MY LANDING AND ARRIVING EXPERIENCE
Guys, finally after a very hectic 2-3 weeks I got some time to post my experience here. Sorry for the delay and I hope to answer a few questions of other forum members through my post.
Landing: I had originally planned to land in June 2011, as my visa for landing would expire in July 2011. But, before I moved I thought I will give a try to job search. I applied for 1 job at the fag end of April and was immediately interviewed and offered the job in the 2nd week of May. I accepted and then my background check started. They needed my SIN and PR card. I had none. So, they were concerned about my PR status. To give them some relief, I landed by road at the BC border on 16th May. I drove my own car (which I didn't wish to import) and no other belongings with myself. I carried my US bank statements, and hardly around USD 200 cash. I was greeted at the border by US people who asked "why are you going.....when will you be back....how much cash are you carrying....where do you hold most of your wealth". Then CBP asked me the purpose of my visit, asked me to park, gave me a yellow slip and asked me to meet an official inside the immigrations and customs building. I and my wife met the officer. He didn't ask too many questions, just took our passports and COPR forms, asked for our Canadian address and then for the B4 / B4 A forms. We gave him the B4 forms, excel sheet for details on jewellery and furniture and photos for the same. He asked us to wait and then started searching for God knows waht for a long long time. Finally, he gave us a call 35 minutes later and said that he could not confirm that the jewellery belonged to us. We said they were wedding gifts and we didn't know we had to carry invoices and appraisals for them as some of them are still in India. He said that's fine, just bring documentation the next time you come, crossed them off from our B4 list and accepted everything else. He stamped the forms, stamped the passports and COPR and said that the PR cards will reach us in 6-8 weeks. He did question on why I wasn't interested in importing my car to which I said that I didn't want to as it was old and I wanted to buy a new one in Canada. Regarding the car, I have first hand knowledge that if you have not possessed a car for the last 6 months, don't try to import it, you will face a lot of issues and the intent will be questioned. Anyways, we were not greeted with "Welcome to Canada" and not asked for any POF. At the end, just nonchalantly, the officer tossed a Canadian flag towards us. We rushed to the nearest SIN office and applied for our SIN. It took about 30 minutes wait time and then we got our SIN numbers (cards to be received at the Canadian address within 3 weeks). We immediately turned back to the US. While, going to the US, there was no Canadian customs, only US people. They asked their standard set of questions and let us in.
ARRIVING PERMANENTLY: Now, I provided the new employer with my SIN and a copy of my landed status (stamped COPR). They proceeded further and wanted me to join in the 1st week of June. Now there was another rush for me. The job was in Toronto, from west coast driving 2600 miles was going to be difficult. I either needed to enter Vancouver and take a flight to Toronto or fly to Buffalo and rent a car to drive into Toronto. I decided to fly directly to Toronto. So, now I had to apply for a Travel Document. I visited the local Canadian Consulate in Seattle and submitted forms. The initial officer just nodded her head saying "You should have waited till your PR cards OR arrived in June". She flagged us off for interview. The interview went smooth because I guess it was with a specialist. She asked about our case and agreed without any questions. In 1 hour, we received our Travel Documents. We packed our things and handed them to our Packers (they said they will not cross the border until we get them the original stamped B4 forms). We flew into Toronto on 2nd June. At customs we were asked to meet with a Customs officer with all our luggage. This officer took some time understanding why we were showing him the B4 forms and why we hadn't shown them on 16th May. After he understood, everything was smooth. He didn't inspect any of our luggage. He just asked for 1 piece of jewellery and after looking at it, he stamped the rest of the list. That's it....and we entered Toronto as full fledged permanent residents.....Opened a bank account the very next day and started our apartment search. Yet to apply for a Driver's license and OHIP cards.
We are all stuck on the same stage.
