My wife is Japanese and I'm Canadian. We're recently married and I sponsored her for (outbound spousal) permanent residency in February, 2025. After we applied, she came to Canada with me, where we lived for 5 months. In that time, she became pregnant. Because she didn't have healthcare, she returned to Japan on August 2nd, 2025. Everything had been going smoothly application-wise but then it seems to stall right at the end and we hadn't heard anything for a while. So it made sense for her to return to Japan where she could get healthcare. It's worth noting that she was only allowed to stay in Canada as a visitor for six months, even though she was waiting to hear back about her application. She had to go back home anyway, or apply to extend her tourist visa.
On August 4th, just a couple days after she flew back to Japan, she received an email from IRCC indicating that her application was "ready for finalization" and asking for her eye color, height, etc., and to confirm that she is in Canada. (Is this the PR1 or P1 email?) She's not in Canada, so she emailed them back right away to say that she is planning to return in late September or early October. This was in accordance with the the email: to await instructions in case she's not in Canada. Just yesterday (almost 4 weeks later) she received a reply simply saying that she should re-send her information (the template: height, eye color, etc.) once she's back in Canada.
Our question is this: Should she come back to Canada, and then email IRCC (the PR Portal email address) confirming she's here and then just wait to hear back for the next email (PR2 or P2)? She will be without health insurance in the meantime, I think. We're worried that it will take a long time to hear back from them before getting the electronic Confirmation of Permanent Residence (eCoPR), with which she can get health insurance in Ontario.
Since we can't be sure about when she might finally get her eCoPR, what is the alternative? Can she ask somehow to have her application transferred -- to receive a CoPR from outside Canada. If so, what sort of delay can we expect? If she returns to Canada, she can eventually get an eCoPR, but *only* if she's in Canada, right?
A second question: Has anyone managed to get healthcare in Ontario (OHIP) on the basis of the PR1 (P1) email? We didn't get an official letter confirming her eligibility (which might've worked to secure her health insurance with OHIP), so this is the only official letter we have that shows she's nearly a permanent resident.
On August 4th, just a couple days after she flew back to Japan, she received an email from IRCC indicating that her application was "ready for finalization" and asking for her eye color, height, etc., and to confirm that she is in Canada. (Is this the PR1 or P1 email?) She's not in Canada, so she emailed them back right away to say that she is planning to return in late September or early October. This was in accordance with the the email: to await instructions in case she's not in Canada. Just yesterday (almost 4 weeks later) she received a reply simply saying that she should re-send her information (the template: height, eye color, etc.) once she's back in Canada.
Our question is this: Should she come back to Canada, and then email IRCC (the PR Portal email address) confirming she's here and then just wait to hear back for the next email (PR2 or P2)? She will be without health insurance in the meantime, I think. We're worried that it will take a long time to hear back from them before getting the electronic Confirmation of Permanent Residence (eCoPR), with which she can get health insurance in Ontario.
Since we can't be sure about when she might finally get her eCoPR, what is the alternative? Can she ask somehow to have her application transferred -- to receive a CoPR from outside Canada. If so, what sort of delay can we expect? If she returns to Canada, she can eventually get an eCoPR, but *only* if she's in Canada, right?
A second question: Has anyone managed to get healthcare in Ontario (OHIP) on the basis of the PR1 (P1) email? We didn't get an official letter confirming her eligibility (which might've worked to secure her health insurance with OHIP), so this is the only official letter we have that shows she's nearly a permanent resident.
