I landed in Canada for the first time after living in the USA for more than a decade. Getting Canadian tourist visa on Indian passport used to be a two-day process. However, just recently in late 2012 they decided to slow things down. After a 6-week long process and a generous 3-yr multiple entry, here I am in the Canadian side of North America.
I applied for the Canadian visa online and after about 4-weeks, I got an email saying that the visa is approved. During this 4-weeks, I had my passport with me. Once the visa was approved, I got an email with instructions to send the passport to the New York consulate for stamping. I FedEx-ed it and received the passport in 5-business days.
I had gone through immigration of quiet a few countries with my glorious Indian passport. But, Canada is the first one to ask literally no questions to let me in.
The entry point, Toronto,ON, makes me feel like I am in Chicago; windy, cold in April, artistic stuff everywhere, brothers driving cabs and ethnic quarters serving some amazing food.
Hopefully as I go north the I might feel like I am in a different country.