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Hello Everyone,

Hope you had a good weekend. I finished Landing on Saturday at the Rainbow Bridge Niagara Falls. Overall it was a decent experience, took 1 hour to finish it. We walked the bridge to the US side, waited in line to be called by the officer..told him we were here for flag poling, he said ok, n swiped our US visas and asked us to exit back to the Canadian side, totally that took 5 mins. Then we leisurely walked back to Canada, snapping away at the falls, when we got to Canadian side, the officer gave us a yellow slip and asked us if we have anything to declare, we said yes, and then she directed us to the main building. We waited for 10 mins and then were called by another officer who took our passports and the COPR and asked us to wait, in say another 5 mins she called us, asked us for our phone numbers and asked us to sign the COPRs. Then she congratulated us and told us that we will get our PR cards in 1-2 months.

Thats it we were done, we were about to leave and then it struck us that they did not ask us for any declaration of any kind, so we went back and we told them that we need to declare the value of some goods to brought in, they asked us to wait and then the ordeal began..

First an officer said he did not know anything about it, then he called another one, that one said you dont have to declare anything, you can bring in whatever you want even jewellery. We asked are you sure because few of our friends have declared stuff at the time of landing, he said yeah he's sure. So we left again feeling reassured.

Met a few friends and when we told them that they did not allow us to declare anything, they said you should insist because later on they will cause problems. Again we went back in there and asked another officer, this one said if its jewellery, clothes, electronics you have to declare it at the time of landing or you will have to pay duty on it. Great so he asked us what is it you have to declare, we said we might bring in my Wifes jewellery from India, so he said, you will have to get the exact description etc.
We told him, we could give him an approximate value and description, so he okayed that and told us to fill in all the details in a form and he would put an not against the file saying that at a later date we would give them a detailed description of the valuables.

So again we sit there and rack our brains for all the details we could think of, it takes 20 mins to this, and in the meantime the officer disappears somewhere..so we wait for him.. he does not turn up and another grouchy lady officer decides to attend to us..she looks at the form and says 'I cannot accept this, how do I know you have not bought all the stuff today after landing?, is it appraised from a jeweller here? You will have to pay duty on the valuables blah blah' We try to explain our situation to her to no avail, she refuses to accept the customs declaration form and even acknowledge that someone else okayed the form earlier.

Its really amazing that there are so many officers in the same building who give you such varied opinions on the same thing. So in the end we had a smooth landing but not so smooth experience with the customs part.

I urge you all to be prepared when you go to the border to land, take enough time to collect proof of your purchases and photographs if possible of your goods especially jewellery. We were not prepared for this, since others (our friends) who landed a couple of months before us told us that you just have to give an approximate value of the goods you will be bringing in.

I have written to CIC about this and waiting to hear back from them.

Thanks again for all the help on this forum and if you have any questions let me know.

Thanks
Kia99
 
Congrats Kia !!!
 
kia99 said:
Hello Everyone,

Hope you had a good weekend. I finished Landing on Saturday at the Rainbow Bridge Niagara Falls. Overall it was a decent experience, took 1 hour to finish it. We walked the bridge to the US side, waited in line to be called by the officer..told him we were here for flag poling, he said ok, n swiped our US visas and asked us to exit back to the Canadian side, totally that took 5 mins. Then we leisurely walked back to Canada, snapping away at the falls, when we got to Canadian side, the officer gave us a yellow slip and asked us if we have anything to declare, we said yes, and then she directed us to the main building. We waited for 10 mins and then were called by another officer who took our passports and the COPR and asked us to wait, in say another 5 mins she called us, asked us for our phone numbers and asked us to sign the COPRs. Then she congratulated us and told us that we will get our PR cards in 1-2 months.

Thats it we were done, we were about to leave and then it struck us that they did not ask us for any declaration of any kind, so we went back and we told them that we need to declare the value of some goods to brought in, they asked us to wait and then the ordeal began..

First an officer said he did not know anything about it, then he called another one, that one said you dont have to declare anything, you can bring in whatever you want even jewellery. We asked are you sure because few of our friends have declared stuff at the time of landing, he said yeah he's sure. So we left again feeling reassured.

Met a few friends and when we told them that they did not allow us to declare anything, they said you should insist because later on they will cause problems. Again we went back in there and asked another officer, this one said if its jewellery, clothes, electronics you have to declare it at the time of landing or you will have to pay duty on it. Great so he asked us what is it you have to declare, we said we might bring in my Wifes jewellery from India, so he said, you will have to get the exact description etc.
We told him, we could give him an approximate value and description, so he okayed that and told us to fill in all the details in a form and he would put an not against the file saying that at a later date we would give them a detailed description of the valuables.

So again we sit there and rack our brains for all the details we could think of, it takes 20 mins to this, and in the meantime the officer disappears somewhere..so we wait for him.. he does not turn up and another grouchy lady officer decides to attend to us..she looks at the form and says 'I cannot accept this, how do I know you have not bought all the stuff today after landing?, is it appraised from a jeweller here? You will have to pay duty on the valuables blah blah' We try to explain our situation to her to no avail, she refuses to accept the customs declaration form and even acknowledge that someone else okayed the form earlier.

Its really amazing that there are so many officers in the same building who give you such varied opinions on the same thing. So in the end we had a smooth landing but not so smooth experience with the customs part.

I urge you all to be prepared when you go to the border to land, take enough time to collect proof of your purchases and photographs if possible of your goods especially jewellery. We were not prepared for this, since others (our friends) who landed a couple of months before us told us that you just have to give an approximate value of the goods you will be bringing in.

I have written to CIC about this and waiting to hear back from them.

Thanks again for all the help on this forum and if you have any questions let me know.

Thanks
Kia99

Hey Kia,

Good to see that you got finished your landing. Some times, depends on the our time...anyway you are done. Happy for you buddy. Hearty Congratulations on becoming Canadian PR. Wish you all good luck for your life in Canada.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
 
sarayu said:
Hey Kia,

Good to see that you got finished your landing. Some times, depends on the our time...anyway you are done. Happy for you buddy. Hearty Congratulations on becoming Canadian PR. Wish you all good luck for your life in Canada.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
Hi kia......first of all congratulations on your landing. secondly i dont know from where has this story of declaring goods has started. I landed in saskatchewan without anything to declare and it all went smooth and why should i ( i am not crossing the border with shopping done from another country, m already in canada and secondly how can this be true that whatever one is declaring is all they have, i min do they go and check your house or your bank accounts ? )......i have many of friend landed without all this sceurphosism attitude and they havent declared anything and some of them have got even passports now without any problems. Its all a hoax. Just dont worry
 
Another good news is that i successfully sent my wife's passport through FedEx delivered within 4 days without any problems in India. It is a big confusion whether to send Indian passport through courier or not and mostly people said that no courier company will accept this. But i approached FedEx and told them that i need to send my passport and they said its Ok if you have proper documentation proof that why are you sending the passport than there is no problem. Only Fedex and Dhl have the right to deliver them. So anybudy in the same situation if you dont have anybudy to carry your passport then dont worry and approach FedEx. They said that they havent heard ever that a courier package with passport with proper legal proof ever seized by customs.
 
Hello All,

Finally after waiting for more than 3 months, received email with good news from CPP-Ottawa on Friday night (12 July, 2012)


Date: July 12, 2013
UCI: ********
Application: **********

Email:
zeeshan.dawoodani@gmail.com

Dear ZEESHAN ABBAS DAWOODANI,

The processing of your application for permanent residence in Canada is almost complete.

Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF)
Every principal applicant and his/her accompanying spouse/common law partner are required to pay a Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) in the amount of 490 Canadian dollars.
Our records indicate that you have already paid these fees. They are refundable if for any reason you do not obtain permanent residence in Canada.

Passport(s)
We require a VALID passport for you and for each accompanying family member. Passports for you and all accompanying family members must be submitted together. There must be at least one blank visa page in each passport. If there are children included in your passport there must be blank visa pages for them as well.

Status changed to "Decision Made" on Monday (15 July, 2012)

Thanks to Almighty Allah and my family for their prayers and support. Thanks to you all for keeping the thread alive and posting the updated information
 
zeabbas said:
Hello All,

Finally after waiting for more than 3 months, received email with good news from CPP-Ottawa on Friday night (12 July, 2012)


Date: July 12, 2013
UCI: ********
Application: **********

Email:
zeeshan.dawoodani @ gmail.com

Dear ZEESHAN ABBAS DAWOODANI,

The processing of your application for permanent residence in Canada is almost complete.

Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF)
Every principal applicant and his/her accompanying spouse/common law partner are required to pay a Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) in the amount of 490 Canadian dollars.
Our records indicate that you have already paid these fees. They are refundable if for any reason you do not obtain permanent residence in Canada.

Passport(s)
We require a VALID passport for you and for each accompanying family member. Passports for you and all accompanying family members must be submitted together. There must be at least one blank visa page in each passport. If there are children included in your passport there must be blank visa pages for them as well.

Status changed to "Decision Made" on Monday (15 July, 2012)

Thanks to Almighty Allah and my family for their prayers and support. Thanks to you all for keeping the thread alive and posting the updated information

Hi zeabbas,

That's absolutely amazing news my friend. I am very happy for you to see a wonderful update from you after a long time. Hearty Congratulations.

Updated track sheet.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
 
kavy.sandhu said:
Hi kia......first of all congratulations on your landing. secondly i dont know from where has this story of declaring goods has started. I landed in saskatchewan without anything to declare and it all went smooth and why should i ( i am not crossing the border with shopping done from another country, m already in canada and secondly how can this be true that whatever one is declaring is all they have, i min do they go and check your house or your bank accounts ? )......i have many of friend landed without all this sceurphosism attitude and they havent declared anything and some of them have got even passports now without any problems. Its all a hoax. Just dont worry

Exactly Kavy...I felt the same...coz Kia is an in Canada applicant and I thought like why in Canada applicants need to do all these stuff. As I did not know 100% process, did not mention anything in my earlier post.

Anyway Kia, as Kavy said, just be happy and ENJOY your new life.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
 
Garry2008 said:
Hey Sarayu i am also in CPP ottawa Applicant can you include in the list.Thanks .

Hi Garry2008,

Thanks for the info. I have updated track sheet. There is some more outstanding info from you. If you remember those dates, please update me so that I will update the track sheet.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
 
kavy.sandhu said:
Another good news is that i successfully sent my wife's passport through FedEx delivered within 4 days without any problems in India. It is a big confusion whether to send Indian passport through courier or not and mostly people said that no courier company will accept this. But i approached FedEx and told them that i need to send my passport and they said its Ok if you have proper documentation proof that why are you sending the passport than there is no problem. Only Fedex and Dhl have the right to deliver them. So anybudy in the same situation if you dont have anybudy to carry your passport then dont worry and approach FedEx. They said that they havent heard ever that a courier package with passport with proper legal proof ever seized by customs.

Hi Kavy,

That's good to see that you sent your wife's passport to India without any hassles. This is the first time that I have heard sending Indian passport to somebody by courier. If I were you, I don't think that I wouldn't have done this...hahaha. I would have waited and see if somebody is flying to India. Anyway, it done smoothly...I am happy.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
 
Garry2008 said:
Hey Sarayu your case seems same as mine Because mine medical was done in march and still Ecase shows Medical recieved even i have sent RCMP Finger print 20 days ago.

Hi Garry,

I have done my medicals on Jan 25th but not in March. Anyway, let's see when can we hear back from CPP-O next time.

Sarayu.
 
Hi Sarayu,

Thanks buddy. I have sent my Passport to CPP-Ottawa.

Will you be able to tell me that how long it takes them to send passport back with visa stamped.

Thanks,
Zeeshan

sarayu said:
Hi zeabbas,

That's absolutely amazing news my friend. I am very happy for you to see a wonderful update from you after a long time. Hearty Congratulations.

Updated track sheet.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
 
zeabbas said:
Hi Sarayu,

Thanks buddy. I have sent my Passport to CPP-Ottawa.

Will you be able to tell me that how long it takes them to send passport back with visa stamped.

Thanks,
Zeeshan

Hi Zeeshan,

What I have noticed here is, it takes about 15-20 days for the in Canada applicants to get their passports back from CPP-ottawa. So, you may expect your passport about early August. Good luck.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
 
sarayu said:
Hi Kavy,

That's good to see that you sent your wife's passport to India without any hassles. This is the first time that I have heard sending Indian passport to somebody by courier. If I were you, I don't think that I wouldn't have done this...hahaha. I would have waited and see if somebody is flying to India. Anyway, it done smoothly...I am happy.

Thanks,
Sarayu.
Hahahahaha. ......to be honest even I was scared bt den I saw my friend sending 4 passports of his whole family through FedEx and they got delivered successfully. He boosted my confidence and I went ahead. Now I am coming to know about many more who have done the same bt dis is also true that I have never seen or heard in any forums or met people whoz passport was seized by customs. Rest ultimately it depends upon everyone's choice bt I wd say allz well that ends well. :D
 
Congrats Zeabbas ....