So, this was my landing experience. The actual process took about 10 mins, but my goodness, getting to that point was interesting (mainly because we were being a bit dumb). Took around 3.5 hours to get down to the border from Whistler (we missed our turnoff in Richmond and ended up on the offramp for the airport, then the satnav sucked at rerouting us so that was a pain. Plus the Lions Gate bridge was backed up).
Got to the border and were basically looking for somewhere to park up so I could walk across the border to get the paperwork. Ended up back in the re-enter Canada line without having crossed the border, because we had no idea what we were doing really. It's not very well signposted. We wanted to park up as my friend who drove me down didn't bring her passport from some reason and we also had three dogs with us in the car. So yea, lined up for around 30 mins or so, just listening to the Canucks game, got to the front and were basically told we had to drive down to the border (obviously). Tried to explain the passport situation but they weren't interested. So drove to the US immigration part and the guy was a bit grumpy at the lack of passport thing, but we explained what we were doing and he let us through and we parked up and went inside the building.
The guy who we dealt with in there was actually pretty cool. When I explained what I was doing (flagpoling to land as a PR), he said, why would you want to do that. Completely deadpan. He must have seen my face looking slightly terrified because he cracked the smallest smile and was like, it's so cold up there. And then cracked a joke about the food. We bantered back and forth for a bit, then he said to take a seat and he'd get us sorted. Five mins later he escorted us out as he had to unblock the road for us so we could return to Canada. Nice guy for sure.
Went and rejoined the Canada line up, which seemed to move way quicker this time. Once again had to explain the passport situation, which was getting a little frustrating for all concerned. But we managed with no issues. They didn't seem fussed about the dogs. Got the yellow bit of paper with a bunch of notes on and drove up to another officer and he told us where to park and to come back to see him (he still had all our docs). Then he told us which line to join when we went inside and so off we went.
Lined up for a few mins, maybe 5, not really sure, I was so nervous haha. Guy called us up, had to go through the passport thing AGAIN and she just produced her care card to show she was already a citizen. We just tried to play the "we're two dumb girls who didn't really know what to expect" card haha. Seemed to work for us through this whole ordeal. Aaaannnyway, he asked me to write my address and cell number on a post-it. Then asked some questions like how long had I been in Canada for, what I had been doing since my last IEC visa expired (it's been about eight months). So just explained that I was living from savings and snowboarding mainly. There were maybe a couple of other related questions but I can't remember what they were. Then I signed the COPRs and he gave me that stuff to read and I went and took a seat for aout 5 mins, if that. Got called back up, everything ready to go, my copy of the COPR stapled into my passport (which was stamped as well). He explained some stuff to me, like my restrictions on traveling whilst I was waiting for the PR card, but I cannot for the life of me remember what he said. I was in so much shock that this was finally coming to an end, that his words just went right over me. So if anyone could fill me in on what he might have said,that would be lovely as I would like to go on a much needed holiday soon
But yea, that was pretty much it. Oh, I screwed up the B4 stuff, didn't have the form or anything and you obviously have to do it all at once. He asked if I would be bringing any cars or anything like that and I said no, and he seemed to think that I would be ok. I don't have any crazy expensive jewellery or anything like that. More just things like clothes and keepsakes and personal items. He then congratulated me and I thanked him and wished him a good evening. My girl friend and I walked to the car as calmly as possible, got inside, closed the doors and screamed. The dogs were like, wtf. And that was that
So the moral of the story is make sure you have all your *censored word* together before you get your COPR in the mail so if you do decide to just drop everything and go flagpole the same day, you're prepared. Unlike me haha. Ended up good in the end though. The drive back was way faster, but it was a long day being stuck in the car. Probably left Whistler at around 4.30pm, officially landed just before 9.30pm and got back to Whis just after midnight.
Sorry for the long post!
(Total process time from applying to landing was pretty much bang on 8 months)
