Received email "Are you able to travel to Canada soon?" but can't travel because of covid, what should I do then?

[500w]

Hi guys, my original COPR expired on Mar 18, 2020 . I live outside Canada and really want to land asap, but Covid prevents me from traveling to anywhere this whole year ( I have some underlying respiratory issue, high-risk group for Covid).

Last week I received this email asking me if I want to go to Canada before Mar 31, 2021. Clearly, the current pandemic situation makes it very dangerous for me to do so. On the other hand ,I really don't want to lose this hard-fought application, so is there some way I can extend it? Thanks so much for your input!!

The following is the email:

Are you able to travel to Canada soon?


Please reply to this email within 10 days if you are able to travel to Canada soon and meet the conditions below.


December 24, 2020


Application number: XXXXX


Dear client,


Our records at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) indicate that:

• Your permanent residence application was approved.
• The date of issue on the confirmation of permanent residence (CoPR) document that was sent to you and your family members, if applicable is on or before March 18, 2020.
• You and your family members, if applicable, have not used your CoPR to enter Canada.
• The validity date on your CoPR (i.e. the date by which you needed to travel to Canada) has passed and your document has therefore expired.
• Based on your specific case details and as an exceptional response to COVID-19, IRCC was able to extend your medical exam validity; your medicals now expire on March 31, 2021.

IRCC wants to confirm that:

• You still want to travel to Canada to become a new permanent resident; please note that IRCC is not asking you to purchase a plane ticket.
• You are ready, willing, and able to travel before the current expiry date of your medical exams, in your case, March 31, 2021. This validity may not be further extended, without you re-doing all immigration medical exam(s) and covering the cost for them.
• You are ready, willing, and able to travel to Canada on a valid passport by March 31, 2021.
• There are no COVID-19 restrictions to prevent you from leaving your country.
• There is a travel route with zero or one transfer that you can use to get to Canada and that is currently operating.
• Your plan is to stay in Canada permanently.
• You are able to arrange and cover the costs to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Canada.

If you fulfill all the conditions above, please reply to this email at ircc.in-rroc-corr-ri.ircc@cic.gc.ca within 10 days and answer the questions using the response letter template below to help us better understand your situation.


Please respond to this email ONLY if you are sure that you could travel to Canada soon.


Please note that if new travel documents are issued to you, IRCC will send you a letter that will be valid for up to 60 days (but not exceeding your medical or passport validity), and it may not be possible for IRCC to issue you with another extension.


IRCC will endeavour to respond to you within four weeks.


Sincerely,
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada





Response letter to IRCC


To: ircc.in-rroc-corr-ri.ircc@cic.gc.ca


Hi IRCC,


I am confirming that I am ready to travel to Canada with a valid passport before March 31, 2021.


Please find my answers below.


Information About My Application

• Primary applicant family name(s):
  Answer:
• Primary applicant given name(s):
  Answer:
• Application number:
  E001436136
• Class of application:
  Skilled Worker – Federal
• Primary applicant citizenship:
  Answer:
• Current country of residence:
  Answer:
• Date your PR visa expired:
  Answer:
• Full names of family members, including your spouse and dependent children, who are planning to travel to Canada with you:
  Answer:

My Situation

 

[chakrat]

Hi guys, my original COPR expired on Mar 18, 2020 . I live outside Canada and really want to land asap, but Covid prevents me from traveling to anywhere this whole year ( I have some underlying respiratory issue, high-risk group for Covid).

Last week I received this email asking me if I want to go to Canada before Mar 31, 2021. Clearly, the current pandemic situation makes it very dangerous for me to do so. On the other hand ,I really don't want to lose this hard-fought application, so is there some way I can extend it? Thanks so much for your input!!

The following is the email:

Are you able to travel to Canada soon?


Please reply to this email within 10 days if you are able to travel to Canada soon and meet the conditions below.


December 24, 2020


Application number: XXXXX


Dear client,


Our records at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) indicate that:

• Your permanent residence application was approved.
• The date of issue on the confirmation of permanent residence (CoPR) document that was sent to you and your family members, if applicable is on or before March 18, 2020.
• You and your family members, if applicable, have not used your CoPR to enter Canada.
• The validity date on your CoPR (i.e. the date by which you needed to travel to Canada) has passed and your document has therefore expired.
• Based on your specific case details and as an exceptional response to COVID-19, IRCC was able to extend your medical exam validity; your medicals now expire on March 31, 2021.

IRCC wants to confirm that:

• You still want to travel to Canada to become a new permanent resident; please note that IRCC is not asking you to purchase a plane ticket.
• You are ready, willing, and able to travel before the current expiry date of your medical exams, in your case, March 31, 2021. This validity may not be further extended, without you re-doing all immigration medical exam(s) and covering the cost for them.
• You are ready, willing, and able to travel to Canada on a valid passport by March 31, 2021.
• There are no COVID-19 restrictions to prevent you from leaving your country.
• There is a travel route with zero or one transfer that you can use to get to Canada and that is currently operating.
• Your plan is to stay in Canada permanently.
• You are able to arrange and cover the costs to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Canada.

If you fulfill all the conditions above, please reply to this email at ircc.in-rroc-corr-ri.ircc@cic.gc.ca within 10 days and answer the questions using the response letter template below to help us better understand your situation.


Please respond to this email ONLY if you are sure that you could travel to Canada soon.


Please note that if new travel documents are issued to you, IRCC will send you a letter that will be valid for up to 60 days (but not exceeding your medical or passport validity), and it may not be possible for IRCC to issue you with another extension.


IRCC will endeavour to respond to you within four weeks.


Sincerely,
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada





Response letter to IRCC


To: ircc.in-rroc-corr-ri.ircc@cic.gc.ca


Hi IRCC,


I am confirming that I am ready to travel to Canada with a valid passport before March 31, 2021.


Please find my answers below.


Information About My Application

• Primary applicant family name(s):
  Answer:
• Primary applicant given name(s):
  Answer:
• Application number:
  E001436136
• Class of application:
  Skilled Worker – Federal
• Primary applicant citizenship:
  Answer:
• Current country of residence:
  Answer:
• Date your PR visa expired:
  Answer:
• Full names of family members, including your spouse and dependent children, who are planning to travel to Canada with you:
  Answer:

My Situation

I doubt you can extend it. The letter clearly states that you wont be able to extend it.
"

• You are ready, willing, and able to travel before the current expiry date of your medical exams, in your case, March 31, 2021. This validity may not be further extended, without you re-doing all immigration medical exam(s) and covering the cost for them."

 

[500w]

I doubt you can extend it. The letter clearly states that you wont be able to extend it.
"

• You are ready, willing, and able to travel before the current expiry date of your medical exams, in your case, March 31, 2021. This validity may not be further extended, without you re-doing all immigration medical exam(s) and covering the cost for them."

Hi thanks for your reply,

I am Ok with re-doing medical exam. I just don't want to go through the whole application process again.

Also, with the increasingly high EE score, I might not be able to qualify if I need to apply it again

 

[raon]

I received the same email as you couple of days back.
The way I understand it, we are required to respond to the specified email ID ONLY if we can travel prior to the date* mentioned in the email.
* - The date differs on case by case basis.

If we respond yes, we will be contacted within 4 weeks and provided with new travel docs allowing us to travel to Canada. This travel document will be final and IRCC may not issue another extension.
It does not clarify if they will allow soft landing. They discourage it on IRCC website and if you call them up. But, recent soft landing attempts seem to have gone off without a hitch (according to posts on immi websites).

If we do not respond within 10 days, we can still contact them at a later time when we are ready to travel. At this time, they will reevaluate documents that are expired and ask us to get recent ones.
Medical will almost certainly be mandatory.
Maybe recent police certificate (?)

To summarize: I believe they are contacting us now to give us a chance to travel without requiring additional documents. If we let this pass, we will have to redo some of the steps which will add to the overall Express Entry cost. I don't think they will have us re apply and go through the points system again.
It would have been easier if they would have clearly mentioned this in their email! There is some scope of interpretation and the above is my take on it.

 

[dosanjh23]

@raon did you finally responded on it or no? What's the situation.

I received the same email as you couple of days back.
The way I understand it, we are required to respond to the specified email ID ONLY if we can travel prior to the date* mentioned in the email.
* - The date differs on case by case basis.

If we respond yes, we will be contacted within 4 weeks and provided with new travel docs allowing us to travel to Canada. This travel document will be final and IRCC may not issue another extension.
It does not clarify if they will allow soft landing. They discourage it on IRCC website and if you call them up. But, recent soft landing attempts seem to have gone off without a hitch (according to posts on immi websites).

If we do not respond within 10 days, we can still contact them at a later time when we are ready to travel. At this time, they will reevaluate documents that are expired and ask us to get recent ones.
Medical will almost certainly be mandatory.
Maybe recent police certificate (?)

To summarize: I believe they are contacting us now to give us a chance to travel without requiring additional documents. If we let this pass, we will have to redo some of the steps which will add to the overall Express Entry cost. I don't think they will have us re apply and go through the points system again.
It would have been easier if they would have clearly mentioned this in their email! There is some scope of interpretation and the above is my take on it.

@raon
Did you responded? What's the situation

 

[raon]

I responded yes, I can travel.
IRCC replied with an email in about 10 days.
They extended the validity of expired COPR and PR visa to the extended medical expiry date online.

At this time, we are not printing and mailing new CoPRs or PR visa counterfoils. For your travel to Canada, you will need to:
· bring this letter, along with your original CoPR and PR visa
· show it to the airline as proof that you are exempt from the travel restriction and that the validity of your expired CoPR and PR visa have in fact been extended.
· use this letter before 2021/xx/xx

Note that the date mentioned is exactly 60 days since the day the email was generated and NOT based on the new COPR validity date.

So what happens if we cannot travel within 60days but can travel before extended COPR expires?

If you are unable to travel before the expiration date of this letter on 2021/xx/xx, IRCC will leave your PR application open and you will have to go through this CoPR and PRV re-issuance process again when you are able to travel to Canada.

Hope this helps.

 

[dosanjh23]

I responded yes, I can travel.
IRCC replied with an email in about 10 days.
They extended the validity of expired COPR and PR visa to the extended medical expiry date online.

At this time, we are not printing and mailing new CoPRs or PR visa counterfoils. For your travel to Canada, you will need to:
· bring this letter, along with your original CoPR and PR visa
· show it to the airline as proof that you are exempt from the travel restriction and that the validity of your expired CoPR and PR visa have in fact been extended.
· use this letter before 2021/xx/xx

Note that the date mentioned is exactly 60 days since the day the email was generated and NOT based on the new COPR validity date.

So what happens if we cannot travel within 60days but can travel before extended COPR expires?

If you are unable to travel before the expiration date of this letter on 2021/xx/xx, IRCC will leave your PR application open and you will have to go through this CoPR and PRV re-issuance process again when you are able to travel to Canada.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your response.
As of my case, my docs have expired already both medical and travel stamp.
And there is no deadline mentioned in my response pdf but it says


In order to continue processing your application, we must receive your response within 10 days of receipt
of this email. If we do not hear from you within 10 days, we will assume that you are not able to travel to
Canada within the next 60 days. Your application will remain open and placed on hold until after the travel
restriction pause is lifted or until you demonstrate that you meet the criteria above.
To find out more, visit our website at Approved permanent residence applications (with a COPR and PRV
issued to clients outside Canada)

Please upload these documents to your MyCIC account.
Please note:
The above information/documents must be received within 10 days from the date of this
correspondence. If this deadline is not met, your application will be assessed based on the information
that was provided with your application and your application could be refused.



Now as of my state I don't want to go due to concerns of health and safety along with the fact that job market is hard these days.
What should I be doing. Should I respond or just skip as it will mean a No. Its going to be too bumpy ride for me if I plan to travel in next 60 days with all the necessary medicals, documents and travel plans.

 

[canuck78]

Hi thanks for your reply,

I am Ok with re-doing medical exam. I just don't want to go through the whole application process again.

Also, with the increasingly high EE score, I might not be able to qualify if I need to apply it again

Are you still living in NYC? Why isn’t driving an option?

 

[dosanjh23]

is soft landing allowed ?

 

[AmyCLC]

is soft landing allowed ?

No allowed. They state it some times before on the IRCC web sites

 

[steaky]

No allowed. They state it some times before on the IRCC web sites

You are wrong. There were people soft landed earlier in the month:

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/successfully-completed-soft-landing-at-peace-bridge-buffalo-with-expired-copr-feb-2021.720789/

 

[AmyCLC]

Yes, I wong. But in the IRCC website, they said if you land and then go, this is non essential travel.

 

[steaky]

Yes, I wong. But in the IRCC website, they said if you land and then go, this is non essential travel.

Non essential travel is allowed. Furthermore, people are planning to do their landing in the coming days and booked their fed government approved mandatory quarantine hotels.

 

[AmyCLC]

But how do these applicants get landing? I in Malaysia and wait for authorisation but I see many other applicants with later COPR expire can fly or have authorisation letter to land?

I no sure. I have quit job for a year now as I thought I imigrate in full by March2020 and had not been able to yet do so.