Hi all, today I successfully completed my landing at the 'Rainbow Bridge' at Niagara Falls. I wanted to share my experience in case it helps anyone else.
The first thing was when I drove across to the US border, they did not stamp my passport. Instead the US border guard told me to drive to the side and wait inside my car. The next thing I knew he opened the gate and told me to drive back to Canada to complete my landing. So far so good.
At the Canadian port of Entry, the border guard escorted me to the car park space and told me to go into the building and talk to the immigration officers at the counter. The immigration officer I talked to took my passport, and told me to have a seat as I will be called 'very soon'. It turns out this happened to be just over 3 hours.
While I was sitting down I started talking to others who were doing the 'landing process'. The first people I spoke to were a couple from India. The wife told me that they came on here husband's LMIA. From what she told me they were both IT professionals. When they were called up, one border guard escorted her husband to the back room for questioning. The wife tried to go with him but she was told to go back to her seat. About 5 minutes later, a second border guard came and escorted the wife to another meeting room for separate questioning. Then 10 minutes later, the two border guards came out and had a brief discussion and one said "Let's re-question them again". Don't know what happened afterwards as I did not see the couple come out between then and the time I left the building.
The second guy I spoke to was a Data Analyst from China who successfully got a PNP from Ontario. He was also called up and escorted to a meeting room for questioning. When he came out about 15 minutes later, he told me the officer asked him to sit down and she would take another look at his case and may re-question him.
Finally when I was called up, I fully expected to be questioned, and to prepare thoroughly for the questioning; I took everything I submitted in my application, as well as updated bank letter and supporting documents and an updated employment letter with recent payslips. To my surprise the officer only asked me 3 questions:
1) Have you ever been convicted of a crime in Canada or overseas?
2) Have you ever been refused a visa to travel to any country?
3) Do you have any dependents?
For me, the answer to all 3 was 'No'. In addition she asked me for the following:
1) Copy of updated bank letter and supporting documents
2) Copy of my rental agreement to see the address where I was living
After that she got me to sign and date my COPR letter, and she did the same. She then stamped my passport. She also told me the 'Not Valid for Travel' watermark did not apply for me as I was from a Visa Exempt country (Australia). The whole thing for me (excluding the 3 hour waiting period) took about 5 minutes). She then said 'Welcome To Canada' and wished me luck and that was the process complete for me.
It seems that even at the landing process there are different processes for different applicants. As I say I was so thorough and I took all my valid documents and thoroughly prepared myself for this process and was surprised there was no interview.
Hope this helps those of you waiting to complete the landing process.
If you have any questions please let me know.
The first thing was when I drove across to the US border, they did not stamp my passport. Instead the US border guard told me to drive to the side and wait inside my car. The next thing I knew he opened the gate and told me to drive back to Canada to complete my landing. So far so good.
At the Canadian port of Entry, the border guard escorted me to the car park space and told me to go into the building and talk to the immigration officers at the counter. The immigration officer I talked to took my passport, and told me to have a seat as I will be called 'very soon'. It turns out this happened to be just over 3 hours.
While I was sitting down I started talking to others who were doing the 'landing process'. The first people I spoke to were a couple from India. The wife told me that they came on here husband's LMIA. From what she told me they were both IT professionals. When they were called up, one border guard escorted her husband to the back room for questioning. The wife tried to go with him but she was told to go back to her seat. About 5 minutes later, a second border guard came and escorted the wife to another meeting room for separate questioning. Then 10 minutes later, the two border guards came out and had a brief discussion and one said "Let's re-question them again". Don't know what happened afterwards as I did not see the couple come out between then and the time I left the building.
The second guy I spoke to was a Data Analyst from China who successfully got a PNP from Ontario. He was also called up and escorted to a meeting room for questioning. When he came out about 15 minutes later, he told me the officer asked him to sit down and she would take another look at his case and may re-question him.
Finally when I was called up, I fully expected to be questioned, and to prepare thoroughly for the questioning; I took everything I submitted in my application, as well as updated bank letter and supporting documents and an updated employment letter with recent payslips. To my surprise the officer only asked me 3 questions:
1) Have you ever been convicted of a crime in Canada or overseas?
2) Have you ever been refused a visa to travel to any country?
3) Do you have any dependents?
For me, the answer to all 3 was 'No'. In addition she asked me for the following:
1) Copy of updated bank letter and supporting documents
2) Copy of my rental agreement to see the address where I was living
After that she got me to sign and date my COPR letter, and she did the same. She then stamped my passport. She also told me the 'Not Valid for Travel' watermark did not apply for me as I was from a Visa Exempt country (Australia). The whole thing for me (excluding the 3 hour waiting period) took about 5 minutes). She then said 'Welcome To Canada' and wished me luck and that was the process complete for me.
It seems that even at the landing process there are different processes for different applicants. As I say I was so thorough and I took all my valid documents and thoroughly prepared myself for this process and was surprised there was no interview.
Hope this helps those of you waiting to complete the landing process.
If you have any questions please let me know.
