Dual citizen first time visiting

[Outofhere2017]

Hi guys,

I'm an Australian who has dual citizenship in Canada, I am now looking to travel/possibly live in Canada so i have applied for and received my Canadian passport.

I'm just a little confused as to what i need to do when entering the country. I plan to enter on my Canadian passport; Will i have any issues entering the country considering i have never been there as an adult? (only travelling with family at age 3) Is there anything i need to have pre-arranged? Will i need travel insurance? (Am i really travelling or just returning to my 'other home' country)

Sorry if this is the wrong section, i couldn't find a more suitable one.

Thanks in advance!

 

[reasonabledude]

when you are travelling as a Canadian (with Canadian passport), you shouldn't need to present anything else.
Regarding Health insurance, I would suggest you to buy one for yourself (not as requirement from government). When you move to any province, you need to apply for health card there and it will take some time (up to 3 months) to get registered and if you purchase an insurance in advance, it will cover you for this period. Even if you change your province here in Canada, you would again need to apply for a new health card in your new province.

You can get more information about it here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/after-health.asp

 

[reasonabledude]

You also need to fill a declaration form (see below link) which will be provided by cabin crew, and of course you would need to have an address and some more info to write it down. It is good to see it before your travel to be aware of limits you will have in terms of goods you can have and so on:

http://www.mitzikai.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cbsa-declaration-card.png

 

[dbss]

You also need to fill a declaration form (see below link) which will be provided by cabin crew, and of course you would need to have an address and some more info to write it down. It is good to see it before your travel to be aware of limits you will have in terms of goods you can have and so on:

http://www.mitzikai.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/cbsa-declaration-card.png

If you are landing at Ottawa, I believe you do not even need to fill the form. I cannot find the link and now that I think it may only be for NEXUS users but just in case FYI.

 

[Outofhere2017]

Thanks reasonabledude.

At the moment i plan to spend 6 weeks travelling around before spending a while in BC. Will my best option be to have travel insurance while travelling country wide, then going onto BC provincial health care (is this what you mean by " I would suggest you to buy one for yourself (not as requirement from government)"?

I plan to land in Vancouver so unfortunately i will need to fill the form in dbss.

Thanks again.

 

[reasonabledude]

Yes, exactly. That was what I meant. Travel insurance would cover you if anything happen (god forbidden) till you get your health card (just to be on safe side). I have Quebec and Ontario health card which each of them took almost 2-3 months to be issued and I am not sure about BC. But you can find required info in this regard and learn how you can get your BC Service Card from link below:

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/personal-health-identification/your-bc-services-card

 

[Outofhere2017]

Great, i'll start looking into that now.

I assume i will need to be actually living in BC to apply for the health card?

Also if i'm planning to work will i need to organise a tax number? In Australia before working you must have a tax file number, is it the same over there, and can i apply before flying over?

Cheers

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I assume i will need to be actually living in BC to apply for the health card?

Also if i'm planning to work will i need to organise a tax number? In Australia before working you must have a tax file number, is it the same over there, and can i apply before flying over?

Yes, you need to actually be moving to BC in order to qualify for health coverage. The wait period is 2 months plus the balance of the month you arrive in BC.

You will need a SIN to be able to work. You must apply in person in Canada.

 

[Outofhere2017]

Thanks so much for the responses reasonabledude & canuck_in_uk you've answered all my questions for now but i'm sure i'll have some more later