US outland applicants' thread :)

[barch88]

Wow, it seems a bit ridiculous to have to go to such lengths! I live in Washington, near the border, so I guess it makes sense that our Walgreens would have the option to cut to Canadian standards. Glad it worked out for you guys, though

I probably went to the same Walgreens, haha. The one in Bellingham WA did it fine...at least I'll find out once my PPR comes.

 

[acwikla4769]

I made a lot of phone calls from Canada trying to set something up and tried very hard not to send him on a wild goose chase. Finally found a place in Ft Worth and they were doing another Canadian Passport photo a couple of hours before his apt so she was aware of what needed to be done. It seems the further south you go the harder it is to do some of these things.

We went to 4 places and had pics done that said they could and they all came out wrong with no refund was not happy lol we learned for the PPR pics and went there the first time ha

 

[nihr]

Hi everyone,
First post here. I have a general question. We are getting everything ready to send in. My husband is the Canadian citizen. We live in the US. I know online it says 12 months processing time, but I have seen in some places that for US it is actually taking less. What are the times people are getting on here? I'm just wondering for a time frame for when we should start selling the house and my husband should start looking for a job up there?
Thanks!

 

[Joyce_tosf]

Hi everyone,
First post here. I have a general question. We are getting everything ready to send in. My husband is the Canadian citizen. We live in the US. I know online it says 12 months processing time, but I have seen in some places that for US it is actually taking less. What are the times people are getting on here? I'm just wondering for a time frame for when we should start selling the house and my husband should start looking for a job up there?
Thanks!

With the old forms it's been taking the Ottawa Visa office roughly 5-6 months on average. Some have seen their applications processed in as little as 3 months. For myself, I'm just about at the end (waiting for our COPR) and we are currently at the 6.5 month mark. There are new application forms now so it's hard to tell whether that will change. It also depends on how complicated your individual file will be. Not to mention that things aren't always the same across the board for everyone. But that gives you a general idea of what's been happening lately.

 

[CanadianZenGirl]

My husband had his immigration photos taken in Canada and the photographer was already familiar with the specs, so hopefully we shouldn't have any problems in that area. This is assuming, of course, we ever get SA and they start actually working on his application. The immigration website gives a two month window for checking the sponsor and we're almost at that now. I keep telling myself everything's okay, but come the end of next week I'm going to start panicking.

 

[acwikla4769]

My husband had his immigration photos taken in Canada and the photographer was already familiar with the specs, so hopefully we shouldn't have any problems in that area. This is assuming, of course, we ever get SA and they start actually working on his application. The immigration website gives a two month window for checking the sponsor and we're almost at that now. I keep telling myself everything's okay, but come the end of next week I'm going to start panicking.

I didn't get my sponsor approval till beginning of January and applied in October. We still had decision made in February so be patient everything will work out. I panicked like crazy too

 

[CanadianZenGirl]

I didn't get my sponsor approval till beginning of January and applied in October. We still had decision made in February so be patient everything will work out. I panicked like crazy too

That's really good to hear. Thank you!

 

[julies879]

We are landing at a land border on Tuesday morning. From previous questions I have asked, I know that I don't need anything besides my passport, COPR and my BSF186 form. Two things: we aren't landing AND moving on Tuesday, just landing - moving at a later date. Our entire form will be considered "goods to follow" - do I need to make any distinction on the form? Also, Isee the section that talks about conveyances but what is the process for declaring our car now so we don't have to pay to import it later? Certainly it can't be as simple as writing down our make/model/year and value - right? hah.Nothing seems that easy!

Appreciate any feedback!

 

[Landagirl]

We are landing at a land border on Tuesday morning. From previous questions I have asked, I know that I don't need anything besides my passport, COPR and my BSF186 form. Two things: we aren't landing AND moving on Tuesday, just landing - moving at a later date. Our entire form will be considered "goods to follow" - do I need to make any distinction on the form? Also, Isee the section that talks about conveyances but what is the process for declaring our car now so we don't have to pay to import it later? Certainly it can't be as simple as writing down our make/model/year and value - right? hah.Nothing seems that easy!

Appreciate any feedback!

No it definitely isn't that easy. Here is a website to help you out. I am just starting to deal with importing the car.

http://www.riv.ca/

 

[CDNPR2014]

We are landing at a land border on Tuesday morning. From previous questions I have asked, I know that I don't need anything besides my passport, COPR and my BSF186 form. Two things: we aren't landing AND moving on Tuesday, just landing - moving at a later date. Our entire form will be considered "goods to follow" - do I need to make any distinction on the form? Also, Isee the section that talks about conveyances but what is the process for declaring our car now so we don't have to pay to import it later? Certainly it can't be as simple as writing down our make/model/year and value - right? hah.Nothing seems that easy!

Appreciate any feedback!

if all your items are going to be goods to follow, then you will tick the box of the form for "goods to follow". If you plan to import your car later, having it listed on the form allows you to import it without paying duty, so you want to make sure it is listed as "conveyance". the import process is completely separate from this form. there are many steps involved, and starts with exporting it on the US end.

 

[julies879]

if all your items are going to be goods to follow, then you will tick the box of the form for "goods to follow". If you plan to import your car later, having it listed on the form allows you to import it without paying duty, so you want to make sure it is listed as "conveyance". the import process is completely separate from this form. there are many steps involved, and starts with exporting it on the US end.

I should have clarified. I know that importing a car is more extensive (we imported a car into Canada 7 years ago) than listing it on the form but for what we are doing tomorrow, listing it is all we need to do? We list it under conveyances and then actually import it when we move. Right?

 

[CDNPR2014]

I should have clarified. I know that importing a car is more extensive (we imported a car into Canada 7 years ago) than listing it on the form but for what we are doing tomorrow, listing it is all we need to do? We list it under conveyances and then actually import it when we move. Right?

correct, right now all you need to do is list it as "conveyance" on your goods to follow form. it can be imported anytime later without having to pay duty.

 

[Joyce_tosf]

We're on the same timeline as you in terms of when we mailed ours and when it arrived. As of now, tracking hasn't activated. I've been unable to log into MyCIC for the past hour or so, so I haven't been able to check whether my status on there has changed.

Any updates on yours? Has your return envelope been activated yet?

 

[danawhitaker]

Any updates on yours? Has your return envelope been activated yet?

Nope, hasn't activated yet. I just checked a few minutes ago.

 

[nihr]

With the old forms it's been taking the Ottawa Visa office roughly 5-6 months on average. Some have seen their applications processed in as little as 3 months. For myself, I'm just about at the end (waiting for our COPR) and we are currently at the 6.5 month mark. There are new application forms now so it's hard to tell whether that will change. It also depends on how complicated your individual file will be. Not to mention that things aren't always the same across the board for everyone. But that gives you a general idea of what's been happening lately.

Thanks! I don't think our file should be complicated other than he lives in the US. We've been married so long, have a child, own a house etc so we don't have to send lots of evidence of relationship other than 4 things. So I'm hoping it will be quick ;D