Here is our experience at the Peace Arch.
We had our COPRs approved in Oct 2020 and were set to expire in June 2021. So my wife and I did our landing on March 26. It was a "relatively" smooth experience. Prior to landing, we got ourselves tested for COVID, booked a mostly refundable Airbnb, rented a Car and planned for a full 14 day quarantine in case the border officer asked us to quarantine.
At about noon, we met with the border patrol on the US side who stopped us to check our bags. Seemed pretty routine as we saw the same happen to a couple of cars ahead of us. He asked us whether we were carrying any alcohol, marijuana or agricultural products (we said no - also answer to the point and nothing more. Elaborate responses only make them ask you more questions). After a couple of minutes, we were cleared to proceed into Canada side (google maps says - Welcome to Canada
)
The CBSA officer at the vehicle booth asked
Then he gave us our passports back with a yellow slip and asked us to head over to a slot in the parking lot and hand over the passports with the yellow slip to the immigration officer.
This immigration officer was a real gem. He was considerate and polite one. He said follow him and we will process your application. We handed our passports, COPR and asked us to wait in the lounge until called. Took about 30 mins and he called us over, told us the words we were waiting to hear - Congratulations, you are now Canadian Residents. He asked us to sign the COPRs, and for the address to where the cards should to be sent to. Before we left, he gave us each a Canadian flag to keep on our desks (kinda cool and ngl, I felt like a school kid). He asked us whether we were going into Canada or returning to US. We said back to US and he pointed us to where we need to head back.
While feeling accomplished a feat, we knew we had another one to get through - US CBP. The CBP officer at the booth asked for our passports (I'm H1B and my wife's L1B).He asked for how our jobs are specialized and asked the usual - where we lived, how long have we been working, what the company does. Asked us why we were in Canada and said we were there for residency purpose and he went on about why one would want to go to Canada, how did we get residency without ever lived in Canada (in the most condescending manner), how long we're planning to stay in US and how Canada has lower jobs but you both still want to live there. Personally I wanted to talk back about how US has been terrible in the immigration area and how he can do better in interacting with people and not be an arrogant officer. But I didn't say a word and just kept quiet to let him finish his verbal rant/stab. After that he said we are cleared and good to go, and asked us to hand over the I-94s next time when moving to Canada permanently, and we said fine.
Upon crossing the border, we cancelled our Airbnb and felt great having done the soft landing successfully. 2 hours later, we reached back to our apartment in Seattle.
Note:
Be clear and concise when talking with the officers. Don't elaborate, as they will only ask more questions.
We had our COPRs approved in Oct 2020 and were set to expire in June 2021. So my wife and I did our landing on March 26. It was a "relatively" smooth experience. Prior to landing, we got ourselves tested for COVID, booked a mostly refundable Airbnb, rented a Car and planned for a full 14 day quarantine in case the border officer asked us to quarantine.
At about noon, we met with the border patrol on the US side who stopped us to check our bags. Seemed pretty routine as we saw the same happen to a couple of cars ahead of us. He asked us whether we were carrying any alcohol, marijuana or agricultural products (we said no - also answer to the point and nothing more. Elaborate responses only make them ask you more questions). After a couple of minutes, we were cleared to proceed into Canada side (google maps says - Welcome to Canada
)The CBSA officer at the vehicle booth asked
- to give our passports.
- what was our purpose to come to Canada (ans: we are approved COPR applicants and want to establish Canadian residency),
- whether we had covid reports (ans: yes, we do. We had them ready and printed, but the officer didn't verify)
- whether were we moving to Canada permanently today (ans: we are not moving to CA today. We want to finish our landing process and return to US),
- when are we planning to move (ans: in a few months before the end of this year)
- why are we not planning to move today (ans: we want to finish our work and close things off at the US side before we move in to CA)
Then he gave us our passports back with a yellow slip and asked us to head over to a slot in the parking lot and hand over the passports with the yellow slip to the immigration officer.
This immigration officer was a real gem. He was considerate and polite one. He said follow him and we will process your application. We handed our passports, COPR and asked us to wait in the lounge until called. Took about 30 mins and he called us over, told us the words we were waiting to hear - Congratulations, you are now Canadian Residents. He asked us to sign the COPRs, and for the address to where the cards should to be sent to. Before we left, he gave us each a Canadian flag to keep on our desks (kinda cool and ngl, I felt like a school kid). He asked us whether we were going into Canada or returning to US. We said back to US and he pointed us to where we need to head back.
While feeling accomplished a feat, we knew we had another one to get through - US CBP. The CBP officer at the booth asked for our passports (I'm H1B and my wife's L1B).He asked for how our jobs are specialized and asked the usual - where we lived, how long have we been working, what the company does. Asked us why we were in Canada and said we were there for residency purpose and he went on about why one would want to go to Canada, how did we get residency without ever lived in Canada (in the most condescending manner), how long we're planning to stay in US and how Canada has lower jobs but you both still want to live there. Personally I wanted to talk back about how US has been terrible in the immigration area and how he can do better in interacting with people and not be an arrogant officer. But I didn't say a word and just kept quiet to let him finish his verbal rant/stab. After that he said we are cleared and good to go, and asked us to hand over the I-94s next time when moving to Canada permanently, and we said fine.
Upon crossing the border, we cancelled our Airbnb and felt great having done the soft landing successfully. 2 hours later, we reached back to our apartment in Seattle.
Note:
Be clear and concise when talking with the officers. Don't elaborate, as they will only ask more questions.