Confusion around "Have you applied for Permanent Residence (PR) before?" question

[TrSally]

Hi everyone!

I received a provincial nomination through a stream that does not allow using it under the Express Entry stream. So I applied for PR through Provincial Nominee Class (PNC) paper-based application on Jan 22, 2020 (inland), which can take up to 2 years to be processed. I haven't received an AOR (Acknowledgement of Receipt), and thus, I do not have a file number for this application yet.

In the meantime, I called CIC, and they confirmed that I could also apply for Express Entry and have both applications in process at the same time. I was able to create an Express Entry profile, and on Feb 19, 2020, I received an invite to apply (ITA) for PR through Express Entry.

I'm wanting to proceed with applying for PR through Express Entry, but I can't figure out how to answer these questions in the application:

1. "Have you applied for Permanent Residence (PR) before?"
2. "Please provide the Permanent Residence (PR) file number"

I think I need to answer "Yes" for the first question as I have applied for PR through PNC, but I do not have a file number yet for the second question. The second question has a text field that allows over 500 characters. Does it make sense to enter an explanation in there stating:

"I sent in a paper-based PR application through Provincial Nominee Class that was delivered to IRCC Sydney, NS on Jan 27, 2020 (UCI: ########), as I have a provincial nomination that I can't use with Express Entry. I have not received an Acknowledgement of Receipt yet at the time of submitting my Express Entry application (Feb 22, 2020), and thus, I do not have a file number for that application yet. An IRCC Client Support agent let me know that I can apply for PNC and EE at the same time, so I'm applying through EE as well."

Any thoughts or suggestions here would be highly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[ContactFront]

Answer Yes to first question, and just give a brief explanation that you haven't received FN yet.

 

[TrSally]

Answer Yes to first question, and just give a brief explanation that you haven't received FN yet.

Thank you so much for your response, @ContactFront! I'll trim down the explanation I stated in my original post as follows, and submit that:

"I sent in a paper-based PR application through Provincial Nominee Class that was delivered to IRCC Sydney, NS on Jan 27, 2020 (UCI: ########). I have not received an Acknowledgement of Receipt yet at the time of submitting my Express Entry application (Feb 22, 2020), and thus, I do not have a File Number for that application yet."

Appreciate your help!