Sting123,sting123 said:I got my PGWP yesterday at the Carway border (Alberta). It was an intimidating experience. I crossed over to the US side and informed them that I am here to flagpole. Surprisingly the US CBP officials were friendly and polite. A lady officer issued me a form denying entry into US. Now comes the fun part. I enter the Canadian side only to find that there was nobody at the checkpoint. After waiting for a couple of minutes a CBSA officer showed up. He was rude to say the least. He said they do not process workpermits at this border. I explained the situation to him and said I was here for the PGWP. After this he said it was the wrong time to come to the border as there was a lot of traffic (people waiting for immigration). He asked me to park my car and go inside. I was then asked to wait in a waiting room where I saw the traffic he was referring to. A family of 5 and another person for his PR. I was made to wait for 2 hours before another officer called me and asked me to submit my documents (degree, transcripts, letter from the university, job offer, pay stubs, study permit, off-campus work permit). After this I waited for another hour when I was called again. The officer told me that my new WP was attached to the passport and asked me to pay $255. Another CBSA officer decided to crack a joke and said $255 plus tips. I went outside and checked my WP and luckily it was for 3 years. The reason I said that is a friend of mine who was supposed to come to Carway decided to go to Coutts (AB). The officer there issued a WP for only 22 months as the duration on our program was only 20 months and not 2 years. All said and done I have my WP in hand and can apply for the visa now. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have with regards to flagpoling at the AB border.
Congratulations!
You and your friend should remember to get a new SIN at your nearest Service Canada office
http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/cgi-bin/sc-srch.cgi?app=hme&ln=eng
Cheers!