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Landing experience at a Canadian airport during restrictions

D

DC888

Star Member
May 22, 2020
53
40
Hi there,

I thought it might be an idea to start a separate thread for people to share their experiences during landing at an airport while these travel restrictions are in place as I think it would be very useful for people, like me, that are planning on going to Canada in the near future.

I see there have been some shared in the main Covid thread, which have been very useful and I thank them for that (if those people could copy and paste their experiences it would be much appreciated). To have them here would be a great resource for me (and hopefully others) so I don't need to search for them before my trip (there are a lot of posts in that thread). As I would like to study them to make sure I am prepared.

Those who have traveled since the July 10th IRCC update would be particularly interesting. I will then share my experiences if / when we go in a few weeks time.

I would be particularly interested to find out what they ask to determine if you are there to settle permanently or only there for a short time / 'soft landing' (I know the latter is not allowed at the moment as per update on the 10th).

Just a bit of background to those that didn't see my earlier posts. After trying to get clarity on this issue for weeks, I emailed IRCC via webform about a week before the 10th to explain our predicament (it is going to be very difficult if not impossible to get another police check done from my country of birth (and it is unclear if we will need to have valid police / medicals if COPR extended)) and that we wanted to come to Canada for 3 weeks at the start of August. They emailed back just before the update with a generic email that said that if our COPR was issued before 18th March we are exempt from travel bans etc etc and didn't mention we were not able to do what was proposed in my email to them. I then booked flights and accommodation off the back of this email and am now unsure and anxious about our trip because of the recent updates. I realize all the arguments on both sides / what the rules say etc. and know I have a decision to make which both have their own risks.

Many thanks in advance for any input.
 
DC888 said:
Hi there,

I thought it might be an idea to start a separate thread for people to share their experiences during landing at an airport while these travel restrictions are in place as I think it would be very useful for people, like me, that are planning on going to Canada in the near future.

I see there have been some shared in the main Covid thread, which have been very useful and I thank them for that (if those people could copy and paste their experiences it would be much appreciated). To have them here would be a great resource for me (and hopefully others) so I don't need to search for them before my trip (there are a lot of posts in that thread). As I would like to study them to make sure I am prepared.

Those who have traveled since the July 10th IRCC update would be particularly interesting. I will then share my experiences if / when we go in a few weeks time.

I would be particularly interested to find out what they ask to determine if you are there to settle permanently or only there for a short time / 'soft landing' (I know the latter is not allowed at the moment as per update on the 10th).

Just a bit of background to those that didn't see my earlier posts. After trying to get clarity on this issue for weeks, I emailed IRCC via webform about a week before the 10th to explain our predicament (it is going to be very difficult if not impossible to get another police check done from my country of birth (and it is unclear if we will need to have valid police / medicals if COPR extended)) and that we wanted to come to Canada for 3 weeks at the start of August. They emailed back just before the update with a generic email that said that if our COPR was issued before 18th March we are exempt from travel bans etc etc and didn't mention we were not able to do what was proposed in my email to them. I then booked flights and accommodation off the back of this email and am now unsure and anxious about our trip because of the recent updates. I realize all the arguments on both sides / what the rules say etc. and know I have a decision to make which both have their own risks.

Many thanks in advance for any input.
Click to expand...


When you mentioned "we are exempt from travel bans" we mean who? I believe considering all whats happening with the travel restrictions and such, if you are talking about your family it it best you email IRCC about it. See this link below

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...travel-restrictions-exemptions.html#immediate
 
With your wife to be sure get an approval letter email from concerned Authority, If she don’t have written authorization, you won’t be allowed to board your flight to Canada, even if you have a valid visitor visa or eTA.

Also you need to present Quarantine Requirements etc. (all from the link)
 
danilorniepes said:
With your wife to be sure get an approval letter email from concerned Authority, If she don’t have written authorization, you won’t be allowed to board your flight to Canada, even if you have a valid visitor visa or eTA.

Also you need to present Quarantine Requirements etc. (all from the link)
Click to expand...

Hi there, we both have COPR. I am aware of the rules. Many thanks
 
I found the post from another member on another thread. Hopefully they won't mind me sharing it here, it will at least make it a bit easier to find. If there are any issues I will happily take it down, hopefully there will be some more to follow:

Sharing my experience on landing in Toronto ,Canada first time- CoPR holder from USA.
PR received before 18 March 2020.
Route- Chicago - Toronto

We were not able to get the boarding pass online so we did it at the airport and the staff asked us our purpose of travel to Canada and why are we travelling two days prior to the expiry of the PR. We just said we are landing for the first time and we have a valid PR and we showed the mail from IRCC which stated we are eligible to travel. But still she was not very convinced and took around 20 mins to go through various rules on her system. She asked our travel plans back to US and we said we do not have plans to return and then after some 10 mins she gave us the boarding pass. Before boarding the flight a form with general health questions was given and need to be filled and handed over to the airline agent before boarding.

We landed in Toronto by noon.

Immigration :
1) As soon as we enter the terminal we were asked to fill a form with our name,purpose of visit, date of landing and airbnb address ( quarantine address) details for the next 14 days. We were asked to give this form at the immigration counter.
2) Then we went to the kiosk and filled our details and answered basic questions on purpose of visit,security protocol questions etc. and scanned our passports and declared food items and fruits that we had. A receipt with our photo was generated with all the mentioned details.
3) Next stop was a counter where an officer asked what kind of food items we carry, purpose of visit and quarantine plan.She checked our COPR,the kiosk receipt, our passport and wrote a code on the receipt and asked us to go to the immigration counter. Before entering the counter we were asked to drop the form (point 1) in a box.
4) There were 5 people before us and when our turn came we gave the kiosk receipt, COPR, passport to the IO. She asked us the below ques:
a) Purpose of visit - New PR holders Landing for first time.
b) Quarantine plan - Have booked a private airbnb basement with private entrance, kitchen and restroom. No part of the house is shared.
c) Plan for food and medicines - We have some basic food with us and we have ordered grocery delivery to the airbnb address as well. For medicines we have basic medicine with us and in case if we need we will order it online as well.
d) Plan after quarantine - We have some house visits scheduled to rent and we will start applying for jobs as well post quarantine.
e) Any other dependents - No.
f) Address to which PR card need to be sent - We filled our friend's address on the IRCC copy of the COPR.
The IO asked us to be seated and after five mins she called us and asked us to sign the COPR ( both copy) and stamped the passports and congratulated us on becoming the PR of Canada and she signed the COPR ( both copy ) as well. She took the IRCC copy which had our photos on it and gave us the client copy.

Informed PR card will take four months to be delivered and we can apply for SIN online and health card once the service canada opens and we need to wait for 3 months before applying for health card. Asked us to be on quarantine for next 14 days and informed that if we leave the country then we need PR card to enter else we need to apply for PRTD visa. She asked us if we plan to leave Canada and we said nope we are settling in and we have goods to follow list with us. She directed us to the Customs dept.

Customs :

1) I had four copy each for Goods accompanying and goods to follow and pics of Gold jewels as well.
2) The officer stamped the forms and the pics and checked the line item of gold jewels and verified it with attached pics.
3) Gave us a printed bill with the total value of goods to follow and asked us to give a copy of that to the transport company when they cross the land border with our goods.
If you have everything ready then its a simple process. You can have a normal handwritten copy or you can take a print of the form online and fill the columns with the goods and the value. I did both to be on a safer side and the officer was curious to know why I did that :D :D Just told him no specific reason and did that to be on the safer side. He just laughed about being too very careful about things :D :D

Quarantine :
We booked Uber to the airbnb address and did not stop anywhere on the way. The owner of airbnb left us some grocery, a small bag of rice and ready to eat stuff as well near our entrance :) :) and asked us to let him know if we need to buy something. 14 days went slowly and we did not go out anywhere and after a week we received 3-4 mails from Health Dept mentioning the guidelines for quarantine and services to contact in case of emergency and if we have some symptoms.

Linking PR application to CIC Profile :
Was able to link my PR application with the CIC profile but was unable to do it for my husband (dependent) though we gave all the details properly. Have raised a webform so will keep updated if there are any improvements.

Phone Number :
We ordered Koodo Prepaid SIM and took the basic plan since we needed a local number.

Post - Quarantine :
Opened two bank accounts with credit card - One for me (Scotia Bank) and one for my husband (CIBC) for address proof purpose for SIN. In Scotia they asked me if I have any Canada address proof and I showed my Friend's bank statement and they asked us if we have one in our name. It was not logical since we were in quarantine for 14 days but we had the billing address of Koodo mobile in our name and it had my friend's Canada address. So we showed that and he accepted that. In CIBC no address proof was asked but they asked us the current address alone ( Gave the friend's address).

SIN Application :

Applied SIN for both of us with COPR, Passport and Bank statement which had our name and Canada address.
 
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