POE Lewiston

[antda 13]

Thank You

Decided to POE at Queenston-Lewiston because that's the bridge I use more often than not when I was visiting my husband. Don't care for the Rainbow bridge at all, and Peace bridge is out of the way.

Sdw-Ahh..That makes sense.....Queenston/Lewiston it is then!

Lol..I dont care for the rainbow bridge either (unless I'm going to Niagara Falls)....they don't do POEs well..lol.....

Again, congrats on crossing over...Welcome to NYS and America!

Ant

[sdw 10]

Sdw-Ahh..That makes sense.....Queenston/Lewiston it is then!

Lol..I dont care for the rainbow bridge either (unless I'm going to Niagara Falls)....they don't do POEs well..lol.....

Again, congrats on crossing over...Welcome to NYS and America!

Ant

Thanks

[Arabella 4]

Yvonne and I would likely enter there, too; I usually stop at the Smoking Joes location on NY-31 on the way home for cheap fuel.

Sean did his POE there. He said it took about 2 hours and 30minutes but it was without incident.

Grats!

[Kimbear 53]

Arabella your back!!!

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Congrats on a successful activation sdw!

Yeah, the Rainbow bridge sucks... I used it once and had an officer hit on me, talk about awkward.

[Arabella 4]

Arabella your back!!!

Did I go somewhere?

If you mean I haven't posted much, I blame the newest expansion of EverQuest 2. Seriously Sean and I are up all night working on that damn game!

[citygirl 0]

Are you crossing back over the border to move your stuff? I just got my CR1 and the interviewing officer at the consulate told me specifically that once I POE I should not leave the country without advance parole until I receive my green card. This is completely different from anything I've heard about the CR1. I was planning on entering to activate the visa and then returning home to meet the movers that will be shipping my stuff down (I was told I needed to activate the visa before they can ship my stuff).

I think the officer at the consulate might be mixing up the CR1 and the K3, but it still worries me. Did the border official say anything different to you? Has anyone else been told this or know where I can definitively find out?

[sdw 10]

I was told that the visa in my passport with the stamp is my temporary green card. Asked if I would have any problems moving my stuff the following weekend and was told no.

[sdw 10]

I was told that the visa in my passport with the stamp is my temporary green card. Asked if I would have any problems moving my stuff the following weekend and was told no.

Husband called before we activated our visas as well.

[Pauley 2]

Bump with a question from Yvonne: If she were to do the same thing, activating her visa early (we've done the Niagara Falls tourist thing, but she has some interest in dropping by the Walden Galleria and other shopping options in Buffalo, so POE at the Peace Bridge is an option), does this do anything automatically to end OHIP coverage, or can she keep that and other benefits of Canadian residence (ability to work, for example) until she moves later on? While getting all the paperwork started early for her SSN and such is good, she'd prefer not to get caught in a limbo in between places, not yet moved to New York, but no longer covered by insurance in Ontario, etc.

I told her, based on my understanding from what I read here on the boards, that I believed she would be able to continue working indefinitely, as she's still a Canadian citizen, and her OHIP coverage should continue until she actually transmits notification to them that she's moving/moved, and that she shouldn't need to date that until she actually moves out. How'd I do?

Thanks, anyone who can help answer her question for me.

[OBX 51]

Bump with a question from Yvonne: If she were to do the same thing, activating her visa early (we've done the Niagara Falls tourist thing, but she has some interest in dropping by the Walden Galleria and other shopping options in Buffalo, so POE at the Peace Bridge is an option), does this do anything automatically to end OHIP coverage, or can she keep that and other benefits of Canadian residence (ability to work, for example) until she moves later on? While getting all the paperwork started early for her SSN and such is good, she'd prefer not to get caught in a limbo in between places, not yet moved to New York, but no longer covered by insurance in Ontario, etc.

I told her, based on my understanding from what I read here on the boards, that I believed she would be able to continue working indefinitely, as she's still a Canadian citizen, and her OHIP coverage should continue until she actually transmits notification to them that she's moving/moved, and that she shouldn't need to date that until she actually moves out. How'd I do?

Thanks, anyone who can help answer her question for me.

I'm not sure what the correct answer is Pauley because there always seems to be a bit of a grey period. When I POE'd I understood that the day I activated my visa was the day I was officially a permanent resident. My POE date is the date I am using on my tax returns as my date of departure from Canada. I was instructed by my accountant to use this date even though the sale of my home did not close until a month and a half later. In essence I had a month and a half where I was in between. I did not submit my cancellation notice for my health care until I had closed my home and no longer had an address in Canada. But during that in between period I had no need to see a doctor either. Not sure how it would work out with your wife continuing to work in Canada although I'm sure there others here who would know more about that issue.

[antda 13]

Bump with a question from Yvonne: If she were to do the same thing, activating her visa early (we've done the Niagara Falls tourist thing, but she has some interest in dropping by the Walden Galleria and other shopping options in Buffalo, so POE at the Peace Bridge is an option), does this do anything automatically to end OHIP coverage, or can she keep that and other benefits of Canadian residence (ability to work, for example) until she moves later on? While getting all the paperwork started early for her SSN and such is good, she'd prefer not to get caught in a limbo in between places, not yet moved to New York, but no longer covered by insurance in Ontario, etc.

I told her, based on my understanding from what I read here on the boards, that I believed she would be able to continue working indefinitely, as she's still a Canadian citizen, and her OHIP coverage should continue until she actually transmits notification to them that she's moving/moved, and that she shouldn't need to date that until she actually moves out. How'd I do?

Thanks, anyone who can help answer her question for me.

Pauley- I posted this before on other VJ threads, but I thought it can help you here too...

As for moving, from Canada to the USA (I've been here in the USA since 2006), I did the following:

I notified:

-Revenue Canada and Elections Canada (with the "final tax return" in 2007, to prevent tax fraud and to officially notify the Canadian government that I'm not living in Canada anymore, and had to cancel and return those GST cheques I'm not entitled to and would be in trouble for keeping such)

-Passport Canada (when they added my married name to my maiden name passport in 2007)

-Passport Canada again (when I applied for a new passport recently in my married name in 2009)

-I closed my Canadian bank account in Canada (2007)

-I let someone in Canada collect my personal mail for me, and then notified those people by mail that I moved (2006-Present)

-Family, friends, and other acquaintances that I keep in contact with (2006-Present)

-The Office of the Attorney General (optional...but this was after I received the forwarded jury duty notice in 2009....I had no choice there but to tell them that I moved and that I couldn't serve on a Canadian jury)

I didn't notify:

-Social Insurance (Human Resources Canada, I think) as I wouldn't be working in Canada anymore and wouldn't need a new card.

-OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance) as my card already expired and I can't use it here, so I never renewed it.

-MTO (Ministry of Transportation Ontario) as my license was automatically transfered, surrendered, and destroyed here by the DMV in NYS. Note: You cannot have 2 driver's licenses at the same time (at least that's the way it is here in NYS), so you would either have to pick between the American one or the Canadian one to keep.

Anyone else I need to notify, I can't think of, and haven't done such.

Hope this helps. Good luck on the rest of your immigration journey too.

So in your case, if your wife as a green OHIP card (the ones with the expiry dates)....just let it expire, and don't renew it, and that should end the coverage there (lol..that's what I did). If she has the old white/red OHIP non-expiry cards, she might want to update the OHIP office about her move, just in case...Technically, once she is a resident of the USA (as definied by the 'residence since' date on one's green card), the OHIP would not be valid anymore, as she is not a resident of Ontario/Canada and cannot use OHIP if she is not a resident there. The only exception is that she would have to remain a Canadian Resident for 180 days to be still covered under OHIP (kind of like the 'snowbird' residency thing she would have to maintain..). Meanwhile, while her visa is processing and she is still living in Canda, then yes, she can use her OHIP. But once she moves to the USA, she can't use her OHIP anymore. In the meantime, she/you should look for some American medical insurance for your wife too, as healthcare costs can be quite expensive here in the USA without the proper coverage....Hope this helps too.

Ant

Edited March 17, 2010 by Ant+D+BabyA

[antda 13]

P.S. Do not go through the Rainbow Bridge for a POE!!! Been there, done that...What a nightmare! Trust me, you're better off with the Peace Bridge and/or Queenston/Lewiston Bridge, for a POE instead!

[Pauley 2]

So in your case, if your wife as a green OHIP card (the ones with the expiry dates)....just let it expire, and don't renew it, and that should end the coverage there (lol..that's what I did). If she has the old white/red OHIP non-expiry cards, she might want to update the OHIP office about her move, just in case...Technically, once she is a resident of the USA (as definied by the 'residence since' date on one's green card), the OHIP would not be valid anymore, as she is not a resident of Ontario/Canada and cannot use OHIP if she is not a resident there. The only exception is that she would have to remain a Canadian Resident for 180 days to be still covered under OHIP (kind of like the 'snowbird' residency thing she would have to maintain..). Meanwhile, while her visa is processing and she is still living in Canda, then yes, she can use her OHIP. But once she moves to the USA, she can't use her OHIP anymore. In the meantime, she/you should look for some American medical insurance for your wife too, as healthcare costs can be quite expensive here in the USA without the proper coverage....Hope this helps too.

My plan is to add her to my employer-provided insurance; I've been advised by my company's HR that I can add her before November's open enrollment, but I do need written confirmation from OHIP that she is no longer covered. What I'm wondering is, if we do an early POE (say, in April) before she intends to completely move, can she send notification to OHIP that she's leaving at her actual move date (in May) and give them the May date instead of the April date? I don't want to get her caught in a lack-of-insurance limbo between an early POE date and the time I can actually add her to my insurance.

FWIW, the 180-day rule notwithstanding, her OHIP card doesn't expire until 2014 so letting it expire without other notification may not be the best way to go. My question basically boils down to, if she crosses for a few hours for POE in April and then returns to Toronto, how safe is it to assume that OHIP won't know about it until/unless she notifies them she's actually moving in May?

[OBX 51]

My plan is to add her to my employer-provided insurance; I've been advised by my company's HR that I can add her before November's open enrollment, but I do need written confirmation from OHIP that she is no longer covered. What I'm wondering is, if we do an early POE (say, in April) before she intends to completely move, can she send notification to OHIP that she's leaving at her actual move date (in May) and give them the May date instead of the April date? I don't want to get her caught in a lack-of-insurance limbo between an early POE date and the time I can actually add her to my insurance.

FWIW, the 180-day rule notwithstanding, her OHIP card doesn't expire until 2014 so letting it expire without other notification may not be the best way to go. My question basically boils down to, if she crosses for a few hours for POE in April and then returns to Toronto, how safe is it to assume that OHIP won't know about it until/unless she notifies them she's actually moving in May?

I would say there is a very high probability they would not know. While I notified them officially of my move, many do not and just let their card expire. If she is still in Canada , has a residence and is working until May then I don't see a problem with her keeping it. I found the only issue I had was that I had to use the date of my POE to notify all financial institutions that I was a non-resident for tax purposes.

Anyone else?