Playing catch-up. Here we go.
JMOBhatti said:
LVO update the status as "application in process" and few days later, they also update "medical received".
What to expect further and when?
Thanks
I don't see you on the spreadsheet. Do you want to be added? It's a great way to say thanks for the advice and answers you get on here, plus it helps keep our spreadsheet more accurate.
canada_nz said:
Hello
Its been a while since I have updated my situation in the spreadsheet as we've been in limbo.
We went to DM April 22nd and received the COPR mid May. Unfortunately the COPR was not extended past July 3 (when the medical expired). So giving us 2.5 months to move. While I had notified CIC many times that we needed to give our employers 3 months notice here in London they seem to have overlooked this or ignored it.
- In Process on ECAS April 20th so we gave notice the next day - putting us able to leave the UK July 21st roughly
- We then brought the date forward by using up the rest of our holidays and booked flights July 11th
- Then we finally received the COPR which expired July 3 which we cannot do. Our employers have us under contract to work still.
We have been going back and forth with both London and Ottawa office. Both say to contact the other office and we can only submit case sepcific emails to both. The agents on the Ottawa side are useless. So frustrating. We are only off by a week but need the COPR extended. London issued the COPR but Ottawa is our processing office so I suspect it takes an Ottawa case officer to extend the COPR then London just basically reprints it with new photos.
I had ordered my notes in April and can see my correspondence to CIC mentioning this employment situation many times (amongst other items regarding our file). Its annoying they missed it. The agent on the phone says not to worry about it! lol! It expires in a month basically.
Anyone been in this situation?
canada_nz said:
We have negotiated as much as we can with our employers unfortunately. In the final weeks there is a chance they will just let us go earlier than planned but we can't bank on that and had to book flights according to what was arranged at the outset.
Worst case scenario we have to book a ticket last minute to Canada to activate the COPR before it expires.
I wish you could get a hold of London visa office by phone! or speak to someone in Ottawa other than the useless agents! Between the two of them they are flipping this back and forth and wasting time while the COPR expires
The thing is that you don't have to MOVE before COPR expires, you just have to show up in Canada. You can leave on the next flight out. I would suggest that you stop faffing with trying to get COPR extended as it's highly unlikely that you will be extended, and you instead just get your husband to book an overnight trip there and back to activate the COPR. With your medical expiring on 3 July and with COPR being issued in May, CIC will see that as plenty of time for you to book a flight, particularly as you would have known beforehand that it was extremely likely that your COPR would only be valid until 3 July - it's no secret that COPR is only valid for one year from medicals.
So I'd suggest you just get a flight booked, get COPR activated, then come back tot he UK to sort out your affairs. Your husband can travel on his own to activate COPR, you don't have to be with him.
Sorry to sound harsh, but you don't want to mess around with it, just get something booked and get it out of the way, save yourself the stress.
Moun7 said:
Congrats!
I'm not sure if COPR goes to you or your lawyer, I'd think the lawyer and then he will forward it to you, but it may arrive on your doorstep as well. You can see from the spreadsheet that COPR can arrive anywhere from a week to two months after you get DM, so just keep an eye on things. Give your lawyer a heads-up that your ECAS has changed to DM.
You can start making your plans to get to Canada now - the expiry date on your COPR will be important to note. Your original medicals had already expired, did you have any correspondence with CIC discussing extended medical dates? Be prepared for a quick turnaround, just in case they haven't given you much time to activate COPR. As with the above poster, remember you don't have to MOVE before the COPR expiry, you just have to activate.
It's totally ok and pretty normal to wait out your PR in Canada as a Visitor with your sponsor. My situation was very similar to yours, Canadian by birth by living in the UK and married to a Brit with a little girl born just before we applied. We too came to Canada while we continued to wait, and stayed with my family. We had no problem crossing the border or changing our address - you just change your address online with them. 
