AINP - SRS H1B Landing Experience and post landing related activities.

[ksbs]

Hi all,

Is that anyone who came back to USA with H1b stamping done in Alberta.. Please share link or your experience..what is requirement for h1b stamping to be done in Canada for USA after complete landing formalities.


Thanks

ks

 

[lee26]

Hi All,

We successfully landed and used AVR to come back to usa on saturday through detroit windsor tunnel. We will be moving for good in next march/april.
Actually i took my own car and at the canada side, the officer said, i have to import my car at the time of landing, though i said i will move later.
And gave me f1 form and pay riv fees. Is this normal..? I mean i have to import my car at the time of landing..?

I haven't started/done us export process. Iam planning to pay the riv fees online. It looks like i have 45 days to complete the riv inspection. As i will be in usa for couple of more months, what iam supposed to do. If i don't complete rive inspection, can i not import my vehicle later..?

Seniors please help.

Thanks to all in this forum.

Thanks
Lee

 

[pvra_prasad]

I completed my landing during the first week of August, but I am still yet to receive my PR card. I am getting a bit concerned now. Appreciate if someone here could please share their PR card's receipt wait times after their landing.

I landed on Sep 3rd and received my PR cards on Oct 28 in Calgary.

 

[freeradical17]

I landed in Canada on 1st of Sept and my friend called me yesterday to inform that PR cards were received.

 

[Aduana Carneiro]

Hi,

I'm new here and I don't know so much.
What can I do to work in Canada?

Aduana

 

[samay008]

Hi,

Landed on Aug 30 at peace bridge buffalo , received PR cards on Oct 26 at Calgary

 

[petesampras]

It is good to hear that folks are recieveing PR cards, but in my case i landed in Calgary on July 3rd and have not recieved the card...
I am not sure why my case is taking so long..I have called CIC twice and was told to call back in a month time..It is really frustating now to complete the landing in three month ago and haven't recieved the card yet...Is there somebody in this forrum who is in boat as i am ??

Does anybody have CIC phone # where we can call and inquire about the PR cards ??

 

[PRmein]

Dear all,

This has been a great forum for me to figure out the step by step procedure to obtain Canadian PR. I finally did my landing in Canada through Peace bridge in Buffalo.

LANDING:
We(wife and I) flew to buffalo and took the rental car to the border. There were merely 3 cars infront of us. When we got to the window, the officer asked us what we are here for? We said for landing for Permanent Residence. I also added we'll be going back in a week and will move permanently in a few months. He asked how many months? I said atleast 3-4 months. He asked us to park the car and go into the building. Inside, we stood in a queue for 5 minutesbefore our turn came. That officer sent to me to go to the officer who dealt with immigration. She asked the same questions....why and where you are going? After being satisfied she gave me the PR form and said apply for PR card only when you move here permanently. At that point you can mail in this form. She took my documents and spent 20 minutes putting notes in the computer and attaching COPR forms into our passports. Then she asked me for Things to follow list. The only thing I didn't do was to make a detailed list of items. They wanted that saying its better if you provide a detailed list. We were done in a total of 50 minutes.

AVR:
AVR rule is awesome! I work in the TAL/MANTIS category of jobs and was stuck in India for 3 months last time I went there for H1 stamping. But with AVR we very comfortably got back into the States using valid 797 forms. Just remember to take out the I-94 form from your passport while entering into Canada. Canadians asks for it.
No ugly questions asked. Infact everyone was courteous as well.

Please let me know anymore questions if needed.

 

[enna]

It is good to hear that folks are recieveing PR cards, but in my case i landed in Calgary on July 3rd and have not recieved the card...
I am not sure why my case is taking so long..I have called CIC twice and was told to call back in a month time..It is really frustating now to complete the landing in three month ago and haven't recieved the card yet...Is there somebody in this forrum who is in boat as i am ??

Does anybody have CIC phone # where we can call and inquire about the PR cards ??

if you are in the US now call this number
try this number:

+1 613 944 4000 (for an agent: options 1,2,1,2,1 ... then 0 to skip the message)
be ready with your client id and have your COPR because they asked questions regarding the date of your landing what place , etc....

 

[ohhcanada]

I landed 21 July and got my card 7 Nov. That's about 3-1/2 months. Anyway, I noticed that my citizenship is wrong on the card. So I called back today and was told to wait for a form to fill and send that back to them with the new card and a copy of the landing document showing correct citizenship. I am afraid I am back to square one as the person told me I will not be given any priority or even allowed to pay for an expedited service to replace the card with the correct citizenship info.

Anyone else who had to send their card back to fix an error that was on CIC's behalf? What was your experience and how long it took to reissue the card with correct details? Thanks.

 

[symmetry]

For those who are back to US after landing and continue to work in US for a period before moving to Canada permenantly, did you apply SIN at the time of landing? I was planning to apply SIN at the time of landing, but was told by my cousin in Canada that once I apply to SIN, I may have to begin to pay income tax to Canada, even if I don't have income in Canada, I still need to pay tax for the income I earn in US. Is this true? Can anyone clarify this? I really don't want to be double taxed by both US and Canada. Thanks.

 

[navya_123]

Is there anyone in the forum who did the CIC landing and H1B visa stamping in the same trip?

I am trying to find posts/threads about their experiences. If anyone has seen such a post or discussion thread please let everyone (and me) know. I tried searching the forum, some older 2004-2007 posts came up but nothing recent in the past year or two. Similar results on doing a google search.

Is it too much of a hassle? Are there any disadvantages to doing it? Any thing in particular that I need to be careful about? I dont mind the long trip time but it would give me an opportunity to experience the local life better.

Seniors who have done this in the past please post your experiences.

Thanks,

Dear Forberta,

I'm also in similar situation like yours. My H1B visa has been expired in my passport but got extension papers - I 94.

Now I'm also planning to do 2 things at the same time ie
1) Doing landing formalities + applying for PR Card and returning back to USA
2) Going for H1-B stamping in Toronto (as I need to have valid stamped H1B visa in my passport) to rerun back to USA

Suppose if this is possible at single shot then do we still need to use AVR while retuning back to USA???


I hope someone has done this with out any issues....

Navya

 

[navya_123]

i'll be moving later and immigration officer did not ask me anything about my plans to move.
simply asked for address for PR cards.

Sandeep

Sandeep,

Can you please let me know whether you received PR Cards? If yes, how did you get them to USA??? How long it took time to get your PR Cards???

Navya

 

[navya_123]

Here is my landing experience. I landed on June 23rd(Thursday 12.00 AM night at Calgary Airport and returned back on June 25th using AVR for me and my wife via Niagara Falls border(I feared a lot about AVR, don't know how it works, even my employer also don't know) but its very easy and smooth . Nobody was asked to surrender I-94 while leaving USA.

We travelled from Austin to Houston, then from Houston to Calgary (Flight delayed for 3 hours in Houston i.e reached at Calgary after 12 A.M in the night).Landing was smooth, in plane they gave us custom declaration form, we filled out and as soon as we landed we went POE counter and gave declaration form, passport.

POE Officer(PO): What's the purpose of trip.
Me: I am doing my landing today for PR.
PO: Is there any goods to follow list?
Me: No
PO: Then you filled Yes for ..... (I don't know what I filled)
Me: We are landing here and will go back to USA because we didn't plan to move now(i.e visa expiry date is very less).
PO scanned our passports, stamped on Declaration forms and asked us to go to immigration .

We went to immigration, there were three officers in 3 counters(one lady is rude ).

Immigration Officer(IO)(i.e He is a nice guy): asked for passport and landing papers . He asked for how much money I have. I said brought $3500 cash with me and $16000 bank balance. He put $19000 figure on paper. He explained that 2/5 years you have to in CANADA and other rules like you can't contest in elections, can't vote when I am using PR. He said it will take 4-8 weeks to get PR cards and he stamped our passports. Said Welcome to Canada.

We left Immigration section and saw two lady officers, I gave declaration card to one of her and said thanks. I asked do I need to fill any form that goods carrying with me, she said not required.

Then we went to Hotel(Greenwood suites In hotel) in Calgary. I know this hotel is expensive(2 nights = $340 ) but don't want to take risk(as my wife is pregnant).

Next day I went to Canada Service centre to apply for SIN number and it went smoothly. Then I tried for Health Card in Registry office, they said answer for ‘183 days committed stay in 12 months period' in application. I said will go back to USA and come back after 2 months(I shouldn't say like that). He said apply for Health Card when you come back.
I tried in different registry centres, but they said address proof required and in another centre they said I have to be a member(asking $100) in that centre. Finally decided do not apply for Health card.(because I can't go to all offices as my wife is pregnant, she tired).

We used public transport(buses) mostly. In Calgary trains and bus transportation is good. If we buy ticket for $2.75/person you can use that ticket for 1.30 minutes. Streets are like in Calgary NE, NW, SE(Southe East),etc and names mostly like St and AVenue. SIN numbers you can apply in any Canada Service centres and Health Card in Registry centres. My suggestion is better to go to downtown office(Harry Hays Building) even though if you stay outside of downtown. Any way you can find public transportation.

Then next day(Friday) we went to Toronto(my cousin stays there), spent some time with family. On Saturday around 11 AM we started towards Niagara falls(Instead of high-way, we went through Niagara Village i.e across the Ontario river). We boarded for “Maid of the mist” boat and enjoyed in Niagara Falls scene.

Then we had a tension about crossing the border. My cousin, his daughter, my wife, myself in queue in the car for POE(just like toll gate booth). After 5 minutes, its our turn. We stopped our card near to his booth. My cousin gave 4 passports i.e two Canadian and two Indian passports(We put I-797 approval copies in Passports, we are using AVR). My cousin told he and his daughter were Canadian citizens.

POE officer(PO): Where are you going? (he asked to me).
Me: I am going to Austin.
POE: Do you have a job over there ?
Me: Yes Sir. I have a job.
POE: In which profession you are working?
Me: Software engineer.
POE officer went to another booth(I think, he confirmed about AVR expired passport and valid H1 copy) and came back, said make sure staple I-94 to your passport then said all set you can leave now. (Ohhhh god, we entered into USA). From buffalo airport we went to Austin.

Please let me know if anybody wants any information ?

Hello Srikanth,

I'm planning to land in Buffalo's peace bridge to finish the landing formalities, however as of now I do not intend to stay in Canada as I do not have any job, so planning to return back to USA. Now I have few questions to you I hope you can help me out...

1) my H1B visa has been experied in my passport but got extended I-94 over the papers, so is it necessary that I have to go for H1-B via stamping in Toronto to return back to USA???
2) what about AVR??? If we use AVR can we enter back to USA with out having stamped H1-B visa on our passport???
3) can we give one of our Canadian friend's address to get our PR Cards?
4) is it ok to get PR Cards to get mailed to my USA address? Is that legal to do so?

Appreciate your response

Navya

 

[mannubhai]

Hello Srikanth,

I'm planning to land in Buffalo's peace bridge to finish the landing formalities, however as of now I do not intend to stay in Canada as I do not have any job, so planning to return back to USA. Now I have few questions to you I hope you can help me out...

1) my H1B visa has been experied in my passport but got extended I-94 over the papers, so is it necessary that I have to go for H1-B via stamping in Toronto to return back to USA???
2) what about AVR??? If we use AVR can we enter back to USA with out having stamped H1-B visa on our passport???
3) can we give one of our Canadian friend's address to get our PR Cards?
4) is it ok to get PR Cards to get mailed to my USA address? Is that legal to do so?

Appreciate your response

Navya

Hi Navya,
I received a PM from you. Unfortunately, my account permissions do not allow me to respond to a PM so I am posting the response here.
1. I used AVR to come back into USA. I had crossed through the Peace Bridge at Buffalo and had no issues at all. I was on the check post for about 30 secs.
2. I think it is OK to give your friend's address. I my case, the person at the immigration desk wanted to know if I am moving permanently at that time. I said no and he told me that PR card can be mailed to you once you move permanently.