Hi All,
My wife and yours truly recently landed in Vancouver for the completion of our PR formalities. Summarizing our experience below, as it might be helpful to other members landing for the first time.
We took an outbound flight from our home city in the afternoon to reach Chicago, where we heard the news that our flight to Portland had a tire burst and we would not be able to make the connection in Portland to our final destination “Vancouver”. After a few tense moments, it was announced that the aircraft was serviced and we would be able to take off shortly. Finally, after a 2 hour delay we started boarding and after a pretty uneventful flight we made it to Portland, where now we only had 25 minutes to make the connection. Thankfully, the Portland airport was not crowded at that point of time and we made it to our gate for the flight to Vancouver. Now there was an excitement in the air, as we were really excited to experience our future home for the first time. We were ready for Canada!
After a quick flight from Portland, we landed on Canadian Soil at around 10:30PM, stepping out of the aircraft was a feeling beyond description. The crisp, cool air of Canada was slowly getting in our system and left us mesmerized. First, we were directed to passport control, where the CBSA officer asked us about the purpose of our visit and then checked our visas and the customs forms. We were also asked about the duration of our stay in the States. Within a minute all was set and we were directed to collect our baggage and see customs and immigration officers after baggage claim. All was smooth till now, but we soon realized that our baggage had not made it to Canada and we were missing all our bags. The irony was that even our check-in bags were taken for valet pick up in Chicago as the aircraft had no overhead space left. So, now we were missing our check in and checked bags. The only consolation was the laptop bag which had the all-important landing documents. We filed a lost baggage claim with the airline and were provided with a form to provide to customs so that our baggage makes it out of customs safely when it arrives.
We explained the situation to the immigration officer who was very friendly and understanding of the situation. We already had the Goods accompanying and Goods to follow lists prepared with pictures. (Many thanks to Qorax for the pointers about GTF). The counters were totally empty at that time in the night and we were the only ones to land. After submitting our documents, we were directed to take a seat while the officer went to verify our documents. Soon the officer came with COPR stapled to the passport and mentioned that as we did not carry valuation of the jewelry, only the pictures were not sufficient and they would not be able to stamp the GTF for jewelry. The officer mentioned that though the pictures were very well done, valuation or receipts are required for very high value jewelry to prove that they were purchased before landing. The officer also mentioned that the PR card shall arrive in the mail in 1 to 2 months based on current processing times. The officer then welcomed us to Canada and said that we are now “Permanent Residents of Canada!” The words were like music to the ears and we thanked the officer for completing our formalities and we were guided to the airport exit. That was it, and we officially were the permanent residents of Canada. All the officers were very friendly and had smiles on their faces even at that time in the night!. This was to be a central theme during our stay in Canada and all the people we met or saw were very friendly and relaxed. It was a welcome change from the busy and crazy lifestyle in the big apple!We made it to the rental car counter at YVR airport around midnight and drove straight to our hotel. In the absence of a GPS we used our Galaxy S2 as a navigation device.
Next day we went to Service Canada and applied for the SIN cards. Thankfully, the Service Canada official informed that the cards could be shipped to a verified address in USA. We requested the cards be shipped to our address in the USA as the Canadian address was not finalized yet. The officer was very friendly and the discussion soon diverted to our experiences and our travels around the world. The whole process was very quick and we were back to our hotel within an hour. While we were out applying SIN cards, our lost baggage was also delivered to our hotel.
That day we visited Vancouver downtown, Stanley park and Canada Place. Next day we made a trip to Whistler, BC along the sea to sky highway. The scenery and the experience was out of the world can’t be described in words. In the evening we visited Grouse Mountain and Yale town. Vancouver is one lovely place to stay and the whole city is very beautiful. We flew back to USA the next day with fond memories and great experiences. We are already missing Canada but the silver lining is that we will be back soon permanently. Thanks for reading!
My wife and yours truly recently landed in Vancouver for the completion of our PR formalities. Summarizing our experience below, as it might be helpful to other members landing for the first time.
We took an outbound flight from our home city in the afternoon to reach Chicago, where we heard the news that our flight to Portland had a tire burst and we would not be able to make the connection in Portland to our final destination “Vancouver”. After a few tense moments, it was announced that the aircraft was serviced and we would be able to take off shortly. Finally, after a 2 hour delay we started boarding and after a pretty uneventful flight we made it to Portland, where now we only had 25 minutes to make the connection. Thankfully, the Portland airport was not crowded at that point of time and we made it to our gate for the flight to Vancouver. Now there was an excitement in the air, as we were really excited to experience our future home for the first time. We were ready for Canada!
After a quick flight from Portland, we landed on Canadian Soil at around 10:30PM, stepping out of the aircraft was a feeling beyond description. The crisp, cool air of Canada was slowly getting in our system and left us mesmerized. First, we were directed to passport control, where the CBSA officer asked us about the purpose of our visit and then checked our visas and the customs forms. We were also asked about the duration of our stay in the States. Within a minute all was set and we were directed to collect our baggage and see customs and immigration officers after baggage claim. All was smooth till now, but we soon realized that our baggage had not made it to Canada and we were missing all our bags. The irony was that even our check-in bags were taken for valet pick up in Chicago as the aircraft had no overhead space left. So, now we were missing our check in and checked bags. The only consolation was the laptop bag which had the all-important landing documents. We filed a lost baggage claim with the airline and were provided with a form to provide to customs so that our baggage makes it out of customs safely when it arrives.
We explained the situation to the immigration officer who was very friendly and understanding of the situation. We already had the Goods accompanying and Goods to follow lists prepared with pictures. (Many thanks to Qorax for the pointers about GTF). The counters were totally empty at that time in the night and we were the only ones to land. After submitting our documents, we were directed to take a seat while the officer went to verify our documents. Soon the officer came with COPR stapled to the passport and mentioned that as we did not carry valuation of the jewelry, only the pictures were not sufficient and they would not be able to stamp the GTF for jewelry. The officer mentioned that though the pictures were very well done, valuation or receipts are required for very high value jewelry to prove that they were purchased before landing. The officer also mentioned that the PR card shall arrive in the mail in 1 to 2 months based on current processing times. The officer then welcomed us to Canada and said that we are now “Permanent Residents of Canada!” The words were like music to the ears and we thanked the officer for completing our formalities and we were guided to the airport exit. That was it, and we officially were the permanent residents of Canada. All the officers were very friendly and had smiles on their faces even at that time in the night!. This was to be a central theme during our stay in Canada and all the people we met or saw were very friendly and relaxed. It was a welcome change from the busy and crazy lifestyle in the big apple!We made it to the rental car counter at YVR airport around midnight and drove straight to our hotel. In the absence of a GPS we used our Galaxy S2 as a navigation device.
Next day we went to Service Canada and applied for the SIN cards. Thankfully, the Service Canada official informed that the cards could be shipped to a verified address in USA. We requested the cards be shipped to our address in the USA as the Canadian address was not finalized yet. The officer was very friendly and the discussion soon diverted to our experiences and our travels around the world. The whole process was very quick and we were back to our hotel within an hour. While we were out applying SIN cards, our lost baggage was also delivered to our hotel.
That day we visited Vancouver downtown, Stanley park and Canada Place. Next day we made a trip to Whistler, BC along the sea to sky highway. The scenery and the experience was out of the world can’t be described in words. In the evening we visited Grouse Mountain and Yale town. Vancouver is one lovely place to stay and the whole city is very beautiful. We flew back to USA the next day with fond memories and great experiences. We are already missing Canada but the silver lining is that we will be back soon permanently. Thanks for reading!
