US outland applicants' thread :)

[mandy_28115]

Hi all!
I have been doing quite a bit of research in regards to importing my vehicle into Canada. I have a grip on all the costs, paper work, ect... BUT it is very hard to find out information on what I have to ACTUALLY pay if I am landing with PR. What do I get exempt from? Any? If anyone can direct me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I am going to call CBSA monday to see if they can give me more information. Once I have answers I'll post a new thread for others in the same position!
Thank you!

 

[Panamai]

Is that advisable? I thought you had to send in everything together. We have at least 6 weeks before my husband's new passport gets here anyway but if it's an option to get it in process before the FBI check comes in, that would be great to know!

Yes, you can certainly send your application in before receiving your police certificate from the FBI. I did this and have had no problems thus far. I received my FBI check about a week after SA and overnighted it to the Ottawa VO. Just make sure you include a letter in its place explaining why you didn't submit it initially. They have been very understanding with the backlog at the FBI.

 

[rugrat907]

Is that advisable? I thought you had to send in everything together. We have at least 6 weeks before my husband's new passport gets here anyway but if it's an option to get it in process before the FBI check comes in, that would be great to know!

Yes, you should send everything in together, but it's not an ironclad requirement. With the delays in the FBI checks, some people have gotten the process started and included a note that they were still waiting on the FBI check since sponsor approval doesn't hinge on the FBI check of the applicant. CIC then will ask for the FBI check when they are ready, or it can be sent once the sponsor is approved and there a file number for the application.

However I would not recommend going that route without the passport. There aren't out of the norm delays for getting a passport and it's a key document proving citizenship of the applicant for permanent residence. Sending in a package without that could lead to a long delay or even having the whole application sent back for being incomplete and then you'd need to start over.

 

[LN13]

Thank you!
I wasn't planning on sending it without the renewed passport as that's probably only a month processing time but it's good to know that if we get everything together before the FBI check comes back that it can be sent it.

 

[cempjwi]

Hi all!
I have been doing quite a bit of research in regards to importing my vehicle into Canada. I have a grip on all the costs, paper work, ect... BUT it is very hard to find out information on what I have to ACTUALLY pay if I am landing with PR. What do I get exempt from? Any? If anyone can direct me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I am going to call CBSA monday to see if they can give me more information. Once I have answers I'll post a new thread for others in the same position!
Thank you!

When I landed in July 2013 as a PR my Canadian spouse returned with me to Canada, and we came with 2 vehicles from the US (both purchased new 11 months before I landed). As a returning Canadian, a person is allowed up to $10k tax free, but as a landing PR, you are exempt virtually without limit (except for liquor and tobacco, of course), so we listed the vehicles (and our combined assets of about $85k) under my declaration of goods (both vehicles were under both our names). We paid nothing in taxes. However, later on we had to pay for RIV - registry of imported vehicles (riv.ca), vehicle inspection and registration/tags. The process of importation is fairly simple as long as your declaration forms are organized (exporting the vehicles from the US was more time consuming because we came from a state that does not issue titles for vehicles that are not paid off and since one of our vehicles was still under lien with the bank, although the bank approved it for exportation to Canada, the US officer refused to let it be exported without the title - took two hours to sort that out and convince the US agent with direct involvement of the state's dmv and the bank).

 

[NYC2CANADA]

Hello:

Have a question: there is a form where I (the sponsor one). I have a son, lives with his mother and have custody. My current wife is the Canadian PR. there is a part of the many forms that show that the number of people are 3.

now the financial part , my wife income is not much enough for 3, ( as the guidelines in the financial worksheet).

my question is, how that works, the financials are for 3 or for just two (my wife and myself).

also, cannot see the timelines or waiting for New York. any ideas how long is taking to get the whole process completed?

 

[Christypillar]

Hi all!
I have been doing quite a bit of research in regards to importing my vehicle into Canada. I have a grip on all the costs, paper work, ect... BUT it is very hard to find out information on what I have to ACTUALLY pay if I am landing with PR. What do I get exempt from? Any? If anyone can direct me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I am going to call CBSA monday to see if they can give me more information. Once I have answers I'll post a new thread for others in the same position!
Thank you!

We're trying to figure it all out as well so if you find anything out, I'd love to hear it!
We're going to start making some calls too.

 

[Panamai]

Hello:

Have a question: there is a form where I (the sponsor one). I have a son, lives with his mother and have custody. My current wife is the Canadian PR. there is a part of the many forms that show that the number of people are 3.

now the financial part , my wife income is not much enough for 3, ( as the guidelines in the financial worksheet).

my question is, how that works, the financials are for 3 or for just two (my wife and myself).

also, cannot see the timelines or waiting for New York. any ideas how long is taking to get the whole process completed?

I don't believe you have to meet any particular income criteria for spousal applications. Also, there is no longer a visa office in NY. US citizens go through Ottawa, where 80% of applications are processed in 15 months or less, though it seems like the average is 8 months or so at the moment.

 

[AmericanGirlinLove]

Landed today. Got my SIN and started a "New Start" bank account.

Let the job search begin!!

Thank you to everyone who offered me help during this process. Bless you and I wish all of you waiting, good luck!

 

[BeShoo]

my question is, how that works, the financials are for 3 or for just two (my wife and myself).

There is definitely no set minimum income level for sponsoring a spouse. So long as you're not on welfare and unable to work at all, there shouldn't be any concern about income levels to sponsor your wife. I believe that your son is already Canadian, from your description, so he has no impact on things.

 

[LT1013]

Hello:

Have a question: there is a form where I (the sponsor one). I have a son, lives with his mother and have custody. My current wife is the Canadian PR. there is a part of the many forms that show that the number of people are 3.

now the financial part , my wife income is not much enough for 3, ( as the guidelines in the financial worksheet).

my question is, how that works, the financials are for 3 or for just two (my wife and myself).

also, cannot see the timelines or waiting for New York. any ideas how long is taking to get the whole process completed?

I financially support my sponsor who's had no income for over a year and was approved just fine.

 

[Evadyrrehs]

Landed today. Got my SIN and started a "New Start" bank account.

Let the job search begin!!

Thank you to everyone who offered me help during this process. Bless you and I wish all of you waiting, good luck!

Congratulations and all the best to you and yours! 8)

 

[OhCanadiana]

If my belongings are already in Canada, do I still need b4's? I just want to import my car but I don't know if its going to be worth all the hassle. I trying to see if I have to do it right away.

It's not essential, but if you turn in the B4s, you'll have proof that you imported the goods (esp. the expensive ones). Also, do you have nothing left in the US (in storage, in a safe deposit box, etc.) to import later?

Re the car - if you like your car, I'd say it's worth it Take a look at these posts I wrote a while back, including a step-by-step guide. Just keep in mind you now need to register your far for export with the census. You can do it yourself if you're willing to read an instruction guide and take a quick test or you can pay someone to do it for you (reports of ~$35 fee recently). There's also this post on some items to consider as you decide when to import your car

 

[OhCanadiana]

Thank you!
I wasn't planning on sending it without the renewed passport as that's probably only a month processing time but it's good to know that if we get everything together before the FBI check comes back that it can be sent it.

If you have everything together, you could submit your current passport and then update your passport (via a case specific enquiry or in the same packet with the FBI info). The key to submitting the info is to do it before they ask for it to minimize delays (but ideally waiting until after you have a UCI - unique client identifier).

 

[OhCanadiana]

Landed today. Got my SIN and started a "New Start" bank account.

Let the job search begin!!

Thank you to everyone who offered me help during this process. Bless you and I wish all of you waiting, good luck!

Congrats!!!