vet25 said:
I need some advice from those of you who received their COPR whilst they were in Canada and decided to go "spend a day" in the US to then come back and land. My boyfriend called CIC this morning to book an appointment to make everything official, but they have nothing for a month!! So we will take a little day trip south of the border!! My main concern is when you're going through the US border and they ask you why you are crossing, do we just plainly say: "so that we can come back into Canada and land as a resident"?? or is it best to say we're going to spend the day, shopping...etc? we just want this process to go as smoothly as possible!
Any other advice or tips about this would also be very much appreciated!!
Cheers :
You tell them that you are crossing to land - if that is all you are doing. They then basically let you enter the US, issue you a piece of paper saying you have been refused entry into the US (which is normal and doesn't go on a record of any sort - I asked!) so that they can send you back to Canada for entry - it's when you go back into Canada that your paperwork is processed.
So when we went we didn't spend any time in the US, we just entered the US in order to go back into Canada. And this is completely fine - they are used to it and didn't have any problems. In fact, there were a couple of other folk doing the same thing as us.
If, however, you want to go into the US to shop and then come back, just tell them that too - whatever you do, just tell them the truth and they will advise. I think - and others can correct me if I am wrong - if you want to go to the US first to shop and you have a UK passport, you need a temporary visitors visa to enter the US, which they issue you at the border. I think you pay $6 or something and they attach it to your passport. That would be the normal case whether you were landing or not. And then you just land once you re-enter Canada after your shopping trip. You would need to declare anything you bought for duty purposes (although I think recently they increased the limit to $200, but you should check this if you are going to buy anything - you don't want any issues bring stuff back into Canada). The visa (its that green card thing that you fill out/used to fill out on the plane normally, I think) lets you stay in the US for 90 days (even if you just stay the day). That's why you don't need one if you just go straight back into Canada because they "refuse" you entry into the US if you don't apply for the card.
So it's up to you what you do - neither of them are a problem. Just be upfront when you speak to the customs guy - they will be able to advise you. It was easy just to drive across to the US and be sent back to Canada - I don't know if I could have been bothered with the whole, get a visa, go shopping, then come back thing - I just wanted to get my PR processed as soon as possible! It probably took 2 hours at the border maximum and that was a Sunday afternoon on a normal weekend (I crossed at the Rainbow bridge that links Ontario to Buffalo, US - not sure if you are in Toronto too?)
Hope that helps a bit - feel free to ask me anything else!