I've got a dilemma, I'd be grateful for some advice.

We have received requests for medicals, and have them booked for 3 Sept. I want to go to NS (which is where we're ultimately headed, hopefully summer 2010) for a week at the end of October.

If we were to get requests for passports at (say) the end of September, would that cause problems? How long do you get to send passports after the request is made, and how long do they keep them for?

Can I confidently book flights now, or is there a chance that I won't be able to go because I won't have my passport?

It varies greatly and I probably wouldn't risk them taking only 30 days. It does depend on where you send it though. I think CHC London is pretty quick. Some people have had luck with making requests for early return of the passports.

I'm not sure what the time limit from PPR to actually sending them is. You might want to just hold on to your passports until after your trip.

You need to send them within 30 days and they take about 15 days once received. That's what it states in my letter sending from BC to Seattle. Don't know whether it's the same in your area.....

It's tricky then - it could be that I have meds on 3rd sept, get PPR on 17th, and then have to submit passports by 15 Oct and don't have them back to travel by 24 Oct.

Maybe I could ask the Dr to sit on the meds for a few weeks to delay processing.

What if you have your meds on 3rd Sept, and then don't get your PPR for another month (not unheard of)? Is it really worth risking, why not just travel a bit later?

Hi,

The time they give you to submit your passport varies from 30-60 days and it is different for everyone, also when you do recieve your PR request it also states on the form not to book flights until the visa is in your hand, so it would be best to hold off until you have the visa.Once you get your passport request they will take 2-3 weeks to return your passport with the visa.

MR79

This seems to make it all incredibly difficult. I don't need the visa before I go (we don't want to actually land), I want to go at the end of Oct because my daughter is in Yr13, last year of A levels, and I want to take her to NS during half term week to look at universities in Canada. She has not finally decided whether she wants to go to uni in Canada or the UK, so this is a very important trip for us. My wife and I really want to whole family to migrate, because we are worried that if we don't do it now then our daughter will end up staying here and losing her PR, and then being here for good.

This whole thing with the uncertainty, in terms of timescales as well as outcomes, and being unable to plan anything makes the migration process incredibly difficult.

Surely if I got a PPR request and already had flights booked then I could contact CIC London and ask for extra time to submit passports?

If not, there's no way of knowing how long we will have to wait to make the uni trip, and the uncertainty is very corrosive for a teenage, let alone her stressed-out dad!

Hopefully this will alleviate some of your worries.

You're flying at the end of October for only one week? Ok so with that in mind, CIC gives you at least 30 days (45 days for myself) to provide your passports to them, which is at least 4 weeks. This means that no matter when PPR is received you'll not be affected.

If it comes within 4 weeks of your medical you'll still have plenty of time to send your passports in and have them returned (preferably in person).

If it comes after 4 weeks you'll have time to send your passports AFTER you return from NS.

Just book your flights and try not to worry about it too much.

I got my PPR 2 weeks before i was due to fly to Vancouver for a few weeks. When i returned to the UK i had a window of 5 days to send them. Easy Peasy

Thanks for the encouragement, but I can't agree with the dates

* We have meds on 3rd Sept.

* Say I was to get PPR on 17 Sept with 30 days to comply, my passports have to be with them by 17 Oct. I couldn't leave it until after my trip.

* If I sent passports off straight away on 17 Sept, there's no guarantee I'd have them back in time.

Dilemma.

Yes but if you get PPR on 17th Sept you would send it off on or around that date surely, not leave it a month. So you'd get your passports back in time for your trip.

I honestly really wouldn't worry about it.

Your only other alternative is to book your flights last minute.

Edited to add: Oops i see you mentioned sending them off right away on 17th. You would certainly get them back in time. To make this more concrete you could drop them off and pick them up in person. This is a 2 week turnaround. Mine took 3 weeks via post.

Thanks. Nice blog by the way. I started one but can't be bothered to write anything in it. Which is typical of most blogs, I imagine