Hello Everybody
I am posting my landing experience, maybe it helps someone.
Heads up! Long post!
So, we got our CoPR and Counterfoil in the passports back in Dec 2019. Decided to move to Canada during summer time, then Covid hit. We kept on postponing our plans, waiting for the situation to normalize, which never happened. I was a keen reader of this thread and saw how many people were delayed with their CoPR expiring. Finally, we decided to pull the plunge and I put in my resignation two months ago, sold all our stuff , and booked tickets to Canada just days before my CoRP expired.
I didn't raise a webform, since we were exempted from travel restrictions with the 18th of March exception (although I had my doubts). Our flight was scheduled 1s of December. I checked with IRCC via phone to see if I needed any sort of authorization letter. The agent said as long as my CoPR is not expired, I didn’t.
I booked Air Canada to Toronto via Frankfurt. The airlines agent at Frankfurt asked me about my permanent residence, which I was too tiered and exhausted to understand, and thought he referred to where I would be staying, so I showed him my Airbnb reservation, so he got quite aggravated and was asking me why I was going to Canada, so I told him I’m immigrating, so he asked me to show him my papers, I told him look in the passports, he had a look, and realized we were exempted, so allowed us to board. They also checked our ArriveCan receipt, which I printed out for convenance.
Flight was ok, only thing you had to keep wearing the masks the entire flight, which is pretty tiresome. Anyway we reached Canada, and was greeted by two police officers as soon as we set foot in the airport. “You picked a nice day to land” said the officer who asked us why we came to Canada. I am still unsure if he was sincere or being sarcastic. Anyways we went down stars to passport control, and were directed to the serpentine" queue which was empty, and kindda felt silly just going in zigzags. When we reached the officer, who was looking board, I presented the passports, and waited, then all of the sudden he blurted out “Declaration form, Quarantine plan, ArriveCan”. I presented all that to him, then he asked where I was coming from, and what I was doing their, and what am I doing in Canada, so I answered. He asked me if I understood I have to quarantine for 14 days, which I said I do, then he used his pink marker and marked my papers and told me to head past his office to immigrations, where I went through another empty serpentine queue and reached the booth of a friendly officers, who made us sign our papers and asked for the address to which the PR cards would be sent too. I gave him the Airbnb apartment address. He asked if I wanted to ask about anything else, then welcomed us to Canada. I then collected my luggage and went through customs. The officer was about to let me out, when I told him I needed to hand my goods to follow form, so he pointed to me to a side office, where I went to a booth and gave the officers all the papers (accompanying goods, declaration form, goods to follow). They put on the system the total value of all and then stamped the forms, and handed me a copy for receiving my shipment.
After that I got an uber, which you can ride from the ground floor (I was surprised that we were not on the ground floor) at Q gate, which is closed, so you need to exit at gate S
Now were are in the 14 day isolation period, but with the city lockdown I’m reading about in the news, I’m not sure there would be any were for us to go after that.
Time line
ITA (2nd Time) 17 Nov 2018
AOR: 18 Jan
Medicals pass:27 Feb
BIL:4 March
ADR (1st):24 Sept.
ADR(2nd): 26 Sept.
Re-Med Request: 27 Nov _done on the 9th of Dec
Med Passed: 10 December
Ready for Visa: 11 December 2019
Passports received: 31 December 2019
Landing: 01 December 2020