Landing experience:
Hi all. I wanted to share landing experience and hope some will learn from this. I was nominated by Manitoba Province in March 2012, got my passport request in August, sent it to CPP Ottawa in September and got it the same month. Note, I had included a plane ticket indicating I was traveling to my home country in September and asked for expedited service. I landed in Winnipeg, Manitoba November 20, 2013 at 5:47 p.m. The landing process was straight forward and smooth. I should mention that I was thoroughly prepared. I had my goods to follow list and personal effects that I brought typed, and two copies for each. The officer asked for my passport and any other documents I may have for him. I gave him what he requested. He asked me to follow him, paged a cashier to process my goods to follow list, and he took care of my Confirmation of Permanent resident paperwork.
They stamped everything, gave me copies, explained that I had to keep COPR safe as I'll need it to process other necessary documents. I had my bank statement as well as cash in hand. I was never asked for either, nor did I volunteer the information. The whole process took 17 minutes.
The very next day I went to Service Canada to apply for SIN number, process took 13 minutes, then stopped at the bank to open a bank account. I spent almost an hour here because I wanted to compare products with other banks. I then wen to the Health card place to apply for health card, this process took 13 minutes. So, for those who are planning to land, be prepared and all will go well.
Thank you to all who have been sharing their experiences. I was able to prepare myself through many contributions on this forum. Be blessed.