Folks,
In my recent interaction with my friends in CIIP, I came across an email that will be of use to you:
Actually I forgot to mention it earlier - when I put down my papers our management requested me to continue. They wanted me to start off the operations in Canada and so I will be busy with that work for now, employed!
Priya is yet to brace up and look for a job/course, we got to weigh our options and move accordingly. We will be starting our new struggle from tomorrow, going to Toronto for activating the bank account in Scotia Bank and then take care of the SIN card etc other statutory and immdt obligations.
One big advise to people planning their move soon - please make sure you approach Scotia Bank officials back in India. This is the best option to carry funds to Canada. You can open an account from there, park your funds and then move after which you can activate the account and start using the funds. The process too is very simple and smooth, hassle free, totally secure mode.
Just approach them with your passports and COPR. They will direct you on the formalities required to open the account - fill the application and submit the copies of the documents, one photograph of the applicant. It is always advised to approach them at least one month before your flying date so the account opening will not be a dilemma. Once the application is submitted they will forward it to the counterparts in Canada. Here it is very very important for you to decide on which branch of Scotia Bank in Canada do you wish the funds to be transferred. You will have to approach that branch only after migrating to Canada, to activate your account and this is where your Visa Debit card is available. You will get an email to the ID mentioned in the application from the officials in Canadian branch of the bank. Please be informed that this email will be there in your inbox only for two days (with subject as " xxxx has tried to send an email to you..." after which it vanishes, that is how it is setup. You will be amazed at the way it works. Once you receive the mail in your personal mail ID first make sure you print it and forward once again to your personal mail ID. In the email you will be directed to login into Scotia bank's temporary login where you will find the account details. Make it a point to print that mail without fail. This mail and the login cannot be accessed later. Take both the print outs and approach the Scotia Bank local branch in India. They will again make you fill another application and submit after which they will provide you with a dummy account number. Go to the bank where you initially parked the funds for immigration processing and make an RTGS to the Dummy/Contra Account. Within max 1 hr it would be transferred so rush to the Scotia Bank again with the RTGS details. They will confirm and get you a print out of the account details with the branch name where the account is created, account number etc. This document can be used as the proof of funds at POE. Hope this is clear! There are hardly about 8-10 branches in whole of India, just one per major city including one in BLR and one in Hyd. The website clearly shows where the branches are available!
Nevertheless, the immigration official at Pearson airport didnt either ask or check this with us. He just asked if we are carrying everything required and we just said yes. They didnt even ask about the gold or cash we are carrying. We just carried 5k CAD and everything else is parked in the Scotia Bank Account.
One more advise - try to land during the day time, never in the evenings as the immigration counters are bare minimal - there was only one when we landed and it took solid 2+ hrs for us to complete the immigration formalities! But yes the flight we chose was of the shortest duration of all available and direct from HYD-LHR-YYZ(Toronto) with just about 4.5 hrs of transit time in LHR. When I asked the immigration office on why there was only one counter when there are so many immigrants/passengers waiting. He said this is very unusual that so many passengers have landed on a Friday evening which otherwise would be minimal. And he spoke very well asking about how long it took for our PR processing etc. He too is an immigrant from Cuba and his GF's medical's were expiring repeatedly as her family was not willing for her immigration to Canada or something. It took 12 solid years for him to get the PR it seems!
Another suggestion - no need of any transit visa if you are not moving out of the airport in London. Just stay put in the airport and you are good. Make sure you approach the terminals before time. It may not be the same terminal as you landed from India. There would be trains available from one terminal to another but be mindful of the transit time and rush if the gap is minimal. We see lot of people running between terminals to catch their connecting flights.
We took a Wind connection here in Brampton but it doesnt work in the basements so we couldnt make even a single call till now. We are planning to return it tomorrow and go for a new connection in Toronto when we go for the Scotia account activation. And, yes the phone connections are way too costly and so are the transportation options too! But, when we start earning in Dollars this may not look the same. Problem is only when we try calculating the expenses in Indian rupees. We tend to do so which is very normal and slowly we should move out of that habit as we start earning in Dollars. But yes there is no harm in calculating carefully before we spend as we left all that is ours back in India to start a new life here so it does make sense to spend wisely.
Our owner is a very good guy, a Tamilian who migrated as a student and settled down here in Brampton after purchasing a semi-detached house. He is an Engineer by profession and working in Toronto - drives there daily. He picked us up from the airport with all the luggage of 4 cartons and 2 big suitcases, 3 cabin baggages and 3 laptop bags - that's a lot!
He took us around yday and day before for our initial purchases. We bought some items in Walmart and some others in the sabzi mandi as they call it here the Punjabi Bazaar. We also bought couple of items in the Dollorama. The drive was very pleasant, very different from what we see back in India - no traffic jams, no honking at all, people follow the signals 100% and no one is in rush.. they maintain the required distance between each vehicle.
Had initial taste of the malls here when we went there to get the Wind connection, just getting in getting out. It was a big one - Bramalea City Centre.
Good Luck to all of you! Plan well and spend wisely. You are here on a mission so it all depends on us how we go about it - our owner's neighbour started as a driver and now there are always 4 cars parked in front of his house!
Trust this is informative.
