Landing with receiving COPR after March 18th

[StellaArtois]

The latest publication date is still the end of July.
I'm waiting for the reply of this guy, maybe he will shed some light. I assume that perhaps his date of Copr is before March 18th, but he got it only in August.
Anyway, do you suggest just buy a ticket and fly out??..l

I think from what I understand of the information in the travel restrictions exemptions, the PA of a family class sponsorship application would only need to fulfill the requirements for immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and those criteria would be

Immediate family members of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
To be eligible, you must provide evidence that you’re both

• an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• staying in Canada for at least 15 days

(plus the quarantine plan)

So I think you would not be refused entry to Canada if you met those requirements.

About your concerns with the COPR, I noted you quoted this section

Travelling from any country other than the US
If we issued your confirmation of permanent residence (CoPR) on or before March 18, 2020, you

• are exempt from the travel restrictions and
• can travel to Canada with your CoPR to settle and live in Canada as a permanent resident

Check the issue date in the Application Details section of your CoPR to see if this applies to you."

The link to get to that page where you quoted these COPR date restrictions comes from this section underneath "All other foreign nationals", which in turn originates in this context:

"To be eligible to travel to Canada as a foreign national, you must meet the requirements for either

• an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
• all other foreign nationals

However, since the PA of a family class sponsorship application is already an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, I do not think you need to meet the requirements for "all other foreign nationals". The requirements about having COPR before March 18, 2020 I would guess is for people applying to immigrate to Canada through routes other than being sponsored by family/spouse, since they would be in the category of "all other foreign nationals".

If the logic I state above is true, then it would make sense why the spouse of a Canadian citizen who is coming from outside USA receiving a COPR after March 18, 2020 can enter Canada. This person meets the requirements for an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, even though this person does not meet the requirements for all other foreign nationals.

The above line of logic is a bit hard to trace/follow, so a more simple one would be the following...

On the page where you quoted the COPR restrictions, there is another section stating:

You won’t be allowed to enter Canada right now if you’re travelling for reasons like:

• tourism
• recreation
• entertainment
• to finalize your permanent residence application but not settle here yet

These are not valid reasons to come to Canada right now."

In contrast, therefore, to finalize your permanent residence application and to settle would be considered a valid reason to enter Canada.

This simpler second line of logic is not as strong of an argument, and cannot stand alone, but the evidence we have already seen of someone able to enter Canada from outside USA with a COPR after March 18, 2020 is supportive of these above logics taken together.

Additionally, family reunification has been deemed "essential". These above logics of how exemptions are made for family class sponsorship applications while other foreign nationals who have been granted approval for PR through other routes are not allowed to land would be in line with treating family reunification as "essential".

Granted, I don't actually know for sure how things work (I am no lawyer by any stretch) and these are just conjectures of a common person... but I hope it helps make sense of their restrictions and exemptions.

 

[DuncanHague]

This is pretty much what I’m coming to as a conclusion as well. Thanks for taking the time to try figure it out.

To me it seems pretty stupid to allow immediate family members to reunite and visit but not to land and settle.

 

[armoured]

The latest publication date is still the end of July.
I'm waiting for the reply of this guy, maybe he will shed some light. I assume that perhaps his date of Copr is before March 18th, but he got it only in August.
Anyway, do you suggest just buy a ticket and fly out??..l

Again, check the Warsaw thread. One PA got PPR and copr in late July and just traveled last week. I don't know if embassy said it was okay to go, don't recall. But PA is already in Canada, landed, no problem.

 

[armoured]

This is pretty much what I’m coming to as a conclusion as well. Thanks for taking the time to try figure it out.

To me it seems pretty stupid to allow immediate family members to reunite and visit but not to land and settle.

I think your logic is correct but the instructions are ambiguous and seem contradictory. It would be helpful if, for example, they said that PAs entering to reunite with immediate family are exempt from the March 18 copr issuance date rule.

We certainly know that some family class issued copr after March 18 have entered with no problem. But of course à border agent could point to the instruction above and say there is no clear exemption. (which would lead to the absurd conclusion that an immediate family member with a TRV can enter, but with an approved copr cannot)

 

[Ramieves]

Anyway it's clearly stated that any foreign person who received COPR after March 19th is not exempt from the travel restrictions, so it's not even ambiguous. Many people on Twitter are asking for modifications in this rule. Moreover, I presume that people who entered with COPRs after 18th, they were either from the USA or somebody's family member.

 

[DuncanHague]

Have you overlooked the fact that the group of people we are discussing about are family members like you’ve said yourself?

 

[Ramieves]

Have you overlooked the fact that the group of people we are discussing about are family members like you’ve said yourself?

I'm about that man
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/may-2019-outland-spousal-sponsorship.624808/page-169#post-8768015

 

[StellaArtois]

I'm about that man
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/may-2019-outland-spousal-sponsorship.624808/page-169#post-8768015

Here's another individual from outside USA who landed in Canada with COPR received after March 2020

Country of Origin: Belarus
Received COPR July 29, 2020
Landed in Canada August 7, 2020
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/warsaw-timeline-join-here.263928/post-8768619

They seem active on this forum, maybe they will help address your concerns.

 

[armoured]

I think from what I understand of the information in the travel restrictions exemptions, the PA of a family class sponsorship application would only need to fulfill the requirements for immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and those criteria would be
...
However, since the PA of a family class sponsorship application is already an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, I do not think you need to meet the requirements for "all other foreign nationals". The requirements about having COPR before March 18, 2020 I would guess is for people applying to immigrate to Canada through routes other than being sponsored by family/spouse, since they would be in the category of "all other foreign nationals".

I participated in a webinar from the visa section of the Canadian Embassy Moscow and asked this specific question.

The answer was clear and simple: for immediate family members with a valid visa (including a COPR and counterfoil/visa) this particular restriction for COPRs issued after March 18 does not apply. The exemption is the immediate family member/family reunification line.

I believe the answer actually said for 'all valid visas' but I'm not 100% certain (the presenter did later repeat that the family exclusion applies to all visa holders, but again, not certain). But I put the question quite specifically to immigration visas (COPR/counterfoil) as it seemed odd that, for example, someone with a TRV could enter on the basis of the family exemption but the same person with a COPR could not. The answer was quite clear and strong - the 'family reunification' exemption applies here, too. (It does not necessarily apply to other immigration classes, unless of course there is an immediate family member involved).

And I did try to respond that the instructions online (and the webinar information) was not at all clear on this, but I can't say that they will read that comment and look at it again to understand that for outsiders, the instructions on government websites are not clear on this point.

So unfortunately this is not a "public" confirmation in that it's not written, but for anyone who is in this situation, they do seem to understand the situation exactly and what the answer is, even if the public website info is not clear.

For anyone who is in this situation, STRONGLY recommend contacting the visa office and getting confirmation.

 

[armoured]

this particular restriction for COPRs issued prior to March 18 does not apply. The exemption is the immediate family member/family reunification line.

Sorry, self-correcting - the line above should have read COPRs issued after March 18.

 

[StellaArtois]

Sorry, self-correcting - the line above should have read COPRs issued after March 18.

(FYI to make it less confusing, you can edit your post directly - click on the Edit button second from the left in the bottom left hand corner on that post )

 

[armoured]

(FYI to make it less confusing, you can edit your post directly - click on the Edit button second from the left in the bottom left hand corner on that post )

Done.

 

[armoured]

The kind soul who presented referred me to the most definitive source possible on this matter, the Order-in-Council (government regs):

https://orders-in-council.canada.ca/attachment.php?attach=39518&lang=en

This is definitive as it is literally the instructions. Note it makes no reference to COPR or all that other stuff.

2 Any foreign national is prohibited from entering Canada if they arrive from a foreign country other than the United States.

Non-application

3 (1) Section 2 does not apply to

(a) an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or of a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
...
(3) Despite subsection (1), a foreign national who seeks to enter Canada for an optional or discretionary purpose, such as tourism, recreation or entertainment, is prohibited from entering Canada from a foreign country other than the United States.

Non-application — immediate family member

(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to a foreign national who is an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, if the foreign national intends to enter Canada to be with their immediate family member who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident and can demonstrate the intent to stay in Canada for a period of at least 15 days.

This may be helpful to travellers as although CBSA can refer to instructions published internally to CBSA or IRCC, the Order-in-Council is the actual regulation and outweighs any instructions.

 

[liabb]

hello , i received my COPR 10 days ago, and have sent many emails for IRCC, travel border agency , Public Health agency of canada about the landing .
I received email from Public health agency of Canada that I can travel. is it enough ?? or should I wait the reply of IRCC ?

 

[armoured]

hello , i received my COPR 10 days ago, and have sent many emails for IRCC, travel border agency , Public Health agency of canada about the landing .
I received email from Public health agency of Canada that I can travel. is it enough ?? or should I wait the reply of IRCC ?

If you are an immediate family member of Canadian citizen or pr, you only need your visa or equivalent.