spunkymich

Hi All

Just thought I'd give a quick update on the process we recently went through. I was going to post in "sponsorship timeline" as this post has been incredibly helpful, but figured we could keep the various steps separate so that it's relevant to the discussion.

So we received COPR and the date for last entry is 03 March 2015. We were visiting family in Canada for a week, and thought we would try to get my PR activated so that it could take the pressure of the March date off and give us more time to get our affairs in order here in the UK.

I did not have a "goods accompanying" or "goods to follow list", as quite frankly, I didn't have the foggiest of ideas as to how much we would be sending at a later date. We figured if the Immigration officer asked for one and wouldn't process, then we would have to bite the bullet and make the return journey in March.

Unfortunately for us, we were travelling on the busiest day of the year, so when we arrived at Toronto the queues were unbelievable!!! It took us a total of 1 hour 45 minutes to get through passport control and immigration, but to be fair, the immigration part was only 40 minutes, of which 25 minutes was queuing to get seen.

When we were called to see an IO, he took my paperwork and started typing away. I very quickly explained to him that I did not intend to move at this stage, and that I was only wanting to activate my PR card. I also volunteered that I didn't have my goods list, which made him stop and look at me, but then I quickly explained that we were only there for a week, and that we will be returning at a later date. He accepted this and said that that wouldn't be a problem. He didn't ask us many questions, but we just made friendly conversation. He asked us about goods we had with us above our limit (we had declared that we were above the allowed limit of gifts), and when we explained that they were Christmas gifts, he said that was fine and processed our paperwork. He stamped my COPR, and reminded my husband that he would need to take care of me through the process (I joked about needing to go shopping...haha) and reminded us both that we would need to remain married/living together. I asked that my PR card be posted to my in-laws and I had an address available.

He then said that my PR card would be processed and that it would take 5-8 weeks to arrive and bid us a farewell. YAY

He was a great guy, and the process was very smooth. We even then went to get my SIN card processed around the corner, which took all of 10 minutes, and we were on our way.

So now at least the pressure is off, and we hope to officially move/land by May. Good luck to everyone who is still going through the process.

Pizzawheel

That's almost exactly what we did, landing in 2007 for a holiday then coming back permanently just under 3 years later. You have to make sure you don't fall foul of the 2 years on-ground in every 5 year cycle- this delayed my PR renewal and is currently delaying my citizenship application (they have to make the assessment twice).

In my case I was out of the country on business (mainly training in the US) taking me below the 2 years on-ground, but the business trips are allowable.

spunkymich

Good to know, thanks. Although, I certainly don't want to be waiting that long to actually move, so hopefully all will be sorted within a few months Hope your citizenship gets sorted

Pizzawheel

Yeah I wouldn't have cut it so fine but I didn't expect to be sent abroad so much during my first gig.