Toronto Pearson int'l airport

[Jr701 0]

Has anyone on here immigrated to the US and used Toronto as the American port of entry? Any problems from Canadian customs?

[TBoneTX 46,083]

*** Country-specific thread moved from the Moving to the US forum to the Canada regional subforum. ***

[Jr701 0]

I should also state that the originating country is Philippines.

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

As a US citizen, I have not immigrated through Toronto Pearson; however, I have traveled from Central America through Pearson and then on to a US destination. I'm not sure if my experience is unique but I found the passport and customs check so byzantine that I ended up missing my connecting flight. The process took over 2 hours and the airlines had to book me on the next available flight. And note, I'm a native english speaker using one of the languages used at Pearson.

It's good that you're being proactive and asking this question. I am sure there are other participants on this forum who have much more information for you on this topic. My advice is to make sure you have plenty of time for your connecting flight to the US, perhaps as much as 3 or 4 hours, if possible.

[Ms Hogan 295]

This is a SUPER BUSY airport so just make sure you give yourself a ton of time to get through customs. Be sure to book a flight with a huge layover because you will need time not just to clear the long security and customs line but your process will be longer because of the nature of your entry.

Even when flying as a Canadian which doesn't require a visa for entry it takes a long time. The general rule is to give yourself 3 hours to clear security and customs in time for your flight but YOU need extra time for your process.

[tdotca 41]

Pearson is/was my local Airport and POE'd as a K1 visa holder there. I was more than 3hrs early and I was done within 15mins ( with the 1st officer then at secondary inspection). You spend more time waiting in the lines to see the 1st officer. Depending on what time of day you will be travelling, wait times will differ.

I would personally suggest that you do not have an early morning flight, especially on a Monday when you are doing this.

Good luck.

[moemac59 193]

There was a K1 Canadian that tried to go thru YYZ a couple of months back and was denied as the USCIS agent had stated that the petition was expired. Here is the thread below. I felt bad for that person as it sounded like the customs agent was having a really bad day.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/567308-k1-denied-at-poe-however-visa-expires-02042016/page-1