Couple of Questions towards the end of the road

[Vercetti]

First off:  I got my passport request email!!!!!   I am almost at the end of this hellish waiting game and could not be happier.


However, I do have a couple of questions:

1.  It says in the e-mail that I can send in my passport or scans of all my passport pages.  Whats the catch with this?  Do they prefer my passport  or what?  Has anyone sent in copies of the pages before?  I'm currently visiting in Canada and I'm a bit nervous about sending my passport through the mail.

2.  Since I am in Canada, I am planning on sending my passport/copies to Fort Erie as opposed to the Buffalo Office.  Anyone have experience with this situation that can tell me how their experience went?  Am I better off sending it to Buffalo or does it even matter?

3.  What exactly do they want my passport for?  Are they putting something in to it? 

As always,

Thank you guys so much!

[awor]

Congrats! I have the same questions for when my ppr arrives.

[ddobro2]

1. As of Dec. 1, 2011, visa-exempt countries such as the United States will no longer be issued a counterfoil, which is essentially the sticker that goes in your passport that says, "visa" on it. Instead, they will send back to you the Confirmation of Permanent Residence which you will use to land. Hence, they don't need the physical passport, but they do need every single one of the pages from your passport photocopied (along with the other two items listed in the email) and won't accept just the photocopy of the bio-page.

2. You can check the Buffalo thread for personal experiences but I think most people who are in-country follow the instructions and send to Fort Erie, Ontario. They will pick it up and government courier it to Buffalo for examination.

3. For one, they need to see your passport validity in order to issue the landing papers (COPR), because as your PPR email noted, the COPR will have "a validity date indicated, and you must become a Permanent Resident on or before that date. The validity of the Confirmation of Permanent Resident documents cannot be extended." CIC officially says that the aforementioned expiry/validity date is "one year following the initial conclusion of your medical exams or the expiration date of your or any accompanying family-member's passport, whichever is earlier."

First off:  I got my passport request email!!!!!  I am almost at the end of this hellish waiting game and could not be happier.


However, I do have a couple of questions:

1.  It says in the e-mail that I can send in my passport or scans of all my passport pages.  Whats the catch with this?  Do they prefer my passport  or what?  Has anyone sent in copies of the pages before?  I'm currently visiting in Canada and I'm a bit nervous about sending my passport through the mail.

2.  Since I am in Canada, I am planning on sending my passport/copies to Fort Erie as opposed to the Buffalo Office.  Anyone have experience with this situation that can tell me how their experience went?  Am I better off sending it to Buffalo or does it even matter?

3.  What exactly do they want my passport for?  Are they putting something in to it?  

As always,

Thank you guys so much!

[CanadiansWife]

for question 1. I think that's only for VISA EXEMPT countries where you can just send in your passport scans.

[Vercetti]

Thanks guys, you rock!