I am also planning the same , landing next week alone , then going back to USA and finally moving next month with family.
One question I have is, that the Goods to Follow List I will provide to customs, will be inclusive of everything we plan to move in our final move, right ?
Also, would my goods to follow list be same as my dependent’s goods to accompany list? Or dependents don’t need to provide any list?
Thanks
Yes, by phone . If you go to the AVR govt website, you can email them your questions. Once you submit your questions, the next page will give you their phone numbers .
Planning to travel in 15 days. Will share my experiences once I get back.
Hi,
We will be doing the soft landing shortly and return to the US.
So do we need to carry all documents that we submitted in the application for PR?
Shall we carry photocopies or originals?
And do we need to carry photographs for PR card or will they use the ones we submitted for COPR with passports?
My understanding from reading through this thread : PR card will be applied automatically by the immigration/border security officer while doing the landing procedures right? Folks who did their landing please confirm. TIA
Doing my landing tomorrow at Detroit Windsor and using AVR while return, I Will share experience once I am back.
Looking forward to hear your experience. And good luck.
We landed at Toronto airport last weekend. All they need is COPR and of course ‘Goods to follow’ if you have any. No photos(for PR) required. yes we carried a updated POF letter but no one asked. PR card will be delivered at the Canada address we provided. They scanned and stamped the jewelry pictures, BSF186 & BSF186A forms and gave zero $ receipt. Very helpful and kind people.
Next day, we applied SIN, opened accounts, credit cards etc. RBC offers 1st year no fee on checking and safety deposit box. The only thing I forgot to ask to the officer is as he didn’t pay much attention to the GTF lists and we listed 2 mattresses in there. Upon reading online I found mixed opinions about if a person can bring used mattresses or not. so not sure whats gonna happen when we finally move in July. I should have confirmed with the officer that since he stamped everything.
SOFT LANDING:
Drove from Madison, WI to Detroit, took tunnel to Windsor, CA.
I provided CoPR and visa at the booth, officer looked at it and provided a slip and asked to go to building next to it.
There I was asked for GTF and title of my car as I included it in my GTF, and was asked if I am moving permanently today.
I said No, I will be moving in a month and No POF asked.
Also, I was not asked address to mail the PR card, but was told that the card will be processed once I move permanently or I can update address online.
Officer attached CoPR to passport for future travel.
SIN Number:
I applied SIN at Service Canada office which was next block, The staff could not find my information in the system of my landing. So, I had to go back to the immigration office and let them know that my record is not found for the staff to process my SIN.
Again, The Immigration officer entered something in the system and told I am good now.
Went back to the SIN office, and now they were able to retrieve my information and SIN number was generated.
BANK ACCOUNT:
I already had an appointment with TD bank, so opened US Dollar account with them.
RETURN TO US - AVR
I was on F1 until last year, and my f1 visa expired in June 2018.
My H1B started Oct 1st 2018; I had valid i797 with i94 attached.
While return, I took Ambassador Bridge, Told CBP officer that I would like to use AVR.
Officer verified some information and provided slip to go to the next building.
I went inside, another officer called my name asked below questions:
Finger prints taken, detached i94 from i797 attached it to passport and stamped it. Told I can use it when travelling in North America, but have to get visa stamp if I visit India.
UPDATE: Linked my PR card application to my CIC account.
I did call CIC number 613 944 4000 to update my address for PR card as the web form did not work for me.
Use *67 to mask caller number. It worked for me after trying 5 times. I was put in queue with 15 min wait time. Agent was connected, provided my Canada address.
Yes, your PR card process is automatically started on your behalf when you land and provide a Canadian mailing address. If you have recently landed, you are usually able to look up your PR card application on your GC key profile within a week and link it to your account.
@g.rajtharun Sometimes an officer will choose to delay processing your PR card if you are not officially moving yet. In that case, you will need to update your address online or by phone. Then the process will be started for you as described above.
Thanks for the response @northern I was able to link my PR card application to my GC Key profile. Now, I am trying to update my address via link you provided. It throws an error that the information is not found.
Should i wait few more days and give it a try??
Update- Did my landing via road at blaine peace arch crossing. Here is my experience.
We crossed into the canada border around mid day on sunday. There were no lines at the border itself. Told the border officer that we wanted to complete our PR landing. Were told to park on the side and walk into a building. In the building we headed straight to our assigned counter(no lines again) and gave our documents, COPR, passports, goods to follow list and address to send PR cards. Told we are not intending to move today and heading back almost imm. She told us to have a seat and processed our docs. Once done she explained our rights as PR and said our cards will be mailed in 6-8 weeks.
We hung around the area and had lunch at a nearby town. We then proceeded back into the US with a long line of cars. After approx 30 mins we crossed over without any hassles. Officer asked why we went to canada and if we intend to move there. We said eventually.
Today I linked my PR card application to my account and see that is it in processing status.
I have been entering the US for the last 10 years as a H1B and was never treated with the amount of respect and courtesy which was accorded to me at the Canada border. Makes me want to move there even more and asap.
Hey @movupnorth, did you reenter the US via Automatic revalidation or was your H1B visa already stamped?
I had a month or so left on my H1. So no AVR needed.
Why is it that some people in same situation were asked for address while very few not?
Many of the questions here are answered in my new post here:
A quick note about “which bank account I should open?”. Earlier I refrained for recommending any particular bank. However after having moved here, I would highly recommend opening an account with TD, for one main reason: they’re open for longer hours, Saturday’s and some branches are open for a few hours even on Sundays. Trust me, if you’re starting a new job as soon as you land and are busy or far away from a business center/mall, you’ll be so busy for first few weeks that you’ll pray for banks and other institutions to be open on weekends. They also offer basic bank accounts with low fees, and even a credit card, for new immigrants.
I have tried to open an account with RBC but whenever I check online after hours, they’re closed and they don’t open on weekends. The good feature RBC offers that I’m interested in is cross-border banking. Be sure to check it out. However RBC is considered the #1 bank in Canada.
Hello folks ,
I am doing soft landing this week , and wanted to confirm what all documents need to be carried for soft landing . I have the following prepared , is anything else needed ?
Is anything else needed to make a smooth soft landing ?
Thanks
Here’s my soft landing experience.
I drove from Connecticut to Buffalo and did a crossing on Lewiston - Queenston bridge. The line to enter into Canada was pretty small. After crossing the border, stopped at the customs booth and the officer asked me if I was flagpoling, I told her no and informed that I live in the States and was intending to do a landing for the permanent residency. She asked a few regular questions such as if I was carrying more than 10k in cash, any firearms, any live animals, etc. She gave me a yellow receipt which said “Not flagpoling, doing landing for pr” and asked me to proceed into the CBSA building and hand over the receipt to any officer.
Went into the building and handed over the yellow receipt to the officer. They asked for the passport and Confirmation of pr and was told to sit until called. Waited for about 45 mins until I was called. The officer asked why I was doing a landing that particular day when I had my visa valid for another 3-4 months. I told her that I was able to get some time off from work and planned the trip to visit some friends along too. She asked for a recent copy of proof of funds. Handed it over to her, verified and gave it back to me.
Asked me if I was moving in that day or just doing a landing, I told her that I was just making a landing and will make a permanent move in about 6-8 months. She said that since I was not moving that day, she wouldn’t process my PR Card and handed me a form to be filled and faxed when I move in permanently.
Asked me if I had a Goods accompanying/Goods to follow list, I showed her the excel print out with all the details (Item Description, Make & Model (when applicable), Serial Number (when applicable), Value in CAD). She sounded appreciative and told me how most of the people come in without the list and start documenting then.
Asked if I had a vehicle that I’ll be importing, confirmed that I will when I move permanently. She told me to fill the vehicle VIN details on a form and wait until called. Waited for another 20 mins, I was called and she confirmed that I am officially a Permanent Resident of Canada and reminded me of the PR obligation of spending 730 days in 5 years. I again asked her if there was anyway she could process my PR Card (wanted to try my luck) since I would most likely do a landing after my CoPR expires. She told me that she will not be processing my PR card since I won’t be moving that day and told me to apply for “Returning Resident Visa” (looked up online and found nothing like this, the closest visa was perhaps the PRTD) at any Canadian embassy/consulate if I’ll be flying or else I can always land via border with the Proof of Landing.
Asked me to take my GA/GTF lists to the next counter along with the yellow receipt, the officer again asked me few of the same questions (how many days I intended to stay in Canada, where I’ll be staying, when I was intending to a permanent move). The CoPR was stapled to my passport and again advised me that the document was important as it confirms that I was now an official PR. This officer then told me to update my address using the form that was provided as soon as I had an address in Canada.
Told me to go to the Cashier counter and hand over the GA/GTF lists along with the forms that she signed. The cashier scanned the copies of the GA/GTF and gave me a receipt for $0. I checked back with the officer if there were any other formalities and confirmed that it was all the process involved for the PR landing.
Drove to Brampton and next day went to the Service Canada center at 9 AM and told them that I was a new resident and wanted to apply for a SIN. The guy at the reception asked for the CoPR and took my local address and asked me to go to the waiting area until called. Waited for 15 mins and was called to a booth. Asked for my CoPR again, entered my details and gave me a copy with my SIN details in 5 mins and told that I was good to go.
Went to RCB and opened an account (Appointment is recommended). Looks like all the banks had some specials for new comers. So, the account I opened had maintenance fee waived for 6 months along with a 2k credit card. (There are other account types with waived maintenance fee for 12 months too)The banker even advised of home loans for new comers and some programs for new comers that help to settle down/transition into a PR life easily. This entire process took about an hour.
Return to US - AVR
I am on H1B with an expired visa. Carried all my documents along and landed at the US border (Peace Bridge/Niagara falls- Fort Erie) at about 8:00 AM. Waited for about 20 mins in the line and pulled up to the CBP booth. Handed over my old passport with expired H1B visa and approved i797 plus the new passport. The CBP officer asked me why I was in Canada, answered him that I did a landing for my Permanent residency. Asked me again if I became a PR, answered him yes. He asked how many days I was in Canada and if I was bringing anything back (answered him that I bringing back my personal stuff that I had on me). He called over another officer from the adjacent booth and discussed something. Told me to tear off the i94 from 797 and staple it to my passport and I was good to go.
Overall, the process at both the Canadian and the US side was smooth, except the inability to apply for a PR card. Looks like I am in the same boat as @g.rajtharun. I am thinking of calling the CBSA and see if they can update the address in Canada for my PR Card.
UPDATE : Did my landing thru the Thousand Islands Bridge(Landsdowne) on a Sunday morning .Took a rental car. Carried all the suggested documents, but I was not asked to show a single one. I was asked to write the address where they could mail PR card. ( not sure if I need to submit any application for it… kindly advise if any of you know about it ) . Then I was sent to the Customs window where I submitted Good accompanying and Goods to Follow lists. I was given a receipt and copy of GTF list as proof.
I was told I will need PR confirmation letter to travel into Canada later ( Only if travelling by road, in my own car,not rental).
Went to Kingston for lunch and sight seeing.
Returned thru the same bridge by 6 PM and used AVR option (uneventful) .