Canadian moving to the U.S.

[Curlygrrl]

Let me start of by saying- please excuse my ignorance, but as always I turn to you GC for some insight and clarification.

Ok, so I finally got my I-20 form and just paid my SEVIS. But now I am confused. Do I need to contact the American Embassy for an interview or not? I was always under the impression that while I do not need a visa that I still need to book a time for an interview. The university though sent some papers with my I-20 and one of them said that: "Citizens of Canada are not required to obtain an entry visa at a U.S. Embassy but must present a passport, the I-20 form and the SEVIS fee receipt, and must obtain an I-94 Arrival/Departure card when entering the United States in order to enter the U.S. in valid F-1 student status."

So am I or am I not exempt from the interview as a Canadian citizen entering the U.S. for doctoral studies?

[newms]

Let me start of by saying- please excuse my ignorance, but as always I turn to you GC for some insight and clarification.

Ok, so I finally got my I-20 form and just paid my SEVIS. But now I am confused. Do I need to contact the American Embassy for an interview or not? I was always under the impression that while I do not need a visa that I still need to book a time for an interview. The university though sent some papers with my I-20 and one of them said that: "Citizens of Canada are not required to obtain an entry visa at a U.S. Embassy but must present a passport, the I-20 form and the SEVIS fee receipt, and must obtain an I-94 Arrival/Departure card when entering the United States in order to enter the U.S. in valid F-1 student status."

So am I or am I not exempt from the interview as a Canadian citizen entering the U.S. for doctoral studies?

I think you're exempt from needing a visa, so no need to book an appointment for an interview. See here: http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas.html Also see information particularly for Canadian students from Columbia University: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/isso/visa/F-1/F-1_canada.html So it seems that you're all set. Perhaps you could double check with the international centre at your school to make sure.

[Curlygrrl]

Thank you so much! It's what I thought but wanted to be sure.

I think you're exempt from needing a visa, so no need to book an appointment for an interview. See here: http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas.html Also see information particularly for Canadian students from Columbia University: http://www.columbia....F-1_canada.html So it seems that you're all set. Perhaps you could double check with the international centre at your school to make sure.

[squaresquared]

Nope -- not needed. It all happens at your first point of entry into the USA and some international canadian airports do it right there before you even leave canada.

[Curlygrrl]

Great! Thank you. One less thing to worry about.

Nope -- not needed. It all happens at your first point of entry into the USA and some international canadian airports do it right there before you even leave canada.

[UBCbiograd2009]

I'm Canadian and went to US Embassy for my student Visa. I got it no problem. I think you should e-mail the embassy (don't call because it'll cost you money) and ask them about the procedures.

[k-tray]

On another note: Can any Canadians suggest shipping (cheap) shipping companies? I am moving from Calgary to NYC in August.... 3800km of fun!

[ktel]

I moved from Edmonton to Toronto this summer with my boyfriend. Not quite the same distance, but similar. We shipped boxes on the Greyhound. Cheap but a bit slow, and you need to pack well and in bags because the boxes were a bit mangled afterwards.

[k-tray]

I moved from Edmonton to Toronto this summer with my boyfriend. Not quite the same distance, but similar. We shipped boxes on the Greyhound. Cheap but a bit slow, and you need to pack well and in bags because the boxes were a bit mangled afterwards.

can you use Greyhound internationally tho?

[TakeruK]

Also interested in suggestions for a good shipping company -- we have furniture too though, so greyhound wouldn't really work! We're moving from Ontario to California! U-Haul seems to be promising (pack up a container here, unpack over there), but are there any other recommendations?

[ktel]

can you use Greyhound internationally tho?

That's a good question. I know Greyhound travels from Toronto to New York City, for example, but I'm not sure if they would ship across the border. They have separate websites for Canadian and American shipping and the websites don't let you enter in a city from the other country.

[k-tray]

Also interested in suggestions for a good shipping company -- we have furniture too though, so greyhound wouldn't really work! We're moving from Ontario to California! U-Haul seems to be promising (pack up a container here, unpack over there), but are there any other recommendations?

U-Haul seems to be pretty pricy. Were you loooking at the trucks you drive yourself or just a shipping container?

[mirandaw]

can you use Greyhound internationally tho?

No, I dont think you can. I moved from Portland to Vanouver and quoted prices and they wont take things across the border for you due to customs.

[TakeruK]

Just a shipping container. My wife and I drove from BC to Ontario to move for my MSc in just our car (we didn't have furniture then) so we aren't sure about driving most of the way across the continent again! (It was fun but took a long time). Plus, the additional cost of accommodations on a 5-6 day drive and the fee for not returning the truck in the same country/city as pickup is much much higher than flying my wife and I over.

U-Haul is pricey though, which was why I was hoping someone might have used something cheaper! But U-Haul may still be worth it, if we were to sell everything and then buy everything again in California, we will save at most ~$500 compared to shipping our existing furniture via U-Haul. I would be trying to finish writing, defend, sell our current car, and preparing to move to another country during the last month so the additional hassle of trying to sell our furniture and then getting new one without a car on the other side might not be worth $500. Since we won't be able to afford a car in our new place anyways, we're going to try to sell it and use that money to fund the move!

Just remembered something -- for shipping boxes of things like DVDs, books, clothes (i.e. smallish things that fit into boxes well), I would recommend just using Canada Post parcel mail. You can use their online pricing calculator to price out exactly what you need but I think a 1ft by 1ft by 1ft box comes out to about $1 per pound with a maximum of 50 pounds. My friend told me that the pricing system is such that going over the limit by even 0.1 pounds in weight or 1cm in dimension can cause a huge jump in price. He thinks a slightly smaller box (half the size) is more economical, as it will only cost about $20. They take up to 2 weeks to arrive at US destinations though, I think, so they are also good for non-essentials like DVDs, books, extra clothes.

[ltam]

Hello, a semi-related question. Do any Canadians studying in the US return to your home town/city during the summer months? Does that affect your I-20/I-94 arrival departure stuff? This is all brand new to me. Moving from Toronto to NJ.

[k-tray]

No, I dont think you can. I moved from Portland to Vanouver and quoted prices and they wont take things across the border for you due to customs.

Thanks for the info - i suppose that makes sense!

Just a shipping container. My wife and I drove from BC to Ontario to move for my MSc in just our car (we didn't have furniture then) so we aren't sure about driving most of the way across the continent again! (It was fun but took a long time). Plus, the additional cost of accommodations on a 5-6 day drive and the fee for not returning the truck in the same country/city as pickup is much much higher than flying my wife and I over.

U-Haul is pricey though, which was why I was hoping someone might have used something cheaper! But U-Haul may still be worth it, if we were to sell everything and then buy everything again in California, we will save at most ~$500 compared to shipping our existing furniture via U-Haul. I would be trying to finish writing, defend, sell our current car, and preparing to move to another country during the last month so the additional hassle of trying to sell our furniture and then getting new one without a car on the other side might not be worth $500. Since we won't be able to afford a car in our new place anyways, we're going to try to sell it and use that money to fund the move!

Just remembered something -- for shipping boxes of things like DVDs, books, clothes (i.e. smallish things that fit into boxes well), I would recommend just using Canada Post parcel mail. You can use their online pricing calculator to price out exactly what you need but I think a 1ft by 1ft by 1ft box comes out to about $1 per pound with a maximum of 50 pounds. My friend told me that the pricing system is such that going over the limit by even 0.1 pounds in weight or 1cm in dimension can cause a huge jump in price. He thinks a slightly smaller box (half the size) is more economical, as it will only cost about $20. They take up to 2 weeks to arrive at US destinations though, I think, so they are also good for non-essentials like DVDs, books, extra clothes.

Yeah, I looked up U-Haul Prices to NY and it would be minimum $3000. I think I will be invite many ppl to come and stay and bring part of my things each time!

[TakeruK]

Wow! $3000 is a lot!!

I priced my move from Ontario to California using only one of their "U-Haul Boxes" (we're just moving a 1bedroom apartment, not a home luckily!) and it's $1500 for the box transport, plus a few hundred for rental, pickup/dropoff etc....coming to around $1800 in total probably. A little bit more reasonable, especially compared to driving our stuff ourselves. The minimum we'd want to move is our bed and kitchen pots, pans, appliances etc. which I think might be worth it.

[k-tray]

Wow! $3000 is a lot!!

I priced my move from Ontario to California using only one of their "U-Haul Boxes" (we're just moving a 1bedroom apartment, not a home luckily!) and it's $1500 for the box transport, plus a few hundred for rental, pickup/dropoff etc....coming to around $1800 in total probably. A little bit more reasonable, especially compared to driving our stuff ourselves. The minimum we'd want to move is our bed and kitchen pots, pans, appliances etc. which I think might be worth it.

that's so strange - i was only looking at one box as well! Maybe the route makes it more expensive from some reason?? $1800 is not terrible considering you would spend half of that on a new bed! i'll have to try the site again and see if i get the same result.