Hello all,
I recently received my Confirmation of Permanent Residency (through EE), and am based in Vancouver (have been for 2.5 years on IEC, which is set to expire May 2017).
I understand you can book an appointment at the local IRCC office by calling the call centre, but when I tried the woman told me she's unable to book an appointment and the local office would call (not email) me to "confirm" my appointment, which didn't sound convincing at all.
I told her that's not what the letter said, but she said I should hear from them within 3 weeks of my COPR being issued / receiving it. That time had basically been and gone by the time I called anyway, as Canada Post lost my xpress post return envelope for 10 days (surprise, surprise).
So, question one: am I going to actually get a call from my local IRCC office, or is the call centre indeed the way to book an appointment and this particular agent just wasn't up to speed?
question two: I'm flying to Chicago in a week and am debating just validating my PR upon my return to YVR a few days later, rather than waiting for the whole IRCC appointment thing to get sorted out. If I do this, will I be treated like a new immigrant (i.e., be required to supply a list of belongings, a B4 form, proof of funds etc), even though it's clear I already reside in Canada?
I've seen the relevant page and similar ones like it on CIC: cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=748&top=22
Is that literally all I'd need if I re-entered and validated PR through an airport? Or would I need all the stuff I would if I was arriving for the first time?
Any help would be great, thanks!