Got the CoPR but...

[LindtChocolate]

Hey guys!

So my husband finally received his CoPR but we ran into another possible hurdle.
The Embassy that issued the CoPR made an error on his birth place (Right country, wrong city).
We're not sure if it's okay for him to go ahead and land at the nearest visa office (He's currently in Canada), or wait for the Embassy to respond to our situation.
I sent out an e-mail last week but we have not heard from them.. so we decided to make an appointment to land at the local office today.
According to the lady on the phone, we have to wait a whole week.. just so they can tell us when the appointment time will be (Ugh).
Did anyone ever had to go through something like this? I plan on letting the visa officer know of the error and bring my husband's birth certificate as well.. to avoid misrepresentation. But I am not sure if they'll issue the PR..

I also found this link; http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2013/ob545-mod.asp
which states that the visa officers are authorized to correct errors on the CoPR before issuing a PR.
But again, I'm not sure. I called CIC twice and both times the operators on the phone told me they weren't sure what we should do and that we should just wait for the Embassy to respond back. But CoPR is only valid until March 13th! (DOUBLE UGH). This is so frustrating.. his birthplace is clearly written on his birth certificate.

Another question is.. how long did you have to wait to go to the local visa office to "land", after making an appointment?
We live in Winnipeg, MB. But I just wanted to get a sense of the duration that we have to wait.
I know that the quickest way to land is by flagpoling but with his prior criminal background in US, I'm not sure if that's the safest route right now..

Please advice. Thank you~

 

[user828]

Hey guys!

So my husband finally received his CoPR but we ran into another possible hurdle.
The Embassy that issued the CoPR made an error on his birth place (Right country, wrong city).
We're not sure if it's okay for him to go ahead and land at the nearest visa office (He's currently in Canada), or wait for the Embassy to respond to our situation.
I sent out an e-mail last week but we have not heard from them.. so we decided to make an appointment to land at the local office today.
According to the lady on the phone, we have to wait a whole week.. just so they can tell us when the appointment time will be (Ugh).
Did anyone ever had to go through something like this? I plan on letting the visa officer know of the error and bring my husband's birth certificate as well.. to avoid misrepresentation. But I am not sure if they'll issue the PR..

I also found this link; http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2013/ob545-mod.asp
which states that the visa officers are authorized to correct errors on the CoPR before issuing a PR.
But again, I'm not sure. I called CIC twice and both times the operators on the phone told me they weren't sure what we should do and that we should just wait for the Embassy to respond back. But CoPR is only valid until March 13th! (DOUBLE UGH). This is so frustrating.. his birthplace is clearly written on his birth certificate.

Another question is.. how long did you have to wait to go to the local visa office to "land", after making an appointment?
We live in Winnipeg, MB. But I just wanted to get a sense of the duration that we have to wait.
I know that the quickest way to land is by flagpoling but with his prior criminal background in US, I'm not sure if that's the safest route right now..

Please advice. Thank you~

Wonder how he got PR with criminal history
You can get this corrected at the interview which has to before meds expire, call CIC and see what date they give you

In addition, US is not the only country to exit to - you can go to Mexico and come back or carribean

 

[Alurra71]

Hey guys!

So my husband finally received his CoPR but we ran into another possible hurdle.
The Embassy that issued the CoPR made an error on his birth place (Right country, wrong city).
We're not sure if it's okay for him to go ahead and land at the nearest visa office (He's currently in Canada), or wait for the Embassy to respond to our situation.
I sent out an e-mail last week but we have not heard from them.. so we decided to make an appointment to land at the local office today.
According to the lady on the phone, we have to wait a whole week.. just so they can tell us when the appointment time will be (Ugh).
Did anyone ever had to go through something like this? I plan on letting the visa officer know of the error and bring my husband's birth certificate as well.. to avoid misrepresentation. But I am not sure if they'll issue the PR..

I also found this link; http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2013/ob545-mod.asp
which states that the visa officers are authorized to correct errors on the CoPR before issuing a PR.
But again, I'm not sure. I called CIC twice and both times the operators on the phone told me they weren't sure what we should do and that we should just wait for the Embassy to respond back. But CoPR is only valid until March 13th! (DOUBLE UGH). This is so frustrating.. his birthplace is clearly written on his birth certificate.

Another question is.. how long did you have to wait to go to the local visa office to "land", after making an appointment?
We live in Winnipeg, MB. But I just wanted to get a sense of the duration that we have to wait.
I know that the quickest way to land is by flagpoling but with his prior criminal background in US, I'm not sure if that's the safest route right now..

Please advice. Thank you~

So long as he doesn't have a warrant for his arrest should he return to the US, he should be fine to flagpole. He is doing just exactly that, just touching US soil to return immediately to Canada. All he needs to tell them is he wishes to flagpole and they will issue him an 'administrative refusal' or something to that effect and he can then just turn around and return to Canada.

 

[user828]

It is true that it's an admin refusal, however when you cross a certain line, you are in US territory. When we flagpoled recently, this older lady was stopped for vehicle check and she was fed up, so she said " I don't wish to enter US, I want to go back", the officer said as soon as you crossed that exit, you are in US regardless of you not wishing to enter US
They do take passports and check it

 

[Alurra71]

It is true that it's an admin refusal, however when you cross a certain line, you are in US territory. When we flagpoled recently, this older lady was stopped for vehicle check and she was fed up, so she said " I don't wish to enter US, I want to go back", the officer said as soon as you crossed that exit, you are in US regardless of you not wishing to enter US
They do take passports and check it

Yes, I understand exactly what you are saying. You are indeed on US soil, however, so long as you tell them at the booth you are wishing to flagpole, there should be no issue. The lady you are speaking of, only got this answer because she appeared to be trying to hide something. When you are pulled in for secondary inspection, declaring you no longer wish to come to the US is not good enough. You will be inspected regardless and THEN you may declare your intent to return to Canada, but not before they are done looking you over.

As I stated previously, as long as he does not have a nation wide warrant for his arrest, he would be fine. I would wonder though, if he has a criminal record, is CIC aware of this fact and did they decide it wasn't enough to make him inadmissible. If this is something that happened after he started his paperwork, that could spell trouble if he tries to land because they will ask about being arrested and such.

 

[user828]

Yes, I understand exactly what you are saying. You are indeed on US soil, however, so long as you tell them at the booth you are wishing to flagpole, there should be no issue. The lady you are speaking of, only got this answer because she appeared to be trying to hide something. When you are pulled in for secondary inspection, declaring you no longer wish to come to the US is not good enough. You will be inspected regardless and THEN you may declare your intent to return to Canada, but not before they are done looking you over.

As I stated previously, as long as he does not have a nation wide warrant for his arrest, he would be fine. I would wonder though, if he has a criminal record, is CIC aware of this fact and did they decide it wasn't enough to make him inadmissible. If this is something that happened after he started his paperwork, that could spell trouble if he tries to land because they will ask about being arrested and such.

Yes, exactly what I was thinking - he has to answer COPR questions - have you been charged with a criminal offense etc ( if he has already declared during the process then they know it but he has to say it else it might look like he is hiding )

As for the lady, I know what you mean by her intent and then changing it - however, just from their perspective, CBP wouldn't let anyone go like that even if they are flagpoling - this all falls down the severity of the issue, someone with a warrant is coming to them, no chance they would simply let em go, and on the other hand if Canada has issues a PR, it must be after FBI records and CBSA's own security check so it should be OK
Unless the applicant is taking utmost care of having no issue regardless of everything being clear etc

 

[LindtChocolate]

Wonder how he got PR with criminal history
You can get this corrected at the interview which has to before meds expire, call CIC and see what date they give you

In addition, US is not the only country to exit to - you can go to Mexico and come back or carribean

He was a teenager when he committed the crime. His record was automatically sealed when he turned 18.

 

[LindtChocolate]

Yes, I understand exactly what you are saying. You are indeed on US soil, however, so long as you tell them at the booth you are wishing to flagpole, there should be no issue. The lady you are speaking of, only got this answer because she appeared to be trying to hide something. When you are pulled in for secondary inspection, declaring you no longer wish to come to the US is not good enough. You will be inspected regardless and THEN you may declare your intent to return to Canada, but not before they are done looking you over.

As I stated previously, as long as he does not have a nation wide warrant for his arrest, he would be fine. I would wonder though, if he has a criminal record, is CIC aware of this fact and did they decide it wasn't enough to make him inadmissible. If this is something that happened after he started his paperwork, that could spell trouble if he tries to land because they will ask about being arrested and such.

Yes, the CIC is aware of his past. We sent the Embassy the court documents of the crime that he had committed when he was a teenager. We decided to do this (even though his record was sealed when he turned 18), for the fear of possible misrepresentation that might come back to haunt us.

 

[user828]

Yes, the CIC is aware of his past. We sent the Embassy the court documents of the crime that he had committed when he was a teenager. We decided to do this (even though his record was sealed when he turned 18), for the fear of possible misrepresentation that might come back to haunt us.

Then just flagpole, it's no issue. Especially with US, if it was that serious then CIC wouldn't have approved the case

 

[Alurra71]

He was a teenager when he committed the crime. His record was automatically sealed when he turned 18.

If it's sealed, then it shouldn't be an issue. You should however, never assume they have 'sealed' these things against immigration. CBP can and will look at minor records, so I can only assume that CBSA/CIC also can get this information. I know this first hand as they were able to see something on my daughters record from when she was 15. It was even supposed to be cleared off her record for completing her community service and sealed at 18 as well (per US law), however, that wasn't the case here.

No trying to scare you, just make you aware. He SHOULD be fine with no problems for flag poling though. Declaring he only wishes to flagpole is not like being brought in for secondary inspection at all. It is a voluntary action and they will do the paperwork and send you on your way. I wouldn't worry about it.

As far as your original question about timelines, I think you might find waiting for an appointment to do his landing in land is going to take a LOT of time. I have heard it can take months, but I don't know for sure. My application was done inland so I only had that one option open to me.

 

[LindtChocolate]

Also for the record, he was asked to provide criminal background check here in Canada previous to the issuance of te CoPR. He has not committed any crimes since his teenage years and he does not have any warrants.. Of any kind.

 

[Alurra71]

Also for the record, he was asked to provide criminal background check here in Canada previous to the issuance of te CoPR. He has not committed any crimes since his teenage years and he does not have any warrants.. Of any kind.

Then he'll be fine. I would do the flagpole, will be much quicker I assure you.

 

[LindtChocolate]

If it's sealed, then it shouldn't be an issue. You should however, never assume they have 'sealed' these things against immigration. CBP can and will look at minor records, so I can only assume that CBSA/CIC also can get this information. I know this first hand as they were able to see something on my daughters record from when she was 15. It was even supposed to be cleared off her record for completing her community service and sealed at 18 as well (per US law), however, that wasn't the case here.

No trying to scare you, just make you aware. He SHOULD be fine with no problems for flag poling though. Declaring he only wishes to flagpole is not like being brought in for secondary inspection at all. It is a voluntary action and they will do the paperwork and send you on your way. I wouldn't worry about it.

As far as your original question about timelines, I think you might find waiting for an appointment to do his landing in land is going to take a LOT of time. I have heard it can take months, but I don't know for sure. My application was done inland so I only had that one option open to me.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, we weren't sure if it was indeed "sealed" so we decided to let the CIC know from the beginning. As for appointment time... months?! That sounds horrifying lol.

 

[LindtChocolate]

The thing that still concerns me is the fact that there is an error on the CoPR.. Grr

 

[user828]

The thing that still concerns me is the fact that there is an error on the CoPR.. Grr

They can correct that at the border