Question regarding medicals and the deadline for landing in Canada. Please help!

[mattkward]

Hi there,

I'm sponsoring my partner and our application is, at last, "In Process". If all goes according to the normal schedule it seems like we'll have a decision made by mid-late December.

Now, I've only just found out that the deadline for landing in Canada seems to be based entirely on the medical and the one year limit. Since my partner's medical was done in late February this year, it seems we'd have to get to Canada by late February 2016. Now, I've heard that sometimes this deadline is extended if there's very little gap between DM and the date on the medical, but I can't see that happening with the two months we're likely to have.

My question is this:

If we simply aren't ready to fly out by late Feb (moving from far away, with many complications), what are our options? Has anyone ever heard of re-doing the medical and re-submitting it to allow more time before landing? Are other sorts of extensions something that can be requested?

It just seems a bit crazy to me that CIC is so slow and vague about timelines, but then we'll be expected to have everything ready at the drop of the hat. It's not like we can even make firm plans now (flights, selling our stuff, arranging storage, exiting our jobs etc) without having the DM yet.

There's a short term (and lucrative) work contract I may be up for that would take me through to May, three months after the medical deadline. A very frustrating situation, and I wondered if anyone had any insight for me whatsoever.

Thanks!

 

[scylla]

Extensions to the PR visa aren't granted. If you aren't ready to move by the PR visa expiry date, then your partner can fly to Canada just to land and become a permanent resident - and then return back to his/her country of origin immediately. You can then permanently move to Canada at a later date once you're ready.

 

[mattkward]

Extensions to the PR visa aren't granted. If you aren't ready to move by the PR visa expiry date, then your partner can fly to Canada just to land and become a permanent resident - and then return back to his/her country of origin immediately. You can then permanently move to Canada at a later date once you're ready.

If my partner did fly in to land, would she need to wait around til her PR card arrived or could she leave straight away, say a day or two later, with both of us properly relocating to Canada a couple months later on?

We're in New Zealand, which is a visa-exempt country.

 

[mattkward]

Also... what happens in cases where the PR takes over a year for CIC to process? The medicals would have expired. Would they just request new medicals?

What happens if they grant PR with only a couple weeks to spare? Would they extend the deadline?

 

[rugrat907]

Also... what happens in cases where the PR takes over a year for CIC to process? The medicals would have expired. Would they just request new medicals?

What happens if they grant PR with only a couple weeks to spare? Would they extend the deadline?

Chances are they would extend them rather than request new medicals in both cases, although some of that is country dependent particularly in cases that take more than a year. The length of time they extend them is impossible to gauge - some have had them extended 6 months, others less and they've still had pretty quick turnarounds for landing. I'm that that boat myself - mine are set to expire November 27th and based on other timelines I'm seeing, mid November is roughly about when I will get a decision made, but I still have to wait for my COPR to arrive in the mail before I feel totally comfortable booking a flight. So I could have an extremely short time to land and will absolutely have to return to the U.S. to finish things off and move my stuff.

My wife is in Canada, so we don't quite face the same issues as you but we've been separated for a long time now - I needed to work for our finances and have no idea what to tell my employer in terms of definite departure dates. In fact, I already gave notice based on my medical expiration date (I didn't want to leave them in the lurch if I needed to go quickly) and keep extending out my last day. Fortunately I have a very understanding employer and they are very willing to work with me, even though they've hired my replacement already and that person starts a week from Monday.

As for your other question, since she's from a visa-exempt country, she should be able to do a quick turnaround trip - scyllia pretty much implied that. But maybe someone will come back with a more definitive answer. I have seen plenty of U.S. citizens ask that question and the answer has always been yes.