- Sep 25, 2009
- 12
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- NDVO
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 02-05-2014
- AOR Received.
- 14-07-2014
- Med's Request
- 14-07-2014
- Med's Done....
- 14-08-2014 ( Medical Received : 24-08-2014)
- Interview........
- RPRF : March 30th, 2015
- Passport Req..
- 20-04-2015
- VISA ISSUED...
- 23-04-2015
Hey Guys,
I have been an active member of this forum for the last 6 years and you guys have really helped me in this application journey. I wanted to share with you guys, my landing experience in Montreal Airport. So here it is, it will be very very long. So, if you have the time, please read on. I am a QSW, so this will pertain to people who are QSW, and also to people who are FSW because except for immigration Quebec, everything else remains the same at any airport.
As soon as we got our COPR's and Visas, we booked a flight to Montreal from Raleigh to land on the 21st May. It was a 6:00 am flight and we had to get up at 3:00 am to make the flight ( Mostly because, US airports dont let you check in online for international flights since they have to check your visas before you board your flight ). We make sure that we have our Canadian landing papers all in one envelope and our US reentry documents in another envelope. On the 21'st, we make it to the airport very early in the morning. We have a connection in detroit before which we get on the flight to Montreal. The flight from Detroit is quite short, about 1 hour. But boy did it seem long.
As soon as we touched down, even before I got off the plane, I could imagine the airport and the long walk to the immigration ( I have already been to Montreal before ). We took a familiar route, expecting it to be crowded like the last time we were there. Surprise surprise, there was almost no body waiting in line. We walk up to the immigration officer and let him know that we are here to do our landing. He asks for our passports to make sure we are not BS'ing him, takes our landing cards and writes "IOO" on it and asks us to go to the exit where we will be redirected to the secondary inspection. We again take a long walk to the exit where they check our landing card and send us to the secondary inspection. :
:
What I found here is completely contrary to what I have read and seen. I watch this show called, Border Security Canada's front line where there are these pro active and passionate immigration officers who are always on the move. We walk in and we see 4 really really bored immigration officers reading books or surfing the internet. They were dealing with no body, so we just walk up to the nearest guy and here is the exact conversation
me : Hello, we are here for our landing and we were sent here. Can you help us?
Officer 1 : Did I ask you to come to me? Did you not see the sign which says wait ?
me: I am sorry, I can wait if you want me to?
Officer 1 : (mumbling and grumpy) you have already come, go to that lady over there ( points to someone across the hall)
We walk up to this officer, she was smiling so we thought wow, at last someone who is smiling. Then we give her the passports, COPR's and the CSQ's. Here is the conversation
Officer 2 : Do you intend to reside in the province of Quebec?
me : Absolutely
Officer 2 : Do you have any food or firearms on you?
me: No
She starts checking our visas and COPR's ( Mind you , the copy of COPR's sent to us were really really crappy, almost like something that an 8 year old would do).
Officer 2 : The COPR's look forged, did you make these your selfs ?
Me : I step back, I tell her thats what I got from CIC and thats what you have. :-X :-\
Officer 2 : I need to make a few checks, sit down and wait for me to call you. :-*
We sit down and wait for her to holler for us. She takes about 15 minutes and comes back
Officer 2 : The COPR's checked out. I wonder who took out such a crappy copy. I made new copies that look much better for you. How much money do you have on you? How much are you carrying?
Me: I have about 10 dollars on me now in cash and I declare what we have in our bank accounts. She doesnt ask for bank receipts.
Officer 2: Do you have any goods to follow? Also do you have an address in Quebec?
Me : Yes and I hand over the GTF list. I also give her my lawyers address ( Campbell Cohen )
Officer 2 : Please wait again, this should take a while
So we wait another 45 minutes while she stamps, signs, staples and prints out a whole bunch of stuff. She is running around the hall going from one room to another. We are kind of amused at how the officers are talking to each other in both english and french in the same sentence. After about 45 minutes, she calls us up to her station. She makes us sign on the COPR's where it says " Have you ever been convicted of a crime or asked to leave Canada? ". We put a NO and sign next to it.
Officer 2 : Make sure you keep these COPR's for life, even after you get your Canadian Citizenship. You will need these to obtain your retirement benefits at 60.
Us : We will guard them with our lifes
Officer 2 : I have done the paper work and you both are now Permanent residents of Canada. Congratulations ;D ;D. She then proceeds to tell us our rights and obligations as PR's of Canada.
She then hands over our passports and COPR's , a copy of a book called Welcome to Canada and a sheet which tells us about how to go about getting a SIN card and a health card in both Quebec and Ottawa. The paper also congratulates us on becoming new PR's.
Officer 2 : You will get your PR cards in approximately 3 months.
She then asks us to wait near the Quebec immigration officer just adjacent to her station. We knock on the door and someone comes opens the door and says
Officer 3 : Nous ouvrons à midi. S'il vous plaît attendre encore 30 minutes ( We open at 12, please wait another 30 minutes )
me : D'accord
We wait another 30 minutes until we are called in by another agent. She asks my wife if she knows French to which my wife replies in broken french that she is a beginner and cannot really converse. I tell the officer that she could talk to me in French as I am much better at it. She says she will proceed in English so my wife will also understand
Officer 4 : Welcome to Quebec. ;D Do you guys have a place to stay ? I see you are moving from the US
Us : Thank you. No we dont have a place yet. We are currently staying in a hotel. We will look for a place as soon as we move completely. She then takes our COPR's and CSQ's and glances at them.
Officer 4 : Great. Let me tell you about somethings that Quebec does for new immigrants. We have a program that helps people find jobs and also a program that helps people learn French. I hope you have heard of the values of the Quebec Society. I will give you a lot of brochures so you can contact these services if you need them to. We also have a great subway system, better than New York , so make sure you use it.
Us : We nod in approval.
Officer 4 : Thats it. You are done. Welcome again to Quebec
She hands over the papers to us and we quickly tuck them back in to the envelope. ( Like we said, guard them with your life)
We come out, hug each other, take a picture next to the Quebec flag and Canadian flag. Walk out of the airport. It took a good 3 hours for us to get done with Immigration.
We also rent a car, go to Service Canada ( Which was in a mall and was much grander than I remember the US SSN office was when I applied for my SSN). We check in at the desk, they check our COPR's and ask us to wait for someone to call us. We wait another 20 minutes before we are called in to another room. The government officer asks us all kinds of questions and fills it into the system. Then she gives us our SIN print outs and we are out of there.
I know its a long read, but I hope this is useful and descriptive for any one doing a Quebec landing.
I have been an active member of this forum for the last 6 years and you guys have really helped me in this application journey. I wanted to share with you guys, my landing experience in Montreal Airport. So here it is, it will be very very long. So, if you have the time, please read on. I am a QSW, so this will pertain to people who are QSW, and also to people who are FSW because except for immigration Quebec, everything else remains the same at any airport.
As soon as we got our COPR's and Visas, we booked a flight to Montreal from Raleigh to land on the 21st May. It was a 6:00 am flight and we had to get up at 3:00 am to make the flight ( Mostly because, US airports dont let you check in online for international flights since they have to check your visas before you board your flight ). We make sure that we have our Canadian landing papers all in one envelope and our US reentry documents in another envelope. On the 21'st, we make it to the airport very early in the morning. We have a connection in detroit before which we get on the flight to Montreal. The flight from Detroit is quite short, about 1 hour. But boy did it seem long.
As soon as we touched down, even before I got off the plane, I could imagine the airport and the long walk to the immigration ( I have already been to Montreal before ). We took a familiar route, expecting it to be crowded like the last time we were there. Surprise surprise, there was almost no body waiting in line. We walk up to the immigration officer and let him know that we are here to do our landing. He asks for our passports to make sure we are not BS'ing him, takes our landing cards and writes "IOO" on it and asks us to go to the exit where we will be redirected to the secondary inspection. We again take a long walk to the exit where they check our landing card and send us to the secondary inspection. :
:What I found here is completely contrary to what I have read and seen. I watch this show called, Border Security Canada's front line where there are these pro active and passionate immigration officers who are always on the move. We walk in and we see 4 really really bored immigration officers reading books or surfing the internet. They were dealing with no body, so we just walk up to the nearest guy and here is the exact conversation
me : Hello, we are here for our landing and we were sent here. Can you help us?
Officer 1 : Did I ask you to come to me? Did you not see the sign which says wait ?
me: I am sorry, I can wait if you want me to?
Officer 1 : (mumbling and grumpy) you have already come, go to that lady over there ( points to someone across the hall)
We walk up to this officer, she was smiling so we thought wow, at last someone who is smiling. Then we give her the passports, COPR's and the CSQ's. Here is the conversation
Officer 2 : Do you intend to reside in the province of Quebec?
me : Absolutely
Officer 2 : Do you have any food or firearms on you?
me: No
She starts checking our visas and COPR's ( Mind you , the copy of COPR's sent to us were really really crappy, almost like something that an 8 year old would do).
Officer 2 : The COPR's look forged, did you make these your selfs ?
Me : I step back, I tell her thats what I got from CIC and thats what you have. :-X :-\
Officer 2 : I need to make a few checks, sit down and wait for me to call you. :-*
We sit down and wait for her to holler for us. She takes about 15 minutes and comes back
Officer 2 : The COPR's checked out. I wonder who took out such a crappy copy. I made new copies that look much better for you. How much money do you have on you? How much are you carrying?
Me: I have about 10 dollars on me now in cash and I declare what we have in our bank accounts. She doesnt ask for bank receipts.
Officer 2: Do you have any goods to follow? Also do you have an address in Quebec?
Me : Yes and I hand over the GTF list. I also give her my lawyers address ( Campbell Cohen )
Officer 2 : Please wait again, this should take a while
So we wait another 45 minutes while she stamps, signs, staples and prints out a whole bunch of stuff. She is running around the hall going from one room to another. We are kind of amused at how the officers are talking to each other in both english and french in the same sentence. After about 45 minutes, she calls us up to her station. She makes us sign on the COPR's where it says " Have you ever been convicted of a crime or asked to leave Canada? ". We put a NO and sign next to it.
Officer 2 : Make sure you keep these COPR's for life, even after you get your Canadian Citizenship. You will need these to obtain your retirement benefits at 60.
Us : We will guard them with our lifes
Officer 2 : I have done the paper work and you both are now Permanent residents of Canada. Congratulations ;D ;D. She then proceeds to tell us our rights and obligations as PR's of Canada.
She then hands over our passports and COPR's , a copy of a book called Welcome to Canada and a sheet which tells us about how to go about getting a SIN card and a health card in both Quebec and Ottawa. The paper also congratulates us on becoming new PR's.
Officer 2 : You will get your PR cards in approximately 3 months.
She then asks us to wait near the Quebec immigration officer just adjacent to her station. We knock on the door and someone comes opens the door and says
Officer 3 : Nous ouvrons à midi. S'il vous plaît attendre encore 30 minutes ( We open at 12, please wait another 30 minutes )
me : D'accord
We wait another 30 minutes until we are called in by another agent. She asks my wife if she knows French to which my wife replies in broken french that she is a beginner and cannot really converse. I tell the officer that she could talk to me in French as I am much better at it. She says she will proceed in English so my wife will also understand
Officer 4 : Welcome to Quebec. ;D Do you guys have a place to stay ? I see you are moving from the US
Us : Thank you. No we dont have a place yet. We are currently staying in a hotel. We will look for a place as soon as we move completely. She then takes our COPR's and CSQ's and glances at them.
Officer 4 : Great. Let me tell you about somethings that Quebec does for new immigrants. We have a program that helps people find jobs and also a program that helps people learn French. I hope you have heard of the values of the Quebec Society. I will give you a lot of brochures so you can contact these services if you need them to. We also have a great subway system, better than New York
, so make sure you use it. Us : We nod in approval.
Officer 4 : Thats it. You are done. Welcome again to Quebec
She hands over the papers to us and we quickly tuck them back in to the envelope.
( Like we said, guard them with your life)We come out, hug each other, take a picture next to the Quebec flag and Canadian flag. Walk out of the airport. It took a good 3 hours for us to get done with Immigration.
We also rent a car, go to Service Canada ( Which was in a mall and was much grander than I remember the US SSN office was when I applied for my SSN). We check in at the desk, they check our COPR's and ask us to wait for someone to call us. We wait another 20 minutes before we are called in to another room. The government officer asks us all kinds of questions and fills it into the system. Then she gives us our SIN print outs and we are out of there.
I know its a long read, but I hope this is useful and descriptive for any one doing a Quebec landing.
