UK Applicant PPR Already?

[5ean]

Congrats on getting through the process - as you say, I think you just need to land now with the COPR and present it to the immigration officer. When’s the move?

I’m in a similar situation to you but about a month behind - just received the request to send photocopies of passports, signed photos etc through today. Can I ask, was it straight forward sending to the VAC in London? I find the VFS website quite confusing. As far as I can tell, if I follow the details for permanent resident applicants, I follow a link to register, pay the transmission fee and send everything off via a courier? That’s it, right? They also have detailed instructions for passport submission saying they need a copy of the biometrics sticker but don’t think I need to worry about that? Appreciate any guidance from what you did!

Hey mate, I've got until November but realistically it will be June/July time by the time we get the house tidied up, up for sale, stuff in the house sold off (not sending anything across). Also dont want to take my eldest out of school any longer than required.

I got caught out with the courier stuff for VFS, nowhere does it tell you that your decision documents are being sent to VFS and you need to collect it if you dont pay the 2 way courier service so my advice would be to do the 2-way and then you will get it picked up from you and then all delivered back once its ready. I wasted a week trying to pay for the courier and trying to get someone on the phone at VFS who understood what i was trying to do before they sent it.
I did actually send a photocopy of the biometrics sticker, i was taking no chances with any of their instructions haha.

 

[CMHobs]

Hey mate, I've got until November but realistically it will be June/July time by the time we get the house tidied up, up for sale, stuff in the house sold off (not sending anything across). Also dont want to take my eldest out of school any longer than required.

I got caught out with the courier stuff for VFS, nowhere does it tell you that your decision documents are being sent to VFS and you need to collect it if you dont pay the 2 way courier service so my advice would be to do the 2-way and then you will get it picked up from you and then all delivered back once its ready. I wasted a week trying to pay for the courier and trying to get someone on the phone at VFS who understood what i was trying to do before they sent it.
I did actually send a photocopy of the biometrics sticker, i was taking no chances with any of their instructions haha.

Cheers for the advice - I really appreciate it. Will book the two-way courier and photocopy the biometrics stickers, as you say, can’t hurt.

I had some back and forth with VFS when we were doing the biometrics last year, their information really isn’t the clearest… Fingers crossed this will be smooth!

We’re in very similar boats - aiming to move to Ottawa in July once the boys finish school. They’re both excited for it, which was my biggest worry. Definitely becoming more real.

Thanks again for the pointers, really helpful, and best of luck with it all!

 

[armoured]

I did actually send a photocopy of the biometrics sticker, i was taking no chances with any of their instructions haha.

I'm not sure about in the UK, but it some places the biometrics receipt or sticker gets you free (already paid for that is) courier service for the passport submission and receipt. Yeah, they don't tell you this well and don't advertise, so I ended up having to pay., it was a year after doing biometrics in our case.* So that might be the reason it's come up here.

*I'm convinced they do this on purpose, I think the biometrics-fee-includes-courier bit is dictated by the government in the contract with VFS and VFS not at all incentivized to clarify this.

 

[armoured]

Sorry should have said there we're my 2 photo's in with it. There's also a big watermark on it saying 'Not valid for travel'.

Don't worry about that, it means the copr/photo on their own are not valid for travel. What you'll need in your case is the ETA (people from non visa-wiaver countries would need a separate visa).

 

[Edmegbc]

Hey mate, I've got until November but realistically it will be June/July time by the time we get the house tidied up, up for sale, stuff in the house sold off (not sending anything across). Also dont want to take my eldest out of school any longer than required.

I got caught out with the courier stuff for VFS, nowhere does it tell you that your decision documents are being sent to VFS and you need to collect it if you dont pay the 2 way courier service so my advice would be to do the 2-way and then you will get it picked up from you and then all delivered back once its ready. I wasted a week trying to pay for the courier and trying to get someone on the phone at VFS who understood what i was trying to do before they sent it.
I did actually send a photocopy of the biometrics sticker, i was taking no chances with any of their instructions haha.

Thanks this is helpful - did you have the option of dropping it off and picking it up?
I work in Farringdon every once in awhile so could swing the in person trip if possible.

We are on a tight deadline so am expecting we will swap to virtual as we are flying out on May 28 regardless of where we are in the process. But we do have AOR now so husband can get OWP if needed. Your timeline gives me hope!
Was your application CAD citizen spouse living in the UK?

 

[CMHobs]

I'm not sure about in the UK, but it some places the biometrics receipt or sticker gets you free (already paid for that is) courier service for the passport submission and receipt. Yeah, they don't tell you this well and don't advertise, so I ended up having to pay., it was a year after doing biometrics in our case.* So that might be the reason it's come up here.

*I'm convinced they do this on purpose, I think the biometrics-fee-includes-courier bit is dictated by the government in the contract with VFS and VFS not at all incentivized to clarify this.

I think you may be right - on their website they do talk about waving the ‘package transmission fee’ (I think that’s what it was called) if you’ve done your biometrics with them, however, zero detail on how that works practically. I’ll have more of a dig this weekend, but if it looks overly intricate/confused will just pay a courier fee and avoid the headache…

 

[5ean]

Thanks this is helpful - did you have the option of dropping it off and picking it up?
I work in Farringdon every once in awhile so could swing the in person trip if possible.

We are on a tight deadline so am expecting we will swap to virtual as we are flying out on May 28 regardless of where we are in the process. But we do have AOR now so husband can get OWP if needed. Your timeline gives me hope!
Was your application CAD citizen spouse living in the UK?

I did have the option yeah, i actually sent it myself via royal mail signed for and it got there next day and i got an update the next day saying it was received and then shipped to IRCC same day so that part was slick.. It's just getting it back, the default they expect is you go to London to collect, which when I'm in the north east of Scotland isn't practicable so i went through the loops of paying for a one way service to the tune of £47 for an A4 envelope
I am the PA from UK and my wife is Canadian living here with me for last 7 years.

 

[Edmegbc]

Ah- makes sense would’ve been more on train fare! Considering it’s not the actual passport and copies then sending it courier is fine. But don’t think we are going to get to that step here! Out of interest you didn’t get any additional requests for proof of settling in Canada? We submitted 15 page pdf about our plans but interested in recent applications with Canadians living abroad as this forum has made me quite nervous about that aspect!

 

[5ean]

Ah- makes sense would’ve been more on train fare! Considering it’s not the actual passport and copies then sending it courier is fine. But don’t think we are going to get to that step here! Out of interest you didn’t get any additional requests for proof of settling in Canada? We submitted 15 page pdf about our plans but interested in recent applications with Canadians living abroad as this forum has made me quite nervous about that aspect!

15 pages?!?! I had a 1 page letter explaining my wife and kids are Canadian, we have a lot of family over there all of which would be happy to help if ever needed. Got a separate 1 page letter from her parents saying they would put us up for any amount of time required without asking for money etc and that was it.

 

[Edmegbc]

Ha - that's what I originally had, a one page plan and letter from dad and stepmother basically outlining the same. It was after I did some searching on this forum that I got spooked and included way more like shipping quotes and other various things. We hope we move quickly, but at the same time it doesn't really matter as we are going either way and my husband isn't planning on working until Oct/Nov this year anyway!
Thanks for the replies - best of luck on the move!

 

[armoured]

Ha - that's what I originally had, a one page plan and letter from dad and stepmother basically outlining the same. It was after I did some searching on this forum that I got spooked and included way more like shipping quotes and other various things. We hope we move quickly, but at the same time it doesn't really matter as we are going either way and my husband isn't planning on working until Oct/Nov this year anyway!
Thanks for the replies - best of luck on the move!

It's unfortunately a bit hard to judge what IRCC wants in this area, there have been cases of people being refused for having weak plans (or no plans). My own suspicion is that they are more strict in some cases - for example, for PR-applicants from countries where it is hard to travel on national passports, because there's an incentive to 'get' PR status to have it and not to live in Canada. So for EU/UK/USA, less likely to be an issue.

 

[Edmegbc]

It's unfortunately a bit hard to judge what IRCC wants in this area, there have been cases of people being refused for having weak plans (or no plans). My own suspicion is that they are more strict in some cases - for example, for PR-applicants from countries where it is hard to travel on national passports, because there's an incentive to 'get' PR status to have it and not to live in Canada. So for EU/UK/USA, less likely to be an issue.

Yes that’s the impression I get- there is no advantage for a ETA country passport holder to gain PR for ease of movement.

 

[armoured]

Yes that’s the impression I get- there is no advantage for a ETA country passport holder to gain PR for ease of movement.

You put that better than I did.