My Landing Experience at Peace Bridge, Fort Erie

[prads28]

Hi All

Please note no more "U" turn in Peace Bride. Today i went to Peace Bride for landing and they informed this information to me. Please inform this information to your friends who are planing for Peace Bride "U" turn in Fort Erie.

 

[mady_1982]

hey buddy i intend to land on peace bridge ,do u mean the the u turn has been completely stopped

 

[J.M.]

hey buddy i intend to land on peace bridge ,do u mean the the u turn has been completely stopped

From what I have read in other threads, you have to actually go to the USA side and get a piece of paper that says you were given an administrative refusal (Unless the USA allows you actually visit, but normally they just give you the paper). This shows that you actually left Canada (or at least attempted to). The practice that is no longer allowed is where you drive towards the USA side, make a U-turn, and come back (without actually attempting to enter the USA). I imagine this is because technically, you never left Canada.

 

[Canuck*soon]

Hello.

Congratulations on your PR. Thank you for your detailed description of landing and for the update.
This forum is a wealth of knowledge.

 

[donwin4real]

From what I have read in other threads, you have to actually go to the USA side and get a piece of paper that says you were given an administrative refusal (Unless the USA allows you actually visit, but normally they just give you the paper). This shows that you actually left Canada (or at least attempted to). The practice that is no longer allowed is where you drive towards the USA side, make a U-turn, and come back (without actually attempting to enter the USA). I imagine this is because technically, you never left Canada.

Very very very valuable piece...
Thanx and God bless

 

[J.M.]

From what I have read in other threads, you have to actually go to the USA side and get a piece of paper that says you were given an administrative refusal (Unless the USA allows you actually visit, but normally they just give you the paper). This shows that you actually left Canada (or at least attempted to). The practice that is no longer allowed is where you drive towards the USA side, make a U-turn, and come back (without actually attempting to enter the USA). I imagine this is because technically, you never left Canada.

Another point is that you may be refused landing if it is too busy, so try to go early in the morning on a weekday. Others have posted that they were refused, but tried again the next day when it was less busy and they were allowed to land.

 

[mady_1982]

seniors , my confusion - is peace brdige still open for u turn ? what i mean is are they still allowing u turn for landing ?

 

[donwin4real]

seniors , my confusion - is peace brdige still open for u turn ? what i mean is are they still allowing u turn for landing ?

You can see from above...it's been stopped! You have to get to the USA boarder and be issued an administrative refusal which you can make use of to land in Canada.

 

[myYahoo]

Hi All

Please note no more "U" turn in Peace Bride. Today i went to Peace Bride for landing and they informed this information to me. Please inform this information to your friends who are planing for Peace Bride "U" turn in Fort Erie.

I tried the same and I am confirming that "U" turn in peace Bride is now completely stopped. You have to go to US border and do flag poling (no matter you have US Visa or not)



[/quote]

 

[iamroth]

Yes U-turn is not legally allowed. And should not be.

CBSA used to allow applicants to just take an U-turn in front of the building and complete landing.

But now you have to cross the bridge and go to the US side, then come back. Then you complete the landing. It's the same as taking U-Turn only now you have to go to US border office and then turn back.

You do not need US visa.

 

[Sid87]

Thanks

 

[deejey]

They won't let you land with a u-turn because it is not considered leaving Canada. You'll have to go to the US side get that paper and come back.

P.S: Swahid, thanks for sharing your experience. Please update your post and mention this because people will read that and try to do it and it doesn't work anymore. You've explained it so nicely that there's no need to read all the replies for clarification

 

[hopeinshahallah]

Hi All,

This program has been stopped you cannot do a U Turn. We went on 28-Jun-2014 and the immigration officer confirmed that you can do a U-Turn for landing. You must go to US to get an Administrative Refusal Letter.


Regards,
HopeInshahallah

 

[Andrea46]

Hello all.
I would like to share our experience at Peace Bridge and hoping that it could help some of you with your process.
I wish we have read some posts in this forum earlier, but sometimes you learn the hard way.
We drove down to the Peace Bridge on a weekend after obtaining a Confirmation of Permanent Residency (CPR) from Ottawa. In the preparation for the trip down to the border, we confirmed with our lawyer that no other documentation will be required except for the CPR and the passport. Also in the letter that we received along with the CPR, it was not indicated that we needed any additional documentation and it stated that no visa counterfoil will be issued.
It was quite busy at the border the time we arrived. We waited about 20 minutes until we got to the "Return to Canada" exit and did the U-turn as we did in past. We waited another half hour to get to the booth. We told the officer that we were landing. She asked us few questions if we were in USA and we told her we did the U-turn. She said that was fine and instructed us to proceed to the building. Once we got into the building we were greeted by very pleasant officer. She asked us also if we were coming from the USA and when we told her we did the U-turn, she informed us that the U-turn is no longer an option, and explained that we needed to either cross the USA border and return back or schedule an appointment in Toronto. We were a bit concerned that we would have to wait at the USA immigration to obtain the entry visa, but she explained that that would not be the case and told us that we just need to inform the USA officer that we will not be entering the USA and returning to Canada immediately for the landing. She also told us we would receive some paper that would indicate USA entry denial, as a formality and that we would be allowed to drive back to Canada immediately. She also advised us what would be the best time to cross the border in order to avoid the traffic.
Since we had plenty of time, we decided to stay in the area and keep checking border crossing times on a website. Once we found out that there were no delays, we decided to drive back. We got to the US border booth in less than 5 minutes. We told the officer we were just crossing the border in order to land in Canada and he instructed us to proceed to the building and that someone there will give us the directions and paperwork we required. The waiting room was full and we were afraid we would have to wait for all these people to be processed, but after 2 minutes our names were called and the officer handed us our passports along with a piece of paper and explained us which way to drive to get back in Canada. That was quite easy!
The border crossing in Canada was also clear and again we proceeded into the building. The same officer from earlier was on duty, but busy with another group. A different officer invited us to proceed to her desk.
We presented the passports and the CPR and she immediately asked if we have a copy of a bank statement, payroll deposit slip or other proof of funds or income. We did not have any and explained that we were not aware of such a requirement. The officer told us that we must present the proof of funds when landing. That was news to use given that we have been in Canada for over 3 years on a work visa and working continuously.
We offered to show her our online account information and she accepted it. However we did not have the account number for a saving account to access and she insisted she had to see all of the accounts.
In addition to that she asked us why was there no counterfoil visa in the passport. We explained her that this was not required and she insisted that we need to have it in order to get the passport stamped. I had the letter from Ottawa in the car, but I could remember that letter mentioned that no counterfoil visa will be required. I tried to explain again that none of the information she is asking for was ever mentioned to us. She raised her voice and told us basically that we had no clue what we were talking about and that what she is telling us is the requirement and without that no landing visa will be issued. She said the CPR was just a piece of paper with no value.
I asked if I could go back to the car and get the letter and she agreed.
After I presented the letter which clearly stated that the only document to be presented was the CPR and no counterfoil visa was required, she changed her story and said she just got a different written communication.
After that she said that the photo on the CPR was no good as it did not meet the size requirement and because of that the whole process will be delayed. I then questioned why would Ottawa ever send a CPR with a wrong picture size and why wouldn't they know what are the requirements.
She then said she could take another photo and save us time.
It took another 15 minutes to get this process completed and finally she put the stamp and stated the rights of a Permanent Resident.
Unfortunately this was not the only time we had an unpleasant experience with officers at Peace Bridge. One time when we were extending the work permit, the officer informed us that the LMO was not in good order, which was completely incorrect. We had to fight back and ask another officer for help, who confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the LMO.

Lessons learned:
- no U-turn, but keep driving to the US border and inform US officers the reason for crossing the border
- bring extra paperwork, even if not required
- know the requirements and come informed
- be very patient and polite, but do not give up if some officer is trying to turn you down for an invalid reason

Good luck to you all!

 

[Charlie79]

THANK YOU and your post will be a great help to many.

Regards,

Hello all.
I would like to share our experience at Peace Bridge and hoping that it could help some of you with your process.
I wish we have read some posts in this forum earlier, but sometimes you learn the hard way.
We drove down to the Peace Bridge on a weekend after obtaining a Confirmation of Permanent Residency (CPR) from Ottawa. In the preparation for the trip down to the border, we confirmed with our lawyer that no other documentation will be required except for the CPR and the passport. Also in the letter that we received along with the CPR, it was not indicated that we needed any additional documentation and it stated that no visa counterfoil will be issued.
It was quite busy at the border the time we arrived. We waited about 20 minutes until we got to the "Return to Canada" exit and did the U-turn as we did in past. We waited another half hour to get to the booth. We told the officer that we were landing. She asked us few questions if we were in USA and we told her we did the U-turn. She said that was fine and instructed us to proceed to the building. Once we got into the building we were greeted by very pleasant officer. She asked us also if we were coming from the USA and when we told her we did the U-turn, she informed us that the U-turn is no longer an option, and explained that we needed to either cross the USA border and return back or schedule an appointment in Toronto. We were a bit concerned that we would have to wait at the USA immigration to obtain the entry visa, but she explained that that would not be the case and told us that we just need to inform the USA officer that we will not be entering the USA and returning to Canada immediately for the landing. She also told us we would receive some paper that would indicate USA entry denial, as a formality and that we would be allowed to drive back to Canada immediately. She also advised us what would be the best time to cross the border in order to avoid the traffic.
Since we had plenty of time, we decided to stay in the area and keep checking border crossing times on a website. Once we found out that there were no delays, we decided to drive back. We got to the US border booth in less than 5 minutes. We told the officer we were just crossing the border in order to land in Canada and he instructed us to proceed to the building and that someone there will give us the directions and paperwork we required. The waiting room was full and we were afraid we would have to wait for all these people to be processed, but after 2 minutes our names were called and the officer handed us our passports along with a piece of paper and explained us which way to drive to get back in Canada. That was quite easy!
The border crossing in Canada was also clear and again we proceeded into the building. The same officer from earlier was on duty, but busy with another group. A different officer invited us to proceed to her desk.
We presented the passports and the CPR and she immediately asked if we have a copy of a bank statement, payroll deposit slip or other proof of funds or income. We did not have any and explained that we were not aware of such a requirement. The officer told us that we must present the proof of funds when landing. That was news to use given that we have been in Canada for over 3 years on a work visa and working continuously.
We offered to show her our online account information and she accepted it. However we did not have the account number for a saving account to access and she insisted she had to see all of the accounts.
In addition to that she asked us why was there no counterfoil visa in the passport. We explained her that this was not required and she insisted that we need to have it in order to get the passport stamped. I had the letter from Ottawa in the car, but I could remember that letter mentioned that no counterfoil visa will be required. I tried to explain again that none of the information she is asking for was ever mentioned to us. She raised her voice and told us basically that we had no clue what we were talking about and that what she is telling us is the requirement and without that no landing visa will be issued. She said the CPR was just a piece of paper with no value.
I asked if I could go back to the car and get the letter and she agreed.
After I presented the letter which clearly stated that the only document to be presented was the CPR and no counterfoil visa was required, she changed her story and said she just got a different written communication.
After that she said that the photo on the CPR was no good as it did not meet the size requirement and because of that the whole process will be delayed. I then questioned why would Ottawa ever send a CPR with a wrong picture size and why wouldn't they know what are the requirements.
She then said she could take another photo and save us time.
It took another 15 minutes to get this process completed and finally she put the stamp and stated the rights of a Permanent Resident.
Unfortunately this was not the only time we had an unpleasant experience with officers at Peace Bridge. One time when we were extending the work permit, the officer informed us that the LMO was not in good order, which was completely incorrect. We had to fight back and ask another officer for help, who confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the LMO.

Lessons learned:
- no U-turn, but keep driving to the US border and inform US officers the reason for crossing the border
- bring extra paperwork, even if not required
- know the requirements and come informed
- be very patient and polite, but do not give up if some officer is trying to turn you down for an invalid reason

Good luck to you all!