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annfoo241

Full Member
Feb 11, 2018
22
1
Hi, hoping someone in the same boat who has their visa already can answer some questions...
I am an Australian citizen applying for common-law partner visa. Submitted application early Jan 2018. Have submitted police check and medical will be done in a few weeks.
My question is, is this a visa that will get stamped into my passport that will have an expiration date on it (usually a year or so)? Or is it, as the website leads me to believe, a PR card that gets sent to me, and it is totally separate from my passport? The reason I ask, is because my passport expires in July 2019. I am expecting this visa to be approved about Dec 2018, however if it's something with a year's validity that gets stamped into my passport, they won't be able to issue it unless my passport is valid for at least as long as the visa will be... therefore I will have to renew the passport before they can issue the visa (I've been through all this before in other countries...) If I have to renew my passport, I'd like to do it in the coming months, because I might get sent to london for work in the latter half of this year, and I really don't want to deal with renewing passport in a foreign country.
But information on the website implies that it's a PR card that gets sent out... so you don't even have to send in your passport, they'll just send you the card...?
I'm trying to do everything sooner rather than later to avoid unnecessary delays. It is hard enough being apart from partner for 12 months, don't want to make it any longer! Thanks in advance for your help.
 
As an Australian citizen you won't get a visa in your passport, nor will you automatically be sent a PR Card.

Once your application is fully processed, you will get a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) letter. This letter will have an expiration date on it which is set at the earlier of: 1 year after your medical exam - or - the expiry date of your passport. Though, the visa office may request you extend your passport as the validity may still be too short for you to travel.

Your best bet would be to just renew your passport when you feel comfortable, and update IRCC with a copy of the passport as they're processing your application.

Your PR Card only gets made and sent to you (in Canada) once you've crossed the border with the CoPR letter and have "landed". You must land in Canada before the date in the CoPR letter. You will become a PR once you've finalized everything at the Canadian border with an officer there.
 
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Thankyou! You've been a great help. I don't think I will need to worry about renewing the passport, since my medical is in April, so the CoPR will be valid until april next year. My visa SHOULD be approved this december, so thats plenty of time for me to travel :)
Thank you for all that you do :)