Attempted Soft landing via Detroit Windsor tunnel but denied

[sowsiv]

1. We are scared that what if the Uturn is not allowed and we are supposed to stay in a hotel?- You should be ready to stay and quarantine in hotel for 14 days in worst case situation.

2. We will take negative covid tests with us and also we are planning to go after our vacccination, do you think vaccination would help us with allowing an u-turn?- No idea how does vaccination and u turn are interrelated.

3. With our US visa statuses above, will there be any issue when we are coming back?- With your case, people have been able to come back to US. However, please remember that even when you have valid visa stamped in your passport, US Border official have the authority to decline your entry into United States. No one can guarantee entry into US even when you have stamped visas.

4. We are planning to go with a rental car from costco, should that be fine?
Whatever car you can take, it does not matter to Canadian officers as long as you are not entering Canada.

5. I heard peace bridge is better than windsor border, is it true?
Some people may have better experiences elsewhere and it is completely subjective, but I personally believe that rules are same at any border entry point.

All the best.

Thank you for the inputs.

 

[vkbca]

Hello All,

Me and my husband are planning to do soft landing via detroit-windsor border very soon and we have our copr valid until May 19. We are planning to return the same day via u-turn. We both still have valid US visa stamped until september 2021, and my husband also has i797Approval until 2022. We are also taking our baby with us less than 2 years old.
I have few questions, please advise:

1. We are scared that what if the Uturn is not allowed and we are supposed to stay in a hotel?
2. We will take negative covid tests with us and also we are planning to go after our vacccination, do you think vaccination would help us with allowing an u-turn?
3. With our US visa statuses above, will there be any issue when we are coming back?
4. We are planning to go with a rental car from costco, should that be fine?
5. I heard peace bridge is better than windsor border, is it true?

Thanks in advance.

1. You must be prepared for the worst outcome, which in this case is going ahead and quarantine in Canada. Regarding stay, you can choose a refundable airbnb and reduce the money spent. No need to be scared. Things will go well for the most part.
It is not as bad as it sounds since there are a lot of folks who are flying in and must spend quite a hefty amount in quarantine hotels.

2. Currently Canada does not distinguish between vaccinated folks and the rest for immigration. So it does not make a difference whether you are vaccinated.

3. As is the case normally, if your VISAs are valid and can answer the US-CBP officer's questions clearly, you should be fine. One tip I can provide is to keep your answers short and to the point.

4. We took rental from Enterprise when we did our soft-landing 3 weeks ago (you can search for my posts in my profile). You should be fine with Costco rental.

5. Everyone's experience is different. So I cannot say which is better or not, but be clear with your answers when asked.

 

[sowsiv]

1. You must be prepared for the worst outcome, which in this case is going ahead and quarantine in Canada. Regarding stay, you can choose a refundable airbnb and reduce the money spent. No need to be scared. Things will go well for the most part.
It is not as bad as it sounds since there are a lot of folks who are flying in and must spend quite a hefty amount in quarantine hotels.

2. Currently Canada does not distinguish between vaccinated folks and the rest for immigration. So it does not make a difference whether you are vaccinated.

3. As is the case normally, if your VISAs are valid and can answer the US-CBP officer's questions clearly, you should be fine. One tip I can provide is to keep your answers short and to the point.

4. We took rental from Enterprise when we did our soft-landing 3 weeks ago (you can search for my posts in my profile). You should be fine with Costco rental.

5. Everyone's experience is different. So I cannot say which is better or not, but be clear with your answers when asked.

Thank you for taking time and answering. I have a doubt regarding the rental car, if everyone is planning for 14 days quarantine and if you book the rental car and you are back the same day, are you paying for 14 days? I looked up and it came out to be 1200$. So was confused

And also can you please guide which hotel/airbnb you booked near by and which gave options to cancel.

Thank you

 

[scylla]

Thank you for taking time and answering. I have a doubt regarding the rental car, if everyone is planning for 14 days quarantine and if you book the rental car and you are back the same day, are you paying for 14 days? I looked up and it came out to be 1200$. So was confused

And also can you please guide which hotel/airbnb you booked near by and which gave options to cancel.

Thank you

For the rental car, you do not get a refund if you return the car early. You could book the car for 2-3 days. If you have to stay the 14 days, then call the company and extend your rental.

 

[vkbca]

Thank you for taking time and answering. I have a doubt regarding the rental car, if everyone is planning for 14 days quarantine and if you book the rental car and you are back the same day, are you paying for 14 days? I looked up and it came out to be 1200$. So was confused

And also can you please guide which hotel/airbnb you booked near by and which gave options to cancel.

Thank you

Since we rented from Enterprise, we asked them about their early return policy. They said they will do full refund for the unused days.
Weekend deals if any would be void and daily rates would apply. We returned the car next day, and we got full refund for the remaining days.

When we booked (here in Seattle), we got a daily rate of around 40 per day (excluding tax, insurance and other supplemental coverage). And to be safe we had booked the rental for 17 days since we wanted to sight see if possible by driving around after our quarantine period ends.

If rental rates are high from where you are, then 1200 seems to be normal.


For Airbnb, we enquired multiple postings whether they were okay with quarantine. Only a few were okay with that and I respect that since I didn't want them to back out at the last minute. We booked a refundable airbnb which would refund full days for the days which we would not be present. Since we returned back the same day, we got charged for the first day and got full refund for the remaining days.

Personally we were okay with losing a few dollars (car rental and 1 day airbnb) since going by flight would have had a much higher expense since it would force a 14 day quarantine.

For the rental car, you do not get a refund if you return the car early. You could book the car for 2-3 days. If you have to stay the 14 days, then call the company and extend your rental.

This is not true since the early return policy differs by rental agencies. Maybe costco does not allow early returns but I wouldn't know about that since I went with Enterprise. They allow cross-country travel and also early returns.

 

[scylla]

Since we rented from Enterprise, we asked them about their early return policy. They said they will do full refund for the unused days.
Weekend deals if any would be void and daily rates would apply. We returned the car next day, and we got full refund for the remaining days.

When we booked (here in Seattle), we got a daily rate of around 40 per day (excluding tax, insurance and other supplemental coverage). And to be safe we had booked the rental for 17 days since we wanted to sight see if possible by driving around after our quarantine period ends.

If rental rates are high from where you are, then 1200 seems to be normal.


For Airbnb, we enquired multiple postings whether they were okay with quarantine. Only a few were okay with that and I respect that since I didn't want them to back out at the last minute. We booked a refundable airbnb which would refund full days for the days which we would not be present. Since we returned back the same day, we got charged for the first day and got full refund for the remaining days.

Personally we were okay with losing a few dollars (car rental and 1 day airbnb) since going by flight would have had a much higher expense since it would force a 14 day quarantine.





This is not true since the early return policy differs by rental agencies. Maybe costco does not allow early returns but I wouldn't know about that since I went with Enterprise. They allow cross-country travel and also early returns.

That is great news! Budget did not refund on early returns.

 

[Ammjyo]

Hi All,

Did anyone yesterday or today crossed Canada US border , as have been hearing that the border closure has been extended on Canadian border side.Is there any restrictions you guys know on US side . We are planning to use AVR for US re-entry.

Thanks in advance.

 

[thomasp307]

Hi Pranaam

I recently had similar experience at thousand island bridge. I am h1b with 3 kids travelled to ontario for soft landing with saskatchewan pnp nomination copr. I was traveling with my 2 kids and my wife was staying back in usa with a little 6 month old. The officer didn't activate pr formalities as he was not convinced i had intentions to move to saskatchewan province. Also had questions on why my wife is not accompanied with me. I had 5 months left for copr expiry he asked to come back again with proof of intent.

When you went back could you use the same one time visa?

Was there any questions on why the pr was not activated first time.

Thank you for sharing your experiences

All, I think I should share my recent experience of attempting soft landing on January 18th, 2021 which was unsuccessful via Detroit Windsor tunnel.
Travelled along with my daughter. COPR expiring in March for myself, spouse and daughter. I used AVR for coming back to US. Could not take my wife along because she has her visa in progress in US so she does not have approved 797 or valid stamping on her passport and this will not allow her to come back to US.
Canadian Officer said at entry that since my COPR is expiring in March, I have ample time and therefore need to come together with my wife as well for PR activation and they sent me back to US.
Entered US via AVR which is quite simple you need to have valid i797 and I94 and previous expired stamping in your passport.

Looks like I should have tried to do soft landing close to my COPR expiry date. However, don’t want our COPR to expire as it will cause unpredictable delays in getting it again so will most likely plan to move permanently before that date.
Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

 

[scylla]

Hi Pranaam

I recently had similar experience at thousand island bridge. I am h1b with 3 kids travelled to ontario for soft landing with saskatchewan pnp nomination copr. I was traveling with my 2 kids and my wife was staying back in usa with a little 6 month old. The officer didn't activate pr formalities as he was not convinced i had intentions to move to saskatchewan province. Also had questions on why my wife is not accompanied with me. I had 5 months left for copr expiry he asked to come back again with proof of intent.

When you went back could you use the same one time visa?

Was there any questions on why the pr was not activated first time.

Thank you for sharing your experiences

If you are referring to the COPR by "one time visa", then yes, you would use the same one. Your COPR is still valid for 5 months and hasn't been used since your landing wasn't accepted.

CBSA's computers will have a note of the failed landing. So it's possible there may be some questions or quite possible this may be limited to the CBSA officer expecting you to have sufficient evidence with you to prove you intend to settle in Sask.

 

[Copingwithlife]

Hi Pranaam

I recently had similar experience at thousand island bridge. I am h1b with 3 kids travelled to ontario for soft landing with saskatchewan pnp nomination copr. I was traveling with my 2 kids and my wife was staying back in usa with a little 6 month old. The officer didn't activate pr formalities as he was not convinced i had intentions to move to saskatchewan province. Also had questions on why my wife is not accompanied with me. I had 5 months left for copr expiry he asked to come back again with proof of intent.

When you went back could you use the same one time visa?

Was there any questions on why the pr was not activated first time.

Thank you for sharing your experiences

So in other words I’d be getting proof you are intending to settle in Saskatchewan.
You have five months to prove
Hence that’s why you were issued a PR
by the nominating province, to settle in that province
Maybe should of landed in Saskatchewan

 

[thomasp307]

All, I think I should share my recent experience of attempting soft landing on January 18th, 2021 which was unsuccessful via Detroit Windsor tunnel.
Travelled along with my daughter. COPR expiring in March for myself, spouse and daughter. I used AVR for coming back to US. Could not take my wife along because she has her visa in progress in US so she does not have approved 797 or valid stamping on her passport and this will not allow her to come back to US.
Canadian Officer said at entry that since my COPR is expiring in March, I have ample time and therefore need to come together with my wife as well for PR activation and they sent me back to US.
Entered US via AVR which is quite simple you need to have valid i797 and I94 and previous expired stamping in your passport.

Looks like I should have tried to do soft landing close to my COPR expiry date. However, don’t want our COPR to expire as it will cause unpredictable delays in getting it again so will most likely plan to move permanently before that date.
Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

So in other words I’d be getting proof you are intending to settle in Saskatchewan.
You have five months to prove
Hence that’s why you were issued a PR
by the nominating province, to settle in that province
Maybe should of landed in Saskatchewan

Thank you for your response. Will keep this group posted on my progress.

 

[thomasp307]

If you are referring to the COPR by "one time visa", then yes, you would use the same one. Your COPR is still valid for 5 months and hasn't been used since your landing wasn't accepted.

CBSA's computers will have a note of the failed landing. So it's possible there may be some questions or quite possible this may be limited to the CBSA officer expecting you to have sufficient evidence with you to prove you intend to settle in Sask.

By "one time visa" i am referring to the visa that came stamped in my passport along with the copr document. The stamped visa says "one time entry".

 

[canuck78]

By "one time visa" i am referring to the visa that came stamped in my passport along with the copr document. The stamped visa says "one time entry".

Thank you for your response. Will keep this group posted on my progress.

Given your H1B status and it appears you may be working in NY there will be concerns that you will continue to work for the same employer and move to Ontario. Pretty valid concern since the majority of applicants continue working for their US employer in one way or another. Assume you will need some pretty strong evidence evidence that you are settling in SK now that you have been flagged. There does seem to be more effort being put into ensuring people actually are settling in the nominating province because it has almost become a joke.

 

[canprofus]

Hi Pranaam

I recently had similar experience at thousand island bridge. I am h1b with 3 kids travelled to ontario for soft landing with saskatchewan pnp nomination copr. I was traveling with my 2 kids and my wife was staying back in usa with a little 6 month old. The officer didn't activate pr formalities as he was not convinced i had intentions to move to saskatchewan province. Also had questions on why my wife is not accompanied with me. I had 5 months left for copr expiry he asked to come back again with proof of intent.

When you went back could you use the same one time visa?

Was there any questions on why the pr was not activated first time.

Thank you for sharing your experiences

if you have got your PR through PNP, you should land only in the province that issued you nomination. If you land in SK, you won't be required to show any proof as your expressing your intent to settle in province by landing there.