Hi everyone,
I did a flagpole crossing at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara falls yesterday.
When you arrive at the bridge, there is a Canadian Border Services office to the left, and an entry gate to the right. We arrived at 8am and went through the entry gate turnstile on the Canadian side. It costs $1.00 per person and only accepts quarters, so take quarters with you. There is a change machine to the right if you need it. Once we went through, we walked over to the US side. You wait in a small room until they call you in. We explained that we were there to do a flagpole, the officer checked our passports and signed a form for us to take to the Canadian side.
However, once we approached the Canadian side, we were told that they were not processing PR applications at that time, and to come back at 2pm, despite the website saying otherwise.
We went to a starbucks and waited till 12pm, then went to the visa office on the left of the bridge. They told us that they were now processing CoPR's. We had to cross the bridge again and get another flagpole note, which the US border control officer wasn't too happy about.. This time, they accepted us, gave us a yellow slip and told us to go to the border services building to the left. We were seen almost immediately and had our papers validated.
If you go to this crossing, it might pay to check with the visa office before crossing the bridge to make sure that they are processing CoPRs to save you the hassle.
Now it is all over and I can finally relax
Good luck to you all!
I did a flagpole crossing at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara falls yesterday.
When you arrive at the bridge, there is a Canadian Border Services office to the left, and an entry gate to the right. We arrived at 8am and went through the entry gate turnstile on the Canadian side. It costs $1.00 per person and only accepts quarters, so take quarters with you. There is a change machine to the right if you need it. Once we went through, we walked over to the US side. You wait in a small room until they call you in. We explained that we were there to do a flagpole, the officer checked our passports and signed a form for us to take to the Canadian side.
However, once we approached the Canadian side, we were told that they were not processing PR applications at that time, and to come back at 2pm, despite the website saying otherwise.
We went to a starbucks and waited till 12pm, then went to the visa office on the left of the bridge. They told us that they were now processing CoPR's. We had to cross the bridge again and get another flagpole note, which the US border control officer wasn't too happy about.. This time, they accepted us, gave us a yellow slip and told us to go to the border services building to the left. We were seen almost immediately and had our papers validated.
If you go to this crossing, it might pay to check with the visa office before crossing the bridge to make sure that they are processing CoPRs to save you the hassle.
Now it is all over and I can finally relax
Good luck to you all!
