Finally Reached Toronto on 5th May 2011. Took the long route through Hong Kong using Cathay Pacific Airlines. I travelled alone without my family and plan to get them here after suitable accommodation etc is arranged.
Arrived at Pearson International airport at 1 PM. There was not much of crowd at the airport. First went though preliminary immigration (Customs) and then was directed to immigration counter. For this stage you need to fill in the custom form which is given in the flight. Form has details like name, address, DoB, flight no. and declarations regarding what u r bringing into Canada.
At immigration counter the COPR was checked and I was asked about total funds that I was carrying including the one that I already transferred to Canada via Scotia bank. I told the officer and offered to show get the proof and she said it is ok and did not see the proof. She verified COPR details from Passport took my Canada address and stapled the copy of COPR to m passport and welcomed me to Canada. I was directed to the welcome area for new immigrants. There two kind ladies greeted me with the smile gave me a bag and bunch of material and was asked to collect the baggage and move to customs for checking. I was also told this is the place where I should declare good to follow list. To help you with the luggage there are porters. You can politely decline their services and use trolleys if you choose to do so. You need 2 CAD for trolleys. CAD 1, 2 and 5 denominations are accepted for trolleys.
At customs I shared the B4, xls sheet backing B4 and photos. This is same as published on forum many times. The officer was impressed and said her job was done by me already. She called other officer and showed him the paper work and asked him to give me form 15 and stamped copy of B4A. She did not check my baggage at all. Rest all guys around me were asked to open the baggage and get it checked. So there I was out of immigration and at the arrival lobby of the Airport.
Here I needed to make some local phone calls. Calls cost you 50 cents and if you do not have 50 cents, you do not get the change back. I wasted a dollar because of that
I did my advance booking in safe home stay along with the airport pick up, so got the pickup and reached the guest house. Was feeling little low to be alone in new country. It is a challenge to land without any job, it sure is and it tells on mind. I pepped myself up, went to nearby mall had my lunch cum dinner and bought a chat-r phone connection for CAD 56 (10 for SIM Card+35 for plan+ takes) it gives me unlimited incoming and outgoing across Canada for a month w/o contract and now am writing this.
Next steps – Get some sleep, apply for the SIN, get the Bank account activated and start the job search........
