- Nov 11, 2015
- 2
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- CPC-Ottawa
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 30-06-2016
- Doc's Request.
- 14-09-2016 (Police Certificate)
- File Transfer...
- 22-08-2016
- Med's Request
- Upfront
- Med's Done....
- 17-02-2016
- Interview........
- Waived, "Decision Made" on 10-02-2017
- Passport Req..
- 21-02-2017
- VISA ISSUED...
- 01-03-2017
- LANDED..........
- 11-03-2017
Me and my husband drove to the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge today to land. My husband is the sponsor and I was the PR applicant.
When we arrived we were completely confused about where to go and took a short route to circle back to the Canadian border control lines instead of crossing the bridge and going to the US side. There wasn't a long line at all despite it being Saturday and there were only a couple of cars there. We pulled up to the border control agent and gave him our passports as he requested. We asked the border control agent where to go for landing and explained to him I am here to land for my Canadian PR but we are confused about where to go to start the landing. He asked where we just came from and we said Canada. He asked again where we came from and we mentioned we never left Canada and just came to the lines directly instead of continuing on to the US since we were unsure what to do and wanted to ask someone. This seemed to anger him and he asked again where we came from, so we told him this again. It finally made sense to him and he asked where we are residing. My husband told him where he lives in Canada and mentioned that I am from the US and visiting him. The agent stated in a matter of fact way that I am residing with my husband in Canada, and my husband said no, she is visiting me with visitor status. He again stated this and my husband again said no, she's visiting and not a resident. This seemed to anger the agent, who told us in an annoyed tone to look at instruction #1 on my landing papers and that I am residing in Canada and therefore need to make an appointment to land at an immigration office in Ottawa. We explained I am an outland applicant visiting my husband and we are trying to do a flag pole landing. He asked to see the instructions and drew an arrow on the paper pointing at #1 and kept insisting this is the only way and that he can't do anything about it. We were trying to explain and he kept being loudly argumentative and sent us on our way, saying over and over there is nothing he can do for us in a rude tone. I was very shocked at the poor treatment of us and at the thought of my landing being ruined and was trying to gather my thoughts despite being very upset internally.
We drove out of the line and parked next to the building and I knew this wasn't correct information we were given. We decided to go inside to see what could be done to land me. We went to the immigration desk and told the guy there that I am trying to land as a permanent resident. He looked at my papers and took our passports. He asked when I last entered Canada and if I have a visitor record. I told him when I entered and also that I think I do have a visitor record. He asked if I have it with me and said it's a piece of paper and I said no, the customs agents at the airport had me stand in another line for an hour for a visitor record, then stamped my passport and sent me on my way without any other information. He asked which airport did this and I said Toronto, which he laughed from and said something like "figures". He then gave our passports back and told us we need to drive to the US side and then just drive back to land and return to him. He gave us the passports and papers back and we left.
We got in the car and drove over the bridge, arriving at the US side. The US border control agent on that side asked for our passports and we briefly told him we are trying to land in Canada for my permanent residence. He gave a nod and sent us on our way with our passports handed back to us. We circled around to head back towards the bridge and drove over it into Canada. We got in a different line this time because we wanted to avoid the border agent who gave us wrong information. The other agent asked for our passports and we told her we are here to land for permanent residence. She asked us a few standard questions like if we have the landing papers, if we have food from outside Canada, if we bought anything at the duty free store, etc. and then she handed us a slip of paper which had "landing" on it for the reason of entry.
We parked and went to the immigration desk again, giving him our passports, landing papers and the slip we just got. He asked me the two questions written on the CoPR (questions involving if I have committed any crimes or been denied entry, and questions about if there are any dependents not listed) and then had me write "no" and initial next to the questions and sign and date it at the bottom. Then he had us sit down while he worked on it, and after a lot of loud paper stamping he was done pretty quickly and told me I am a permanent resident now and congratulations. We were told the PR card would be sent in 4-6 weeks (he didn't ask us where to send the PR card to, so there was no option to have it sent to a relative).
Long story short, just drive over the bridge and don't ask the border control agents for help because they get really angry and can potentially confuse you even more... if it wasn't for you guys here on the forum I wouldn't have known about flag pole landings and would have listened to what the border control agent said instead of being a PR right now.
When we arrived we were completely confused about where to go and took a short route to circle back to the Canadian border control lines instead of crossing the bridge and going to the US side. There wasn't a long line at all despite it being Saturday and there were only a couple of cars there. We pulled up to the border control agent and gave him our passports as he requested. We asked the border control agent where to go for landing and explained to him I am here to land for my Canadian PR but we are confused about where to go to start the landing. He asked where we just came from and we said Canada. He asked again where we came from and we mentioned we never left Canada and just came to the lines directly instead of continuing on to the US since we were unsure what to do and wanted to ask someone. This seemed to anger him and he asked again where we came from, so we told him this again. It finally made sense to him and he asked where we are residing. My husband told him where he lives in Canada and mentioned that I am from the US and visiting him. The agent stated in a matter of fact way that I am residing with my husband in Canada, and my husband said no, she is visiting me with visitor status. He again stated this and my husband again said no, she's visiting and not a resident. This seemed to anger the agent, who told us in an annoyed tone to look at instruction #1 on my landing papers and that I am residing in Canada and therefore need to make an appointment to land at an immigration office in Ottawa. We explained I am an outland applicant visiting my husband and we are trying to do a flag pole landing. He asked to see the instructions and drew an arrow on the paper pointing at #1 and kept insisting this is the only way and that he can't do anything about it. We were trying to explain and he kept being loudly argumentative and sent us on our way, saying over and over there is nothing he can do for us in a rude tone. I was very shocked at the poor treatment of us and at the thought of my landing being ruined and was trying to gather my thoughts despite being very upset internally.
We drove out of the line and parked next to the building and I knew this wasn't correct information we were given. We decided to go inside to see what could be done to land me. We went to the immigration desk and told the guy there that I am trying to land as a permanent resident. He looked at my papers and took our passports. He asked when I last entered Canada and if I have a visitor record. I told him when I entered and also that I think I do have a visitor record. He asked if I have it with me and said it's a piece of paper and I said no, the customs agents at the airport had me stand in another line for an hour for a visitor record, then stamped my passport and sent me on my way without any other information. He asked which airport did this and I said Toronto, which he laughed from and said something like "figures". He then gave our passports back and told us we need to drive to the US side and then just drive back to land and return to him. He gave us the passports and papers back and we left.
We got in the car and drove over the bridge, arriving at the US side. The US border control agent on that side asked for our passports and we briefly told him we are trying to land in Canada for my permanent residence. He gave a nod and sent us on our way with our passports handed back to us. We circled around to head back towards the bridge and drove over it into Canada. We got in a different line this time because we wanted to avoid the border agent who gave us wrong information. The other agent asked for our passports and we told her we are here to land for permanent residence. She asked us a few standard questions like if we have the landing papers, if we have food from outside Canada, if we bought anything at the duty free store, etc. and then she handed us a slip of paper which had "landing" on it for the reason of entry.
We parked and went to the immigration desk again, giving him our passports, landing papers and the slip we just got. He asked me the two questions written on the CoPR (questions involving if I have committed any crimes or been denied entry, and questions about if there are any dependents not listed) and then had me write "no" and initial next to the questions and sign and date it at the bottom. Then he had us sit down while he worked on it, and after a lot of loud paper stamping he was done pretty quickly and told me I am a permanent resident now and congratulations. We were told the PR card would be sent in 4-6 weeks (he didn't ask us where to send the PR card to, so there was no option to have it sent to a relative).
Long story short, just drive over the bridge and don't ask the border control agents for help because they get really angry and can potentially confuse you even more... if it wasn't for you guys here on the forum I wouldn't have known about flag pole landings and would have listened to what the border control agent said instead of being a PR right now.
