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Just mentioning - when you make your landing, you might not want to tell the officer that you are immediately going back to the US until March.

I believe I read on the forum about a couple who tried to land, but they were going back to the US for a few months to finish their education. (Like you, they got PR way faster than anticipated.) The CBSA officer refused to let them land because he thought they should reapply in a few months.

That was probably a one-off with a particularly unaccommodating officer, but Maybe you might want to avoid telling them that you have no plans whatsoever to live in Canada until March 2017. If they ask you where you're going to live, you could give them the address of a relative (or friend) to send the PR card to, and say you're going there and are going to look for a place of your own. And that wouldn't be a lie. You could go stay with your relative or friend overnight, and you could browse some real estate listings...

Lots of people make a landing first, then go back to get their furniture and all their belongings. That doesn't seem to be a problem at all, but a CBSA officer MIGHT look negatively at your plans if they know you are not intending to live in Canada for another 10 months. Remember, the COPR does not guarantee PR. You are a PR only after you land, and a CBSA officer Does have the authority to deny you landing. It happens very very rarely, though. I'm not trying to worry you, just thought you should be aware.

If I were you, if asked, I'd say I'm going back to the US to get my furniture and stuff all packed up, but I would not say a firm date like March 2017. Just say you want to do it soon. And in the meanwhile, you want your PR card mailed to such and such an address, because you're still looking for your own place.

Oh, it just occurred to me - when did you do your medicals? Your COPR expiration date is usually 1 year from your medicals. You can land at any time by that date, so if you did your medicals in Feb 2016, you can land in Feb 2017.
 
Kayaker said:
Just mentioning - when you make your landing, you might not want to tell the officer that you are immediately going back to the US until March.

I believe I read on the forum about a couple who tried to land, but they were going back to the US for a few months to finish their education. (Like you, they got PR way faster than anticipated.) The CBSA officer refused to let them land because he thought they should reapply in a few months.

That was probably a one-off with a particularly unaccommodating officer, but Maybe you might want to avoid telling them that you have no plans whatsoever to live in Canada until March 2017. If they ask you where you're going to live, you could give them the address of a relative (or friend) to send the PR card to, and say you're going there and are going to look for a place of your own. And that wouldn't be a lie. You could go stay with your relative or friend overnight, and you could browse some real estate listings...

Lots of people make a landing first, then go back to get their furniture and all their belongings. That doesn't seem to be a problem at all, but a CBSA officer MIGHT look negatively at your plans if they know you are not intending to live in Canada for another 10 months. Remember, the COPR does not guarantee PR. You are a PR only after you land, and a CBSA officer Does have the authority to deny you landing. It happens very very rarely, though. I'm not trying to worry you, just thought you should be aware.

If I were you, if asked, I'd say I'm going back to the US to get my furniture and stuff all packed up, but I would not say a firm date like March 2017. Just say you want to do it soon. And in the meanwhile, you want your PR card mailed to such and such an address, because you're still looking for your own place.

Oh, it just occurred to me - when did you do your medicals? Your COPR expiration date is usually 1 year from your medicals. You can land at any time by that date, so if you did your medicals in Feb 2016, you can land in Feb 2017.

In my case, i landed on Aug - Sept, and came back to my work country to complete my work, and my wedding... I was out of Canada for over 7 to 8 months.

The application has to be very honest to the officer. Be prepared, the officer would ask you your plans. I told them i am here in Canada only for few days, because of so and so reasons.

There is no rule that COPR expiration is usually 1 year from the medicals. It depends on many other factors, at the time COPR is getting issued. In my case, COPR expiry was sometime in Oct. My medicals expired on Aug. COPR date is all it matters.

Obviously if you have plans to go back to US, one of the good strategies is to land few weeks before COPR expiry date.