Getting ready for landing! :)

[Lady_Ashka]

Ok, so mycic just changed to 'approved', and I am THRILLED!

If the COPR arrives tomorrow or on Thursday (I hope my husband can sign for it too!) then we can land on Sunday on our way back from the US.

We are common-law, did family class outland via Warsaw VO (which was super quick, by the way), but I've lived in Canada since 2014 and so I will have no goods to follow (as all my books and clothes are here already), so:

1. Will I need to fill in a customs form that people normally are asked to fill in during landing? If so, should I do it in advance?
2. What does the process look like (of landing): do I need to have anything else apart from my passport with me? (I guess COPR might specify if I need anything else, but it hasn't arrived yet, so maybe someone would have a general suggestion what is typically required?) Anything else to look out for?

 

[Hurlabrick]

Congratulations! Great feeling!

As regards landing, see this wiki article here:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Landing_as_PR-Canada

So if you have no goods accompanying / good to follow, you will need:

1. ETA (if you are from a visa exempt country) or they won't let you on the plane (not needed if crossing the border USA to Canada by car)
2. Passport
3. CoPR (Both the original and the copy)

Tell them you are landing to activate your CoPR and declare permanent residence. The will take you to a side room to beat you with a rubber hose complete the formalities

Yes, you do still need to do the customs forms they hand out on the planes.

 

[TANMEX]

Congratulations! Great feeling!

As regards landing, see this wiki article here:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Landing_as_PR-Canada

So if you have no goods accompanying / good to follow, you will need:

1. ETA (if you are from a visa exempt country) or they won't let you on the plane (not needed if crossing the border USA to Canada by car)
2. Passport
3. CoPR (Both the original and the copy)

Tell them you are landing to activate your CoPR and declare permanent residence. The will take you to a side room to beat you with a rubber hose complete the formalities

Yes, you do still need to do the customs forms they hand out on the planes.

1. Wrong , you don't need ETA
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1184&top=16

 

[Lady_Ashka]

Congratulations! Great feeling!

As regards landing, see this wiki article here:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Landing_as_PR-Canada

So if you have no goods accompanying / good to follow, you will need:

1. ETA (if you are from a visa exempt country) or they won't let you on the plane (not needed if crossing the border USA to Canada by car)
2. Passport
3. CoPR (Both the original and the copy)

Tell them you are landing to activate your CoPR and declare permanent residence. The will take you to a side room to beat you with a rubber hose complete the formalities

Yes, you do still need to do the customs forms they hand out on the planes.

Thanks so much! hahahaha I laughed out loud btw

Ok, so that means that filling in the on-board customs card is enough and I don't need to download anything else? If the COPR doesn't arrive before Thursday then we'll have to drive down to Niagra to cross to the US via land crossing, and then I guess they'll give me a customs card?

So excited!

 

[Hurlabrick]

1. Wrong , you don't need ETA
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1184&top=16

Yes, we know all about that!

Yes, that is what it says very clearly on the CIC website.

Now try boarding an commercial flight to Canada without a either an ETA, a PRTD or a PR card! Many, many people have reported refused boarding with only a CoPR if they don't already have an ETA (please note that ETA's only apply to visa exempt countries) - many threads about it on British Expats. Good luck arguing with airline staff - for the sake of $5 we have taken out an ETA!

 

[Hurlabrick]

If the COPR doesn't arrive before Thursday then we'll have to drive down to Niagra to cross to the US via land crossing, and then I guess they'll give me a customs card?

I don't know for sure if they will let you land without the paper CoPR if driving through (I am not saying they won't, only that I simply don't know as it is not an option for us - they have the stuff on their computer of course). I am sure other contributors on here with American PA's would know??

 

[TANMEX]

Yes, we know all about that!

Yes, that is what it says very clearly on the CIC website.

Now try boarding an commercial flight to Canada without a either an ETA, a PRTD or a PR card! Many, many people have reported refused boarding with only a CoPR if they don't already have an ETA (please note that ETA's only apply to visa exempt countries) - many threads about it on British Expats. Good luck arguing with airline staff - for the sake of $5 we have taken out an ETA!

Hey ,
it's not about the $7 , Immigration forbid you from applying for ETA , what if ETA get declined for any reasons ? what do you do at that point ? just go with CoPR ?

 

[Lady_Ashka]

I don't know for sure if they will let you land without the paper CoPR if driving through (I am not saying they won't, only that I simply don't know as it is not an option for us - they have the stuff on their computer of course). I am sure other contributors on here with American PA's would know??

Yeah, no, it's fine - what I mean is, if the COPR doesn't arrive before Thursday I won't be able to take it with me to the US and land when I'll be on my way back from the conference I'm going to (leaving tomorrow, back on Sunday - just thought I'd be able to take care of landing while I'm at the airport because of the trip I'm taking) So that will mean that if it doesn't arrive tomorrow or on Thursday (my hubby can pick it up then and he's flying to accompany me in the US), I'll just have to wait until the COPR arrives after I'm back and then take a separate trip via a land crossing - just thought maybe if I'm lucky I'll be able to take care of landing as I'm coming back from the conference (because I am going to the US at any rate tomorrow, staying until Sunday).

As for ETA, I have it (got it last year, just in case, I'd rather have something and not stress about it even if I don't need it, then have to argue with a flight attendant), so no problem

 

[Hurlabrick]

Immigration forbid you from applying for ETA

That is true, but only if you are already a permanent resident! If you only have a CoPR, then you are not a permanent resident until you have actually landed and declared PR. So it is perfectly OK to apply for an ETA if you already have a CoPR, but have not yet landed.

Of course none of this should be necessary according to the CIC website, but as I say, several people flying from the UK have been refused boarding by the airline staff because they don't have either a PR Card or a PRTD - airline staff don't seem to 'get' CoPR's! In a couple of the reported cases, the affected passenger went to an internet computer at the airport and took out an ETA. It is likely that this will ease over time as the whole mandatory ETA process beds in and the airline catch up in their training and understanding - it is just a bit of a b*ggers muddle at the moment!

But for now, we certainly won't be chancing the risk of a big argument at the check-in desk for the sake of a few bucks!

If you have a CoPR, there is no way that an ETA will be declined.

 

[Hurlabrick]

Yeah, no, it's fine - what I mean is, if the COPR doesn't arrive before Thursday I won't be able to take it with me to the US and land when I'll be on my way back from the conference I'm going to (leaving tomorrow, back on Sunday - just thought I'd be able to take care of landing while I'm at the airport because of the trip I'm taking) So that will mean that if it doesn't arrive tomorrow or on Thursday (my hubby can pick it up then and he's flying to accompany me in the US), I'll just have to wait until the COPR arrives after I'm back and then take a separate trip via a land crossing - just thought maybe if I'm lucky I'll be able to take care of landing as I'm coming back from the conference (because I am going to the US at any rate tomorrow, staying until Sunday).

As for ETA, I have it (got it last year, just in case, I'd rather have something and not stress about it even if I don't need it, then have to argue with a flight attendant), so no problem

I think you will be lucky to get the CoPR in time, but you never know - ours arrived within 4 days.

Failing that, you can always at least ask when you get back to the Canadian airport when you hand over your passport, they can always say 'no - you will need the paper CoPR to do that'! No harm in asking!

Oh, and the CoPR itself is a pretty under-whelming bit of paper to say the least ;D

 

[Lady_Ashka]

I think you will be lucky to get the CoPR in time, but you never know - ours arrived within 4 days.

Failing that, you can always at least ask when you get back to the Canadian airport when you hand over your passport, they can always say 'no - you will need the paper CoPR to do that'! No harm in asking!

Oh, and the CoPR itself is a pretty under-whelming bit of paper to say the least ;D

That's good thinking! What harm in asking I might, especially that my hubby will be with me at any rate oh my, feeling so happy! Here's hoping the COPR arrives sans probleme