Can we land at a port of entry and get our PR card on a weekend?

[daijoeboo]

Sorry dumb question time.
I would like to know if it is possible to "land" (we are already in Canada) at a port of entry on a weekend and get your PR card using your CoPR and passport.

The reason I ask is because the alternative is to schedule an appointment with a local office, but this will be a weekday 9-5 time slot.
I would like to avoid taking time off work and we also thought it would be nice to see Niagara before winter.

Is landing at a port of entry on the weekend the exact same as scheduling a weekday appointment when transferring your CoPR to a PR card?

Thanks!

 

[sashali78]

Sorry dumb question time.
I would like to know if it is possible to "land" (we are already in Canada) at a port of entry on a weekend and get your PR card using your CoPR and passport.

The reason I ask is because the alternative is to schedule an appointment with a local office, but this will be a weekday 9-5 time slot.
I would like to avoid taking time off work and we also thought it would be nice to see Niagara before winter.

Is landing at a port of entry on the weekend the exact same as scheduling a weekday appointment when transferring your CoPR to a PR card?

Thanks!

Did you apply outland? If yes, you can either enter US or flagpole and land on your way back to Canada.

 

[daijoeboo]

We did apply outland but we arrived as soon as I was approved as a sponsor and our process was done at CPC Ottawa.
I am thinking officially we are outland because my wife had zero status in Canada prior to the application and we applied from overseas.

 

[rg2012]

We did apply outland but we arrived as soon as I was approved as a sponsor and our process was done at CPC Ottawa.
I am thinking officially we are outland because my wife had zero status in Canada prior to the application and we applied from overseas.

You can land any time at the border. Long weekends = heavy traffic though. Anyways, so what do you mean by zero status? She was at least on a visa right? Flag polling is possible at one of the land ports. That's what we did at Port Erie. Don't know if they allow this now but we u-turned just after the Canadian border. We did not go across the bridge to the US. We were all visa holders at that time and we "landed" by following this process. The PR card was sent to us in a few weeks time.

 

[sashali78]

We did apply outland but we arrived as soon as I was approved as a sponsor and our process was done at CPC Ottawa.
I am thinking officially we are outland because my wife had zero status in Canada prior to the application and we applied from overseas.

Then as i mentioned before you should have no issue to land at the port of entry and it is a much faster way to get your PR. Try to pick a weekday or nighttime though to avoid long waiting lines.

 

[IrisSphere]

FYI you don't get the PR card right away, it can take 4-6 weeks to receive, depending on the timelines posted by CIC. Right now its at 44 days:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-card.asp

 

[daijoeboo]

Sorry by zero status I just meant she wasn't holding a working holiday visa or visitor's permit or something already issued, so even though it was handled at CPC Ottawa and not Manilla it had to be outland by definition.

So the consensus is the borders are open 24/7 so applying for the PR card is possible, but it sounds like if my wife doesn't receive it on the spot it's 44 days?
Would a reason she doesn't receive it at the border be because it's after business hours?

We are actually thinking of going on a Saturday.

 

[Rob_TO]

Sorry by zero status I just meant she wasn't holding a working holiday visa or visitor's permit or something already issued, so even though it was handled at CPC Ottawa and not Manilla it had to be outland by definition.

So the consensus is the borders are open 24/7 so applying for the PR card is possible, but it sounds like if my wife doesn't receive it on the spot it's 44 days?
Would a reason she doesn't receive it at the border be because it's after business hours?

We are actually thinking of going on a Saturday.

Majority of land border are 24/7 for immigration services. Some of the smaller border crossings though have set times they can do PR landings, so if it's a small crossing you're thinking of going to it's best to call ahead.

The process for PR card is the same no matter where you land. At landing you submit 1 copy of your COPR document, and CBSA will apply to CIC for your PR card on the spot. CIC will process the PR card application and card will arrive in the mail, approx 2 months later. Until you get PR card you can use the stamped COPR document to apply for things like a SIN.

 

[daijoeboo]

Okay thanks Rob_TO that's clear, we wait for the card to arrive in either case.
We will use Niagara so it may be busy, but it will fortunately be open.

Incidentally, I didn't know we could start applying for all kinds of things with just the flappy paper CoPR.
Does this include OHIP or will Service Ontario want the actual PR card?

Thanks!

 

[Rob_TO]

Okay thanks Rob_TO that's clear, we wait for the card to arrive in either case.
We will use Niagara so it may be busy, but it will fortunately be open.

Incidentally, I didn't know we could start applying for all kinds of things with just the flappy paper CoPR.
Does this include OHIP or will Service Ontario want the actual PR card?

Thanks!

You can apply for SIN with COPR, as long as you have done the actual PR landing. You have 2 copies of the COPR... 1 is given to CBSA to apply for your PR card, and the other they sign/stamp and return to you and that is basically your proof of PR landing so you can use to apply for things.

For OHIP though you need to wait until 3 months after landing as PR before you qualify. So there is really no point in going before then. You also need proof of residency in Ontario from their specific list of documents, in addition to PR card or COPR.

 

[daijoeboo]

Rob_TO thanks for the information.
While I have your ear - why do we have to wait 3 months after PR landing for OHIP?
I was under the impression that people who had already been here a while and received 'implied status' could apply, so isn't the waiting period already elapsed by the time you actually "land"? In theory, in some cases couldn't certain people landing already have OHIP??

We tried to apply directly to the eligibility board with GCMS notes showing 'passed' eligibility, following the info on this forum, but haven't heard back yet (I am thinking we'll be told no because it wasn't the official inland letter (we are outland)).

I guess this is simply the process and there are no alternative routes?

Re: SIN, Thanks for clarifying - get the CoPR stamped first then apply, got it.

 

[Rob_TO]

Rob_TO thanks for the information.
While I have your ear - why do we have to wait 3 months after PR landing for OHIP?
I was under the impression that people who had already been here a while and received 'implied status' could apply, so isn't the waiting period already elapsed by the time you actually "land"? In theory, in some cases couldn't certain people landing already have OHIP??

We tried to apply directly to the eligibility board with GCMS notes showing 'passed' eligibility, following the info on this forum, but haven't heard back yet (I am thinking we'll be told no because it wasn't the official inland letter (we are outland)).

I guess this is simply the process and there are no alternative routes?

Re: SIN, Thanks for clarifying - get the CoPR stamped first then apply, got it.

Standard practice from OHIP is time spent here as a visitor does not qualify as qualifying time. So in vast majority of cases the 3-month clock starts as of the date you officially land as a PR.

However the way around this with outland apps is to go through the OERC, which you have already done. So you may get lucky and they will determine her qualifying time actually started earlier based on her app status while with the outland visa office. But until you get this positive response from them, or if you're told no, you will need to go by 3 months from landing.

 

[daijoeboo]

Rob _TO thanks a lot, I will contact the Eligibility Review board before making an application with CoPR.
Next stop Rainbow Bridge.

 

[Rob_TO]

Rob _TO thanks a lot, I will contact the Eligibility Review board before making an application with CoPR.
Next stop Rainbow Bridge.

Remember that she will need to travel to the USA side first before you can enter the Canadian office for PR landing. You can't simply walk into the Rainbow bridge office directly from the Canadian side. If she's visa exempt to the US she can enter USA and then return back to Canada, or if not she will need an administrative refusal from US before she can come back to the Canada side.

Also your wife will also need one of the "proof of residency" documents from "list 2" here: http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/GetFileAttach/014-9998E-82~1/$File/9998-82E.pdf
It must be a document exactly as stated with no exceptions as OHIP is very strict about this.

Since you are waiting for the OERC to respond to your eligibility request, I believe (but not 100% certain) that if they do eventually find she was eligible to start the 3-month waiting period at an earlier date, if she had already paid for any health care expenses out-of-pocket during this time she would get reimbursed according to the OERC decision and if she should have qualified for OHIP earlier.