I am currently on an H1-B visa in the US and our COPR expires on Oct 23. My wife and I were planning to do a soft-landing in Oct and then settle in Canada in mid to late 2022. The restriction on soft-landing has made things quite complicated for us.
Asking for an extension may be complicated for us (more on that below) and so we are thinking that we will land in Oct, stay for 2-3 months (my job allows remote work till Dec 20), and then return and live in the US for 2 years (to wrap up some financial commitments) and then finally return for good to Canada.
a) The immigration restriction on soft-landing says donāt come if āā¦ not settle here yetā. What does āsettleā mean from an official standpoint? How is the immigration process different for āsettleā vs āsoft-landingā(when it was allowed)? How does IRCC track if we are settling or soft-landing? We were wondering if we can land now, stay for 2-3 months and then live outside Canada for 2 years without raising any alarms?
b) When we finally return to Canada after 2 years, is it likely to affect the PR extension or final Citizenship? Would the fact that we stayed for 2-3 months show that we had intentions to settle versus doing a usual soft landing for a few days?
c) From the customs perspective, what makes the goods-to-follow for soft-landing different from the goods-to-follow for settling? If we come now and show intent to settle, will they allow a second goods to follow once we come to settle for good?
I read that IRCC is asking people to just let their COPR expire and reach out to them when they are ready to settle so that they can generate a new COPR. That means we will be reaching out to them in 2022 (!!) since that is when we want to come to settle. Our medicals expired earlier this year. Our IELTS will expire on Sept. So we probably will have to re-do all of them - do you guys think so too? And then we may not get the same IELTS score and our CRS score may change! I think that if we give up our COPR now, we will have to get back on the EE and expose ourselves to many uncertainties.
d) Is there any way to get a -new- COPR now for soft landing / settlement later so that we are not in EE limbo for 2 years?
Any help and input would be really appreciated. I really wish I didnāt have to try and do these things that I have mentioned, to do the exact same thing (soft-landing) that was perfectly fine to do until a month ago. While I have total intent to settle in Canada, I have some commitments to meet family financial responsibilities which are met by only working in the US for 1-2 years. I hope I am still able to achieve both goals.
We were in the same boat, we did our soft landing in July 2020. I am not aware of any restrictions from CIC where they ask you not to land if not ready to settle. They of-course want people to settle in Canada as handing out PR to people who have āfinancial commitmentsā in US (like everyone on H1B in US) is not what they signed up for when they issued you COPR. The PR policy does not state that you cannot leave Canada after landing.
I understand that the PR policy does not state that you cannot leave Canada after landing. My questions is what does āsettlingā mean, in terms of immigration enforcement, if PR allows free egress from the country? Is that just a guidance that will only be enforced at entry? Or is that something that harm your case if you come in now and leave after 3 months?
Yes this is a big question now. What does it means you cant do soft landing nowā¦ i know they cant stop us but we dont have any clarity what we need to doā¦ so anyone who can provide update is appeeciated .
Hey did you get your PR cards as its already been 3 months. If you got the PR cards it means soft Landing is still valid with 14 day quarntine. Please do reply as many people are in the similar boat and it will help us.
Thanks. So Much Sir ā¦ . I am a PNP candidate and have to go to Saskatchewan for my PR. So I am just trying to see how I can do that . also my H1B visa is expired and I have I797 valid till June 2022. I will be using AVR option.
The rule was update after July 27 that you can only come to Canada if you plan to settle and you can go back to any other country to liveā¦ So I am just trying to explore if anyone travelled after July 20 and came back after quarantine for 14 days and they are still getting a PR card for the same.
I am also got PNP from SK and have to go to Saskatchewan.
Lot of people have been able to do successful soft landing after July 27 and lately too and they started receiving PR cards. Please check below link.
I have couple of questions.
Which state are you staying in USA?
How (Air/Land) and from where(which border) are you planning to do soft landing?
Can you please let me know if you were able to do successful soft landing?
Are you aware if we can do soft landing in any province, other than SK?
No I have not decided yet to goā¦ i am in North Carolina . You can call me on +1-646-575-7583 in case you have any questions.
As far as I knowā¦ you have to go to your province for activating your PR card.
I am planning to go next year after March by air.
Which state are you in. do call me or email meā¦ we can connect ā¦ always good to have someone you know before you move to new place .
Vivek Sharma vivz12@gmail.com