Alright guys, all done with my landing.
Where do I start tho?! :-\
So... I live in Toronto and did some research on which border would be best for landing. The closest and best place, according to old and fairly new threads in Canada Visa forum, is Fort Erie (Peace Bridge). It's about 2hrs drive from Toronto, considering traffic. Not too bad.
So I went there today (Friday, August 7). Many users pointed out that in this specific border you are not required to actually go to the US, you have the option of taking a "u-turn" before entering the bridge to go to US (it actually says "Return here for Canada border office"), and so I did. I took the u-turn and headed straight back to the Canadian border. At the gate I had no issues, the officer asked me where I was coming from, so I said "Toronto, I took the u-turn", he was ok with that. I explained that I was there to do the flag-pole. So he directed me to the immigration office. Inside the building, I waited in line. After about 20min in line, I got to speak to the officer. He said I should not have taken the u-turn and that I had to take another u-turn, but this time go back to the bridge and enter the US, and then come back to do the flag-pole. He asked me at that point why I didn't book it at my local Immigration Office (in Toronto) and I explained that by booking it takes about 2 months to get an appointment and I needed me PR card asap cuz I wanted to go home for Christmas. He said "oh ok! makes sense!!".
I went back to the bridge and got to the US border office. They provided me a white paper with the refusal of entry (which I didn't want to get but they said it was ok, it wouldn't be in my records that I had an entry refused... not sure if I believe in this hahah) and headed back to the Canadian border. This time I had to wait another 20-30min in line. the officer called me. she was, somewhat, friendly. Didn't seem very interested on doing my flag-pole, but I guess she took it as "it's my job, so whatever..". She asked me why I didn't book an appointment with a local immigration office, and again I answered the same answer previously given to another officer. She said "you could have done your flag-pole when coming back from your country, after Christmas then...". She took about 25min, doing something on the computer. Didn't ask me any questions, didn't say anything. then she says "Oh, how many PR applications do you have?" I answered just one. "She said, I see 2 in the system". So I figured she was talking about the one from last year, returned due to the cap being filled. I explained that to her and she was ok with it. After some time she transferred me to another officer. It took another 45min. He asked me the statutory questions. Asked for proof of funds (and he said "You were smart to bring the proof of funds, otherwise we would be all over the place now"). Asked me to sign both COPRs Explained that the card will be mailed within 6 to 8 weeks. Congratulated and welcomed me to Canada. Overall the officers were friendly and nice.
That was my experience doing the flag-pole at Fort Erie - Peace Bridge.
(sorry about the long post guys :-[ :-X)
