Hi friends,
I've landed in June 2019, to confirm my PR and here is my experience.
disclaimer: This is just my experience, things might be different the time when you read this.
(Background - international student after 1-year work experience in PGWP)
Tried Rainbow bridge first, didn't work out, they turned me back saying, they are not processing any more PR applications that day. out of the 3 main bridges, apparently Rainbow is the busiest one, so as soon as they start accepting PR validations guys at 8 am, they reach their daily max limit in few minutes, and they won't process for any more people and they will tell you to come back later.
So then I went to the Peace Bridge (about half an hour drive from the rainbow bridge) and got my PR validated.
1) Peace bridge was relatively less busy, and hence the best option
2) By the time I got out of the rainbow bridge and gotten to the peace bridge, it was around 1 pm, then waited in the office after giving my passport and it took about 4 hours for them to call my name. I was waiting for that long, and once they called me the whole process took only 5 minutes(officer just asked a bunch of questions and asked to sign, thats it)
3) But if I would have gotten their early (maybe by 8 AM), wait time wouldnt have been that much (a friend of mine just had to wait for 20 minutes in the morning)
4)If in any case if you want to try Rainbow Bridge, you can actually ask the Canadian officers if they are accepting any more PR validations (at that time) before crossing into the US side itself. there are about 3 parking spots by the office just before the bridge. That way you will know if they don't accept at that time and hence you don't need to waste time going US side and then coming back and wasting $5 toll) instead you can go to other bridge
Summary: Just go to Peace Bridge as early as possible (later than 8 am), and get your stuff done without any hassles.
Good Luck!
I've landed in June 2019, to confirm my PR and here is my experience.
disclaimer: This is just my experience, things might be different the time when you read this.
(Background - international student after 1-year work experience in PGWP)
Tried Rainbow bridge first, didn't work out, they turned me back saying, they are not processing any more PR applications that day. out of the 3 main bridges, apparently Rainbow is the busiest one, so as soon as they start accepting PR validations guys at 8 am, they reach their daily max limit in few minutes, and they won't process for any more people and they will tell you to come back later.
So then I went to the Peace Bridge (about half an hour drive from the rainbow bridge) and got my PR validated.
1) Peace bridge was relatively less busy, and hence the best option
2) By the time I got out of the rainbow bridge and gotten to the peace bridge, it was around 1 pm, then waited in the office after giving my passport and it took about 4 hours for them to call my name. I was waiting for that long, and once they called me the whole process took only 5 minutes(officer just asked a bunch of questions and asked to sign, thats it)
3) But if I would have gotten their early (maybe by 8 AM), wait time wouldnt have been that much (a friend of mine just had to wait for 20 minutes in the morning)
4)If in any case if you want to try Rainbow Bridge, you can actually ask the Canadian officers if they are accepting any more PR validations (at that time) before crossing into the US side itself. there are about 3 parking spots by the office just before the bridge. That way you will know if they don't accept at that time and hence you don't need to waste time going US side and then coming back and wasting $5 toll) instead you can go to other bridge
Summary: Just go to Peace Bridge as early as possible (later than 8 am), and get your stuff done without any hassles.
Good Luck!