Finally, your years of planning and hard work paid off and you got your COPR. Congratulations!!!
Now, you must be excited to see your dream come true and eager to move to your final destination. You must be reading forums, searching in internet or talking to friends in Canada to plan your next big step. If you are a family person and planning to move with family then definitely you need to plan your transition more carefully. People and Govt. are very helpful here and you’ll find great assistance to settle down. So no worries, you made right decision and you will do good
Recently, I moved with family to Regina, Saskatchewan thru SINP program and would like to provide advice based on our experiences. Hope this will be helpful to those who are planning to move to Canada. If you are planning for soft landing then some of the advice will not be applicable to you so feel free to ignore them.
1- You can land in Canada just before expiry of COPR. However, I would strongly recommend to don’t wait for last minute to land. It is better to land at least 15 days before expiry of COPR. Following are few reasons:
I. Private institutions (e.g. bank) may deny their services if COPR is expired and ask you to produce valid residency status. PR card may take 50-60 days if everything goes well. Change in address or photo request will cause further delay in getting PR card.
II. Govt. institutions may take additional time to provide the services (photo ID card, Driver license, medical/health card etc.) as they need to verify your residence status with CIC before issuing any document. CIC will not expedite your PR card processing or issue any letter in this scenario so calling CIC will not help.
III. If you can’t come in well before COPR expiry date then just be mentally prepared that things might be delayed but eventually you’ll get the services. So no need to be panic. Make your transition fun and enjoy the time.
IV. Make sure you have at least 4 hrs of layover to connecting flight as immigration may take 2-3 hours and you may miss your next flight. General flow is: Fill immigration/custom form(in flight)à Collect luggage àClear customs à Go to immigration à Wait for PR landing process completion à Get COPR signed and stamped à Go to next flight (in case you have connecting flight). Your next flight may not be in same terminal or port à Check-in your bags (assuming your bags have checking tags for final destination)à Go thru securityà on board to final destination. It is simple process but time taking so just relax and explore things around you.
V. No need to say - carry cash, multi currency card with decent balance on it.
VI. Have a scanned copy of all the documents, just in case.
VII. Get your old driver license(s) and driving history records
VIII. Get your car insurance history records
IX. Don’t bring anything which may cause problem in custom so please go thru border security website for more detail. You can find everything here so just focus on initial few days supplies. So don’t put too much pressure on you and don’t compromise your kid’s favorite toys with house hold stuff.
2- Once you land, do following things in given sequence:
I. Get SIN number for all adults (you can delay for minor as it is needed only if you will be saving money for education and looking for Govt aid). SIN will be asked in most of the places. You may get SIN during immigration (depend on Airport, week day and crowd) but if not then visit Canada service center in your city. Make sure always carry your COPR, passport, kids birth certificate, bank statement etc.
Now, you must be excited to see your dream come true and eager to move to your final destination. You must be reading forums, searching in internet or talking to friends in Canada to plan your next big step. If you are a family person and planning to move with family then definitely you need to plan your transition more carefully. People and Govt. are very helpful here and you’ll find great assistance to settle down. So no worries, you made right decision and you will do good
Recently, I moved with family to Regina, Saskatchewan thru SINP program and would like to provide advice based on our experiences. Hope this will be helpful to those who are planning to move to Canada. If you are planning for soft landing then some of the advice will not be applicable to you so feel free to ignore them.
1- You can land in Canada just before expiry of COPR. However, I would strongly recommend to don’t wait for last minute to land. It is better to land at least 15 days before expiry of COPR. Following are few reasons:
I. Private institutions (e.g. bank) may deny their services if COPR is expired and ask you to produce valid residency status. PR card may take 50-60 days if everything goes well. Change in address or photo request will cause further delay in getting PR card.
II. Govt. institutions may take additional time to provide the services (photo ID card, Driver license, medical/health card etc.) as they need to verify your residence status with CIC before issuing any document. CIC will not expedite your PR card processing or issue any letter in this scenario so calling CIC will not help.
III. If you can’t come in well before COPR expiry date then just be mentally prepared that things might be delayed but eventually you’ll get the services. So no need to be panic. Make your transition fun and enjoy the time.
IV. Make sure you have at least 4 hrs of layover to connecting flight as immigration may take 2-3 hours and you may miss your next flight. General flow is: Fill immigration/custom form(in flight)à Collect luggage àClear customs à Go to immigration à Wait for PR landing process completion à Get COPR signed and stamped à Go to next flight (in case you have connecting flight). Your next flight may not be in same terminal or port à Check-in your bags (assuming your bags have checking tags for final destination)à Go thru securityà on board to final destination. It is simple process but time taking so just relax and explore things around you.
V. No need to say - carry cash, multi currency card with decent balance on it.
VI. Have a scanned copy of all the documents, just in case.
VII. Get your old driver license(s) and driving history records
VIII. Get your car insurance history records
IX. Don’t bring anything which may cause problem in custom so please go thru border security website for more detail. You can find everything here so just focus on initial few days supplies. So don’t put too much pressure on you and don’t compromise your kid’s favorite toys with house hold stuff.
2- Once you land, do following things in given sequence:
I. Get SIN number for all adults (you can delay for minor as it is needed only if you will be saving money for education and looking for Govt aid). SIN will be asked in most of the places. You may get SIN during immigration (depend on Airport, week day and crowd) but if not then visit Canada service center in your city. Make sure always carry your COPR, passport, kids birth certificate, bank statement etc.
