COPR and coronavirus

[whyCorona]

My COPR is expiring in month of June and my current country of residence(Saudi Arabia) has cancelled all international and national flights from March. Now I have following questions,

Should I raise webform right away or should I wait till end of April to see if flights start again?
Second I don’t know my visa office. Passport submission request came from Abu Dhabi but visa is issued at Riyadh. What is my visa office as per above information.
Kindly provide your suggestions.

Wait till mid of May. You will get a generic response for you enquiry right now as you have plenty of time for you CoPR expiry. Select the VO from dropdown menu while raising webform. If you have a doubt then raise two webforms one for Abu Dhabi and one for Riyadh if both are showing up in dropdown menu.

 

[Saurav205]

Thanks for the reply. But how

Soft landings are actively discouraged currently by CBSA given they are considered non essential travel as you can see by some posts on this forum. If the quarantine order is still in place which nobody can do more than speculate there would be zero chance of any exemption from that.

Would you get an extension to your COPR again nobody can do more than speculate given you are probably able to travel so not travelling could maybe regarded as not being inclined to travel versus not able to plus what might good for one not necessarily good for another.. Again there are a lot of opinions expressed on here whether people travelling in May might get extensions or not, only IRCC can give that answer not this forum.

As people understand it IRCC are obviously not keen to start reissuing COPRs if travel is possible in the near future so maybe you need to raise a web form to record your concerns in the system. Given the thousands of web forms getting any answer might take a while though

Thanks for the reply. I understand your point The problem here is that due to lockdown etc it's so difficult to plan for a permanent move. The situation there isn't great which makes it even harder to hard land right now.

Also for hard landing you have to quit your job which in these uncertain times is so damn risky. It's such a chaotic situation and soft landing seems to be the only logical way out.

 

[ekta_meh]

My Parent's Permanent Resident Application is approved and they have been granted a immigrant visa with a validity date till May 09, 2020. Considering the outbreak due to COVID-19, travel restrictions imposed by India/Canada they may not be able to travel with in May 09 time frame unless the condition improves. In case if condition does not improve, Will they be granted a new immigrant visa with an extended date so that they can fly and complete the landing process during a later time frame once the conditions are suitable for travel?

 

[JNS1214]

Hi All, I had planned my travel to Toronto with my wife and 2 year old and CoPR valid till 22 Apr. Our flight was with Lufthansa on 16th Mar, but the flight got canceled on 13th Mar. I got it rescheduled for 3 Apr, which again got canceled on 20th Mar. Lufthansa have mailed that they will refund the amount, but do not know when. Again on 20th Mar I booked AI direct for 6th Apr, but due to lock down now all AI flights are canceled till 30 Apr, and no Air Canada flights too. In between Etihad was showing up with stoppage in Abu Dhabi from 15th Apr, but lately that is also canceled. Till date ~15K CAD stuck in limbo, and cannot afford to book another ticket. Have raised numerous web-forms to both Canada and Delhi, but have got the generic response. Now unsure what to do now. On one hand I do not want to risk our health, specially the kid's. On other hand do not want to miss this opportunity...
Please suggest what could be done now.

Who told you that AIR INDIA Flights are cancel till 30 April. I have booked it for 18th April but have not received any mail or message for canceling Flight. I have Flight Mumbai -Delhi -Toronto.

 

[Newbie-123]

Wait till mid of May. You will get a generic response for you enquiry right now as you have plenty of time for you CoPR expiry. Select the VO from dropdown menu while raising webform. If you have a doubt then raise two webforms one for Abu Dhabi and one for Riyadh if both are showing up in dropdown menu.

Thanks for your answer. Really appreciate it.

 

[DarthVader_11]

@Islander216 @tobs Air Canada denied me. I went with my CoPR which is valid till Apr 27th. They called someone on the phone and said unless I have a wife or child I cannot travel. This was on March 28th 2 days after the exemptions were announced.

This is what worries me- even though the exemptions are in place there seems to be some lack of awareness among the airlines.

I wrote to IRCC explaining what happened and asked for an extension. They said they will forward my case to the relevant department. However I would ideally like to go before April 27th.

Do you know of cases where they allowed people to board? I am going in from the US.

 

[ryeCatcher]

@Islander216 @tobs Air Canada denied me. I went with my CoPR which is valid till Apr 27th. They called someone on the phone and said unless I have a wife or child I cannot travel. This was on March 28th 2 days after the exemptions were announced.

This is what worries me- even though the exemptions are in place there seems to be some lack of awareness among the airlines.

I wrote to IRCC explaining what happened and asked for an extension. They said they will forward my case to the relevant department. However I would ideally like to go before April 27th.

Do you know of cases where they allowed people to board? I am going in from the US.

Oh man, I'm really sorry to hear that.
Am not sure what your best course of action is, perhaps you could try clarifying with airlines again.

There are at least two people on this thread who have successfully flown from the US : @MelCan2020 and another user @ryan1990

Good luck and keep the thread posted!

 

[CountessO]

My COPR is expiring in month of June and my current country of residence(Saudi Arabia) has cancelled all international and national flights from March. Now I have following questions,

Should I raise webform right away or should I wait till end of April to see if flights start again?
Second I don’t know my visa office. Passport submission request came from Abu Dhabi but visa is issued at Riyadh. What is my visa office as per above information.
Kindly provide your suggestions.

June is still many weeks away. Maybe you should hold on a little bit longer till like say end of April or early May to see how the whole situation goes. I am positive it would be a whole better situation by then.

 

[hinavin]

@Islander216 @tobs Air Canada denied me. I went with my CoPR which is valid till Apr 27th. They called someone on the phone and said unless I have a wife or child I cannot travel. This was on March 28th 2 days after the exemptions were announced.

This is what worries me- even though the exemptions are in place there seems to be some lack of awareness among the airlines.

I wrote to IRCC explaining what happened and asked for an extension. They said they will forward my case to the relevant department. However I would ideally like to go before April 27th.

Do you know of cases where they allowed people to board? I am going in from the US.

Hi, Thank you for sharing your experience and sorry to hear about the incorrect decision the check in staff made! Few clarification questions, so we all are better prepared and perhaps overcome a similar denial by airport staff / airline staff. (Assume you may have read several posts describing how applicants were challenged by airport staff, presented the supporting exemptions etc and much back and forth later and also after those staff/supervisors making calls back to Canadian authorities, these applicants were able to fly. )

- Which airport was this?
- What was the flight route (direct or connections etc)?
- How much of a lead time did you have - to be able to escalate it to senior supervisors / managers at the check in area/airport manager?
- Were you able to carry print outs of the government of Canada notifications, exemptions and presented those to the staff at the check in counter?
- which staff members denied this - you mentioned air canada - were there any senior supervisors who were called?
- did you interject and insisted that they look up Govt of Canada websites / IRCC websites etc?
- finally did they agree to give you in writing that they are denying boarding despite all those evidence of exemptions?
(in all the stress you may not have asked for it - which is absolutely fine).

Wish you all the best and I have no doubt the extension will be provided! Its just a bit more time and hassle, I suppose.
Regards
Nav

 

[Islander216]

@Islander216 @tobs Air Canada denied me. I went with my CoPR which is valid till Apr 27th. They called someone on the phone and said unless I have a wife or child I cannot travel. This was on March 28th 2 days after the exemptions were announced.

This is what worries me- even though the exemptions are in place there seems to be some lack of awareness among the airlines.

I wrote to IRCC explaining what happened and asked for an extension. They said they will forward my case to the relevant department. However I would ideally like to go before April 27th.

Do you know of cases where they allowed people to board? I am going in from the US.

Well, i boarded an Air Canada flight and landed on March 28. So i find this very surprising because there are no qualifications on the exemptions for COPR holders.

The only stipulation is that your PR documents must have been issued on March 18 or earlier.

 

[niko80]

Anybody traveled to Canada from USA recently? Wonder what is the current situation?

 

[Lmac4]

I am headed there (the US/ Canada) border on Friday, as my husbands COPR expires Sunday, April 12th. We are going to attempt to cross, despite calling multiple times and them stating it isn't essential travel. We've raised webforms and contacted our visa office via e-mail and haven't heard anything. We "are able to travel" aka in a car, despite being in CT (high risk area) so we don't want to take the risk of the IRCC stating we "could have traveled" and deny an extension. We will have to take the risk of either getting turned away, or isolating in Canada for 14 days (and attempting to cross back) as we have not wrapped up our affairs, and I (as a Canadian) am still on a work-visa here in America.

I'll keep everyone updated.
ANY AND ALL TIPS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

 

[ryeCatcher]

I am headed there (the US/ Canada) border on Friday, as my husbands COPR expires Sunday, April 12th. We are going to attempt to cross, despite calling multiple times and them stating it isn't essential travel. We've raised webforms and contacted our visa office via e-mail and haven't heard anything. We "are able to travel" aka in a car, despite being in CT (high risk area) so we don't want to take the risk of the IRCC stating we "could have traveled" and deny an extension. We will have to take the risk of either getting turned away, or isolating in Canada for 14 days (and attempting to cross back) as we have not wrapped up our affairs, and I (as a Canadian) am still on a work-visa here in America.

I'll keep everyone updated.
ANY AND ALL TIPS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

Good luck, keep us posted and stay safe.

I am surprised that you have been told it isn't essential travel. I have called twice in the last few days, most recently this morning and both times I was told that I was welcome to drive across as long as I am willing to self isolate. Both times the CBSA agent I spoke with seemed well aware of the exceptions and did not mention anything about not being essential travel. I think you will be fine, good luck!

 

[Raghuveer]

Who told you that AIR INDIA Flights are cancel till 30 April. I have booked it for 18th April but have not received any mail or message for canceling Flight. I have Flight Mumbai -Delhi -Toronto.

If you go to Air India website, they are not taking bookings for the month of April, so not sure how did you book. If you booked using agent or travel aggregators such as Makemytrip, Yatra etc....better confirm your booking with them

 

[Bs65]

Good luck, keep us posted and stay safe.

I am surprised that you have been told it isn't essential travel. I have called twice in the last few days, most recently this morning and both times I was told that I was welcome to drive across as long as I am willing to self isolate. Both times the CBSA agent I spoke with seemed well aware of the exceptions and did not mention anything about not being essential travel. I think you will be fine, good luck!

Based on some other posts on this forum where people have had discussions with CBSA get the impression that their interpretation of non essential travel would be if some told them they were in effect doing a soft landing which is the OPs plan.

If someone was heading for Canada on a one way trip that would be fine given that ultimately is the whole reason for immigrating to Canada and there are veryfew exemptions currently for crossing back and forth the US/Canada border being a new immigrant is not necessarily one of them unless one way.

Soft landings in the current emergency are it seems frowned upon by CBSA and even possibly US CBP for the return although as everyone knows with CBSA/IRCC different agents sometimes are not consistent with a response

The critical thing still remains the 14 day isolation .