NOTE – Make sure you ask the officer regarding your goods to follow, if you don’t ask, you might just walk out of the airport!
I followed the corridor till it took me to a big room (not very well lit) with a lot of chairs and a lot of booths for officers for step 4 and officer3
Step 4 – Customs and Goods to Follow.
The place was pretty empty, stood in line with just one person in front of me
A young friendly officer called me to his booth.
Officer3 - How can I help you
Me - I am doing my landing and have a goods to follow.
Officer3 -Can I see your COPR, Passport and the receipt (from step1)?
While he was looking over the documents, I took out the copies of the Goods to follow and
goods with my (form BSF 186). I had made 2 copies of each as instructed by others on other threads and laid it out on the counter.
Officer turned towards me and saw that I had already made the copies and listed out the details and was extremely happy with the same. He clarified which document was which (goods to follow vs. goods with me) He took at look at the both and filled out the information I had left blank.
I explained him that I left the blank intentionally as I wasn’t very sure what goes where, and he was very sympathetic and re assured that it is good that you left it blank so that you don’t have to do the entire process from scratch. He signed where he needed to and stamped in the designated place and asked me to sign on each of the document.
He then crossed off everything on my “goods with me form” and explained that every time I bring these things in, the officer will cross off everything that you have with you at that point on the form.
He asked me if I had a calculator and asked me to tally up the total for my goods to follow. I did and gave him the number. He entered it on his workstation and asked me to go the cashier at the end of the hall with a copy of my goods with me and goods to follow forms. I went to the desk, there was friendly lady there who took a print out and stapled my forms and the receipt that she took out and gave it back to me
I took it to the officer, he looked at it and told me to keep it safely and to bring it with me the next time when I import all the goods on the list, gave me back my list and said welcome to Canada.
I left the room and I was out in the general waiting area! That was it!
Since it was a sunday the SIN office was closed.
Link to BSF 186 document - https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/bsf186a-eng.html
I got my SIN outside at a service Canada center and if you have any questions regarding the same, please drop a comment below.
Thank you
Flew in from USA . No bags with me except my carry on and personal item.
Had a list of goods to follow (including my car which I will drive later)
Here is my experience -- the conversations are not verbatim but they do capture the gist of the whole process
Step 1 – Passport control at self-help kiosk
At YYZ, after deboarding the plane, you walk through a long corridor till you get to passport control. It is a huge room with lots of self help kiosks (I did not count but from the look of it, it seemed there were around 50 kisosks)
The First thing you do is Scan your passport, the machine then asks a few questions regarding your self and the purpose of the visit. It will then take your photo. A few additional steps later, it will print out a receipt.
You will then go to a line with everyone else and wait for your turn to go to the first CBSA officer for step 2.
Step 2 – Meet CBSA officer1 with the receipt
Officer1 - Receipt and passport
Officer1 – Reason for visit?
Me – establish residency
Office 1 - First time landing.
Me - Yes
He used a marker to check off my receipt and showed where to go next.
You walk towards baggage claim but right before baggage claim, there is a well-lit room on your left with a sign for immigrants and students. You go inside this room for step 3.
Step 3 – Meet CBSA officer2 to complete landing procedure (sign COPR and request PR Card)
Went inside the room, no one in front of me, had to wait for a minute or 2 as the agents where talking internally.
One agent called me to his booth, Very friendly and welcoming fellow.
Officer2 – are you here to establish residency
Me – Yes
Officer2 – first time landing?
Me – yes
Officer2 asked for receipt (from step1) COPR and passport
Officer2 – have you been charged of any crimes inside or outside of Canada
Me – no
Officer2 – do you have any dependents not listed on this COPR?
Me – no
Officer2 asked me to sign at 3 places on each copy of COPR and kept one copy (the one with the photograph) for himself and gave the second copy to me and asked me to keep it securely.
I had the address I was going to, written on a post-it notes on top of my folder and it was in bright color so the officer noticed it and asked if that was the address I was going to stay at? I responded yes, he was happy that I had written it down. He asked if he could use it to enter the address for the pr card to be delivered. I agreed.
He entered the information on the computer and said welcome to Canada.
Having been through US immigration before, I was surprised that it was this easy and so I exclaimed “that’s it?”, he smiled and said yes, and asked if I had goods to follow? I said yes, he asked me to collect my bags and go to the customs.
Since I did not have any bags I just started walking towards the exit where there was another officer collecting the receipts right before the exit.
He asked me for my receipt, before handing it to him, I told him I have goods to follow. He asked if I was landing for the first time and I agreed, and he smiled and asked me to go down a corridor where he said they will take care of it.
NOTE – Make sure you ask the officer regarding your goods to follow, if you don’t ask, you might just walk out of the airport!
I followed the corridor till it took me to a big room (not very well lit) with a lot of chairs and a lot of booths for officers for step 4 and officer3
Step 4 – Customs and Goods to Follow.
The place was pretty empty, stood in line with just one person in front of me
A young friendly officer called me to his booth.
Officer3 - How can I help you
Me - I am doing my landing and have a goods to follow.
Officer3 -Can I see your COPR, Passport and the receipt (from step1)?
While he was looking over the documents, I took out the copies of the Goods to follow and
goods with my (form BSF 186). I had made 2 copies of each as instructed by others on other threads and laid it out on the counter.
Officer turned towards me and saw that I had already made the copies and listed out the details and was extremely happy with the same. He clarified which document was which (goods to follow vs. goods with me) He took at look at the both and filled out the information I had left blank.
I explained him that I left the blank intentionally as I wasn’t very sure what goes where, and he was very sympathetic and re assured that it is good that you left it blank so that you don’t have to do the entire process from scratch. He signed where he needed to and stamped in the designated place and asked me to sign on each of the document.
He then crossed off everything on my “goods with me form” and explained that every time I bring these things in, the officer will cross off everything that you have with you at that point on the form.
He asked me if I had a calculator and asked me to tally up the total for my goods to follow. I did and gave him the number. He entered it on his workstation and asked me to go the cashier at the end of the hall with a copy of my goods with me and goods to follow forms. I went to the desk, there was friendly lady there who took a print out and stapled my forms and the receipt that she took out and gave it back to me
I took it to the officer, he looked at it and told me to keep it safely and to bring it with me the next time when I import all the goods on the list, gave me back my list and said welcome to Canada.
I left the room and I was out in the general waiting area! That was it!
Since it was a sunday the SIN office was closed.
Link to BSF 186 document - https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/bsf186a-eng.html
I got my SIN outside at a service Canada center and if you have any questions regarding the same, please drop a comment below.
Thank you
