Vixen78
Stalker
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2006
- Posts
- 2,326
- Location
- Canada
- Society
- PE Addicts
- Avatar Name
- Savannah Vixen Marie
Hello All,
I am excited to share my Landing experience with all of you! I know those who have not landed may have questions, I know I sure did. As much as the canadavisa forum has been helpful, there are certain things that are not real clear. I drove the 7 hours from Massachusetts to the Alexandria Bay/Lansdowne Port of Entry last night. Perhaps not the best time, but I had already committed to making the drive and my little Saturn was all packed up and ready to go.
There have been questions about when the best time to Land is,... The best advise I can suggest is, Think of the Border/Customs as a 9-5 job (even though they are open 24/7) This weekend was the Thanksgiving Day weekend and there were many Canadians trying to make their way home (my guess was the black friday sales in the US) and we arrived at the border @ 3:30pm and it the busiest I've ever seen it. Five lanes backed up a good 1500 feet at least. Luckily with that kind of traffic, the lanes were moving along at a good pace and we pulled up to an officer close to 35 minutes later.
My husband was with me (Canadian citizen) and we were asked the usual questions:
Where are you going? Ottawa
What is your reason for visiting? I'm landing and my husband is coming home
How long have you been out of the country? (for my husband) 2 months
Do you have anything to declare?(for my husband) Yes, a wii game and socks worth @ $60.00
How did you folks meet? We explained the story Are there any firearms, weapons, ammo, tobacco, mace, pepper spray, liquor? No sir
Do your belongings and cash total $10K or more? No sir
So you're landing, do you know how the process works? Yes, I have an good idea I've done my research.
Ok good, pull over to the left and go into the first door and see an officer on the left and they'll get you started...
We pull over, had all of the paperwork that was sent with the passport/visa and I had written out 2 copies of what I was bringing in and made 2 copies of my title... We went inside was helped immediately, the next officer went through the Permanent Resident Form (took all of 5 minutes) We asked a few questions which he was happy to answer and we were asked to stand in a different line and wait for the next officer who would finish up the process....
We wait a few minutes and a female officer called us forward, I told her I was landing and she asked for my B4 form (which I wasn't sure I had, and asked which form that was) The B4 form is the form you fill out listing all of the goods you are bringing in....
I didn't fill out the B4 form you can print off, as there wasn't enough room, and I didn't know how detailed they wanted it.. So I wrote all my items out on regular lined paper... This officer was a bit cranky and passed us off another officer that was busy, and luckily the officer that had us in line outside was nice enough to step up and help us.
We were asked for our list of items we were bringing in, and was happy to see that I had 2 copies all ready made out and in order...he even commented that he wished more people landing were as organized. He asked if I planned on importing the car and if I had the Title for it, which I did and had 2 copies (good thing since their copy machine was broken). He verified the value of my car and was surprised at how close my estimated value was...
This is where things got a little confusing...
Apparently in order to import my vehicle into Canada, I was suppose to Export it from the USA first.... But since it was the weekend and the officer that handles the importing/exporting wasn't on duty, the officer helping me tried to explain the process as best as he could... I went ahead and filled out the paperwork to import my car and I had the option of paying the $204.75 fee by credit card/over the phone right there... or I have 40 days to contact Transport Canada and make a payment over the phone... I went with the 40 day option....
Once Transport Canada gets the payment, my Alberta plates will be mailed out to me and I'll get more info about taking the car to Canadian Tire for inspection. I was warned that since I was not able to export the car before importing it, I should not risk driving it back into the US... If I come across an officer who knows more about this topic, sees my US passport and Alberta plate, they could run the Vin# and see it was never exported and I could get fined $5000.00
So consider yourself warned.... If your vehicle is not 15 years old the exporting applies to you.
That's why I suggest landing during the week between 9-5 as opposed to the weekend.... I know some things can't be helped. After about 20 minutes with the second officer we were done and I had officially landed with no goods to follow.
Hopefully my experience will help others that are landing in the future. 156 days since my application was sent out...
Happy Holidays
I am excited to share my Landing experience with all of you! I know those who have not landed may have questions, I know I sure did. As much as the canadavisa forum has been helpful, there are certain things that are not real clear. I drove the 7 hours from Massachusetts to the Alexandria Bay/Lansdowne Port of Entry last night. Perhaps not the best time, but I had already committed to making the drive and my little Saturn was all packed up and ready to go.
There have been questions about when the best time to Land is,... The best advise I can suggest is, Think of the Border/Customs as a 9-5 job (even though they are open 24/7) This weekend was the Thanksgiving Day weekend and there were many Canadians trying to make their way home (my guess was the black friday sales in the US) and we arrived at the border @ 3:30pm and it the busiest I've ever seen it. Five lanes backed up a good 1500 feet at least. Luckily with that kind of traffic, the lanes were moving along at a good pace and we pulled up to an officer close to 35 minutes later.
My husband was with me (Canadian citizen) and we were asked the usual questions:
Where are you going? Ottawa
What is your reason for visiting? I'm landing and my husband is coming home
How long have you been out of the country? (for my husband) 2 months
Do you have anything to declare?(for my husband) Yes, a wii game and socks worth @ $60.00
How did you folks meet? We explained the story Are there any firearms, weapons, ammo, tobacco, mace, pepper spray, liquor? No sir
Do your belongings and cash total $10K or more? No sir
So you're landing, do you know how the process works? Yes, I have an good idea I've done my research.
Ok good, pull over to the left and go into the first door and see an officer on the left and they'll get you started...
We pull over, had all of the paperwork that was sent with the passport/visa and I had written out 2 copies of what I was bringing in and made 2 copies of my title... We went inside was helped immediately, the next officer went through the Permanent Resident Form (took all of 5 minutes) We asked a few questions which he was happy to answer and we were asked to stand in a different line and wait for the next officer who would finish up the process....
We wait a few minutes and a female officer called us forward, I told her I was landing and she asked for my B4 form (which I wasn't sure I had, and asked which form that was) The B4 form is the form you fill out listing all of the goods you are bringing in....
I didn't fill out the B4 form you can print off, as there wasn't enough room, and I didn't know how detailed they wanted it.. So I wrote all my items out on regular lined paper... This officer was a bit cranky and passed us off another officer that was busy, and luckily the officer that had us in line outside was nice enough to step up and help us.
We were asked for our list of items we were bringing in, and was happy to see that I had 2 copies all ready made out and in order...he even commented that he wished more people landing were as organized. He asked if I planned on importing the car and if I had the Title for it, which I did and had 2 copies (good thing since their copy machine was broken). He verified the value of my car and was surprised at how close my estimated value was...
This is where things got a little confusing...
Apparently in order to import my vehicle into Canada, I was suppose to Export it from the USA first.... But since it was the weekend and the officer that handles the importing/exporting wasn't on duty, the officer helping me tried to explain the process as best as he could... I went ahead and filled out the paperwork to import my car and I had the option of paying the $204.75 fee by credit card/over the phone right there... or I have 40 days to contact Transport Canada and make a payment over the phone... I went with the 40 day option....
Once Transport Canada gets the payment, my Alberta plates will be mailed out to me and I'll get more info about taking the car to Canadian Tire for inspection. I was warned that since I was not able to export the car before importing it, I should not risk driving it back into the US... If I come across an officer who knows more about this topic, sees my US passport and Alberta plate, they could run the Vin# and see it was never exported and I could get fined $5000.00
So consider yourself warned.... If your vehicle is not 15 years old the exporting applies to you.
That's why I suggest landing during the week between 9-5 as opposed to the weekend.... I know some things can't be helped. After about 20 minutes with the second officer we were done and I had officially landed with no goods to follow.
Hopefully my experience will help others that are landing in the future. 156 days since my application was sent out...
Happy Holidays