Soft landing at Vancouver YVR airport

[wonbinofchina]

Hey Guys,

Could you please help on my soft landing questions?
My plan is to go to Vancouver to do soft landing and come back to US. I don't really have a concrete plan for permanent move yet.

I will be landing at YVR at around 19:00 on a Saturday and my return flight is on Sunday afternoon 14:00.

Questions:
1. can I finish my landing process, even though it's weekend?
2. can I still get my SIN?
3. is there anything I need to be aware of?

Thanks

 

[prasenjit1986]

Hi Wonbin,

1. can I finish my landing process, even though it's weekend? Yes, it takes hardly 5-10 minutes, although might take a little longer as you land at 7 PM. I landed at 11.40 and there was no one in front of me. I was probably the only immigrant at the airport at that time and 3 officers came to welcome me.

2. can I still get my SIN? No, Services Canada office at the airport closes at 6 PM. And the offices in the city are closed on Sat and Sun. So the earlier you can get SIN would be on Monday. That again takes 10-15 minutes. But you actually don't necessarily need a SIN before you decide to completely move to Canada.

3. is there anything I need to be aware of? Be ready to answer questions about goods to follow with you. I bungled that up badly, but the officer was nice enough to give me a form and told me to submit in a week's time else next time I enter, goods would be charged customs fee.


Hope this answers your query.

 

[wonbinofchina]

Hi Wonbin,

1. can I finish my landing process, even though it's weekend? Yes, it takes hardly 5-10 minutes, although might take a little longer as you land at 7 PM. I landed at 11.40 and there was no one in front of me. I was probably the only immigrant at the airport at that time and 3 officers came to welcome me.

2. can I still get my SIN? No, Services Canada office at the airport closes at 6 PM. And the offices in the city are closed on Sat and Sun. So the earlier you can get SIN would be on Monday. That again takes 10-15 minutes. But you actually don't necessarily need a SIN before you decide to completely move to Canada.

3. is there anything I need to be aware of? Be ready to answer questions about goods to follow with you. I bungled that up badly, but the officer was nice enough to give me a form and told me to submit in a week's time else next time I enter, goods would be charged customs fee.


Hope this answers your query.

Hi Prasenijit,

Thank you so much for your reply. It's very helpful.

For the goods following with me, I don't have anything with me this time, given I am not moving to Canada at this point yet.
I will probably declare when I permanently move, which is probably in about a year.
Can I say that to the officer?

Thanks

 

[prasenjit1986]

Hi Wonbin,

That's a tricky question as people have had different experiences at the Canadian immigrations. I think a safe bet would be to make a long laundry list of all items that you think you'll bring along with you after a year. You can always bring less items than declared, but bringing more than declared could be an issue.

You should find the relevant form for 'Goods to Follow' on IRCC website.