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COPR and coronavirus

smithplato

Star Member
Jun 7, 2019
51
90
Hi,

I got the below reply from IRCC for the Webform raised on 3/23. I had conveyed that I would not be able to travel.
My CoPR approval date is 3/13 and CoPR expires on 4/27.

Reply from IRCC

Good day,

Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Coronavirus - Approved PRs
We verified the information you provided. The Government of Canada is closely monitoring the new coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on IRCC clients.
If you are outside Canada:
On March 20, 2020, the Government of Canada provided updates on exemptions to travel restrictions in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus and protect the health and safety of Canadians.
If you were approved for permanent residence before the travel restrictions were announced on March 16, 2020, but have not landed yet, you will be able to come to Canada. The travel restriction exemptions that were announced are now in place. If you’re exempt, you can now travel to Canada.
If you’re travelling by air, you need to pass a health check before you’re allowed to board your flight. Anyone who shows symptoms of COVID-19 will not be allowed to enter Canada by air.
When you arrive in Canada we’ll assess your health before you leave the port of entry. You must isolate for 14 days even if you have no symptoms. This is mandatory.
Only people who provide essential services and truck drivers who regularly cross the border to maintain the flow of goods are exempt from the isolation requirements.
We invite you to consult the How COVID-19 is affecting business at IRCC page to answer your most common questions about travel restrictions and exemptions.

If you are inside Canada:
We understand that these measures will affect several IRCC clients, including those who have received a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) and are currently inside Canada.
Validating a COPR at a Port of Entry (POE)
· Due to the current travel restrictions, you should not travel to a POE to validate your COPR.
· Travelling to a POE from inside Canada for the purpose of getting immigration services is not considered essential travel, and you will not receive these services.

Appointment at a local IRCC office
· All in-person permanent resident landing appointments at the local IRCC offices have been cancelled.
· We are looking into alternative means to provide permanent resident landing services, including possibly by telephone.
· You will be contacted directly to reschedule your appointment.
· Local offices are reduced to critical services, therefore, no appointments can be scheduled at this time.

What happens next?
· Maintaining a legal temporary resident status is an important requirement. If your status is about to expire, you must apply online for an extension (visitor, student or worker).
· We invite you to visit our website regularly to receive up-to-date information as more announcements are made.

Please be assured that we continue to closely monitor the situation closely and will provide you with the most current information as the situation evolves.

Sincerely,

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I clicked on the link "How COVID-19 is affecting business at IRCC" and found the below

When will the exemptions be in place? Should people being exempt rush to Canada immediately?
Temporary foreign workers, some international students and approved permanent residents who haven’t yet landed are now able to enter Canada.
The travel restriction exemptions that were announced are now in place. If you’re exempt, you can now travel to Canada.
If you’re travelling by air, you need to pass a health check before you’re allowed to board your flight. Anyone who shows symptoms of COVID-19 will not be allowed to enter Canada by air.
When you arrive in Canada we’ll assess your health before you leave the port of entry. You must isolate for 14 days even if you have no symptoms. This is mandatory.
Only people who provide essential services and truck drivers who regularly cross the border to maintain the flow of goods are exempt from the isolation requirements.

With travel restrictions in place in many countries around the world and international air travel reduced during the COVID-19 outbreak, we don’t recommend that those who are exempt from travel restrictions immediately try to travel to Canada.
The highlighted portion is pure gold for someone who doesn’t want to travel immediately. I appreciate your help. Thank you
 
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ankurgupta325

Star Member
Jan 11, 2015
146
86
Category........
Visa Office......
Delhi
NOC Code......
2171
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Nomination.....
OINP
That’s good news! Does this mean that all Canadian embassies around the world will get in touch with those applicants who were unable to travel?
Ideally that should be the case. The can't have different procedures for different countries. Earlier similar announcements were made by Canada high commissions in Brazil and UK. It's just a matter of time other VOs make such announcements.
 

Islander216

Champion Member
Nov 27, 2019
2,109
1,338
thanks; that is very good to know. Will exchange at the airport. I suspect we'll be able to use cash anywhere though in the next couple months?

Can you share those websites that you've mentioned when you have a moment?
I just used skipthedishes.com to order food, got my delivery no problems. They are only accepting credit card payments though, no cash payments due to the situation.

Im going to try to order some groceries next and see how that goes.
 

Dia89

Full Member
Mar 16, 2020
43
30
GOOD NEWS: IRCC Delhi just announced on FB page:

""Please be advised that anyone who is unable to travel to Canada to confirm their permanent resident status due to travel restrictions will be contacted.
IRCC Delhi will advise what steps need to be followed in order to travel to Canada after the travel restrictions have been lifted.""
Hi... i just hope by "next steps to be followed", they dont mean they will ask us to restart the whole application all over again
:(
 

Islander216

Champion Member
Nov 27, 2019
2,109
1,338
Thought I'd type up my landing experience for anyone interested. For reference, I had a COPR for FSW express entry and my common-law partner is a Canadian citizen. I flew direct from Glasgow to Toronto on the 26th March.

Checking in for the flight

Upon arrival there was moderate queues to check-in, they advise to arrive 3 hours before the flight (which was at 11am). This is where I encountered my first issue. Air Transat initially said I would not be allowed to board the plane with my COPR only, I had to provide documentation to prove my common-law status and the evidence that immediate family members of citizens could travel. I appreciate this situation has now changed in that COPR's can now travel, however I would strongly recommend you print off and bring the proof of this from the Canadian government websites and highlight the relevant sections. I was held up for around 40 minutes at check-in as they had called Canada to get confirmation if I would be allowed to complete the landing process. I got there in the end, however likely would have not have done had I not had all my documents categorised and organised to present to the Air Transat staff.

The flight

The plane was not too busy so every passenger was separated by at least 1 seat which gave more room and made sense to reduce the proximity of travellers. There was no meal service on the flight, instead we were given a sealed bag with a sandwich, croissant, chocolates, pringles and a bottle of water. I would advise dependant on the length of your flight to purchase some additional snacks before boarding the plane as the onboard service is limited due to the circumstances. Other than that, the flight was uneventful and took off and landed on time.

Immigration

I had downloaded the e-declarations app which produces a barcode you scan at the electronic terminals in Toronto when you first land. This essentially replaces the paper card they used to hand out on the flight for items to declare. This was arriving in terminal 3 in toronto, I do not believe terminal 1 has this facility yet. This process took all of 1 minute from scanning my app to answering a few further questions on the terminal, a paper slip is then printed off with your picture taken by the machine. This was extremely quiet and I was the first person in the queue to see the first set of immigration officers, no waiting at all. I said I was landing with a COPR and my partner was a citizen, the agent highlighted my slip with a pink highlighter and I was then directed to a secondary office.

This is where things took a slight turn for the worst, there was around 8-10 officers sitting at kiosks all on their phones and looked rather bored. I was the only person in the office so stood at the front of the queue and waited for someone to call me to their desk. The officer initially gave me a complete dressing down and said it was extremely irresponsible for me to have flown and I was putting myself and others at risk. I tried to explain i travelled in line with the Canadian government regulations however he did not seem impressed either way. He asked me to take a seat and asked mt to provide ALL of my documentation. I was sat for around half an hour whilst he went through almost every document I had. After a long and nervous wait he eventually called me over to sign the COPR's and then went over the isolation procedures. He asked me several times what my plans were to isolate which I had already got in place (I am currently in self isolation in my in-laws basement for the next two weeks). Be sure to have a plan and clear explanation of how you plan to isolate, the officers will grill you on this and be prepared to answer some more difficult questions about funds and how you plan to work etc given the restrictions.

Customs

As I was stuck in immigration for a while all my bags were offloaded off the carousel already when I went through to collect baggage. All my goods were accompanying so I had made two lists of everything I had and rough values. I went to the customs agent who asked if I had any goods to follow and I said no, he then explained to me he didn't need to see any paperwork and just waved me through. This was very quick and again there were no queues whatsoever.


All in all, considering the circumstances the trip was okay other than the immigration part where the officers are very suspicious and are looking for you to give a clear plan of how you are planning to manage in lock-down. I will stress this again, ensure you have a legitimate plan to isolate and way to support yourself over the next few months.

Health checks

At no point was I stopped and physically checked for symtoms of the virus. Argents do stop you to hand you an information sheet of how to self isolate and the penalties for not doing so when you land before you reach immigration, however this does not involve temperature checks etc. The airline also did not at any point ask me or check for symptoms. You will be asked on the electronic terminal to declare if you have symptoms. It is made very clear at all points the penalties for not self-isolating. You could face up to 6 months in prison and a $750,000 fine for not following self isolation as per the new law.


Any questions, just ask.
Thanks for typing up your landing experience. Sad to hear you had sort of a bad experience with your IO. It’s why i always prepare for the worst case scenario. He was just in a bad mood or being difficult.

It’s just the luck of the draw, the IO who gestured to me to come to her was very nice, only asked me the standard questions.
 

Ziyad

Full Member
Jul 29, 2019
40
60
Hi... i just hope by "next steps to be followed", they dont mean they will ask us to restart the whole application all over again
:(
I think the steps to follow will most likely be to send the passport along with the old COPR so that the visa and COPR can be cancelled in order to issue new ones. They might ask us to do the medical or hopefully they will just extend the COPR without it so we get more time to enter the country when everything is back to normal.
 

Canaspirant xyz

Hero Member
Aug 21, 2018
963
487
Thanks for your response.
I got a generic response to the Webform I raised. Seems like we need to wait until the restrictions in India are lifted. Also IRCC delhi has posted on their FB page that they will provide with further guidance for people whose CoPR has expired.
It is a wait and watch game now with more countries enforcing lockdown (latest is UAE). I hope the situation gets better soon and we have much clear guidance from Governments across the world
Can u pls share that link of fb.
 

Dia89

Full Member
Mar 16, 2020
43
30
I think the steps to follow will most likely be to send the passport along with the old COPR so that the visa and COPR can be cancelled in order to issue new ones. They might ask us to do the medical or hopefully they will just extend the COPR without it so we get more time to enter the country when everything is back to normal.
I mean it would have been such a relief
I think the steps to follow will most likely be to send the passport along with the old COPR so that the visa and COPR can be cancelled in order to issue new ones. They might ask us to do the medical or hopefully they will just extend the COPR without it so we get more time to enter the country when everything is back to normal.
Hope so.
It would have been such a relief if they could mention something regarding Extension. They should give some clarity.
 

tagarzain555

Star Member
Aug 4, 2019
89
52
Likewise to you!

As I say the main takeaway from my experience is ensure you have a good plan for isolation as the border agent will likely ask.
Scot, thankyou so much for the extensive reply.

What were questiosn asked if any for your proof of funds? And how did you convince them?
 

Islander216

Champion Member
Nov 27, 2019
2,109
1,338
So it’s time for Islander’s epic voyage to land in Canada

We start off in my home country. So i wait for the exemptions to be in place, they are announced 26 night time my time. So 27 i wake up, see the exemptions have been announced and then contact my travel agent to see if there is some slim chance there is a miracle i could get a flight to Canada, as the last thing i had heard was that Air Canada had suspended all flights and flights were due to be suspended in my home country as well. Well, just so happens there is a hail mary on the horizon, there is a last flight from london to toronto on the 28. So i tell her to book it for me but she told me the airline has taken control of my ticket, most likely because i missed my flight to paris on 18 because the travel ban in canada had just been implemented. So she insists i have to contact the airline, my dad calls them several times they insist it’s the travel agent who must change the booking, we call up the travel agent several times, she insists she can’t do it, it has to be the airline. So my dad calls up the airline, this time he’s annoyed and asks to talk to the supervisor, the lady insists we have to deal with her first before she involves the supervisor. The conversation is going poorly so i ask to speak to her, i explain the situation, she says the airline is relunctant to change my ticket from paris to london for some reason, and that priority is being given to foreign nationals being repatriated. I explain to her that because there is a travel ban in my home country being implemented until 30 april, my CoPR will expire on the same day and so this is my last chance to land in canada. She says she understands and she will call me back. So i wait for almost 2 hours, my dad is getting impatient, i tell him just give her some time and let’s see what happens. She calls me back, my heart is about to stop but she tells me that she has made the booking and she got me the last seat on the plane. I thank her profusely and start getting ready to go because the flight is later that night.
So i get to the airport and check in for my flight, now the real struggle commences. The lady at the counter is not sure whether i can fly, her colleague, a certified douchebag, says he knows first time PRs cannot travel now. I tell him about the exemptions, and show her the print out of the announcements, something my dad told me to do. She tells me she will confer with her supervisor. She tells me to go have a seat and i see her supervisor looking into the matter and holding my passport. I see her taking a lot of time, i also see douchebag face hanging around and flapping his gums, so sensing i need to step in, i get up and go talk to the supervisor. She is very polite but tells me she is trying to verify whether i can travel to Canada, and they have significant doubts on whether immigration will allow me to enter Canada. I show her the exemptions in the print out from IRCC, we go back and forth for a while. She isn’t sure whether the PR visa in my passport which says immigrant means PR, so i show her my COPR. She even instructs her underling to go find it on the website, wherein which i show where to find the announcements. In the end she requests to have a copy of my PR visa, COPR and the annoucements. What also helps convince her is that i have a return ticket, so if they refuse me boarding in london, they can just offset the cost of repatriation against that. Douchebag makes a remark about if i get deported I’ll have to accept that, i say with full confidence that’s fine. I finally get on the flight to London, the second battle is won.

So now I’m in Heathrow, it sucks everything is closed, literally everything. Only thing open is the self check out shops, but you can only use credit cards, and I’m not that desperate for a bag of lays and a drink. I go to Air Canada there thinking the worst is over, but when i check in, they are also very doubtful about whether i can travel to canada. They are very polite but the lady refers my case to her colleague and he’s very nice but it’s clear they are not really aware of the exemptions, and they are looking for confirmation. All of this is taking a lot of time and i begin to wonder whether i really will be able to travel. The lady then tells me that it’s okay for me to travel and then i hear her get a call from someone saying to recheck whether i can travel. There is also another COPR holder and a foreign worker, and we are all waiting. Finally the guy takes a small cellphone which is like their batline to Canada, explains the situation and gives them my visa reference. They give him the all clear but there are some issues with the system and he needs an override. In the end, he gives me my boarding pass and i apologize for all the hassle. He tells me the thing is things evolve on a hourly basis and that’s why they need to check.
So i head to the terminal and wait to board the flight to Toronto. Once it’s my turn to board, the lady checking boarding passes and passports asks me about my status, i tell her I’m landing as a PR, she asks me if i have any immediate family , and then i get pulled out of line and then told to speak to another guy. Then he checks my passport, i reexplain the situation , then now he makes another phone call. Finally, he says i can board, i tell the lady, she just waves to me to go and finally, i am on board the flight.

So i arrive in the promised land, i head to immigration, guy just asks me my status in canada, i tell him I’m landing as a permanent resident, he asks me what food product i have, i said spices, he says that’s all, i say yes, he just does a cross in pink on my declaration card and writes something in red, and hands me my passport and i head out. Once i leave the counter i end up walking the wrong way, and a girl tells me to land as a permanent resident, i need to go to the right. I confirm with her, she gives me a big smile lol, and i head to the landing counters. There’s no one in line, so i just go to the head of the line, and wait for someone to call me. A lady does quickly and i go to see her, i give her my passport and she asks for my COPR, which i remove from my bag. She asks me if i was ever asked to leave Canada, i say no, asks if I’ve committed a crime, i say no, then she asks me to sign 3 places on each copy, asks whether this is the address where i want my PR card sent, i said yes, she tells me it will take 2 or 3 months, i wince to myself, she tells me i have to stay 2 out of 5 years as my residency obligations, she signs and gives me back my copy, and i thank her and she tells me to have a nice day. I said you too.

I head to customs, the guy asks if im landing as a PR, i say yes, he asks if i have goods to follow, i shake my head no, he gestures to go ahead.

So that’s that.
 
Last edited:

Adam261

Star Member
Mar 17, 2020
62
36
Approved permanent resident applicants with expired or expiring documents
If we already approved your permanent resident application but you can't travel to Canada before your documents expire, use the Web form to tell us why you can’t travel.

Once it’s possible for you to travel, use the Web form to let us know so we can tell you what to do next.
 

SWB

Star Member
Jan 18, 2020
113
41
Approved permanent resident applicants with expired or expiring documents
If we already approved your permanent resident application but you can't travel to Canada before your documents expire, use the Web form to tell us why you can’t travel.

Once it’s possible for you to travel, use the Web form to let us know so we can tell you what to do next.
Can you please share the link