lindseysm

Can anyone give me some advice? We landed in December but returned to UK as we are not yet ready to move. We have received three PR cards but two of my sons have just received letters stating that they have to have new photos but they have to go back to Canada to get them done. We have 180 days to get travel documents for them and go back to get the photos. Does anyone know if there is a way that we can get the photos done without returning to Canada?

All advice gratefully received.

Snave

Do the letters say implicitly that the photographs need to be taken in Canada? The PR Application specifies the photo's sizes etc, can't a UK photographer process them the same size? In my case the photographer stamped and dated the back - but I'm not sure if that was for commercial rather than CIC reasons.

lindseysm

I haven't received the letter yet - my contact where we arranged to have our PR cards sent, emailed to let me know and I will receive the letter at the weekend. It seems silly that the photos weren't alright as they were the same as those sent when CIC in London asked for our updated info and new photos and the rest of the family's photos were ok.

agr

This happened to us too. CIC are notoriously perfectionist on photo quality. We sent new photos from UK, but had to do so about 3 times before we were able to satisfy them. Eventually the PR cards were sent to our friend's address in Canada and he forwarded them on to us.
I think CIC's only restriction on where you are is that it will not send PR cards to addresses outside Canada. And if they know that you have given them a forwarding address, they might insist that you collect cards in person. But I doubt anyone looks at the origin of the envelope before opening your replacement photos.

lindseysm

Thank you for that post. I will get the boys photos done and then send them off. Even if I do have to get it done a number of times it will still be cheaper than flying over to Canada to get them done!

JAJ

And if this doesn't work, read:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Perman...nt_Card-Canada

regarding the options to enter Canada without a PR Card.

swoops

We to have this issues with photos, landed 4 weeks ago, got a letter from CIC for each photo, saying we have to resubmit 5 new photos that must have a date stamped on the back these photos can be done at most Walmarts for $14 for 2...

Frank'n Sense

Hi Lindsey,
The letter says "It is mandatory that all persons attend in person. Photos that are mailed in will not be accepted under any circumstance."

I think that is pretty clear what CIC expects. You can see if anyone else has had this notice and found a way around it. As British citizens you would be able to return to Canada without your PR cards as far as I understand - which helps a bit.

Warmly,

Frank

micknjan

How spooky - same numbers in our family, same number of PR cards received and our sons need to provide fresh photos. We too had to return to UK after landing to sell house etc.

We did get our letter sent over to us as it has to be taken along with you when you submit your new photos. In fact an appointment had been made which we could not attend but you have 180 days from the date of the letter to attend on them. I will quote the essential part of the paragraph of the letter which will leave you in no doubt at all about what you need to do.

"It is mandatory that all persons appear in person".

Letter also asks you to bring your passport or travel document and confirmation of permanent resident document with you.

We are really fed up about it but have now booked our flights over.

agr

Are you flying over just for the PR card appointment? If so, would it not be better to wait and reapply for PR cards once you have settled?

Bonestable

The same happened to us - three of us had PR cards mailed to our contact, but one of our daughter's photos was not accepted.

They told us she had to go to the CIC office in Ottawa to get the photos redone. She had to go within 6 months or the PR card application would be canceled.

We could not get there in person, so what we will do is reapply for a card when we move to Canada and have an address.

Based on what I have read on here, our daughter should not have an issue getting into Canada with a British passport. Alternatively we could apply for a travel document for her.

lindseysm

An appointment was also made for our sons but obviously they will not be able to make it as although the date of the letter was 7th January, it was not posted until 26th February! That has wasted nearly seven weeks out of the 180 days. The appointment is for 22nd March and there is no way that we can take the time off to go there (as well as paying over £1000).So I expect that we will wait until we get there. The stupid thing is that our photographs were all taken at the same time, same place. How is it possible that some are acceptable and some are not?

Bonestable

For one of my daughters we used regular photos that happened to have a white background and just cut them to size. For the other, we went to a studio and gave the photographer the detailed instructions on size etc. It was the studio ones that were rejected.

When you get to Canada you will have to start a new application and pay a fee, and you will have to pick up the cards in person, not have them mailed to you.

I am hoping we won't have any issues travelling to Canada as a family, if all of the rest of us have our cards. I plan on taking the letter about the photo so I can explain if her lack of a PR card is an issue.

micknjan

Yes we are. The way I read the letter I got the impression if you dont produce the photos within the 180 days then you wont get one. After waiting almost 5 years to get this far we really didn't want to leave anything to chance!!

micknjan

Yes was gonna get a travel document for him but its such a pain. Thought we had finished with all the crap once we landed but alas!!!!