Stage before entering Canada
After your application for immigration to Canada has been processed and a positive decision has been made on your case, you and your family members included in the application will be issued immigrant visas. To do this, you must submit to the embassy your foreign passports with sufficient validity (more than 1 year). If the validity of your foreign passports is expiring soon, we strongly recommend that you obtain new passports.
Immigrant visas are affixed to the passport of the principal applicant and to the passport of each family member included in the application. If a child does not have a separate passport and is entered in the passport of one of the parents, then the immigrant visa for the child is also affixed to the parent's passport.
In addition to immigrant visas, each family member is issued a separate document called Confirmation of Permanent Residence (form IMM 5292, which is made using a pouch laminator, so the document is waterproof). This is what you must have for entry into Canada to obtain permanent resident status, to present at the immigration checkpoint.
In addition to the passport with the immigrant visa affixed and the Confirmation of Permanent Residence form, you may also be asked to provide proof of sufficient funds for the first few months of living in Canada. Usually, cash, bank statements, traveler's checks, etc. are accepted as proof. If you cannot show the required amount, you may be denied entry to Canada and denied permanent resident status.
In addition to the mandatory documents, it is also advisable to stock up on other papers.
1. List of all items you plan to bring into Canada.
This list should contain detailed information about each item, including its value, manufacturer, model, and serial number (primarily for expensive items such as cameras, camcorders, household appliances, etc.). It is advisable to divide the list into two parts. The first part should indicate what you are bringing with you, the second part what you plan to bring later. The list should be prepared in two copies.
Why is this needed, and is it necessary at all? This list is not mandatory. Moreover, you will need to ask the immigration officer to take this list from you and, based on it, issue you a Personal Effects Accounting Document (form B4), inform you of your file number, and give you a receipt. Nevertheless, it is in your interest to register all items you plan to bring into Canada when you apply for permanent resident status.
The fact is that when you enter Canada for permanent residence on an immigrant visa, you have the right to bring in duty-free those items that you owned and used before entering Canada. Therefore, to avoid paying import duties on items that you could not bring immediately but plan to bring later, it is worth having form B4 issued when going through immigration control. It should also be added that the condition for exemption from paying import duties on your belongings is that you must be the actual owner and have used them (items that are just purchased and never used are not exempt from duties).
2. Documents you will need for settling in Canada.
Since you are just starting your life in Canada, it is advisable to bring as many different documents as possible that will help you settle in a new country more quickly and easily. In particular, it would be reasonable to bring the following:
– birth certificates;
– marriage certificate;
– adoption certificates, divorce certificates;
– educational documents: diplomas, transcripts;
– certificates and licenses for professional qualifications;
– references and recommendation letters from former employers;
– bank statements and recommendation letters that you were a good customer with no financial issues;
– all health records: vaccination documents, medical records, dental records, etc.;
– driver's license and a recommendation letter from your insurance company (about your driving history and accidents);
– photocopies of all especially important documents in case the originals are lost (keep these photocopies separate from the originals);
– if you are bringing a car into Canada, you will need the registration documents.
Remember that you are starting life in a new country where nobody knows you and where you have no history. Given that in Canada, who knows you, who can recommend you, and whether your past was in order, providing as many references as possible from the country you left can actually help you in the initial period. Especially important are a recommendation from the insurance company and a recommendation from the bank. So do not be lazy to stock up on as many different documents as possible, even if most of them will not be needed later. You never know when and what might come in handy.
Stage after entering Canada
There are a number of documents you will need to have in Canada to feel comfortable. First of all, documents confirming your identity and that you are a resident of Canada (and of a specific province).
Documents confirming your identity (ID documents) will need to be presented quite often – for example, when making a large purchase with a credit card or buying a car, so it is better to take care of having such documents immediately upon arrival in Canada. At the same time, you need to consider that in some cases (for example, when opening a bank account), you need to present at least two identification documents. An identification document is recognized as a document that has your photo and is issued by government authorities. In particular, your foreign passport is such a document.
Also, you should consider two points that are often not entirely clear to newly arriving immigrants.
1. Each province in Canada is an autonomous entity with its own tax and social policies, as well as its own regulatory laws. Therefore, it is often required to confirm that you are a resident of that province. This is evidenced by having a permanent address where you live in that province. Therefore, it is very important to have identification documents issued in Canada that show your home address.
2. In Canada (as in the USA), there are no internal passports, nor is there any other single document confirming your identity. You can present any document containing your photo and issued by government authorities, at your discretion. Usually, Canadians present their driver's license as an identification document.
What documents issued in Canada can be used as identification? This often depends on the province where you live. Speaking about the province of Ontario, there are several such documents.
1. Permanent Resident card (PR card) – a card confirming your permanent resident status. This is the main document confirming your permanent resident status in Canada. It is a single document issued regardless of the province where you live. It is issued at the border crossing when you first cross the border with immigration visas, and then sent by mail to the address you provided. This document contains your photo, so it is quite suitable as identification.
You must take it with you when leaving the country so that you can freely re-enter Canada. Also, the PR card can be used in the early stages of your life in Canada until you obtain other Canadian identification documents. However, as soon as you have another ID (primarily a driver's license), this card will no longer be needed inside Canada, so it is best to put it in a safe place to avoid accidentally losing it.
2. SIN – Social Insurance Number. In addition to the above documents that contain your photo, you will also need to obtain a SIN – Social Insurance Number. You will be issued a card with your identification number and your name. This card will be needed when you get a job or receive social benefits, and in some cases may be accepted as an identification document (in addition to others). Usually, only adult family members get a SIN. It is not necessary to get this card for children, although possible.
3. Driver's license – driver's license. In addition to its main purpose – being a certificate that you have the right to drive a vehicle (car, motorcycle, etc.), the driver's license is the most popular identification document. A great advantage of a driver's license is that it contains the address where you live. Therefore, even if you do not plan to drive a car, we strongly recommend obtaining at least an entry-level driver's license, for which you will only need to pass the written test on traffic rules (without taking a driving test).
It is worth noting that driver's licenses in Canada are issued by provinces, each of which has its own system of driver training levels. In particular, in the province of Ontario, there are three such levels – G1 (license issued to those who passed the written test on traffic rules, without driving privileges), G2 (issued to those who held a G1 license and passed a beginner driving test), and G (issued to those who held a G2 license and passed a full driving test). Getting a G1 license is quite simple, so we strongly recommend doing so.
4. OHIP card – health insurance card. Contrary to popular belief, medical care in Canada is not free. What is free is health insurance that covers the medical expenses of Canadian residents. Each province has its own health insurance system, which differs from one another. Ontario has OHIP health insurance. Every resident of the province is issued an OHIP card containing the insurance number, the owner's photo, and home address. This card is presented at any medical facility in the province where you seek medical help.
This document, like a driver's license, is recommended to always be carried with you in case you need emergency medical help. This card is also convenient to use as an identification document if you do not have a driver's license, or if you are required to present two identification documents. The only issue for newly arriving immigrants with this card is that you can only get it three months after entering Canada.
This is the basic set of identification documents you will need for life in Canada.
In addition to them, we recommend obtaining other documents that can be used as identification documents. For example, credit and debit cards issued by Canadian banks, certificates issued by Canadian professional organizations, etc. are accepted as identification documents in some cases.
In general, you need to remember that the more involved you are in Canadian life and the more people know you, the easier it will be for you to live here. In Canada, a lot is based on recommendations, so you will often be asked to provide the names of people who can recommend you or confirm that they know you. Therefore, even documents such as a fitness club membership card or a membership in some public organization with your surname on it can be useful. You should also keep all incoming bills and other financial documents that can serve as proof that you lived and worked in that province.
However, the main documents you need to have are the PR card, Driver's License, OHIP card, and SIN card.
This material was prepared using
information from the publication 'Russky Toronto'.