Hey folks
I landed on peace bridge during the Canada day weekend and had a rough landing experience.
I am presently in the US on a H-1B and was planning on permanently moving to Canada in the next few months. I drove up to peace bridge near Fort Erie to complete my landing and get my SIN number; but otherwise come back to the US to wrap things up in a few months. Here are the sequence of events:
- I told the border checkpoint agent that I am here to do my permanent residence landing. They asked me to park my car nearby and walk into the office to complete the formalities.
- Then after a short wait I met with a CBSA agent. He was professional but didn't seem to be having a good day, as he was having trouble logging into his computer. Some issue came up with the address that I had given in Canada. It was of the form "XXX-YYY, Street name, City, ON, Canada". He said that he wouldn't be able to send the PR cards to XXX-YYY as it's not a proper address. I didn't know what do about this, so he suggested that I call the persons I was staying with and ask them to clarify. At this point, the network on my phone was very weak as it had US-only coverage. After a few tries I was able to get through and get the required details from my host in Canada. Apparently, it was Unit XXX and Street # YYY. He accepted this but seemed a little irritated at the delay.
- Following this, he asked me the standard questions, I signed the COPR and he said "Congratulations. You are now a permanent resident of Canada". He mentioned that I would get my PR card in 6-8 weeks, read me my rights as a PR and told me of my residency obligations. He asked me to get into another queue to work out the BSF186 (goods accompanying/to follow) list.
- I was a little frazzled at this stage, but otherwise calm and collected. Little did I expect the next CBSA agent to be such a sadist. He motioned me over and asked me to hand over my documents. I provided him with three sets of forms BSF186 (goods accompanying) and a BSF186(goods following) + BSF186A(goods following addendum). The "goods accompanying" didn't have any items listed since I was going to be import everything afterwards; but it was otherwise filled and signed.
CBSA: Straight away he barked at me "What is this?".
I was a little puzzled. I explained to him that one is "goods accompanying" and the other is "goods to follow".
CBSA: "No. You only need one." and he tossed the "goods accompanying" form aside.
At this stage, I had a strong urge to ask him, what if I did have some set of goods that I was bringing with me now? Wouldn't I need two sets of forms then? But I kept quiet and instead told him "Ok, but that's not the information I had."
CBSA: "Who told you this?"
I think he was hoping that I would mention some kind of immigration lawyers/agents and then he would lecture me on how these people are crooks. But since my source of information was this forum and the IRCC website, all I said was "From some people who have gone through the landing process before."
CBSA: "Do you believe them or do you believe an officer with the IRCC?"
I kept quiet.
CBSA: He then started going through my Goods To Follow (GTF) list and started nit picking. An example, I hadn't listed the serial numbers for my old laptops since they were worth only $100. He said "All electronic items should have their serial numbers listed".
I kept quiet.
CBSA: "You have jewelry listed here. You need photos for these. This is not acceptable."
I told him to flip to the last page.
CBSA: "Do you have an appraisal for this?"
I had only one or two items listed worth a few hundred dollars, again, not worth an appraisal. So, I kept quiet.
At this point, I realized that he was looking for trouble. He wanted to find every little flaw in my application and make my life difficult. This unfortunately reminded me of the frustrated and often corrupt bureaucrats and government officials that I had to deal with in India (my country of origin). It evoked in me a set of mixed feelings. Sadness that I would have to deal with these types even in Canada, and a preparedness since I had dealt with their kind before. The solution in my book, was keeping calm, not shouting, appearing subservient, but getting what you wanted in the end.
CBSA: He then proceeded to his magnum opus. My car, which I had listed as goods to follow. He pounced on it as if he had found his kill. "Where's your car?"
I told him it's parked outside.
CBSA: "You can't list this as GTF. You have to import it!"
I looked puzzled. Since there were several threads on this forum where users had declared their personal cars as GTF and then imported it at a later date. I told him, "I'm not planning on importing it in this trip. But I would do so in the following months after I wrap things up in the US."
CBSA: "You can't drive a US plated car in Canada. You have two choices (1) Go back to the US (2) Import it right now". He then pulled out a big sheet. Handed it to me and said "What do you want to do?"
I was honestly not expecting to go back to the US just after landing. So I just stared at him for a while and told him. "What do I need to import it?"
CBSA: He then asked me for the date of manufacture. I told him the year. He then told me he needs the month. I didn't know. He then told me that I should go to my car look at the door and look at the manufacturer's label. At this a female agent who was shadowing him perhaps felt a tinge of pity and asked him "Should I go with him?". He said dismissively, "No, let him do it."
I went to my car and got the details for him. Meanwhile, I tried to collect myself after this barrage as I was quite shaken. After waiting in the line for a while, I provided the details for him.
CBSA: "Where's the title of the car?"
I told him it was still at my residence in the US.
CBSA: "Why don't you have it with you?".
I told him that I was planning on exporting the car at a later date, so I didn't get the title and export it from the US.
CBSA: "So you haven't even exported it from the US? Do you know that you are in violation of US customs? Why didn't you do it?"
I again repeated to him that I would be making a trips back and forth between Canada and the US in the following months. Also, I told him that I worked for a top 5 tech company in the US and was in the process of transferring my job and that these things take time. So I couldn't settle on a firm timeline. On hearing the name of the company that I worked for, he softened a bit. He then proceeded to explain to me the whole car export process, which I already knew but had chosen to do at a later date. I *really* had to resist the urge to say something sarcastic. After listening to him lecture for a while, I realized that the issue with the car was not going to be easy. So I told him, "I'll go back to the US to export it."
CBSA: He then proceeded to fill out some kind of penalty form to hand over to US officials with instructions that I needed to return because of my car. He then continued going over the rest of my GTF and continued to snicker and mock the contents. For e.g. I had listed "Memorabilia" as $200. All this while I hung my head low and nodded. Finally, he stamped all the documents and asked me "What's the total?".
I told him I hadn't calculated it, but I could do it now. So I sat down in the waiting area and used my phone calculator to painstakingly total everything. After I headed over, he was gone and there was a different CBSA official. This officer was *much much* nicer.
CBSA: "Can I help you?"
I told him the previous officer had told me to calculate the total.
CBSA: "That's not necessary. But do you have in anyway?"
All I could think was that the previous guy was such a major ***hole for making me sum it all up and then leave. The new officer went over the stuff. Handed me my signed and stamped GTF, and walked me over to my car. He gave me instructions to go back to the US along with the penalty form that the previous officer had given me.
I drove back to the US prepared to face the consequences of what this penalty form might bring. The US border official was super nice, asked me what's that document I had with me. I told him that I had just completed my Canada PR landing and that they wanted me to come back to the US to export the car. He then told that unless I wanted to spend three hours inside the US customs office that I don't show him the form and smiled
So, what went well?
A short landing, with my PR cards being mailed inside Canada, and all my worldly possessions listed and stamped as GTF.
What could have gone better?
A smoother landing experience. The inability to file for my SIN on this trip (I'll have to do it at a later date)
What did I learn from this whole experience?
- People are people. Some are nice. Some are ***holes.
- Keep calm and Canada on.
I landed on peace bridge during the Canada day weekend and had a rough landing experience.
I am presently in the US on a H-1B and was planning on permanently moving to Canada in the next few months. I drove up to peace bridge near Fort Erie to complete my landing and get my SIN number; but otherwise come back to the US to wrap things up in a few months. Here are the sequence of events:
- I told the border checkpoint agent that I am here to do my permanent residence landing. They asked me to park my car nearby and walk into the office to complete the formalities.
- Then after a short wait I met with a CBSA agent. He was professional but didn't seem to be having a good day, as he was having trouble logging into his computer. Some issue came up with the address that I had given in Canada. It was of the form "XXX-YYY, Street name, City, ON, Canada". He said that he wouldn't be able to send the PR cards to XXX-YYY as it's not a proper address. I didn't know what do about this, so he suggested that I call the persons I was staying with and ask them to clarify. At this point, the network on my phone was very weak as it had US-only coverage. After a few tries I was able to get through and get the required details from my host in Canada. Apparently, it was Unit XXX and Street # YYY. He accepted this but seemed a little irritated at the delay.
- Following this, he asked me the standard questions, I signed the COPR and he said "Congratulations. You are now a permanent resident of Canada". He mentioned that I would get my PR card in 6-8 weeks, read me my rights as a PR and told me of my residency obligations. He asked me to get into another queue to work out the BSF186 (goods accompanying/to follow) list.
- I was a little frazzled at this stage, but otherwise calm and collected. Little did I expect the next CBSA agent to be such a sadist. He motioned me over and asked me to hand over my documents. I provided him with three sets of forms BSF186 (goods accompanying) and a BSF186(goods following) + BSF186A(goods following addendum). The "goods accompanying" didn't have any items listed since I was going to be import everything afterwards; but it was otherwise filled and signed.
CBSA: Straight away he barked at me "What is this?".
I was a little puzzled. I explained to him that one is "goods accompanying" and the other is "goods to follow".
CBSA: "No. You only need one." and he tossed the "goods accompanying" form aside.
At this stage, I had a strong urge to ask him, what if I did have some set of goods that I was bringing with me now? Wouldn't I need two sets of forms then? But I kept quiet and instead told him "Ok, but that's not the information I had."
CBSA: "Who told you this?"
I think he was hoping that I would mention some kind of immigration lawyers/agents and then he would lecture me on how these people are crooks. But since my source of information was this forum and the IRCC website, all I said was "From some people who have gone through the landing process before."
CBSA: "Do you believe them or do you believe an officer with the IRCC?"
I kept quiet.
CBSA: He then started going through my Goods To Follow (GTF) list and started nit picking. An example, I hadn't listed the serial numbers for my old laptops since they were worth only $100. He said "All electronic items should have their serial numbers listed".
I kept quiet.
CBSA: "You have jewelry listed here. You need photos for these. This is not acceptable."
I told him to flip to the last page.
CBSA: "Do you have an appraisal for this?"
I had only one or two items listed worth a few hundred dollars, again, not worth an appraisal. So, I kept quiet.
At this point, I realized that he was looking for trouble. He wanted to find every little flaw in my application and make my life difficult. This unfortunately reminded me of the frustrated and often corrupt bureaucrats and government officials that I had to deal with in India (my country of origin). It evoked in me a set of mixed feelings. Sadness that I would have to deal with these types even in Canada, and a preparedness since I had dealt with their kind before. The solution in my book, was keeping calm, not shouting, appearing subservient, but getting what you wanted in the end.
CBSA: He then proceeded to his magnum opus. My car, which I had listed as goods to follow. He pounced on it as if he had found his kill. "Where's your car?"
I told him it's parked outside.
CBSA: "You can't list this as GTF. You have to import it!"
I looked puzzled. Since there were several threads on this forum where users had declared their personal cars as GTF and then imported it at a later date. I told him, "I'm not planning on importing it in this trip. But I would do so in the following months after I wrap things up in the US."
CBSA: "You can't drive a US plated car in Canada. You have two choices (1) Go back to the US (2) Import it right now". He then pulled out a big sheet. Handed it to me and said "What do you want to do?"
I was honestly not expecting to go back to the US just after landing. So I just stared at him for a while and told him. "What do I need to import it?"
CBSA: He then asked me for the date of manufacture. I told him the year. He then told me he needs the month. I didn't know. He then told me that I should go to my car look at the door and look at the manufacturer's label. At this a female agent who was shadowing him perhaps felt a tinge of pity and asked him "Should I go with him?". He said dismissively, "No, let him do it."
I went to my car and got the details for him. Meanwhile, I tried to collect myself after this barrage as I was quite shaken. After waiting in the line for a while, I provided the details for him.
CBSA: "Where's the title of the car?"
I told him it was still at my residence in the US.
CBSA: "Why don't you have it with you?".
I told him that I was planning on exporting the car at a later date, so I didn't get the title and export it from the US.
CBSA: "So you haven't even exported it from the US? Do you know that you are in violation of US customs? Why didn't you do it?"
I again repeated to him that I would be making a trips back and forth between Canada and the US in the following months. Also, I told him that I worked for a top 5 tech company in the US and was in the process of transferring my job and that these things take time. So I couldn't settle on a firm timeline. On hearing the name of the company that I worked for, he softened a bit. He then proceeded to explain to me the whole car export process, which I already knew but had chosen to do at a later date. I *really* had to resist the urge to say something sarcastic. After listening to him lecture for a while, I realized that the issue with the car was not going to be easy. So I told him, "I'll go back to the US to export it."
CBSA: He then proceeded to fill out some kind of penalty form to hand over to US officials with instructions that I needed to return because of my car. He then continued going over the rest of my GTF and continued to snicker and mock the contents. For e.g. I had listed "Memorabilia" as $200. All this while I hung my head low and nodded. Finally, he stamped all the documents and asked me "What's the total?".
I told him I hadn't calculated it, but I could do it now. So I sat down in the waiting area and used my phone calculator to painstakingly total everything. After I headed over, he was gone and there was a different CBSA official. This officer was *much much* nicer.
CBSA: "Can I help you?"
I told him the previous officer had told me to calculate the total.
CBSA: "That's not necessary. But do you have in anyway?"
All I could think was that the previous guy was such a major ***hole for making me sum it all up and then leave. The new officer went over the stuff. Handed me my signed and stamped GTF, and walked me over to my car. He gave me instructions to go back to the US along with the penalty form that the previous officer had given me.
I drove back to the US prepared to face the consequences of what this penalty form might bring. The US border official was super nice, asked me what's that document I had with me. I told him that I had just completed my Canada PR landing and that they wanted me to come back to the US to export the car. He then told that unless I wanted to spend three hours inside the US customs office that I don't show him the form and smiled
So, what went well?
A short landing, with my PR cards being mailed inside Canada, and all my worldly possessions listed and stamped as GTF.
What could have gone better?
A smoother landing experience. The inability to file for my SIN on this trip (I'll have to do it at a later date)
What did I learn from this whole experience?
- People are people. Some are nice. Some are ***holes.
- Keep calm and Canada on.
