I have my COPR, now what?

[Perkles]

The CoPR doesn't need to be in the passport. In our case, it wasn't stapled in at all and we still just have it as a separate paper. So it's not a problem if you remove it.

Actually if you decide to not do the hassle of gathering and filling out more info and photos, paying for and picking up a travel doc... and just travel as tourist... then you should definitely remove the CoPR from passport. Remember when you check-in to the airline in foreign country you should NOT indicate you are PR or show CoPR, since you'd be travelling as a tourist.

If you do get the travel doc, then of course it's no problem.

At this stage, I'm seriously considering just removing the form, as nobody at the departing airport is going to be really paying that much attention to each and every page (her departing airport), let alone a few staple marks. The stamp itself doesn't say anything about permanent residence, only the date and some symbol with numbers.

I've sent off an email to the Canadian embassy and we'll see. I'll update when I get some more news...thanks again and have a happy new year!

 

[Perkles]

I was wondering if someone here might have some experience, or know about the process it takes to get a travel document...here's the link:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/travel.asp

For those following this thread, it appears the only 100% legit way to travel as a permanent resident without your PR card is with one of these travel documents. If you follow the link, you'll see that one of the required documents in the checklist is "your passport or travel document/identity papers from your country of citizenship". That seems a very strange request: why on earth would you ever mail your actual passport?...then you couldn't travel anywhere anyway without it, and the processing time for a travel document might be longer than the wait for the actual PR card itself.

What a hassle, and all because airline clerks might not let you board their plane because they don't recognize CoPR papers. It makes me wonder about the bigger picture:

What would the airlines then expect from new permanent residents who have in their possession an issued confirmation of permanent residence, yet the only way for them to get the PR card sent to them is to get the CoPR signed off, yet the only place they can do that is either at the border, or when they enter into Canada through customs?

Do people who are awaiting permanent residence outside of Canada get different paperwork from those already inside the country? I ask, because all things being equal, if my wife was in her home country and got the same papers she received here (they sent them here because they knew she was visiting me), she would still have the issue of explaining to the airline agents that she will not have an issue entering Canada with her CoPR and passport! Am I missing something here?...odd.

Does anybody have any idea how this would work 'normally'? That is, if you need the CoPR to get processed at the border, yet the only way to GET to the border is to have a PR, then what sense is it that a CoPR isn't 'valid for travel'?

I know I'm sounding like I'm ranting a bit, and I apologize in advance
Thanks.

One last bit: I can't imagine the airline people having an issue with a person in transit to Canada to start their new lives, CoPR in hand, passport...there must be some type of a travel document issued to PR applicants outside of Canada for the one-way trip here. Especially since she's from a visa-exempt country, one would think the airline couldn't possibly be held responsible. I wish they had some type of waiver, perhaps.

 

[Diamondude357]

My wife is from a non-visa exempt country and apparently will receive a landing visa and CoPR to arrive in Canada (hopefully in the not-to-distant future). We will need to send away her passport to her country of origin to receive this. After landing in Canada and a 1-2 week visit she will be leaving to pack up and sell our lives down south. We expect her to be down there about 3 months. I will send her PR card down to her by courier when it arrives at the house in Edmonton. If there are any problems we will order the Travel Document for her return to Canada. If there is a problem with that plan I hope someone can point it out for me. Thanks.

 

[OhCanadiana]

My wife is from a non-visa exempt country and apparently will receive a landing visa and CoPR to arrive in Canada (hopefully in the not-to-distant future).

That is exactly right. Approved applicants from non-visa exempt countries get an immigrant visa counterfoil placed in their passport to be able to travel to Canada. That visa gives them the right to travel to Canada (ie. to board a commercial flight) and then the CoPR is used at the border to land.

People from visa-exempt countries do not need a visa to board the plane so to speak so they are not issued a visa counterfoil but still use the CoPR at landing.

Once a person has a PR Card, they can use that to both travel TO Canada (ie., to board a commercial flight) and at the border. If a person from a non-visa exempt country needs to fly back home before they get the PR Card or if they lose the PR Card while they are abroad, they must apply for and get a travel document (a visa that is placed in the passport to allow them to travel to Canada) to be able to use a commercial means of transportation. Immigrants from visa-exempt countries can also apply for and get a travel document but the transporter (e.g., airline) may not ask them for it to allow them to board the flight (given that they would be 'covered' by the person's visa-exempt status from being fined by the country for transporting someone without proper documents).

Hope that helps, Perkles.

 

[Rob_TO]

Do people who are awaiting permanent residence outside of Canada get different paperwork from those already inside the country? I ask, because all things being equal, if my wife was in her home country and got the same papers she received here (they sent them here because they knew she was visiting me), she would still have the issue of explaining to the airline agents that she will not have an issue entering Canada with her CoPR and passport! Am I missing something here?...odd.

I found it very odd too when we were looking to travel. You are absolutely right, a visa-exempt person who receives their CoPR outside of Canada will only have a 1-way ticket to Canada, passport and COPR at the airport.

Remember that in probably 99% of cases, travelers from visa-exempt countries can get back to Canada no problem at all... even though they don't have PR card or a travel document. The cases where airlines try to demand to see a return ticket, or refuse to allow boarding without a physical PR card... are rare and in most cases i'm sure due to a lack of proper training by the airline to its check-in employees.

I think you should just proceed with the 1-way ticket, passport and COPR... and if you are unlucky enough to run into trouble, just be prepared to buy a fully refundable return ticket on the spot to satisfy them (and cancel it right after).

 

[Perkles]

Well as it turns out, I had to get a round-trip ticket anyway, lol!...so that should make the airline people happy. I don't anticipate any problems, but there's definitely a 'gap' in the way these CoPR forms are handled. Perhaps after all is said and done, a review of the procedure is in order.

Happy New Year, and I'll let you know how things turn out!