I just received my PR Card that was delivered to my UPS Box in Canada. Yes this is possible!
My processing details are in signature and sidebar. I live in US and my US visa is expired. After my landing, I could not stay in Canada for more than 30 days (I actually stayed only 2 days).
Before landing I booked a hotel in canada. At the border, I gave the hotel address. The officer guessed it immediately that it was a temporary address (there was no apt number on the address). He gave me a form to fill and fax to CIC once I'm in canada and as soon as I have permanent address. He emphasized it.
I landed. The first thing I did after landing was to find the nearest UPS store and buy a box there. I bought (rented) the box for 6 months and it cost me almost $190. They told me you can use the box number as "Apt #", "Suite #" or whatever you like when giving that address to anyone. I decided to stick to the "Suite #" option. They also took my credit card info (my US$ card that they said would work in Canada too) in case I ask them to forward my mail or extend the length of the Box rental.
Then I went to the CIC centre to discuss if extra photos were required. She refused to take any extra photos but while talking to me she found out that I also need to update my permanent address. She agreed to update it on the system right then and there. I was careful not to reveal that it's a UPS Box. She updated it on the system and told me there is no need to fax!
After coming back to US. I kept calling CIC Mississauga (613-944-4000) to check the status of my PR Card App. When they said they mailed my PR Card, I waited a week and then called my UPS store, and found out that they have received an envelope from Immigration Canada.
I asked UPS Store to forward all the contents of my package to my US address. It cost me around $60. I got my envelopes (containing my pr card) in 1 business day!
The whole thing cost me $250, but I think it was a better deal compared to if I had gone the other route: apply for PRTD, pay for PRTD fee ($100+) wait for it to be processed, come back to canada and pay for PR Card app ($50), it would still have cost me at least $150 plus a lot of frustration and waiting.
UPS Box is also available for 3 months costing not more than $120 I guess. But I wanted to be on the safe side with 6 month rental. It turns out my card was processed in less than 3 months of UPS rental!
Important: I was concerned about giving them my credit card info (I had to fill a form and give all the numbers, card number, expiry, CVV, etc, and also a copy of front and back of the card!). During my landing trip I also gave this information to a parking company in buffalo to reserve parking in advance. Over the last 2 months, I had one incident of fraudulent transaction! my bank was nice enough to return me the money but I got concerned after that. My guess would be that it was the parking company and not the UPS store (cz UPS is a big name) who stole my card info. Anyway I had to cancel my old card and get a new card. But now the problem was how to make UPS send me the package if the card info they have is the old one! ... finally I bit the bullet and gave them the new card info!
My processing details are in signature and sidebar. I live in US and my US visa is expired. After my landing, I could not stay in Canada for more than 30 days (I actually stayed only 2 days).
Before landing I booked a hotel in canada. At the border, I gave the hotel address. The officer guessed it immediately that it was a temporary address (there was no apt number on the address). He gave me a form to fill and fax to CIC once I'm in canada and as soon as I have permanent address. He emphasized it.
I landed. The first thing I did after landing was to find the nearest UPS store and buy a box there. I bought (rented) the box for 6 months and it cost me almost $190. They told me you can use the box number as "Apt #", "Suite #" or whatever you like when giving that address to anyone. I decided to stick to the "Suite #" option. They also took my credit card info (my US$ card that they said would work in Canada too) in case I ask them to forward my mail or extend the length of the Box rental.
Then I went to the CIC centre to discuss if extra photos were required. She refused to take any extra photos but while talking to me she found out that I also need to update my permanent address. She agreed to update it on the system right then and there. I was careful not to reveal that it's a UPS Box. She updated it on the system and told me there is no need to fax!
After coming back to US. I kept calling CIC Mississauga (613-944-4000) to check the status of my PR Card App. When they said they mailed my PR Card, I waited a week and then called my UPS store, and found out that they have received an envelope from Immigration Canada.
I asked UPS Store to forward all the contents of my package to my US address. It cost me around $60. I got my envelopes (containing my pr card) in 1 business day!
The whole thing cost me $250, but I think it was a better deal compared to if I had gone the other route: apply for PRTD, pay for PRTD fee ($100+) wait for it to be processed, come back to canada and pay for PR Card app ($50), it would still have cost me at least $150 plus a lot of frustration and waiting.
UPS Box is also available for 3 months costing not more than $120 I guess. But I wanted to be on the safe side with 6 month rental. It turns out my card was processed in less than 3 months of UPS rental!
Important: I was concerned about giving them my credit card info (I had to fill a form and give all the numbers, card number, expiry, CVV, etc, and also a copy of front and back of the card!). During my landing trip I also gave this information to a parking company in buffalo to reserve parking in advance. Over the last 2 months, I had one incident of fraudulent transaction! my bank was nice enough to return me the money but I got concerned after that. My guess would be that it was the parking company and not the UPS store (cz UPS is a big name) who stole my card info. Anyway I had to cancel my old card and get a new card. But now the problem was how to make UPS send me the package if the card info they have is the old one! ... finally I bit the bullet and gave them the new card info!
