Hi my web relatives thru Canadiandesi.com:

Flew in through IA/Cathay Pacific from Chennai/S'Pore/Hong Kong/Vancouver to Toronto yesterday. Got a good discounted fare thru Sita Travels at Rs.31 K.

The flight time was 24 hours while the total transit time was 31 hours. The Indian Vegetarian Meal was OK. Tons of Chinese immigrants fly from Hong Kong thru Cathay Pacific, felt odd as only a hand full of Indians were there in the flight. The guy sitting at the immigration in Chennai Intl Airport, did not know about the Canadian Immigration Process and wanted me to show him some job offers from Canada, eventhough the passport clearly states ECNR for North America. The Indian Airlines created a problem and wanted me to pay Rs.5K for excess KGs in the Hand Baggage as the ticket said PIECE CONCEPT. As I carried tons of utensils, it was checked by all the security and all let me pass. The guy at the HKONG security joked to me by asking me whether I was a rock star, as I had heavy metal in my bags.

The landing at Toronto was smooth, the hand outs for SARS, and the forms were collected. The customs marked my form as I had declared carrying more than CDN 10,000/-. The immigration lady officer was very polite, jovial and she remarked that I should be carrying CDN $ and not US $ as the US $ was depreciating against CDN $ it is is 1.349 as per immigration. The immigration officer took my declaration on the dollars carried and entered it in her computer, but did not look at the drafts nor the TC's.

The Customs asked me questions on the content of my large bags and I declared them as personal belongings of used clothing , utensils and NO FOOD MATERIAL. Here they physically verified the Dollars Drafts/TC's took a declaration and asked me to sign a form for their records. I saw several Chinese families who had declared that they do not have anything more than CDN 60, when their bags were opened several bottle of wine and raw/processed meat being pulled out and they were asked to pay customs.

The moral of the story is that be straight and clean in your declaration. Do NOT HIDE. Try to engage them in conversation, and try to respond humorously when they joke with you or pass a comment.

They let me pass without opening my bag with the words "Welcome to Canada & Good Luck".

I was picked up by UNCLE PRITAM, who runs a settlement facility for new comers at Missisauga. Any one wants his contact details can send an e-mail to me or look him up at his web page of the same name on google. Had a good nite rest after shower and dinner and here I'm keying my way thru to you on the 15th morning at 6.00 AM.

The soap opera has started and many more episodes to come. I'll keep sharing my few cents on this website-MY FAVORITE, in days/years to come. After TAMMUDU relocating to US of A, some body should atleast attempt to fill in his shoes !

Thanks to one and all for helping me out in this endeavour, WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS MY THANKS & GRATITUDE to my fellow Canadian Desi relatives...........

Regards & Good LUCK to all the ones in the QUEU.........Your time will come for similar post.

Welcome Jani!

This is land of opportunities and by contributing to this site, by this time you should be knowing what exactly you need to do.

Best of Luck!!!

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A Proud Indian Canadian

Welcome to Canada, Jani!! We all wish you the best as you start your struggle here. With your positive attitude, I'm sure Canada will not disappoint you.

I'm sure your experiences (past and the future ones) will help newer immigrants immeasurably. It is one thing for us already established in Canada to talk about the triumphs and tribulations of a new immigrant and it is another for a new immigrant himself/herself to actually walk through them.

I'm sure you'll keep us posted on your progress. One thing I would really be interested in knowing is the usefulness of this forum. I know you've been following and contributing here for quite some time. You must have conjured up an image about Canada while in India itself. Myself and many others would be really interested in knowing how that image stands up to the reality here.

Did we manage to give you the correct picture? And what more (or less) can we do to paint it more accurately? Please let us know in a few weeks time.

Enjoy your stay and most importantly, don't let anybody discourage you.

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Are you there?

Welcome back to North America, am I right Doctor??
With this positive attitude, I am confident that you will achieve all that you have longed for..........but for timebeing, enjoy the spring!!!

Welcome to North America.. Plastic Man

Get ready for Canadian Winter... Just Kidding...

I must say I am certainly impressed with the Unity & Support shown by Canadian Indians/Desis to Newcomers. I trust that we can somehow return the favour in the near future. I have frequented this website quite often over the past month - mainly because I tend to learn much more than reading all the lengthy books! If you guys ever travel to South Africa, let me know! ...BTW, Indians here are called "CHAROS" ... derived from the word "Ächaar".

Thank you Plastic Man for mentioning my name in your Article.
I love to do social service by helping people settledown in Canada.
If any new comers need more information please contact me at the following:

Email: unclepritam@yahoo.com
Phone: 416.277.8496

- Uncle Pritam

PS: Even if someone finds accomodation at some other place can still take my help in getting the neccessary documents/ID's