Location: Etobicoke, ON
My timeline is at the very end of this post.
My partner and I arrived in the office 10 minutes before our interview time. We checked in with the receptionist, were greeted with “Congratulations” and given a number in queue
There were about 20 windows and were all open. The room was packed with people waiting. Luckily there was a TV with live World Cup lol. We waited about 30 minutes until our number was called.
We were met with a lovely lady. She requested our interview invitation letter and passport. We spent quite sometime confirming our first day of entry and last day of entry to Canada. Apparently the officers who processed our application entered wrong dates for both of us
That may explain the transfer to Vancouver office and the double ghost updates… but the lady whom we met with was patient and corrected them for us. This process took longer than normal because the CBSA officer did not stamp my passport at my latest entry back to Canada and the stamp of my initial entry was on an old passport that I did not bring. She was able to verify these information on her side so in the end everything was sorted out.
She further asked how we met each other and other casual questions re cooking etc. I am seriously not sure whether this was for verifying our relationship or out of her pure curiosity. After all, she was very conversational throughout our interview who really wanted to get to know us better. She even told some of her personal stories
Then we were asked some statutory questions: are there any dependents of ours that were not listed on the application; did either of us commit any crime or served any sentences in and outside of Canada.
She then went to the back room for about 5 minutes and came back with the printed CoPR. She glued our picture to her CoPR copy, asked us to initial a couple statements, and finally we all signed on the CoPR. At this time, she officially congratulated us for being a Permanent Resident of Canada as of today, and advised us that: PR card will arrive in our mailbox within 8-10 weeks; we have residency obligations to fulfill as PR; we need to update our SIN number (usually you could update at the Service Canada in the same building, but since our interview was on a Saturday, Service Canada was closed); we should apply provincial health care coverage on Monday and advised me to call a number to let the province know that I am PR now so they can update my existing coverage.
I asked her whether they always do landing interviews on Saturdays.
She told me that this office does landing interviews Mon-Sat with all windows open (full capacity) and still have backlogs… So the IRCC agents are really trying their best to process as many applications as possible. Please be patient, understanding, and appreciative. I trust everyone will get their PR in due time.
For those who are waiting for your ITA, PPR, CoPR, wish you a speedy processing. For those who already received approvals, wish you a bright and happy life in Canada!
Cheers,
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CRS: 454
| Class: CEC-Inland
| VO: Vancouver
EE Created: 18-03-12
| ITA: 18-03-26
| AOR/NA1: 18-03-29
| MEP: 18-04-06
IP2: 18-04-06
| Ghost Updates: 18-05-23
+ 18-06-07
Interview Invitation Email Received: 18-06-13
| Landing Interview/CoPR: 18-06-16