Couple of landing questions - please help

[khan_n87]

Hello,

I applied for Permanent Residence from within Canada while I was an international student from Pakistan. I have my COPR and immigration visa issued that expires September 30th, 2013. I am currently visiting Pakistan and plan to land in Canada (in Montreal, QC) sometime in August. I have two questions:

1) I have a temporary resident visa (worker visa) issued that expires on August 1st, 2013 and an immigration visa that expires September 30th, 2013. Do I need to do my landing before August 1st or September 30th?

2) I will only be going to Canada to land (not making my move to live there permanently until the end of this year) and will be entering via the US. How long does the landing procedure take? Will I need to stay in the country for sometime or can I land and return to the US on the same day after completing all landing formalities?

It would be great if someone knows the answers to these questions. I just wanted to confirm things before booking my tickets.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[kvedv]

Hi,

First of all Congratulations for your visa. Answer to your queries (to the best of my knowledge).

1) I have a temporary resident visa (worker visa) issued that expires on August 1st, 2013 and an immigration visa that expires September 30th, 2013. Do I need to do my landing before August 1st or September 30th? ---- You have to land before 30th of September (Or before your medical expires NO LATER THAN 30th September).

2) I will only be going to Canada to land (not making my move to live there permanently until the end of this year) and will be entering via the US. How long does the landing procedure take? Will I need to stay in the country for sometime or can I land and return to the US on the same day after completing all landing formalities? ---- Landing procedure should not take more than couple of hours but it depends on the rush at the immigration office and on your paper works. You can leave the country immediately after completing your landing formalities but before you enter again you have to have your PR card or emergency/replacement travel document.

At immigration desk they will ask you to provide your local address(Canadian) where the PR card will be posted. This address can be your friend's or relatives. You have to ask them to send your PR card to you. PR Card will take at least 3 weeks to reach your address in Canada.

KvedV

 

[khan_n87]

Hey! Thanks a bunch for answering my questions I thought the same about the landing date but its good to have a second opinion as well. Fortunately I have a local address where I can have the PR card sent. Hopefully it should all work out!

 

[emamabd]

Hey! Thanks a bunch for answering my questions I thought the same about the landing date but its good to have a second opinion as well. Fortunately I have a local address where I can have the PR card sent. Hopefully it should all work out!

I agree with kvedv, but just want to add 1 or 2 notes regarding the PR card,

the current processing time is 39 days as per latest update on CIC website (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-card.asp) so you can expect it to arrive roughly within that period.

I have landed last February and received my PR card in exactly 35 days (at that time the cic website processing time stated 35 days)

Another note, try not to give the immigration officer an impression that you will leave Canada within a day or 2 after your landing - cause their expectation is that you remain in Canada at least until your PR card arrives, there are some cases mentioned in this forum where the officer refused to process the PR card because the landed immigrant informed the officer that he's leaving within a short period. I'm not suggesting that you lie to the officer - my advice is that you shouldn't mention to him that you are leaving unless you "have to".

 

[khan_n87]

Thank you for the reply emamabd! However, don't we have to state on the the landing card (the one they hand you at the end of the flight) our duration of stay in the city? I will keep your advice in mind and will not openly state that I plan to leave the same day but I hope it won't already be evident from my landing card.

 

[donutbox]

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At immigration desk they will ask you to provide your local address(Canadian) where the PR card will be posted. This address can be your friend's or relatives. You have to ask them to send your PR card to you. PR Card will take at least 3 weeks to reach your address in Canada.

KvedV

I know for FSW PR landing you have to land anywhere in Canada except Quebec, what I want to to know though is, suppose I do my landing in Toronto, can I tell the immigration desk that I want the PR card to be mailed to a local address in Quebec?

I don't live (or intend to live) in Quebec, however for logistical reasons, it is convenient for me to have the PR card sent to an address in Quebec (for example, I only did the landing in Toronto and left Canada the day after I did the landing in Toronto, but I have family/friends living in Quebec who can accept the PR card and then mail/courier the PR card it to me to my home country....)

 

[emamabd]

Thank you for the reply emamabd! However, don't we have to state on the the landing card (the one they hand you at the end of the flight) our duration of stay in the city? I will keep your advice in mind and will not openly state that I plan to leave the same day but I hope it won't already be evident from my landing card.

As a landed "immigrant" - you are not required to fill how many days you will stay in canada....if you take a second look at the in-flight declaration card - you will notice that this part (PartB) is only for "visitors" to fill

you can have a close look at the declaration card in the below link:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/e311-eng.pdf

below is also a previous discussion thread referring to the same issue:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/customs-declaration-card-required-to-be-filled-by-newly-landed-immigrant-t70109.0.html

So as a conclusion - you don't have to worry about it....good luck and enjoy your landing experience.

 

[coolguy2010]

No, you cannot give the address of quebec and they will also deny that

I know for FSW PR landing you have to land anywhere in Canada except Quebec, what I want to to know though is, suppose I do my landing in Toronto, can I tell the immigration desk that I want the PR card to be mailed to a local address in Quebec?

I don't live (or intend to live) in Quebec, however for logistical reasons, it is convenient for me to have the PR card sent to an address in Quebec (for example, I only did the landing in Toronto and left Canada the day after I did the landing in Toronto, but I have family/friends living in Quebec who can accept the PR card and then mail/courier the PR card it to me to my home country....)

 

[donutbox]

No, you cannot give the address of quebec and they will also deny that

Ok, what are the options (if any) for someone who does not have an address/relative/friends in Canada (outside of Quebec)?




Also, will the immigration desk accept a P.O Box address in Canada (outside of Quebec)?

Do you know if the Canada Post provides a service for forwarding mail from a Canada Post P.O Box in Toronto to an address Quebec?

I am somewhat curious as to how newly landed PRs usually fulfill the "address requirement". Sure, I know some people simply provide the address of relatives/friends etc. But what does a new landed PR do if he/she is landing in Canada for the first time and has no friends/relative address to provide.

There are some newly landed PRs who simply land and then exit Canada the next day. Then there are those who stay in an hotel in Canada until they get there own place......but in that case, the PR would not know in advance the address of the house he/she is going to live at....so, again, how do newly landed PR handle the "address requirement". This just seems odd to me, but I guess that's exactly why I am here asking the question.

 

[emamabd]

Ok, what are the options (if any) for someone who does not have an address/relative/friends in Canada (outside of Quebec)?




Also, will the immigration desk accept a P.O Box address in Canada (outside of Quebec)?

Do you know if the Canada Post provides a service for forwarding mail from a Canada Post P.O Box in Toronto to an address Quebec?

I am somewhat curious as to how newly landed PRs usually fulfill the "address requirement". Sure, I know some people simply provide the address of relatives/friends etc. But what does a new landed PR do if he/she is landing in Canada for the first time and has no friends/relative address to provide.

There are some newly landed PRs who simply land and then exit Canada the next day. Then there are those who stay in an hotel in Canada until they get there own place......but in that case, the PR would not know in advance the address of the house he/she is going to live at....so, again, how do newly landed PR handle the "address requirement". This just seems odd to me, but I guess that's exactly why I am here asking the question.

You have an option to land and give CIC an address later..1 or 2 days after landing...once you find your temporary accomodation / or once you figure out some address. Or you can opt to stay in an accommodation which offers "PR card mail forwarding service" - for example you may choose to stay at "safehomestay" - they have this service listed in the below link. I haven't stayed in that place by the way - as i have a friend who arranged a 2 bedroom flat for me & my family - but i'm just suggesting it as you "seem" to have no options.

http://www.safehomestay.com/
http://www.safehomestay.com/ourservices.html

 

[donutbox]

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Or you can opt to stay in an accommodation which offers "PR card mail forwarding service" - for example you may choose to stay at "safehomestay" - they have this service listed in the below link. I haven't stayed in that place by the way - as i have a friend who arranged a 2 bedroom flat for me & my family - but i'm just suggesting it as you "seem" to have no options.

http://www.safehomestay.com/
http://www.safehomestay.com/ourservices.html

Ok, thanks. I think the above answers the question I asked. I didn't know of such a service existing. Now I know.

 

[khan_n87]

As a landed "immigrant" - you are not required to fill how many days you will stay in canada....if you take a second look at the in-flight declaration card - you will notice that this part (PartB) is only for "visitors" to fill


So as a conclusion - you don't have to worry about it....good luck and enjoy your landing experience.

Thanks a lot for all your input, you've been very helpful.

 

[visaworld]

@ seniors,

is it necessary to fill the list of goods accompanying and goods to follow list?.

 

[visaworld]

@ seniors,

is it necessary to fill the list of goods accompanying and goods to follow list?.

;

 

[abhijeet9k]

;

It is ideal to fill accompanying list for that matter if u are carrying any electronics , new cutlery, crockery etc .... to avoid duty if the customs officer checks your bag. Goods to follow list is also necessary to add if you think you have any valuable belongings like gold silver jewelry ( attach photographs) which you might bring in at a later date or may not. That will again save you duty on your items.

I got charged duty on my courier of clothing from Australia which i had to pay to the courier company but the same is refunded by CBSA office upon presenting my goods to follow list which included the courier details and the value. i got charged a duty of $175 on goods valued at $800 CAD.