As promised guys, my landing story.
I had booked my tickets since March for take off on 5th June, 2015. Ofcourse I advised everyone to check as many airlines as possible online to find good deals. I was fortunate to get a total fee of N717,400 for my family of five on Turkish Airlines which has only one stopover at Istanbul.
I had been packing for about 2 weeks before take off date and still wasn't finished. Just getting rid of my stuff in my house was crazy. I gave away and gave away stuff after I had sold what I could but I still had so much stuff left! In the end, Pipi just left everything on the floor in the living room for the caretaker to deal with. He is still thanking us today for the brand new sets of dishes, curtains, cupboard, paintings, lamps. My gate boy 'inherited' a TV, dvd player, TV stand, clothes hanger, clothes. I just wanted everything gone before the house agent comes to inspect. My advice to all of you yet to travel, start getting rid of stuff today! Sell, dash, throw, do what you must to avoid the coming nightmares of being confused on how to get rid of things. I know Frances has started feeling this 8) Start packing your luggage with those things you need in Naija but you will need in Canada. All those your bottom box naija natives, give them away and keep just three to four sets each cos they will be useless here. Most of you will expand in size so the few you have will also end up being useless to you very soon. As you are packing, get a bathroom scale and weigh each bag/box to ensure they don't exceed 23kg. You are allowed an extra kg or two above 23kg but it pays to sort out the weight issue at home to avoid being confused at the airport and having to throw things out painfully. I also advise you check in online the light before your flight and select your seats yourself to avoid getting allocated seats next to the toilet. Trust me, you don't want to travel to Canada next to a busted toilet! This will also save you time at the check in counter.
So D-day finally arrived and we got to the airport. Thankfully, traffic was light as I left home late. It was that same day I finally sold Pipi's SUV and got the balance for the sale that morning then rushed to convert it to FX. Reminder, do all your selling of stuff early, you might not be so fortunate as me and you will need every penny you can raise. A piece of advise, if you taking palm oil with you, hide it in the centre of your luggage as if found by their scanner, it will be removed from your luggage. That was how I had to return my keg of palm oil home. Got to the Customs desk and when the Lead officer saw my 10 pieces of luggage, he looked up, looked down and said to Pipi, 'Madam, just pass with your load but you go settle o'. 2k later, we were at the luggage check in. All the bags and boxes were weighed, all were accepted, all were tagged and went in. We said our goodbyes to my folks who brought us to the airport and proceeded to the boarding area.
Some of you might be approached by airport staff to pay for 'express service', that is, they will take you from the back of queues to the front of queues and save time. All I will say is 'shine your eyes'. At the boarding area was a queue so long, I thought they were sharing Swiss visas there! Once again, Pipi just stepped to this Customs guy manning the VIP express queue and I and my boys followed. While she was asking the guy to please let us through my boys just went forward as if I own the airport. Who was I not to follow them? Pipi sef join the parade and we got to passport stamping sharply. From there, we proceeded to board the aircraft. The plane took off about 20 minutes behind schedule but nobody complained. I think most of us were relieved to just be leaving Naija with the fuel scarcity wahala and PHCN vacation.
Another one of advice; hide enough gala and small chops in your hand luggage as some airline food may not be to your taste. I could eat it but my sons went on strike! I ended up begging them to manage until I could get them McDonalds. See blackmail from my last son who insisted it must be pizza! I had no choice but to agree so that the ministry can move to the permanent site. There were lots of movies to select from on the flight for those who like films so the flight can be enjoyable. My kids were just switching from Disney movies to games to other kid films, having a blast. So in all the flight was alright and we arrived at Istanbul for the transit. Since Ataturk is a large and modern airport, we had a great time there window shopping and moving around so the eight hours felt like two hours. Pipi enjoyed herself trying out dresses, shoes and jewelry. The kids were just skipping about and I was just relieved none of them was harassing me. Soon we were on our way to Toronto, same nice flight but I advise those in similar circumstance to sleep on this second leg, you will need energy for the landing ahead. And ensure you fill your landing papers which will be shared on the flight.
We landed and proceeded to Passport control and visa check. We then moved to immigration and this is where everybody needs to be sharp and alert because this is where they will check your COPR and ask about landing funds and maybe POF. I advise you have $10,000 cash with you and declare as such. All immigrants with families in the hall that day who declared 10k as landing funds did not have any problems, no question of POF arose. I think psychologically, this amount satisfies them that you 'hold your side'. I wasn't asked about POF but I had prepared for that by getting a copy of original bank statement from my bank before I left Naija. I advise you do same and get your statement or recent original fixed deposit certificate handy. Better to be stressed now but prepared than to be deported. A word is enough please...
Next is baggage claim then customs. We had prepared our goods accompanying list and goods to follow list but the lady attending to us was not interested in goods accompanying. She reviewed the list, entered it into the system and gave us a stamped copy so when our goods later arrive by cargo, we wont be charged tax on them. From here, you step out into Arrivals and Canada! Ensure you have your hosts phone numbers and full house address and that they know when exactly your flight is landing, Canada time. Otherwise like me, you may miss yourselves at the airport. Summary is after waiting four hours, I used a booking terminal at the airport to book a hotel for my family for the night. The major and popular hotels all have airport shuttle service which come to pick up their guests so that was how we got to Best Western Plus which I selected for the night. Now be careful here as Canadian establishments usually insist on credit cards and not debit cards which are more available in naija. However, as a sure boy, I was able to convince the front desk lady that I had cash and a funded debit card. So she accepted to enter my debit card details into the system while I would pay cash when I check out. The idea of them taking your card details upfront is if you stay and then dodge out to escape payment. They will just take payment from your card. That same night I was able to get my host on the phone and we arranges that I would get to his place the next day by taxi.
Fast forward to Monday, we went to a Service Canada outlet to get SIN for the whole family. You'll need your landing papers and passports for this. Take them as well when you go to register for your Canadian Health card. For those coming to Ontario, you get this at Service Ontario. Don't forget to bring your Nigerian driving license which you will need you go to write your driving test which you must pass before you can take the physical test.
With various registrations out of the way, you now face accommodation and the almighty job search. Husbands, love thy wives and wives love thy husband because you're going to need each other now. for couples, most likely one person will actively seek work while the other will stay back to care for the home. If there are no kids, then you can both plunge into the job market. If you are single then you can hit the ground running.
All in all, I wish you the best ahead. God bless.
