Did any of you who landed at a local office have a goods-to-follow list with you, and if so, what did the IO do with it? Stamp it, fill anything in??
My husband landed at a local office this past Monday. The IO said that she didn't know what the goods-to-follow list was, or what to do with it and she wouldn't touch it. She said that was for CBSA to deal with.
We are going down to the States in early June to bring hubby's truck and belongings up, but can we just present the list when we cross the border if it doesn't have any kind of official stamp or something from when he landed?
Sunlight Wrote:Did any of you who landed at a local office have a goods-to-follow list with you, and if so, what did the IO do with it? Stamp it, fill anything in??
My husband landed at a local office this past Monday. The IO said that she didn't know what the goods-to-follow list was, or what to do with it and she wouldn't touch it. She said that was for CBSA to deal with.
We are going down to the States in early June to bring hubby's truck and belongings up, but can we just present the list when we cross the border if it doesn't have any kind of official stamp or something from when he landed?
I just landed today, myself, but I crossed the border by car. Immigration directed me to the Customs Officer, who had to stamp and sign my list, and I had to sign a CBSA B4 form. They printed out their own form (CBSA Casual Goods Accounting Document) and attached it to my list & B4 and gave it back to me. I have to bring these documents with me whenever I take stuff over so they can check things off the list.
It was the Customs Officer who processed it, not the IO, so I don't think you need a stamp from the local office. I imagine they will do the same for you, only they will check what you have with you against your list. I'm not sure about the truck though... I know there are special rules involving vehicles.
Darn...
So, CSBA says that a goods to follow list needs to be stamped and signed at the time of landing -- whether at a local office or at a POE. Yet the woman who handled my husband's landing said she knew nothing about it and wouldn't touch it. Now to figure out what to do..... Maybe hubby can call the local office where he landed and see what they have to say, if there is anything we can do about now.
Sunlight Wrote:Darn...
So, CSBA says that a goods to follow list needs to be stamped and signed at the time of landing -- whether at a local office or at a POE. Yet the woman who handled my husband's landing said she knew nothing about it and wouldn't touch it. Now to figure out what to do..... Maybe hubby can call the local office where he landed and see what they have to say, if there is anything we can do about now.
Figures. Hopefully they can make it right, I landed at the border but she told me goods to follow list was a one shot deal. I was really glad I had my cars VIN handy.
I hope you can get it straightened out. That's not right that she wouldn't handle goods to follow lists.
Arggghhh.... Frustrating.
Hubby called the local office where he landed. They said they don't deal with B4 and B4A forms, he had to contact Canada Border Services.
(Yeah, I tried that yesterday.)
He calls CBSA again. They are not understanding that he landed at a LOCAL office, and he has to explain it numerous times. Finally they tell him that he's going to have to take all his paperwork from his landing and go to the CBSA office, which is out by the airport at Saskatoon. And, they often aren't available between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. because they are busy with flights.
So, another day off work to drive to Saskatoon and take care of this. Why couldn't the Immigration office where we landed tell us this? They seemed to be clueless.
Praying we don't have any trouble with it.
The local immigration office would not inform you about this because it is not about immigration. It is about customs. It is about importing goods into Canada.
This local office landing procedure is fairly new. I wonder if the assumption is that someone landing at the local office is already settled in Canada so there are no importing of household goods issue. Not sure.
The sooner someone fully navigates this process and can report back as to how it should be done and what to watch out for, the better for future applicants. So however this works out, I hope you report back.
Hi
dpenabill Wrote:The local immigration office would not inform you about this because it is not about immigration. It is about customs. It is about importing goods into Canada.
This local office landing procedure is fairly new. I wonder if the assumption is that someone landing at the local office is already settled in Canada so there are no importing of household goods issue. Not sure.
The sooner someone fully navigates this process and can report back as to how it should be done and what to watch out for, the better for future applicants. So however this works out, I hope you report back.
Once you have "landed" inland, take your proof of "landing" and your Goods to Follow list to the local CBSA office. In Vancouver you have to make an appointment at the Dunsmuir St. office. I don't know about the other offices. Or to be doubly sure give them a phone call. They may tell you to wait until your goods arrive.
dpenabill -- I've come to the same conclusion, that since the option for outland applicants to land at a local is relatively new, they are not familiar with the importing of household goods. The IO who processed my husband had no idea what we were even talking about.
I really think that they need to make their officers aware of the different procedures for inland and outland applicants. Even though they are only dealing with immigration, one would think that they could have the information available to advise applicants of the next step in terms of importing goods, or at least have some information in the instruction letter that is sent with the COPR. There was information on the option to land at a local office -- surely they could add another line or two explaining that if you're importing goods you'll need to visit a local CBSA office with your goods to follow forms.
Anyway, hubby talked to the local CBSA office and we are planning to make another trip to the city on Monday to hopefully get this taken care of. I'll let you know how we make out. ;)
That's really annoying. I guess people should just go to a POE if it's viable.. you're right, they need to make sure their people know what's going on!