rainbow-skies
Difficulty:  | Review Topic: Port of Entry Review
POE Review - YYZ (Pearson Airport) --> CR1 Visa:
I received my passport in the mail on Mon Oct 25th and crossed POE at Pearson Airport on Tuesday Oct 26th.
I was travelling with Air Transat - which operates out of Terminal 3. I got to the airport at around 3:30am. I checked in and processed my checked bags first with Air Transat, then proceeded to the security/customs line. At approximately 4am, the line was already with 15-20 people. Security opened at 430am, however despite my flight being at 7am and despite repeatedly stating I have to activate an immigrant visa, the security personnel proceeded to allow the 6am flights to go through security first. So there were about 200 people ahead of me to go through security and customs; this caused me to get very nervous in case I was going to get held up in customs and consequently miss my flight.
By approx 5:10 am I was finally going through security. I then made it to customs around 520am. There were two lines filled with people waiting, but it moved pretty quickly. The first officer I got was very friendly. I told him I was activating a visa - he said they dont say "activating a visa" haha I got confused but just went with it. We proceeded to talk about living in the US and he was giving me advice on nursing in the US (which is what my job will be). He then verified my US address and walked me over to secondary. I was the first person in secondary, the officer there was very kind as well. All he asked me was to verify my US address and then he spent about 10-15 min just reviewing my electronic packet and then said I was good to go. By the time I was leaving secondary, there were about 4 people waiting in there. By 5:43am I was out of secondary and officially a lawful PR! I had just an hour to spare before my flight, despite all my nervousness.
All in all it was a very smooth and swift process. Now I anxiously await my SSN!
Tips:
- Terminal 1 - Security opens at 6am, customs at 630am; Airlines - Air Canada and United
- Terminal 3 - Security opens at 430 am, customs at 5am; Airlines - Air Transat, Delta, american airlines
- no matter how early you get to the airport, even if you end up being first in the customs line -- they will still prioritize those on flights earlier than yours.
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Port of Entry Member Review #17268
Entry Date: 2021-10-26