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Soft Landing Experience - USA to Canada using Peace Bridge ( Used AVR while coming back to USA )

aki_arora

Full Member
Oct 3, 2018
22
19
I have got PPR on December,2018 and received passport stamped on Jan 17th 2019.We (I and My Wife) decided to do landing as soon as possible because our COPR was expiring by end of April. We flew to Cleveland on Feb 27th night and stayed at hotel overnight at Erie. We started at 9 AM in the morning to peace bridge on a rental car and was very excited. We have reached to the bridge around 10:30 AM and officer at gate asked me the purpose of visit. I mentioned that i am here for landing purpose and then he asked for how long you will be staying in Canada - i said we will be here till Mar 3rd. He took our passports and verified the stamp. He handed over the passports with yellow slip and asked to park any spot and then visit the office.

I parked and went inside the office and noticed that i am the 1st person and three officers were waiting for us.

One of the officer waved us and asked choose any of us. We chose the one who waved us. All Officers were nice . They greeted us and asked to hand over the passport, COPR and POF. They did something on the system and asked question about have you convicted any crime ? Are we carrying any firearms , alcohol ? We answered no. Then officer asked when is our contract going to end in USA and we said there is nothing like that we will move to canada as soon as our process is done. They were impressed with the answer and asked us to sign the COPR and greeted us as - so you guys are now permanent residents of canada . Welcome to Canada and make us proud.

Then they asked about are we carrying any stuff which we need to leave in canada we said no as this was our soft landing. We mentioned that we have goods to follow then we need to get it stamped. Officer asked us to go to the next counter where we handed our goods to follow list they looked at our sheet and stamped. They went inside and made another copy for their report and handed over the original copy. Then they said to go to the cashier and hand over this document. Cashier attached another paper which says tax is zero and handed over to us. That’s it our soft landing was done very smoothly and we were in and out within 20 mins.

We did go to SIN office (Service Canada) next day and get our SIN done as well at Etobicoke office.


Coming back to USA


On Mar 3rd - we have started at 9:30 am from Etobicoke and drove to peace bridge to enter back to USA. I am on H1b and my visa was expired but i have i797 with end date in 2020. My wife’s passport was stamped and she is also on h1b. We reached at peace bridge around 11:15 am and officer asked to hand over the passports. He asked how many persons i said 2 and handed over the passports ( wife’s passport and my passport with i797 inside that) he looked at my wife’s passport and scanned . The. He looked my passport then opened the i797 and look at the expiration date and scanned my passport. He asked three questions -

  1. Are you citizens of ? I said we are citizens of india , permanent residents of canada and working in states.
  2. For how long you stayed in canada? I said 4 days
  3. Are you carrying any alcohol or food product ? Answer was No

That’s it he handed over the passport to us and said you are good to go. We didn’t even come out of the car and all process completed in 10 mins.


Please reach out to me in case you have any questions.
 
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yiso91

Hero Member
Aug 19, 2017
954
481
NOC Code......
1111
AOR Received.
27-01-2019
Passport Req..
29-11-2019
I have got PPR on December,2018 and received passport stamped on Jan 17th 2019.We (I and My Wife) decided to do landing as soon as possible because our COPR was expiring by end of April. We flew to Cleveland on Feb 27th night and stayed at hotel overnight at Erie. We started at 9 AM in the morning to peace bridge on a rental car and was very excited. We have reached to the bridge around 10:30 AM and officer at gate asked me the purpose of visit. I mentioned that i am here for landing purpose and then he asked for how long you will be staying in Canada - i said we will be here till Mar 3rd. He took our passports and verified the stamp. He handed over the passports with yellow slip and asked to park any spot and then visit the office.

I parked and went inside the office and noticed that i am the 1st person and three officers were waiting for us.

One of the officer waved us and asked choose any of us. We chose the one who waved us. All Officers were nice . They greeted us and asked to hand over the passport, COPR and POF. They did something on the system and asked question about have you convicted any crime ? Are we carrying any firearms , alcohol ? We answered no. Then officer asked when is our contract going to end in USA and we said there is nothing like that we will move to canada as soon as our process is done. They were impressed with the answer and asked us to sign the COPR and greeted us as - so you guys are now permanent residents of canada . Welcome to Canada and make us proud.

Then they asked about are we carrying any stuff which we need to leave in canada we said no as this was our soft landing. We mentioned that we have goods to follow then we need to get it stamped. Officer asked us to go to the next counter where we handed our goods to follow list they looked at our sheet and stamped. They went inside and made another copy for their report and handed over the original copy. Then they said to go to the cashier and hand over this document. Cashier attached another paper which says tax is zero and handed over to us. That’s it our soft landing was done very smoothly and we were in and out within 20 mins.

We did go to SIN office (Service Canada) next day and get our SIN done as well at Etobicoke office.


Coming back to USA


On Mar 3rd - we have started at 9:30 am from Etobicoke and drove to peace bridge to enter back to USA. I am on H1b and my visa was expired but i have i797 with end date in 2020. My wife’s passport was stamped and she is also on h1b. We reached at peace bridge around 11:15 am and officer asked to hand over the passports. He asked how many persons i said 2 and handed over the passports ( wife’s passport and my passport with i797 inside that) he looked at my wife’s passport and scanned . The. He looked my passport then opened the i797 and look at the expiration date and scanned my passport. He asked three questions -

  1. Are you citizens of ? I said we are citizens of india , permanent residents of canada and working in states.
  2. For how long you stayed in canada? I said 4 days
  3. Are you carrying any alcohol or food product ? Answer was No

That’s it he handed over the passport to us and said you are good to go. We didn’t even come out of the car and all process completed in 10 mins.


Please reach out to me in case you have any questions.
What have you done for PR card ? Did you provide address ? How are you planning to come back for final landing?
 

ajj123

Star Member
Jan 4, 2018
81
20
I have got PPR on December,2018 and received passport stamped on Jan 17th 2019.We (I and My Wife) decided to do landing as soon as possible because our COPR was expiring by end of April. We flew to Cleveland on Feb 27th night and stayed at hotel overnight at Erie. We started at 9 AM in the morning to peace bridge on a rental car and was very excited. We have reached to the bridge around 10:30 AM and officer at gate asked me the purpose of visit. I mentioned that i am here for landing purpose and then he asked for how long you will be staying in Canada - i said we will be here till Mar 3rd. He took our passports and verified the stamp. He handed over the passports with yellow slip and asked to park any spot and then visit the office.

I parked and went inside the office and noticed that i am the 1st person and three officers were waiting for us.

One of the officer waved us and asked choose any of us. We chose the one who waved us. All Officers were nice . They greeted us and asked to hand over the passport, COPR and POF. They did something on the system and asked question about have you convicted any crime ? Are we carrying any firearms , alcohol ? We answered no. Then officer asked when is our contract going to end in USA and we said there is nothing like that we will move to canada as soon as our process is done. They were impressed with the answer and asked us to sign the COPR and greeted us as - so you guys are now permanent residents of canada . Welcome to Canada and make us proud.

Then they asked about are we carrying any stuff which we need to leave in canada we said no as this was our soft landing. We mentioned that we have goods to follow then we need to get it stamped. Officer asked us to go to the next counter where we handed our goods to follow list they looked at our sheet and stamped. They went inside and made another copy for their report and handed over the original copy. Then they said to go to the cashier and hand over this document. Cashier attached another paper which says tax is zero and handed over to us. That’s it our soft landing was done very smoothly and we were in and out within 20 mins.

We did go to SIN office (Service Canada) next day and get our SIN done as well at Etobicoke office.


Coming back to USA


On Mar 3rd - we have started at 9:30 am from Etobicoke and drove to peace bridge to enter back to USA. I am on H1b and my visa was expired but i have i797 with end date in 2020. My wife’s passport was stamped and she is also on h1b. We reached at peace bridge around 11:15 am and officer asked to hand over the passports. He asked how many persons i said 2 and handed over the passports ( wife’s passport and my passport with i797 inside that) he looked at my wife’s passport and scanned . The. He looked my passport then opened the i797 and look at the expiration date and scanned my passport. He asked three questions -

  1. Are you citizens of ? I said we are citizens of india , permanent residents of canada and working in states.
  2. For how long you stayed in canada? I said 4 days
  3. Are you carrying any alcohol or food product ? Answer was No

That’s it he handed over the passport to us and said you are good to go. We didn’t even come out of the car and all process completed in 10 mins.


Please reach out to me in case you have any questions.
Hi @aki_arora Thanks for sharing your experience.
I have few quick questions if you can help answer, it'll be very helpful.
- At peace bridge border, are there specific hours for landing if you can driving from USA for the 1st time. I know flagpoling has certain hours, but the info on soft landing is not clear.
We got our PPR and been given only 2 weeks before it expires. So we need to plan our landing in coming 10 days.
Really appreciate if you can give any inputs that may help us.
Thanks and congrats on your PR!
 

aki_arora

Full Member
Oct 3, 2018
22
19
Hi @aki_arora Thanks for sharing your experience.
I have few quick questions if you can help answer, it'll be very helpful.
- At peace bridge border, are there specific hours for landing if you can driving from USA for the 1st time. I know flagpoling has certain hours, but the info on soft landing is not clear.
We got our PPR and been given only 2 weeks before it expires. So we need to plan our landing in coming 10 days.
Really appreciate if you can give any inputs that may help us.
Thanks and congrats on your PR!
Soft landing can be done 24/7 . I checked with officer there at peace bridge.
 
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Mirapakay

Hero Member
Feb 18, 2019
307
77
Hi,
First of all, congrats! I’m curious all these days if I need to have H-1B visa stamped in my passport to come back to US after soft landing. Based on your post, it sounds like not needed as long as I have valid I-797. Is that true?
Thanks!
 

aki_arora

Full Member
Oct 3, 2018
22
19

Mirapakay

Hero Member
Feb 18, 2019
307
77
Thank you for the link. I see a point here
The person does not have a pending or rejected application for a new visa. Since it is not possible to renew a non-immigrant visa in the U.S., a person on a non-immigrant visa may travel to a nearby country to apply for a new visa.

I have currently applied for H-1B amendment but the current petition I have is valid until end of this year. Would I be still qualified to come back from Canada without any issues?
 

anxious-girl

Star Member
Dec 1, 2018
79
42
Category........
FSW
NOC Code......
2175
AOR Received.
25-11-2018
Med's Done....
03-01-2018
Thank you for sharing your experience!

We are on L1/L2 visa. Spouse's company has applied for Change of status to H1/H4 visa.

Once the transfer process is completed on file, we plan to travel to Canada for our PR landing and avail AVR rule to travel back to US. Do you know if this will work with COS on file or do we have to go for stamping?

Thank you for your help!
 

lampbreaker

Champion Member
Apr 7, 2015
1,734
378
Thank you for the link. I see a point here
The person does not have a pending or rejected application for a new visa. Since it is not possible to renew a non-immigrant visa in the U.S., a person on a non-immigrant visa may travel to a nearby country to apply for a new visa.

I have currently applied for H-1B amendment but the current petition I have is valid until end of this year. Would I be still qualified to come back from Canada without any issues?
Petitions filed with USCIS (amendments, extensions, transfers etc.) are not Visa applications. Applications for a Visa are made at a Consulate outside of US.
 

lampbreaker

Champion Member
Apr 7, 2015
1,734
378
Thank you for sharing your experience!

We are on L1/L2 visa. Spouse's company has applied for Change of status to H1/H4 visa.

Once the transfer process is completed on file, we plan to travel to Canada for our PR landing and avail AVR rule to travel back to US. Do you know if this will work with COS on file or do we have to go for stamping?

Thank you for your help!
Yes, once you receive approval notices with H1 and H4 I-94's, you can return in H1/H4 status using AVR.
 

Sun2shine

Star Member
Apr 25, 2018
52
9
Super! Thanks for clarifying.
@aki_arora
Thanks guys for this post. Wish I had come across it earlier. I am planning to do soft landing in canada next week and planning to comeback in a week time, probably will drive back using rental car (canada to us)
I will be landing at Toronto airport and have prepared an excel document with list of items I am carrying with me, and another list of items that I can bring later.
Questions-
1) is it ok to bring printed excel list or I need to fill in specific form?
2) Renting car from Canada to US. Do you have recommendation on which rental company to select?
3) is it ok if I carry cashier's check in US dollars, and will I be able to deposit in canadian bank account (when I create one). My bank only does cashier's check in US dollars.
 

ajj123

Star Member
Jan 4, 2018
81
20
We just did our landing from USA to Canada. See my 2 cents to your questions. Hope it helps!

@aki_arora
Thanks guys for this post. Wish I had come across it earlier. I am planning to do soft landing in canada next week and planning to comeback in a week time, probably will drive back using rental car (canada to us)
I will be landing at Toronto airport and have prepared an excel document with list of items I am carrying with me, and another list of items that I can bring later.
Questions-
1) is it ok to bring printed excel list or I need to fill in specific form? - you need to fill 2 forms. BSF186 for goods you are carrying with you, and BSF186A for goods to follow. Excel sheet with all details such as serial number, year, make, model. Pictures of jewelry with valuation. If you have more questions call the CBSA office. They are very cordial and answer all questions clearly.
2) Renting car from Canada to US. Do you have recommendation on which rental company to select?- no idea on this. we rented from USA to Canada.
3) is it ok if I carry cashier's check in US dollars, and will I be able to deposit in canadian bank account (when I create one). My bank only does cashier's check in US dollars.
- call the bank you want to deposit to. And confirm this.