Medicals and expiration dates...

[MailOrderBride]

I'm getting married in Canada in October and will be putting together my PR application and mailing it just before returning to Australia to await the outland PR process.

I'm sending off my police check at the last moment before i leave and getting that sent to my Canadian address for me to include in my application. So should have plenty of time left on it...

But I'm really confused about the medical. Here in the forum i have read that the medical needs to be included in the initial application but then i have read that the visa when issued is only issued up until the medical expires... but i have also read that you have 12 months to land and activate your PR visa.??? But the medical only lasts for 6 months?

I thought i could just get the medical done in Canada and send it all off together but then i saw a thread today that the medical is requested after the visa is approved and sent in with your passport for the visa stamp???

So in relation to the submission of ones application when should the medical be done?

And does anyone know why the want 5 photos? Is passport size OK?

Any insight would be much appreciated. It's months away and I'm already freaked out! :-[

 

[RobsLuv]

First of all, the medical is valid for one year. If processing takes longer than that, they will sometimes ask you to redo the medical exam. And it's not true the the Confirmation of Permanent Residence (which is what is attached to your passport when you submit it to the visa office after approval, and what you take to the Canadian port of entry to "land") is valid for a year. It has an expiration date and that expiration date will either be the expiration date of your passport, or the one year anniversary (or expiration) of the medical exam - whichever comes first. Some people have been very distressed to discover they've only been given a matter of a few weeks to arrange landing.

Spousal applications require that proof of medical be submitted with the application - so get it as close to when you're ready to submit the application as possible, just to give you as much time on the other end as possible. The criminal clearances are valid for 6 months, but must not be older than 3 months when submitted with the ap.

The DMP always asks for 5 photos - I assume that's just how many they're instructed to get. I was under the impression when I got mine that they were to be the same photos that were submitted with the PR application - the ones you get according to the specs in the Region Specific guides. I got enough done at the time to satisfy the DMP and to submit with the PR application - the DMP had no problem with them.

I wouldn't recommend getting additional ones done at that time for the PR card (you will be asked for more pics for the PR card when they approve and issue the COPR) as the requirement always seems to be that the pics need to be taken within the past 6 months. Some aps are processed that fast, but I've found the pics to be rather expensive, and a waste of $$ if your ap isn't finalized that soon.

 

[mitamata]

I thought i could just get the medical done in Canada and send it all off together but then i saw a thread today that the medical is requested after the visa is approved and sent in with your passport for the visa stamp???

With most applications, that's true - but not when sponsoring a spouse or dependents. This tends to cause some confusion with the DMPs (I had a lot of trouble convincing mine to do the medical without the visa office requesting it first). But yes, in your case, the medical should definitely be done before submitting the application.

The medical exam results consist of several forms, some of which require the photo of the examined person to be glued on them. That's why the DMP is asking for photos. It doesn't specifically say anywhere, but like RobsLuv I assumed they should follow the same specifications as the photos you have to send in with your application and they are NOT the same as passport photos in Canada (different countries require different passport photos though - where I'm from, the only difference was the color of the background). Actually, I believe they definitely shouldn't be passport photos - I remember my husband's passport photo was larger than my immigration photo and the forms for the medical required an immigration sized photo.

I believe usually you're not asked to supply more immigration photos later on - they use the photos you send in with the application to make the PR card and usually don't require additional ones.
They messed up my PR card and when I went in for a photo retake, they had no issues accepting my 10 month old photo for the card.

 

[ColorMePanda]

Just saying but I really hope you aren't a mail order bride.
I hope that you dearly love each other even if you were and that you don't occur with problems because of this.

 

[MailOrderBride]

Thanks so much! It makes a lot more sense now!

 

[MailOrderBride]

Just saying but I really hope you aren't a mail order bride.
I hope that you dearly love each other even if you were and that you don't occur with problems because of this.

LMAO! No, I'm not really a mail order bride, I just jokingly refer to myself as one. My fiancé is completely awesome and genuinely adored

 

[ColorMePanda]

LMAO! No, I'm not really a mail order bride, I just jokingly refer to myself as one. My fiancé is completely awesome and genuinely adored

Hehe...okay. I was hoping that wasn't the case. Sorry if that was rude.