US outland applicants' thread :)

[louise8118]

COPR arrived today! Mailed April 4th. What a great Friday!
(Not in the express prepaid envelope we sent them either lol) Hope yours comes asap next week!

Oh yay!!! I know you have been waiting a long time for it! Congrats.

 

[ayrazar]

the actual import process is easy once you get into it. it's just lining up all the logistics that make it difficult. once you start the process, it goes quickly and for me it was relatively "cheap". and honestly, i wouldn't really recommend doing the import and landing at the same time if at all possible. both can be somewhat overwhelming to prepare for, and it's a lot easier to deal with them separately.

Yeah but I drive to work every day so having one car is gonna screw us for awhile

 

[carr1]

COPR arrived today! Mailed April 4th. What a great Friday!
(Not in the express prepaid envelope we sent them either lol) Hope yours comes asap next week!

YAY!!!! I'm so so happy for you!
They promise mine was mailed Tuesday but now I'm worried it is coming in my old last name as today ECAS now shows my old last name not married like it has until today. It's never ending screw ups with CIC.

 

[iiiEllie]

YAY!!!! I'm so so happy for you!
They promise mine was mailed Tuesday but now I'm worried it is coming in my old last name as today ECAS now shows my old last name not married like it has until today. It's never ending screw ups with CIC.

Thank you! Oh my gosh..I would think either last name should be okay for landing though! Can't wait to see your update. I feel like we've been suffering through their stupidity together.

 

[carr1]

Thank you! Oh my gosh..I would think either last name should be okay for landing though! Can't wait to see your update. I feel like we've been suffering through their stupidity together.

Got mine today (came in mail yesterday but we were out of town) I'd like to say big shocker but not when it comes to CIC.....my COPR has my old last name and passport number on it :'( it's unreal to me how inept they are! So apparently I'm not going to land tomorrow. We were ready to go tonight since it looks like I'll be mailing it back to Ottawa to have it reprinted. I'm beyond irritated.

 

[mcoro001]

Hello everybody! Im new to this forum and Im so glad I found it and maybe you guys could help me. I was wondering who has to send the application? Im the principal applicant and my husband sent me the sponsor portion of the application.. I intent to send the whole package from the US. Does it matter who send the application?

 

[louise8118]

mcoro001, it doesn't matter at all. Just to let you know, in my experience, UPS is much faster than USPS priority (not USPS fault because the delay was at the Canadian post side). Priority took 10 days and UPS two.

 

[iiiEllie]

Got mine today (came in mail yesterday but we were out of town) I'd like to say big shocker but not when it comes to CIC.....my COPR has my old last name and passport number on it :'( it's unreal to me how inept they are! So apparently I'm not going to land tomorrow. We were ready to go tonight since it looks like I'll be mailing it back to Ottawa to have it reprinted. I'm beyond irritated.

Oh my god you cannot get a break. I can't believe how inept these people who make choices about our lives are.

Hopefully they will let you land at the border, I recall you are really close, maybe you should just drive down to ask some questions and maybe get lucky in person.

 

[carr1]

Oh my god you cannot get a break. I can't believe how inept these people who make choices about our lives are.

Hopefully they will let you land at the border, I recall you are really close, maybe you should just drive down to ask some questions and maybe get lucky in person.

Crazy, right?! I'm on my way to the border now, going to get some groceries and go out to eat then try and land. I'll keep you posted!
Between you and I we could pen a CIC mess up booklet

 

[CASPN]

Hi all,

I just found out that my fingerprints were rejected for the second time from the FBI. They told me that some people just don't have very distinct fingerprints, and that i may need to submit several more cards before one of them can be scanned. Even worse, they said that it may not matter how many times I resubmit, the system might just not be able to read my prints. I submitted the first prints digitally, and the second set in ink, from two different companies, so I have no idea what the problem is, and I don't want my application to be held up for 3+ months over this. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there any other way to get an FBI clearance/prove you don't have a criminal record?

 

[Sunset0505]

Hi all,

I just found out that my fingerprints were rejected for the second time from the FBI. They told me that some people just don't have very distinct fingerprints, and that i may need to submit several more cards before one of them can be scanned. Even worse, they said that it may not matter how many times I resubmit, the system might just not be able to read my prints. I submitted the first prints digitally, and the second set in ink, from two different companies, so I have no idea what the problem is, and I don't want my application to be held up for 3+ months over this. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there any other way to get an FBI clearance/prove you don't have a criminal record?

Have you gone and had them done at the State Police?...We found it was the only way to do it...

 

[Aquakitty]

Hi all,

I just found out that my fingerprints were rejected for the second time from the FBI. They told me that some people just don't have very distinct fingerprints, and that i may need to submit several more cards before one of them can be scanned. Even worse, they said that it may not matter how many times I resubmit, the system might just not be able to read my prints. I submitted the first prints digitally, and the second set in ink, from two different companies, so I have no idea what the problem is, and I don't want my application to be held up for 3+ months over this. Has this happened to anyone else? Is there any other way to get an FBI clearance/prove you don't have a criminal record?

Moisturize your hands, send in 5 sets this time, and try Sunset's advice. Have you tried the scanner version instead of the ink and roll?

Maybe read this for any tips that might help whoever is doing it: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/fingerprints_biometrics/recording-legible-fingerprints

 

[Decoy24601]

Have you gone and had them done at the State Police?...We found it was the only way to do it...

Well, I had to go to my local sheriff's office. The municipal police will not take fingerprints for immigration purposes in the area I lived in, so that wasn't an option. There wasn't anywhere else to get them taken, either. I had to issues with it and got my FBI check after 5 months (I'm very positive they misplaced my application for a time or got it out of order... 18 weeks is way longer than expected).

 

[mcoro001]

mcoro001, it doesn't matter at all. Just to let you know, in my experience, UPS is much faster than USPS priority (not USPS fault because the delay was at the Canadian post side). Priority took 10 days and UPS two.

Thank you so much louise8118!!!

 

[carr1]

I landed, it was a hot mess but it's done.

When I got to the border and showed the agent my COPR in my previous last name and wrong passport number she laughed and got another agent to help us. At some points I had 5 agents trying to figure out how to fix CIC's mistake.
They decided to let me land sign the COPR and make changes on the COPR to show my correct name and passport number. I thought oh great this is actually going to work, then the agent said "oh no" and had me sit down again and wait. After what seemed forever the agents were laughing to each other and chatting on how to fix whatever the new issue was, at one point they were laughing so hard and looked at me and said "let's remember it's not CBSA's fault it's CIC" they whole time the agents were so nice and joking with us but I kept thinking OMG this isn't going to work and I'll need to get a new COPR from Ottawa.
Well after an hour total they called me back up and handed me a new COPR with my correct name and passport number and had me sign again, they stapled it into my passport, explained what happened and said have a nice day.
Apparently the COPR I was mailed had already been cancelled by CIC with notes saying it will be reprinted this week but still in my old last name. So the CBSA agent had to cancel the stamp in my passport with that document number and reprint a new COPR with my correct info and then cancel the 2nd to be printed COPR by CIC. I was just shaking my head and the CBSA agent was laughing.
It was a complete mess, took 1 hour 15 minutes. He never asked me any question for landing, after all that mess it was sorta anti climatic if that makes any sense.

All in all I'm glad that's done but I'm not holding my breath that my PR card will come correctly

I'm heading to service Canada tomorrow to get my SIN number and apply for OHIP.