Travel Experience with Letter of Authorization on 28th Oct
Travelled from my hometown to Toronto via Delhi on Air India. While checking in at the airport, i was told that they would check me in till Delhi as the visa and Letter of Authorization (AL) would have to be verified at Delhi. I reached Delhi 4 hours prior to the Toronto flight departure. Had to pick up the bags from the domestic baggage belt and go to the 2nd floor Departures in T3 for recheck in. I was directed to the E Aisle of ticketing. There was a special line at the front where the travel documents were being verified by the airline staff. They took pictures of the Visa, CoPR and AL and sent them for verification to IRCC or the Embassy (Not sure which one). Average time of response was 10-15 mins. Was also asked to sign an indemnity form for any deportation or quarantine issues. Once they got a response, the staff wrote “OK TO BOARD” with some confirmation number on the back of the indemnity form. After that I was directed to the ticketing counter where the bags were checked in and the person checking in took photographs of Visa, CoPR and AL again. Once the boarding passes were issues, had to go through immigration. I was asked a lot of questions and after that they put the departure stamp on my passport. The whole process took 2.5 hours, and I reached the gate barely half an hour before boarding started. The 14.5 hours flight to Toronto was torturous with the mask and face shield on all the time except for eating or drinking water. Once we landed in Toronto, the immigration and the customs processes were quick and hassle free. The only things asked were the address to which the PR card had to be sent and if I had more than 10K CAD money in hand.
Overall, it was a long and exhausting journey but had to be done for completing the landing process before Oct 31. I really hope IRCC takes a more sensible approach for all the expired CoPRs instead of this mess which has left everyone deflated and confused.
