Got "Ready for Visa" email but have a wedding planned in two weeks

[CXTina]

(I apologize if it becomes a repetitive thread, but my previous post was stuck in "awaiting approval" and was never sent out. So I had to change a few words and repost. Hopefully it will be public this time.)

I am working in the United States and have a job offer in Canada starting this fall. I submitted application material late April and my medical exam was approved in the middle of May. Today, I received a "Ready for Visa" email from IRCC looking like this:

"
The processing of your application for permanent residence in Canada is almost complete. You must complete the following steps within 30 days in order to issue your Confirmation of Permanent Residence and, if applicable, permanent residence visa.
...
STEP 1: UPDATE YOUR APPLICATION
...
STEP 2: DO YOU NEED A PERMANENT RESIDENCE VISA?
...
STEP 3: PREPARE THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
...
"

I have a wedding planned in two weeks. It means my marital status will be changed then. My question is: shall I submit a web form explaining my situation now or after the wedding? In addition, in my city, the marriage certificate will only be available several weeks after the wedding, will it cause any delay if they ask me to prove my marriage? My partner is not coming with me to Canada, and I already asked him to prepare the medical exam and the police certificate, are these all materials that will be needed?

Finally, besides this marital status change thing, I was also curious how long it usually takes to get it back after I mail the passport to them? I have different travel plans in the coming months. I need to plan ahead if I will cannot get my passport back in time.

 

[Pdm_ca]

Hey, first off congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
Ideally one has to inform IRCC after your family composition has changed. For you, its after 2 weeks.
You can raise a web form right now informing them of this soon-to-be change in your marital status, requesting process + steps ahead.
Of course, you can choose to do it after 2 weeks too (well within 30 days of the timeline given to you). IRCC will give you time to prepare your documents & one can always request extra time if any document is taking time.

In any case, even if you decide to get your passport stamped first (takes about 1 month) and then inform IRCC, you are not advised to travel to Canada on your COPR as a married person with IRCC unaware of change in marital status.

Your landing in Canada will get postponed (by couple of months) due to this as IRCC will ask for spousal information to add to your file.

Hope this helps!

 

[CXTina]

Hey, first off congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
Ideally one has to inform IRCC after your family composition has changed. For you, its after 2 weeks.
You can raise a web form right now informing them of this soon-to-be change in your marital status, requesting process + steps ahead.
Of course, you can choose to do it after 2 weeks too (well within 30 days of the timeline given to you). IRCC will give you time to prepare your documents & one can always request extra time if any document is taking time.

In any case, even if you decide to get your passport stamped first (takes about 1 month) and then inform IRCC, you are not advised to travel to Canada on your COPR as a married person with IRCC unaware of change in marital status.

Your landing in Canada will get postponed (by couple of months) due to this as IRCC will ask for spousal information to add to your file.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for the explanation. Submitting a web form now seems like a good idea then.

 

[CXTina]

Hey, first off congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
Ideally one has to inform IRCC after your family composition has changed. For you, its after 2 weeks.
You can raise a web form right now informing them of this soon-to-be change in your marital status, requesting process + steps ahead.
Of course, you can choose to do it after 2 weeks too (well within 30 days of the timeline given to you). IRCC will give you time to prepare your documents & one can always request extra time if any document is taking time.

In any case, even if you decide to get your passport stamped first (takes about 1 month) and then inform IRCC, you are not advised to travel to Canada on your COPR as a married person with IRCC unaware of change in marital status.

Your landing in Canada will get postponed (by couple of months) due to this as IRCC will ask for spousal information to add to your file.

Hope this helps!

May I ask another related question? You said that my landing in Canada will be delayed. But can I still enter Canada using a work permit (which I already got last month for a job starting September this year)? It would be disastrous if I cannot start my job in time.....

 

[Pdm_ca]

May I ask another related question? You said that my landing in Canada will be delayed. But can I still enter Canada using a work permit (which I already got last month for a job starting September this year)? It would be disastrous if I cannot start my job in time.....

Personally, I do not think it should be a problem.
However, I would request you to corroborate this point with IRCC customer care just to be 100% sure!

As per IRCC you need to inform them of the family composition change as soon as it happens. And then pray your updated COPR gets issued prior to your job date. This would be ideal for you But I don't foresee any issue should you have the need to land on work visa.

FYI - your work permit gets invalid when they issue COPR (outland) or eCOPR (inland).

 

[CXTina]

Personally, I do not think it should be a problem.
However, I would request you to corroborate this point with IRCC customer care just to be 100% sure!

As per IRCC you need to inform them of the family composition change as soon as it happens. And then pray your updated COPR gets issued prior to your job date. This would be ideal for you But I don't foresee any issue should you have the need to land on work visa.

FYI - your work permit gets invalid when they issue COPR (outland) or eCOPR (inland).

Thank you for such a thorough reply! That's good to know. I will contact IRCC to confirm. I was also wondering, if my COPR is not issued in time, how will my application status change after I enter Canada through work visa?

 

[Pdm_ca]

Once inside Canada, on completion of application, you will be issued digital COPR through their PR portal followed by PR card.
Work permit will be invalidated on eCOPR issuance (not before that).

 

[CXTina]

Once inside Canada, on completion of application, you will be issued digital COPR through their PR portal followed by PR card.
Work permit will be invalidated on eCOPR issuance (not before that).

Hello, I have a follow-up question ---- I've uploaded some files about my marriage last week. Today, I received another "Ready of Visa" email. But I am about to enter Canada in one week, so I will not mail them my passport now. Shall I mail them my passport after I enter Canada then, or is there a different procedure? Another thing that makes me concerned is that I can find a COPR document number on the application status tracker. Does it mean they've issued a COPR for me already, and would it affect me entering Canada using a work permit? (I checked with them last time and they said I can enter using work permit, but I am not sure about it now with my current status.) Thank you!

 

[CNP]

Hello, I have a follow-up question ---- I've uploaded some files about my marriage last week. Today, I received another "Ready of Visa" email. But I am about to enter Canada in one week, so I will not mail them my passport now. Shall I mail them my passport after I enter Canada then, or is there a different procedure? Another thing that makes me concerned is that I can find a COPR document number on the application status tracker. Does it mean they've issued a COPR for me already, and would it affect me entering Canada using a work permit? (I checked with them last time and they said I can enter using work permit, but I am not sure about it now with my current status.) Thank you!

Few things you need to update -

1. Did you inform IRCC about change in your marital status ? If yes, did you receive any response ?
2. As I see, you received a new RFV. Does this mean your spouse is added and a new RFV was sent ?

Since you havent sent your passport for stamping and hence assume you havent received a physical copy of your CoPR. The details on tracker is a norm these days.

 

[CXTina]

Few things you need to update -

1. Did you inform IRCC about change in your marital status ? If yes, did you receive any response ?
2. As I see, you received a new RFV. Does this mean your spouse is added and a new RFV was sent ?

Since you havent sent your passport for stamping and hence assume you havent received a physical copy of your CoPR. The details on tracker is a norm these days.

1. Yes. They asked me to upload some files, and I did last week. This week I received the RFV email.
2. Yes. It is a new one, I think. Otherwise, it would be a mistake in their system since I received the email after I sent in the documents.

 

[CNP]

1. Yes. They asked me to upload some files, and I did last week. This week I received the RFV email.
2. Yes. It is a new one, I think. Otherwise, it would be a mistake in their system since I received the email after I sent in the documents.

If you did send your files just last week, its unlikely that process for your spouse would have completed this week. I would recommend you to please confirm status of your application - specifically if your spouse has been added and completed all the required steps. You can call IRCC to know this.

The status of your application should determine your next steps, I believe.

Also, not sure if only valid permit is enough to enter Canada, you need valid TRV as well. But please do research on both application before you decide on course of your action.

 

[CXTina]

If you did send your files just last week, its unlikely that process for your spouse would have completed this week. I would recommend you to please confirm status of your application - specifically if your spouse has been added and completed all the required steps. You can call IRCC to know this.

The status of your application should determine your next steps, I believe.

Also, not sure if only valid permit is enough to enter Canada, you need valid TRV as well. But please do research on both application before you decide on course of your action.

I see. Thanks!
But I am not sure how to call IRCC from outside Canada. As I understand, I can only raise a web form if I am not inside?

 

[CNP]

I see. Thanks!
But I am not sure how to call IRCC from outside Canada. As I understand, I can only raise a web form if I am not inside?

Try using apps like Fongo or 2ndline. You can reserve a Canadian number and then call.

 

[CXTina]

Try using apps like Fongo or 2ndline. You can reserve a Canadian number and then call.

Thanks. I will look into it.

 

[CXTina]

Personally, I do not think it should be a problem.
However, I would request you to corroborate this point with IRCC customer care just to be 100% sure!

As per IRCC you need to inform them of the family composition change as soon as it happens. And then pray your updated COPR gets issued prior to your job date. This would be ideal for you But I don't foresee any issue should you have the need to land on work visa.

FYI - your work permit gets invalid when they issue COPR (outland) or eCOPR (inland).

Hello, I have a follow-up question if you don't mind I got "Ready for Visa" email on Aug 15th when I was in USA (outland). Then I entered Canada in Aug 25th (since there simply wasn't enough time for me to get visa stamping before flight). Afterwards, I called IRCC office to update my address to the Canadian address, and they also told me that I can mail my passport to IRCC as instructed on the RFV email. I did it as instructed, but then my passport never came back.

I called IRCC again today, and the person had a different story and she said that I shouldn't have mailed in my passport since I am inland now and need an eCOPR instead. My passport is therefore, stuck at the IRCC office, and I cannot get it back besides keeping waiting. I am so confused now, since I've followed their instructions and I also updated my address---no one told me about the eCOPR thing. What should I do to move things forward now? I already submitted a web form explaining what happended, but I suppose that's the only thing I can do now? I urgently need my passport for a usa visa interview next month and shall I expect to hear from them before then? I mean, passport is an important document, I find it hard to believe that it will just get stuck at the office forever.