Skippy88

Hi guys,

I have applied for permanent residence via Buffalo as I am a UK citizen with PNP status here in British Columbia where I have been living since Jan 2008 on a temporary work permit.

Buffalo then transferred the files to New York and I have completed the medicals etc.

Today I received a letter saying that "processing of your application appears complete" and asking me to submit my passport and 4 photos to New York within 60 days for the issuance of my visa.

Question 1) once I have done this does this mean I am a Permanent Resident? or is there more to do? will I get a Permanent Residence card sent back to me immediately?

Question 2) can anyone explain why the letter says on the bottom "Based on current information your Permanent Resident Visa will be valid until 24th March 2010" ????? why is there a valid to date so soon???

nuin

1: After you receive the passport back, you land and acquire PR. Then you get the card.

2: That's the date of your medical, one year later.

Skippy88

Hi Nuin

Thanks for the reply. I already live in Canada and have a house here so don't have to 'land' as it were. So when I get the passport back again with the page updated by stamp or whatever they add, do I then have to apply somewhere else to get PR and the card?

You are correct the date of March 2010 is one year from the medicals, but what is the significance of this? What happens when we reach that date?

nuin

Still, you have to actually "land". Either you get out of the country and come back, or you schedule an appointment in a CIC office near you. In one of these events you will land and activate you PR status and then the whole process will end/start. Your immigration process ends and your life as PR starts.

The one year from your medical is the expiration date for you to land. If you fail to activate your status by then, the visa is void and you lose your process and cannot "land" anymore.

HTH

P

JAJ

And until you "land" you are still subject to temporary permit restrictions, also any changes in circumstances could cause your visa to be cancelled.

kleinluka

Basically, you should land ASAP so you don't have to deal with all this BS anymore

Skippy88

Thanks for the replies. I was under the impression from something I read on the CIC website somewhere that PR cards were sent out automatically these days after immigration process was competed.

Anyway the passports and photos are on their way to New York so hopefully we will get them back before too long and hopefully any further steps will be confirmed when they come back.

MR79

Hi,

PR cards are sent out after you have activated the visa, to do this you will need to land even if you are already living in Canada, alot of people cross the border to the us and come back in to Canada to activate the visa, you have a year from your medical to do this otherwise if not done in the timeframe you will lose your pr and will need to start the process all over again.hope this helps.

MR79

Skippy88

Thank you MR79 for clarifying things for me. Also a big thanks to everyone who took the time to reply.

I'm sure these sound like dumb questions to some of you but I just don't want to assume I know the procedures.

As I live 10 miles from the US border crossing I guess that once I have the passports back I will just cross into US and come back again. (I already have a visa waiver inside my passport allowing me to travel to the US on my British passport.) At the border crossing I just ask to activate the visa?? will the border crossing guards know what needs to done then?

nuin

That's pretty much it. Say that you're landing and they know what to do. Do not forget to check the wiki for documents you might need to present.

Skippy88

The wiki seems to suggest I don't need to go to US and come back again.

* Note dated November 4th, 2008: According to the BE forum discussion thread entitled In-Canada landing for family and economic classes, the Canadian government now allows permanent residence (PR) visa applicants in the family and economic classes to undergo an in-Canada landing process if they have applied for PR abroad but are temporarily in Canada when their visas are issued.


This would apply to me wouldn't it? I have been in Canada on a temporary work permit since Jan 2008, have British Columbia PNP status and applied for permanent residence through Buffalo.

nuin

"Either you get out of the country and come back, or you schedule an appointment in a CIC office near you."

I wrote on my second answer for you. You can call the Call Centre and check for an appointment or go to the border.

Skippy88

Thank you everyone for the help. Its greatly appreciated