Hello. We received our COPR on 28th Feb. We live in the U.S. (on H1Bs) and we were planning to do a soft landing via land in March 2020. Since there were travel restrictions and the scare of COVID-19 - we thought to wait until April to travel to Canada. Since it is almost an 9 hour drive for us - we decided to give a call to CBSA and ask them whether the we would be able to cross the border or not. The CBSA are advising not to travel for a soft landing if we are not moving to Canada. We were hoping to complete the formalities at the border and turn back to the U.S. (they used the term "flagpooling for this) Basically they are asking us to delay our soft landing until after the restrictions.
I have reached out to IRCC for an advice as well and what could happen if we are unable to do a soft landing before 7th May through a web form and this was their response “We have received your enquiry concerning your Confirmation of Permanent Residence document that has expired or will soon expire. We are currently making additional verifications in order to respond to your request.” . If we are attempting the travel, then we would need to quarantine ourselves for 14 days in Canada and we would be needing to find a hotel/airbnb for accommodation. Due to the COVID-19 scare, we are trying to avoid this for now.
The IRCC mentioned to me on the call today that the CBSA at the border might consider our travel as a non-essential one.
Through this post - I am trying to understand if anyone else is in the same boat and if yes, what would you suggest to do. I am in a panic mode right now thinking that I would loose the PR approval if not able to meet the May 7th, 2020 deadline.
I am so sorry hear about your situation. As per my understanding there are many people in similar situation. Here is a forum where people are discussing similar situations. Hope this helps.
Given IRCCs reputation, they are likely to extend the deadline.
Thank you for your reply. The attached post was helpful. It seems the people on this post have asked all the right questions but unfortunately no one has any answers about these questions.
If you have all travel arrangement and don’t have anything holding you back in the US… you may attempt to land but definitely have a self-isolation plan in mind. Book a hotel or airbnb for a month or two.
If you miss the date on the CoPR, there is no telling how things will play out. CBSA and IRCC tend to be very reasonable and I have no doubt they understand the unique situation. But this could mean it could take a few months or longer to sort this out after the virus goes away.
I recently got to know about someone who was in a similar situation as mine and was turned away by the CBSA as his family was attempting to do a soft landing. They had a plan in place to do quarantine themselves for 2 weeks and still they were refused an entry in Canada as soft landing is not considered an essential need at this point.
If you haven’t already, inquire with IRCC over web form! That’s the first thing you should do. If you have decided not to land now it’s imperative you inform them.
If you have decided to land, please note than 14 day self quarantine is mandatory and you need to make all the living arrangements (hotel/Airbnb/groceries etc). You also cannot get any official work done (SIN, bank accounts) etc till this is over.
Hope you are doing good. Where you able to make the travel and do your soft landing. Sorry to reply this late, from what i heard travelling by flight will avoid you the question of the duration of stay. But by land you have to mention the time period you gona be in since you are driving your car without US import document. That what I get to to know talking to people. May be I am wrong. Not sure. Though this might help your situation.
Thank you for replying back. I contemplated flying out to Canada but I live here on the east coast - NY/NJ area and there are 0 flights flying to Canada currently. I was unable to find any flight. I have let our COPRs to expire for now and waiting on the IRCC to reply back. They have acknowledged our emails informing them about our situation and how we would be unable to travel now mostly due to the fact there aren’t any flights and that driving up to the border will have their CBSA agents not letting us enter. (I have already called the CBSA agents to confirm this and they said that they would not let us enter for soft landing. )
We are in the same situation right now , did you got any reply from the raised Webform? Any idea if we need to do the medicals and police verification again , even if we get some extension?
I have not received any communication from the IRCC apart from the very re-assuring general email that they would have communicated out stating that we should contact them once we are ready to travel and that they would let us know on the next set of steps then. They also mentioned in their email that we should be rest assured that the being not able to travel will not have a negative impact on our approved applications.
I am trying to check currently if we can make a soft landing and come back on the same day rather than quarantining for 14 days in a hotel. Would you have any idea about whether or not this is possible?
Thanks for the reply,we are actually planning to travel by mid July,and as far as we know ,the 14 day quarantine is still there ,and we have booked the AirBnb accordingly.Considering the current situation I am not sure if the Quarantine act will be lifted soon,but lets hope for the best!!
I came across this page during my research on what happens if one isn’t able to travel before the COPR+PRV expires i.e., beyond the courteous boiler plate response that you get from IRCC once you let them know that you may not be able to travel for landing before the expiry of your documents (COPR+PRV). I thought it’s rather useful to know their process.
A bit about my personal experience/status :
I have a COPR+PRV that expires on Aug 10, 2020. I will likely not be able to travel to Canada for landing prior to that thanks to several reasons stemming from the COVID-19 crisis. So, I reached out to IRCC through the WebForm per their instructions to let them know. I asked for my options to defer the date of landing. I just received a response that is slightly different from the standard reassuring one that many have mentioned on various threads of this forum.
Common Response : “…Please be assured that your application will not be refused if you are unable or unwilling to travel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Response I received :"Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). We verified the information you provided regarding your inability to travel and have forwarded it to the responsible office. They will contact you if further information is required or if a decision is made on your application."
Has anyone else received something like this?
Appreciate your insight!
Given the COVID pandemic, I think IRCC is being very lenient about expiring CoPRs and PR visas. From their point of view, it’s better for them that people don’t travel during pandemic and they will support extensions etc. The general process seems to be:
You let IRCC know through webform that you cannot travel
They will note it and probably put a pin on your application (nothing negative, just that they will review it again in 60 days). I explained this in a earlier post
Once you are ready to travel, you inform them and they will issue new CoPR and PR visa (? haven’t heard from anyone but I’m guessing it largely resembles the PPR step).
It’s important to note that unless you absolutely need to land, it’s better to defer since it has no negative impact on your applications. In fact, it might be easier on you because you won’t need to self-isolate (especially if you don’t have a support system already in place in Canada), and it may be easier to look for jobs when companies lift their hiring-freeze.
I have however, heard several people mention that “soft” landing is now not allowed (non-essential), or at least this is what CBSA said. This is understandable, since incoming are expected to self-isolate. In any case, there is not such thing as “soft” landing in the eyes of CBSA w.r.t. immigration.
Also, applicants approved before March 18th are exempt, rest are not. If you’re moving permanently and not flagpoling, in many cases they will let you in. I have also read anecdotal evidence that land crossings are more strictly enforced than air crossings, however don’t quote me on that.
Did you get answer for your question??
I faced similar situation few months back. I send IRCC an email with some questions and I got the same reply as you got. After 2 days someone replied back with answers to my question.
This is my current update on this: As stated earlier My COPR was approved before March 18th and it has now since been expired (COPR was valid till May 7th, 2020). I reached out to IRCC regarding to make a soft landing in the month of August and they replied back with the below: (IRCC’s response below):
According to our records, you have indicated that you are now ready to travel to settle and live in Canada as a permanent resident. Currently, only CoPR holders whose travel to Canada is considered essential are able to enter Canada. In addition, some public health measures are in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Canada. Accordingly, we ask that you confirm that you are able to fulfill the requirements described below. In order for IRCC to determine if you can indeed travel to Canada, you must provide the following:
1. Your plans to live and settle in Canada upon arrival • documents to support your living situation in Canada (i.e. address, lease agreement, home ownership document) • employment plans in Canada, (i.e. location of work, letter from employer) • any other relevant information. 2. How you plan to quarantine for 14 days when you arrive in Canada, including how you will have access to groceries, get medical care, and other essential services. While in quarantine, you will not be able to leave your place of quarantine for any reason. This is mandatory even if you have no COVID-19 symptoms. • proof of funds (i.e, bank and/or credit card statements) 3. your proposed or confirmed travel itinerary • a description of your proposed or confirmed travel itinerary, including travel tickets if you have already purchased them
Please provide the above information to IRCC via the IRCC Webform. We will evaluate your request upon receipt and let you know whether or not you are approved to travel to Canada at this time. Please note that only approved permanent residents now able to live and settle in Canada will be allowed into the country at this time due to the ongoing travel restrictions. Travel for temporary stay for reasons such as tourism, entertainment or simply to finalize applications without staying in the country is not allowed and will not be permitted.
Hello Everyone,
Just got around to update here. I did receive a message on the application website after about 5 days since I first reached out, to the effect of the “common response”.
Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). This is in reference to your application for permanent residence in Canada. We have received your request to extend the duration within which you can confirm your status as a permanent resident. Please be assured that your application will not be refused if you are unable or unwilling to travel as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. If the situation is resolved and you are able to travel within the existing validity of your documents, you may do so. Otherwise, once you and your family members (if applicable) are able to travel, please notify us through the IRCC Web form. At that time, IRCC will respond with the most up to date information we have on next steps.
