LANDING IN CANADA ??? -All You Need To Know.

[Mbaka]

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply as I was busy in few things. I am going back to Dubai on Friday. Below are the things which I have done in these 15 Days.. :
• PR card formalities (Done on the airport by the immigration officer. You should give him an address at that time or you may submit it latter but better if you could arrange and give it at the same time).
• Went to service Canada office next day to have my SIN number. The required documents are your passport & COPR. They didn't take much time for that, they have completed the formalities in maximum 10 minutes. They are not issuing the SIN cards an more so the only thing which you should get is a paper carrying your SIN which you have to keep safe with you.
• After finishing with them I went to the TD bank and opened a bank account with them. The documents required as the same as above. I handed over the CAD draft as well to them once they completed the other formalities. They gave me a receipt for the draft and said the amount will be credited to my account after 5 days which I have not checked yet. At the same time I have applied for the secured credit card as with a limit of 1000 CAD only. They said if you put the home address for delivery it may take 2 weeks to reach there or you have to pay 25 Dollars to get it within one week. The other option is to tell them to deliver at the branch and you have to pick it up from there after they call you. I opted the last option as branch was near where I am living. They called me yesterday and I picked it up.
• And next day I went to the Driving Ministry in Mississauga area to apply for driving license. The process was simple here again. I showed them my UAE driving license, Passport, Experience Certificate from RTA, and COPR ( I am not sure about this) I think. They accepted all the documents and then the staff carried my eye test after the payment of CAD 95. And then she said you can go for written Test (G1). I was not prepared for that so I said I shall come tomorrow. She said its fine you can come whenever you feel prepared.
I came back and practice the test from APNATORRONTO website. This website is covering more than 80% of the questions which normally come in the test. The only questions which are not there, are relating the different kinds of the driving licenses, like after how many black points the G2 License will be suspended, or what are the roads where you cannot drive with G2 License, or what will be the maximum alcohol level in your blood while driving or for how much time your license will be suspended if you get 9 black points etc. So you have to look for these answers on the web. Next day I went to the center again and sat there for test. There are two questions in the paper each carrying 20 MCQ's and you need to answer at least 16 questions correctly to pass the test. In my paper there were 4 questions which were related to the driving licenses (Mentioned above) out of those I knew one and had no idea about the other 3. I finished the test and handed over the paper to examiner and sat on my seat to wait. After 10 minutes she called my name and said you are passed. Three of your answers are incorrect and she mentioned those (Which I told earlier). She gave me the paper license and said you can go for directly G license try.
• The next task is to get the driving test date which was a difficult task as they were giving me the dates of July where as I shall be coming back on June 27Th. Then I keep on trying to check the dates on the website (Please note that you cannot login for road test booking more than 4 times in 24 hours as they will block you and say please try after 24 hours). One of my friend told me to book in Guelph driving school for the test which is little bit far from the city and not very populated. I keep on trying and luckily got a test date of 25th June which is today. It took a long time to get this date as I kept on trying. In case they bock you, you can call them on their number and try to book via phone. Then one of my friend introduced me to a Pakistani training instructor (Mr. Umar) who is really a nice guy and good instructor. Yesterday I took 2 hours classes with him and he guided me in a proper way. The driving is little bit different from UAE specially the left turns on the most of signals. Today morning the instructor picked me up from the home and we went to Guelph. He showed me the roads where the examiner would possibly take me for the test. Then we came to the center and enrolled for the test. The examiner came on exact time and took me for the test. Due to the pressure of the test I made some minor mistakes which he noted down. Total time period was around 30 minutes and he took me twice on the high way. He asked for emergency brake, parallel parking, 3 Point turn and things like that. After 30 minutes he asked me to go back to the driving center and once we reached there he said " You Are Passed"
Now I hold full G driving licnes.. Hurrrrahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
Then he pointed out the mistakes and I told him these were mostly due to the test pressure..
Please note that in UAE parking is considered a big mistake but here its not unless you cannot park in many tries and gave up. Their most concentration is on the safety of you and the public around, specially the pedestrians. Any how my instructor was very good and he charged me a very reasonable amount as well. The total licenses including classes costs me only CAD 385 which is much lower than the UAE. If anyone need he can get is contact number from me..
Thats all for till now as I have to finish something other tasks before I come back...

+1 for you Vigilant..very informative..permit me to share in another forum

 

[Mbaka]

Hi there,

Any recent landing in Calgary? Could you please share your experience?

Best Regards,
YashRaj

Yashraj

we are waiting for you....Visa issued since April?

 

[Vigilant]

+1 for you Vigilant..very informative..permit me to share in another forum

Thanks and Sure you can share the post.

 

[darkhorse28]

Hi Senior forum mates,

Just wanted to clarify. I've seen and read about divided opinions about the actual first point of entry when landing in Canada. But I guess, the difference is because of the airline carriers and policy on connecting flights.

I'm an FSW bound for Toronto (final destination) next month. But my flight details tell me of a 1-stop flight (with 1.5 hours layover) at Vancouver. Although the flight number is the same, the carrier is the same and the jet model used for the international flight and connecting are the same (I'm suspecting it's just one same airline), I'm quite worried as to where I will do my actual landing procedure. I've learned that you need no less than one hour to clear through all counters at the CBSA, customs, immigration so my worry is that I'm only given 1.5 hours layover.

Some folks are telling me that my landing procedure will be done in Toronto. Well, that will be a breath of fresh air. But what happens if it's the other way around? If I will do the landing in Vancouver, I'll barely have enough time to do so plus secure for the next flight. To add, I've recently contacted my carrier and they told me that passengers will be asked to disembark at Vancouver momentarily while our baggage will remain in the same jet. So does this mean I'll only be in transit in Vancouver and wait at the secured area for those waiting for their next flights and that there's no need for me to visit the CBSA or immigration section at Vancouver?

Hope someone can respond.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Leon]

To add, I've recently contacted my carrier and they told me that passengers will be asked to disembark at Vancouver momentarily while our baggage will remain in the same jet. So does this mean I'll only be in transit in Vancouver and wait at the secured area for those waiting for their next flights and that there's no need for me to visit the CBSA or immigration section at Vancouver?

If you stay in the transit area in Vancouver, you will never pass immigration and so you will not land until you get to Toronto. If you want to be absolutely sure, you can also try contacting the airport in Vancouver, give them the flight number and ask what the procedure is.

 

[rizmayo]

Hi Senior forum mates,

Just wanted to clarify. I've seen and read about divided opinions about the actual first point of entry when landing in Canada. But I guess, the difference is because of the airline carriers and policy on connecting flights.

I'm an FSW bound for Toronto (final destination) next month. But my flight details tell me of a 1-stop flight (with 1.5 hours layover) at Vancouver. Although the flight number is the same, the carrier is the same and the jet model used for the international flight and connecting are the same (I'm suspecting it's just one same airline), I'm quite worried as to where I will do my actual landing procedure. I've learned that you need no less than one hour to clear through all counters at the CBSA, customs, immigration so my worry is that I'm only given 1.5 hours layover.

Some folks are telling me that my landing procedure will be done in Toronto. Well, that will be a breath of fresh air. But what happens if it's the other way around? If I will do the landing in Vancouver, I'll barely have enough time to do so plus secure for the next flight. To add, I've recently contacted my carrier and they told me that passengers will be asked to disembark at Vancouver momentarily while our baggage will remain in the same jet. So does this mean I'll only be in transit in Vancouver and wait at the secured area for those waiting for their next flights and that there's no need for me to visit the CBSA or immigration section at Vancouver?

Hope someone can respond.

Many thanks in advance!

Agree with Leon. You will have to land at the first point you pass immigration (i.e. if you pass through Vancouver immigration then you will have to land their). However if you do not leave the aircraft or they just let you sit in the transit lounge then you will do the immigration at Toronto.

But be advised this is all dependent on how the flight is planned. You or your airline cannot decide whether you will cross immigration or not after the plane has touched down in Vancouver.

It is not the end of the world if you have to land in Vancouver. Many people have made domestic connections within the 1.5 hour time-frame. Even if you do miss the connection because you were stuck in immigration, the airline will get you on the next available flight and if it is on the next day, they will provide you hotel accommodation at their cost. So chill and enjoy Vancouver for free, it is supposed to be very pretty this time of year.

Regards,

 

[cam1234]

Hello friends please help:

Our COPR was issued in March but was lost, we finally got a new one a week ago and it expires in August. We live in the US. Two months is not enough for my wife to organize herself, pack everything, terminate our numerous obligations and move. For crying out loud, the movers in our area have a 3 month wait list!

So here are my questions:

-We plan to go there in three weeks, just land and tell them that our COPR was lost, we only received it last month and we need more time to gather our belongings. So we plan to go back in a week and come back to stay later. We will provide them with an address in Ontario for our PR cards to go to. Since we are from a visa exempt country we don't need a visa to come back. Can this be done? Or will they get mad at us for leaving after a week?

-If it can be done, we will literally bring nothing with ourselves this time, but we wanted to prepare two B4 documents. One that includes all our furniture and belongings that will come with the movers later, and one B4 for the expensive things, like jewelry and other stuff we would bring with ourselves the next time we come to stay. Can this be done? Having two separate B4 docs of things that will come later, one for merchandise coming with movers and one for more expensive things coming with us?

Please let me know, this has been very difficult on my family, we have waited 4 years now... Any advice you may have will be most welcome

Thank you,
Cam1234

 

[xylene]

Hello friends please help:

Our COPR was issued in March but was lost, we finally got a new one a week ago and it expires in August. We live in the US. Two months is not enough for my wife to organize herself, pack everything, terminate our numerous obligations and move. For crying out loud, the movers in our area have a 3 month wait list!

So here are my questions:

-We plan to go there in three weeks, just land and tell them that our COPR was lost, we only received it last month and we need more time to gather our belongings. So we plan to go back in a week and come back to stay later. We will provide them with an address in Ontario for our PR cards to go to. Since we are from a visa exempt country we don't need a visa to come back. Can this be done? Or will they get mad at us for leaving after a week?

-If it can be done, we will literally bring nothing with ourselves this time, but we wanted to prepare two B4 documents. One that includes all our furniture and belongings that will come with the movers later, and one B4 for the expensive things, like jewelry and other stuff we would bring with ourselves the next time we come to stay. Can this be done? Having two separate B4 docs of things that will come later, one for merchandise coming with movers and one for more expensive things coming with us?

Please let me know, this has been very difficult on my family, we have waited 4 years now... Any advice you may have will be most welcome

Thank you,
Cam1234

--Do a short landing -- no one is going to get mad at you for it!! You can fly in later as a visitor, or drive to Canada (land and ask a friend from Canada to pick you up from Buffalo), you would only need the COPR to cross the border
--You can complete the B4 (goods to follow) with jewelry details with photos (value in CAD etc). Get two copies and declare it at the customs during your first trip.. The officer would return one copy with the customs stamp on it. You can use this when you make your second trip.

 

[cam1234]

--Do a short landing -- no one is going to get mad at you for it!! You can fly in later as a visitor, or drive to Canada (land and ask a friend from Canada to pick you up from Buffalo), you would only need the COPR to cross the border
--You can complete the B4 (goods to follow) with jewelry details with photos (value in CAD etc). Get two copies and declare it at the customs during your first trip.. The officer would return one copy with the customs stamp on it. You can use this when you make your second trip.

Thank you xylene for your reply. I wanted to create two B4 "goods to follow" documents. One for the movers, which would include our furniture and electronics etc. , and one B4 "goods to follow" for us when we bring in my wife's jewelry, gold chains, and other expensive stuff.

If I only make one B4 "goods to follow" then the copy I give to the movers will have pictures of jewelry and expensive things on it, I don't want the movers to think all that is in their truck...

Is it possible to have two B4 goods to follow docs?

Thank you,
Cam

 

[xylene]

yes you can make two lists(A&B - (B with all the Jewelry)). Create two copies of A&B

Submit 2 copies of A and B to the customs. Get their stamp on both. You can tell them that A is coming via Movers (it has to be mentioned in A anyway along with Cargo number etc.)

You do not have to submit the B4 form (goods to follow) at the time of landing, you can do it few days later as well once you have confirmed the movers.

 

[cam1234]

yes you can make two lists(A&B - (B with all the Jewelry)). Create two copies of A&B

Submit 2 copies of A and B to the customs. Get their stamp on both. You can tell them that A is coming via Movers (it has to be mentioned in A anyway along with Cargo number etc.)

You do not have to submit the B4 form (goods to follow) at the time of landing, you can do it few days later as well once you have confirmed the movers.

Thank you xylene, much appreciated!!! ;D

***One last question: Where on the form do I write "Form A" and "Form B" ???

You can have a look at the form link below:
http://www.cbsa.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/b4-eng.html

 

[Mbaka]

--Do a short landing -- no one is going to get mad at you for it!! You can fly in later as a visitor, or drive to Canada (land and ask a friend from Canada to pick you up from Buffalo), you would only need the COPR to cross the border
--You can complete the B4 (goods to follow) with jewelry details with photos (value in CAD etc). Get two copies and declare it at the customs during your first trip.. The officer would return one copy with the customs stamp on it. You can use this when you make your second trip.

Dear Xylene,

your feedbacks are quite helpful.

I seem to be in the same situation with CAM1234, just that i am not migrating from the USA. We dont intend to do our first landing with the our jewelries as we are going for a short stay (2 weeks).

Now my questions are:

After filling the B4 (goods to follow) with jewelry details with photos (value in CAD etc). Get two copies and declare it at the customs during your first trip. Does it mean we cannot buy anymore Jewelries when we go back? Are we restricted to the Jewelries we already declared during our 1st landing? My wife intends to buy more as we are going to stay for like 10-12 months before relocating finally.

please can you clarify on this?

your urgent response will be highly appreciated.

 

[rizmayo]

Dear Xylene,

your feedbacks are quite helpful.

I seem to be in the same situation with CAM1234, just that i am not migrating from the USA. We dont intend to do our first landing with the our jewelries as we are going for a short stay (2 weeks).

Now my questions are:

After filling the B4 (goods to follow) with jewelry details with photos (value in CAD etc). Get two copies and declare it at the customs during your first trip. Does it mean we cannot buy anymore Jewelries when we go back? Are we restricted to the Jewelries we already declared during our 1st landing? My wife intends to buy more as we are going to stay for like 10-12 months before relocating finally.

please can you clarify on this?

your urgent response will be highly appreciated.

Yup that is exactly what it means. You may be asked to pay tax on jewelry you buy later. It would constitute importing precious metals into Canada.

If it was so simple, even I would buy bulk jewelry made in my home country and sell it in Canada

 

[Mbaka]

Yup that is exactly what it means. You may be asked to pay tax on jewelry you buy later. It would constitute importing precious metals into Canada.

If it was so simple, even I would buy bulk jewelry made in my home country and sell it in Canada

Thank you for your response, please check your inbox.

 

[darkhorse28]

If you stay in the transit area in Vancouver, you will never pass immigration and so you will not land until you get to Toronto. If you want to be absolutely sure, you can also try contacting the airport in Vancouver, give them the flight number and ask what the procedure is.

Thank you leon