Moving from Montreal to Brooklyn

[CécileMai 8]

Hello everyone,

 

My visa got approved last week and I got it (physically) one hour ago

So now we were wondering with my fiancé what would be the best solution for moving my stuff (some furnitures and personnal belongings) from Montreal to Brooklyn.

First we wanted to rent a Uhaul, pack everything and drive to Brooklyn, but we are hesitating to move with some professionnals, which would save us a long time on the road plus a drive in the traffic. So I would come to New York by plane (POE: JFK), and my stuff by the road with professionnal movers.

 

Here are my main questions:

 

- Do you guys have any experience with a good moving company?

- Is it a problem if you are not physically present when all your stuff arrive at the border? (I know there are some forms to fill and provide to the company...)

- Should I cross the border before the moving? I'll need to be here when the movers are at my place...

- Or after? But my belongings can't cross the border before me I guess.. 

- Do you know if I can take my plants with me?

 

Sorry if these questions sound a little dumb, but I really want to make it happen smooth, legal and stress free!

Thank you forumers! Your advices had always been very helpfull
 

Cécile

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NikLR 13,220]

Sometimes you can take plants and sometimes you cant.  Check the cbp website.  If you specifically search this forum for moving threads you will find lots of information on different companies.  Personally we drove a uhaul because moving companies are more expensive and I wanted my stuff with me asap.  My husband flew up to Alberta and then drove down with me. 

[CécileMai 8]

Thank you NikLR!

I'm making quotes in several companies and I found something interesting with Anber Moving (Montreal based, they have good reviews) : 1900 CAD all included (insurance, loading, unloading), from Montreal to Brooklyn. Upack was around 1000 USD but we would have to hire people to load and unload (I have some pretty heavy pieces of furniture that I love and we are moving from 3rd floor to 4th floor, no elevator), plus Upack don't move plants. Other companies are charging as up to 2500 USD , so I'm trying all of them now... Even if I think that it will be Anber...

And apparently, there is no taxing in the price when you move from canada to US.

So yes, it will be more expensive than a Uhaul but it will spare us a day of driving/parking/loading/unloading in two crowded areas. 

 

I also made some research about the activation of K1 and here is how I plan to do it:

- Be in Montreal for the pick of my stuff

- Take a flight to nyc the day after as a POE (it will be JFK) and there, activate my visa

- send asap a scanned copy of my passport/activate visa/I-94 to the movers (some are charging more for the storage, others no)

- The movers are crossing the border with my stuff that I will get in Brooklyn within 2-3 days

 

I will now check which one of my dear plants I can keep with me

Hope it will help some people, if some have other clues or ideas, don't hesitate!

 

[NikLR 13,220]

Sounds like a good plan.

 

When you use a mover, I cannot stress enough to look at all of your stuff and make sure it's there, and in good condition before you sign off on it.  So many horror stories! But considering my husband tends to smack walls and beat up furniture, sometimes I think a moving company would be better. 

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Seriously - pack the UHaul and drive yourselves. I moved from Southern ON to just outside DC 9 yrs ago and it was the simplest, cheapest and most straight forward. No forms to fill out, you keep your own inventory list handy in case they want to inspect (label your boxes)and you drop the truck off yourself after unloading at your new home.

 

My 2 cents 

[CécileMai 8]

Thank you for your answers!

 

We booked the mover company, talked with the guy and I trust him... Actually the form 3299 is not very hard to fill, and the guy is helpful and efficient (for now). So I hope everything will go smoothly : I will review it here when it's all done

An update concerning the plants, it's an interesting story: each plant needs to have a phytosanitory certification, given by an expert from Santé Canada, I called them, the cost for the expertise is around 5$. The expert comes to your place and check if your plants are healthy. Before that you have to fill a form with the latin name of each plant, and send it to Santé Canada.

Then, according to the US border website, you need to take off the soil from the roots, wrap them before the moving...

Right. It's complicated. So I think I will offer them to good friends, and buy new ones when I'm in the US, need to think more about it...

I wonder... Concerning the labelling of the box, does it need to be very precise like the number of items, or just "kitchen tools" or "Books" is enough?

 

Thanks again for taking the time to answer

[simsim2 50]

Also, as a side note, your POE won't be JFK but Montreal. We go through US customs at Trudeau and land domestically. Allow a bit of time before your flight as you will have to go through the non-US non-Canadian line (you can't use the machine when activating a Visa). Let the officer know that you're activating your visa. But yes, be ready to go through US customs in Canada before your flight and not when you land 

[CécileMai 8]

Thank you Simsim!!

 

Yes, some friends told me about that, and it's very true, I will allow myself 3 hours before my flight to be sure to activate the visa. I don't think there will be too much people, it will be a friday morning, but still, I don't want to stress or miss my flight

Thank you for your advice about which line to take: this will definitely save me some time !

 

[simsim2 50]

I fly back and forth between NY and YUL every week and mornings can be surprisingly crowded!! :-)

[CécileMai 8]

Hello forumers!

 

It's been a little more than 2 weeks that I'm in Brooklyn and I come back to give you feedback about my journey.

 

So I activated my K1 visa the 24th at YUL airport as a POE. I arrived there really early (3 hours before the flight which was 1pm this friday) to be sure that I would have enough time to do all the procedures stressfree. So after the security check, I made the line for customs and the officer in the booth took the sealed enveloppe and my passport. He sent me to a waiting room. I was alone and had to wait only 5-10 min to meet the CBP officer. She was neutral, looked at my file, typed some things in her computer. She only asked me if I knew what was the conditions of a k1 visa (the 90 days, and the fact that I have to marry my fiancé within this limit) and it was good! I was so relieved that I forgot to ask for i-94.

Of course when I noticed it, it was too late I was already in the terminals, so i had to come back through the forbidden doors, and a cbp supervisor explained me kindly how to get an electronic version online.

 

Concerning my moving from MTL to Brooklyn, I suscribed with Atlas Van Line professionnal movers. Paul Kasner was the contractor in Montreal and he was really helpful, answering questions about items I'm not supposed to pack, helping filing forms, etc... They picked up my stuff the 23rd of march and I received everything the 4th of april at the exact announced time. The price was 2100$ US and it was a package price for up to 2000 pounds (not related to volume). I didn't pay anything until the delivery. They had to move some pretty heavy pieces of furniture from a 3rd floor to a 4th floor without elevators. I'm quite satisfied with the service, except the delivery team who were not really nice, but well, they were efficient. Also a little wooden desk had been slightly damage. In spite of that, I would recommend them for their efficiency and professionalism.

 

Once in Brooklyn, I didn't have problems to open a bank account, even without a SSN. I went to Capital One, after checking different banks, they have pretty good reviews and they don't ask you to keep loads of money to avoid fees. Also I was able to get a temporary debit/mastercard the same day. They only asked me for my passport/visa and to put 50$ on the account. Then I made a transfer of money from my canadian bank, it took 2 days.

 

Other tip: I shopped for a mobile phone contract but I found everything really expensive compared with Canada. I found a good solution: prepaid card (I already have a phone)! First time in my life I'm trying this and I'm more than satisfied: no contract, no credit history to provide. I paid 40$ (tx incl) for unlimited us calls, free unlimited texting worldwide, 4Go of internet connection.

 

I also want to give review about my SSN experience but I will have to switch for another forum I guess

I hope this can help some fiancés! Good luck to everyone! Things are happening!

 

Cecile

 

 

 

[Ontarkie 13,943]

Great review. Glad you made it.