I know this is going to be long, so I'm pre-emptively breaking it up into two parts. This first part is mostly my landing experience. The other part will be the rest of the week when we did normal visit things.
I have previously posted about the application process, but I waited a long time after getting approval to complete the process to officially acquire PR status.
At the end of the application process, if your file is set to be approved, you are asked to send your documents (in my case, a copy of my passport and a set of Canadian PR photos) in to a processing center. The center processes your application and formally marks it as approved in their system, then sends a Confirmation of Permanent Residence document (CoPR) back to you in the mail. For me, this approval process took place at the end of July, and I received my document in August.
A CoPR indicates that your application for PR was approved, but does not officially grant you PR status until you actually enter Canada and get the form signed. That last part is the part that I had been putting off, since my application was processed much faster than I was planning on and I did not have any trips to Canada scheduled at the time. Brendan was already scheduled to come down for the wedding, for reading week, and for winter break, so there wasn't much reason for me to go north! I decided that I'd take his reading week off in February and do my landing then.
I spent weeks preparing for that moment. I can't tell you how many hours I spent reading forums, getting feedback from people who've done it in the past, and checking to make sure I had all the right documents. One of the things I'd need to do in addition to having my CoPR signed was to bring a list of all the items I was planning on bringing to Canada with me when I move this year -- my "goods to follow." Brendan and I had put together a preliminary list when he was visiting for the holidays, but there are always things you miss, you know? Fortunately they mostly only care about the expensive items and I'm pretty sure I hit most, if not all of the ones I own.
SATURDAY:
I asked my sister on a whim earlier in the week if she'd have time on Saturday to drive me to the airport, and to my surprise she actually said yes! It's a good thing, too, because I was lugging a 45lb bag with me that I was planning on bringing up and leaving with Brendan. I can't imagine trying to haul that bag through public transport for 2.5 hours.
It was midday and the airport was not very busy, so I got my bag checked and myself through customs in about 10 minutes, which made me feel a lot better. My flight left right on time and I landed in Toronto around 2pm.
My blood was rushing. What a crazy moment, to walk into a hall knowing that I was doing something that would change my life forever.
At passport control I was directed to the "all other passports" line. When I got to a counter and explained my situation, the officer took my customs form and wrote a bunch of things on it in sharpie and highlighter and explained that I would go to immigration to have my forms signed and to customs to process my list of goods.
I was the only person at immigration. I stood at the "wait here" sign for a couple of minutes before one of the officers waved me over to his window. He was very kind to me and asked me if I was coming on a student or work permit. I told him I was becoming a permanent resident and he was surprised, saying they don't get a lot of Americans and that the last one he processed was probably four or five months ago. He cross-checked my information between my documents to make sure it was accurate and then started entering things into his computer. We chatted a little bit about the process and he said it's the worst when you had large families because then it's difficult to keep track of all the forms during processing, so sometimes one of them gets missed and someone has to come all the way back to get things fixed. As part of the process, certain parts of the CoPR need to be signed and dated. The officer instructed me to write the date as he did (year-month-day) and not the way we write it in the states, remarking lightheartedly about how in Canada they don't have any standardized date format. That gave me a smile since I can think of numerous times Brendan has switched between formats and confused the heck out of me.
He stapled and folded my copy of the CoPR into my passport. He directed me to customs, where I'd be able to do my goods to follow. He also said that usually there's a booth there to get my Social Insurance Number (SIN), but since it was a weekend, they weren't open, so I'd have to go to a Service Canada another time.
Finally, having returned all my documentation, he congratulated me and said, "Welcome to Canada."
I was given a little red bag with some welcome information to help me as a new immigrant to Canada. It's pretty cute, honestly, and the book they give you is definitely helpful. Some of the other stuff in the bag was like immigrant services, how to get your SIN, how to sign up for health care, etc. I felt kind of silly receiving it since it's geared more towards people who aren't from the US. Brendan laughed at some of the material later when I showed it to him because it's so trivial to someone who already lives in Canada. I still thought it was a nice gesture, though.
I was surprised to find that the hallway I was instructed to go down led directly to baggage claim, where I found my bag on the carousel after a minute of looking around, expecting it to have been taken off the carousel and moved to the side. I wasn't really sure how to get to customs, so I just told the officer who was taking customs forms that I was a new PR and needed to see customs to do my list of goods. He pointed me down a hallway behind him.
This was the last step. Customs was nearly empty and there were only two other groups there the entire time I was there. I waited at the "wait here" sign for 5 or so minutes before an officer entered one of the booths and waved me over.
I explained that I was a new PR and needed to do my goods documentation. He said that he needed to see my customs document first, which I handed over. He looked at it for a bit and noted some things, then asked me if there was a reason I had checked no to "unaccompanied goods." I had totally forgotten that "goods to follow" count as unaccompanied goods, since I planned on bringing all my goods over with me when I moved permanently. I apologized that I didn't realize that's what it meant, and he made some more notes and asked me about my goods. I provided my list and explained how I had set it up and noted that the total value at the end included my car. He said that for these purposes the car needed to be separated from the value of the goods, but otherwise did not make any comments on my items. He told me it would be a few minutes and started preparing a form on my behalf. He stamped each page of my goods list, my CoPR, my passport, and the form.
He then took the papers to the back room and (I presume) copied them, then returned with a receipt for $0 taxes paid. He had removed the staple from my original list and re-stapled it (upside down and out of order...) to the receipt and goods form. He handed the packet to me and said I should provide it when I bring the rest of my goods and I won't have to pay any taxes on them. I thanked him and he told me to follow him and he would show me to the exit. As we got to the door, he congratulated me and said welcome to Canada.
The hall looped around to the left and connected to the arrivals exit that most people come out of after getting their checked bags. It was now about an hour and 10 minutes after my flight had landed and Brendan was there waiting for me at arrivals.
We picked up the rental car I had reserved and got upgraded to a fancy hybrid for free. Then we met up with some of Brendan's friends at a local restaurant for dinner, in part to celebrate and in part just to see them. Dinner was great, I got my fried food and poutine and we had some fun conversation, but I was so tired after all the stress of going through the process, terrified that at any moment they'd tell me I did something wrong. I had literally been shaking all the way through the airport out of nervousness. I'm so glad that's all done!
Brendan drove the rest of the way home to his apartment. We stopped once at a McDonald's to go to the bathroom and got some dessert. Cookies and a milkshake.
Finally, home at last, I got to see Brendan's apartment in person for the first (and last) time. He gave me the "grand tour" and then we had fun looking through the red bag and talking about our next steps. Service Canada wasn't open until Monday, so I'd have to wait to get my SIN until then.
SUNDAY:
We went grocery shopping, then relaxed at home. I think we both needed a day like this.
MONDAY:
It had snowed overnight and there was a bunch of slush on the roadways, but I was determined to get my SIN. If it were anywhere else we'd probably have to drive a town or two over to find a Service Canada, but lucky for us, Brendan happens to live in a town that used to be busier, so there was a Service Canada right down the road.
Coming out of the apartment, we found the sidewalk out the door was super icy, making it difficult to get in and out safely. I suggested that Brendan go get some sand for the sidewalk while I was waiting, so he dropped me off in front of the local Service Canada while he ran to the store. Walking in, I was expecting it to be fairly crowded, kind of akin to a DMV. I had done what I could to avoid peak times, arriving first thing in the morning when it was least busy.
To my surprise, the place was almost completely empty. I approached the front kiosk and informed the woman there that I was a new PR and needed a SIN. She entered my name in their system and asked for my postal code, which I had to check since I was using Brendan's parents' address. She told me to take a seat and that I'd be called up in a few minutes.
I was called up almost immediately after I sat down. The woman at the booth confirmed a bunch of information with me and asked me for some personal information to put into the system. This included asking for an address. When I gave Brendan's parents' address, she commented that I was a long way from home and asked what had brought me out to this rural town. Fortunately, the answer was easy: my boyfriend goes to school out here! She nodded, finished typing some info into the computer, and then printed off my SIN on a piece of paper and handed it to me along with a packet explaining what it's for and when I do and don't need to provide my SIN.
There are still so many things I need to do, but many of them have to wait until I've established residency. I'll need to open a bank account, apply for my provincial health card, and switch my license over to an Ontario license once I finally make the move. The next biggest challenge is really figuring out how to export/import my car. The process seems like it should be straightforward, but there are a lot of little pieces that are easy to miss. Hopefully it won't be difficult, and hopefully Brendan will be able to take more of my things the next time he comes down so that I have less to carry later on. I've already left that one suitcase at his place (containing my Wii U and some other things I wouldn't need in the near future) and plan to send him home with more next time he visits. The trick is to find things that I don't need in the immediate future but that I will need in the long term.