Landed in Canada with approved CoPR. But failed to notify IRCC before we landed in Canada on a Domestic violence arrest in USA after CoPR approval

[vmcanpr]

Hi

My wife and I landed in Canada for soft landing with an approved CoPR.

We honestly said 'yes' to a question from immigration officer if there was any arrest in the past.

But reminded him that arrest was after CoPR approval and we did not notify IRCC as there were no charges filed and have documentation to support no conviction/ no charges.

Immigration officer has seized passport/CoPR documents and confirmed we should wait for IRCC's decision.

On recommendation by the officer we notified IRCC of the situation and are waiting for their reply.

Has anyone faced such a situation before? What could be the fastest way of resolution? We also need to visit India for H1B visa stamping soon.

 

[vkamath]

Note Having a COPR outside Canada doesn't grant you a PR status. What you should have done was notified IRCC before making a soft landing and waiting for the reply.

One good thing is you are not convicted or charged that could have been serious. Nothing to do but wait for IRCC response.

 

[vmcanpr]

Thank you @vkamath. I agree, we should have notified.

If we decide to leave Canada while a decision is pending at IRCC (to go through our H1B stamping in India) do you think it is going to impact the decision in anyway?

We were honest about the H1B stamping date as well to the officer. They were understanding of it.

He mentioned we will need to get another another visa to enter Canada if we take that route.

 

[canprofus]

have they held your passports too? You can request for them to be returned back and leave to India. Usually there is no specific timelines for this type of review and it may take several months to hear back something from IRCC.

 

[vmcanpr]

Yes, they have held the passports and said that we have a choice to pick it up and leave for India whenever we'd like.

If we decide to continue to stay in Canada, they gave us an appointment in month to appear again in front of immigration.

Officer was not sure how long such a decision might take. He said typically 3-4 weeks or it could be sooner as well (case by case basis)

 

[canprofus]

Yes, they have held the passports and said that we have a choice to pick it up and leave for India whenever we'd like.

If we decide to continue to stay in Canada, they gave us an appointment in month to appear again in front of immigration.

Officer was not sure how long such a decision might take. He said typically 3-4 weeks or it could be sooner as well (case by case basis)

have they let you inside Canada? where are you staying? if they have mentioned 3-4 weeks timeline, then better to wait, get the landing done and leave Canada. since you don't have any conviction, there may not be any issues with your PR conversion.

 

[vmcanpr]

Yes, they have let us in Canada. Staying in hotels etc. They have given an initial date of may 3rd for us to appear at immigration again. But no idea if a decision will be made by then. The officer said it is case by case basis and it could be typically 3-4 weeks or sooner.

He also mentioned that could help avoid additional paperwork and reapplication of visa to enter Canada again.

We agree with you. It might be good to stay until the May 3rd date at least and then travel back to India assuming H1B dates available.