crossing border on saturday - any last minute advice???

[minna]

Hi all,

So, the time has finally come. My partner and I (I'm the sponsor, he's the principal applicant) are going to be crossing the border at the Peace Arch crossing on Saturday. I wish we could be crossing during the week or at night, to avoid a line up, but we've been driving from south Florida, and at this point, we just want to get there, line ups at the border or not.

We will be requesting at least a 6 month visitor record, to wait out the PR process together in Vancouver. We have proof of adequate funds for this time, a place to stay, the entire application, sponsorship approval and AOR from Buffalo, and a letter from his employer stating that my partner has been granted a leave of absence from his job, and that he is still considered an employee, and his job will be waiting for him when he returns to the US. We are well aware that he will required traveler's insurance, but we couldn't buy in advance because we didn't know when exactly we'd be arriving in Canada - we have an insurance agent ready to issue him traveler's insurance as soon as we arrive.

Anything we are over looking?? Any last minute advice for us?? I am nervous about all of this, as we have been on the road for 2 weeks already, and I just want to get home, and start getting settled.....this long of a road trip is really hard when you're 6 months pregnant......

 

[AllisonVSC]

Seems you are well prepared to me. Good luck and safe travels.

 

[AngelB]

Wow, incredible preparation. I highly doubt you'll have any problems with all of that ready! Good luck and safe journey!

 

[matthewc]

It's better if the sponsor does most of the talking. Remember to smile, and say hi to the anti-idling traffic control system in the other direction for me as you go past.

 

[minna]

thanks for the reassurance!! it's amazing - no matter how much we've done our homework, and prepared all the possibly necessary documents, it's still so nerve-wracking!

and matthewc - will do!

 

[minna]

Just to provide a follow-up, because, when I was starting the process, I always appreciated hearing the final outcomes....

We arrived at the Peace Arch at about 2pm on Saturday afternoon. The wait was about 20 minutes. When we pulled up, we handed over our passports, and told the CBSA agent that we had a PR application in process, and that I had to import my car. He directed us to pull over and head inside. Our dog had to wait in a kennel outside the building.

We went in, and explained the situation to the agent inside. She took all of our paperwork, and was quite cold and 'business-like' at first. She had a bit of a blunt tone and actually didn't let me (as the sponsor) do much talking. She spoke to my partner (the applicant) while I pulled out all the various pieces of paperwork she requested. In the rush to get all the papers in front of her, we totally forgot to request a 1 year visitor record. She told us to sit down and wait while she went through our paper work.

After about 20-25 minutes, she called my partner back over to the window and asked for his address back in Florida. He provided it. She then said that although she usually doesn't give a vistor's record for longer than is requested, in our case, since we were so well prepared and had all of the information she could ever want to see, she gave him a a 1 year record. Such a relief. It was around this time, that the agent started to act a lot warmer and more friendly - I guess because she had reviewed all of our paperwork and realized that we knew what we were doing.

I had to import my car, despite the fact that, because we crossed on a Saturday, the US export office was not open. That was fine, they basically just looked at my title, checked that the VIN on the car matched what was on the title, and wrote up the paperwork.

Finally, she issued me a B4 document, something that the customs agent had neglected to do when I first arrived back in Vancouver (at the Vancouver airport). She asked for my 'goods to follow' list, and was shocked that the first agent had not wanted to deal with. She set it up so that it would be very clear and easy when the truck arrives with our household items.

As a side note - we heard a very sad story - a family that had just recently been granted PR status, travelled to the US for a few days before coming back to land, and had had their car, all of their luggage, and all of their documentation stolen. I don't know what happened to their story in the end, but I believe they were going to have to have CIC re-issue their visas. They were (understandably) so upset. So once your visas are issued - DON"T let them out of your sight!!!


All in all, we were at the border for about an hour and a half.

 

[RobsLuv]

Congratulations. This is how it's supposed to work - kudos to you for being so prepared. It makes a difference. Also, it's probably a really good thing that you actually forgot to ask for the VR - they really don't like to be "told" what you think you need. They want to be the ones telling you - so that probably actually worked in your favour to go in, have the documentation they requested, and then wait for them to tell you what they were going to do. Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for his PR application to be finalized. I hope it goes as smoothly and quickly as your border experience did.

 

[HoneyBird]

i have no further advice for you except to be positive throughout the whole process...and be confident in everything you say!

 

[Misplaced Brit]

This is actually very helpful for me. I have to go to the Border a week tomorrow (Monday) and come back around. We had an issue with Canadian Border patrol last time who marked me as an overstay thanks to the lack of a stamp in my passport from my previous trip to the States and back. Ugh!

So, the immigration officer told us that we had to go back on the 25th to show 'compliance' with the conditions he set out, ie, no working for me, proof of our marriage (Photos and the marriage certificate) and proof that we'd sent our application for PR off.

So, we're photocopying every single page of the application, got a second set of all the photos printed out, scanned and copied the marriage certificate (the original goes in the application obviously), and we'll also have our copy of the payment receipt and a receipt from mailing in the application.

The immigration officer told us that he'll make a decision based on what we bring with us to the border. I'm not anticipating any trouble with re-entering on Monday, considering we have everything he asked for (and more) but it's best not to leave anything to chance. I'm glad to know that everything went okay for you - hopefully everything will go okay for us too!

 

[x5-452]

Hi i'm just wondering what sort of paperwork did you bring? I will be going through the same process at the end of january where my wife (american) will be coming over as a visitor while we wait for PR to be approved.
Thanks in advance.

 

[matthewc]

This is actually very helpful for me. I have to go to the Border a week tomorrow (Monday) and come back around. We had an issue with Canadian Border patrol last time who marked me as an overstay thanks to the lack of a stamp in my passport from my previous trip to the States and back. Ugh!

So, the immigration officer told us that we had to go back on the 25th to show 'compliance' with the conditions he set out, ie, no working for me, proof of our marriage (Photos and the marriage certificate) and proof that we'd sent our application for PR off.

So, we're photocopying every single page of the application, got a second set of all the photos printed out, scanned and copied the marriage certificate (the original goes in the application obviously), and we'll also have our copy of the payment receipt and a receipt from mailing in the application.

The immigration officer told us that he'll make a decision based on what we bring with us to the border. I'm not anticipating any trouble with re-entering on Monday, considering we have everything he asked for (and more) but it's best not to leave anything to chance. I'm glad to know that everything went okay for you - hopefully everything will go okay for us too!

Presumably they issued you a Visitor Record. What exactly does it say? I know the border officers like to be kind of their little castle, but I'm fairly sure they can't obligate you to leave Canada and re-enter presenting proof of your PR application. They can limit your stay as a visitor to a certain length, but depending on exactly what is written on your visitor record, it might be much more beneficial to you to apply to extend your stay as a visitor via CPC-Vegreville rather than run the gauntlet at the border again.

 

[minna]

Hi i'm just wondering what sort of paperwork did you bring? I will be going through the same process at the end of january where my wife (american) will be coming over as a visitor while we wait for PR to be approved.
Thanks in advance.

Hi there - no problem!

We picked up a portable, locking file box at Staples, and wound up pretty much filling it up entirely with various bits and pieces of important paperwork.

Specifically for my partner to cross the border we had:

1) Our entire application, including the fed ex receipt from sending it to CPC-M and the fed-ex confirmation of delivery (this was a photocopy I made of the whole app right before sending it, so included copies of everything in the application, including the payment receipt)

2) Letter from CPC-M indicating that sponsorship had been approved

3) AOR from Buffalo visa office with the barcode stickers showing that my partner's file was in process

4) Proof of our financial status - just a print out of our joint bank account balance - they don't count credit cards limits in this, as credit can be revoked at any point, so cash only. This is mostly to show that the visit will not be causing undue hardship - i.e. no one will be starving.

5) A letter from my partner's employer indicating that he had been granted a leave of absence and had a job waiting for him back in Florida.

My partner was asked what he would be doing in Vancouver while he was visiting (his reply was - just visiting, also we're having a baby in January). He was asked for his address in Florida, and what the status of that address was (we own our home, it's being rented out now [obviously we didn't mention that part] but we're still making mortgage payments - she just wanted to be clear that he had a place to live in Florida). He was also asked about his job, and why his employer had granted him an open-ended leave of absence (it's a small family-run business, and he was like part of the family, so he'll always have a place there).

I think that's it.

 

[sparkle]

Hey

Just a quick question....Is your husband a citizen of US?

I do not know your history, but your case seems similar to mine. My husband lives in US, but very close to border (So do I). We will be filing for his PR soon, but i wanted him to be able to visit me as we are hardly an hour away. I was initially thinking of moving in with him and coming to work daily (in Canada), but since I need to be a resident of Canada for his application, I cannot.

Any piece of advice...or suggestions for us?
Will highly appreciate it

 

[HoneyBird]

what a unique situation!
but if you are still working in Canada, paying taxes..then does it matter that you are living in the States?

 

[sparkle]

I think we need to show that I am a resident of Canada. Which I can still do since my family is here, and I will be anyway working everyday, paying taxes and all that, but wouldn't they question the fact that I leave the country everyday in the evening and return the next morning...
Although they don't really record it anywhere when i cross the border....but I don't want to take any chances.