/ Published in 2013

Inland CIC Processing of Confirmation of Permanent Residence Documents Originating from Visa Offices


Last Updated on July 31, 2014

Operational Bulletin 402 (Modified) – February 22, 2013

Inland CIC Processing of Confirmation of Permanent Residence Documents Originating from Visa Offices  

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides instructions to officers, who process Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) documents. These instructions relate to the processing of Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) documents at inland Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) offices. These instructions concern cases where officers processed the application for permanent residence:

  • Through the Global Case Management System (GCMS)
  • At a visa office

Background / Rationale

Officers could encounter situations where applicants have legal status in Canada. In these cases, the authorities would approve the Permanent Residence (PR) application. Thereafter, the visa office would need to forward certain documents. The visa office would send these documents to the applicant’s address in Canada. These documents would include:

  • The Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) document
  • The IMM 5688 and,
  • The passport containing the visa counterfoil (if required)

In this situation, the applicant has the option of:

  • Contacting an inland Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) office for arranging the landing (as specified in OB 076) or,
  • Finalising the processing at a port of entry in case the applicant:
    • Is exempt from the visa counterfoil requirement (as specified in OB 348) or,
    • Has a permanent resident visa counterfoil in the applicant’s passport

Officers of the originating visa office would need to take certain actions. They would need to designate the inland Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) office as a secondary office. This would complete the landing process in the Global Case Management System (GCMS). However, some inland Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) offices faced certain issues. For example, they found that they were unable to land clients in the Global Case Management System (GCMS). This was because of the originating visa office. It transpired that the originating visa office had not designated them as the secondary office on the Global Case Management System (GCMS) applications.

To deal with this, the authorities are modifying the Global Case Management System (GCMS). In the interim, the authorities have issued instructions to the inland Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) offices. These offices would need to finalise the process in the Field Operations Support System (FOSS).

Processing Instructions for Officers of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)

The processing instructions for officers of inland Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) office entail that:

  • The officer granting permanent resident status would need to:
    • Complete the required data fields on the:
      • CIC Copy of the IMM 5688 and,
      • Client Copy of the IMM 5688
    • Sign and date both, the Client Copy as well as the CIC Copy
  • The officer would need to check that any amendment on the CIC Copy also reflects in the Client Copy
  • The officer would need to get the clients to sign and date both copies of the form
    • The client’s signature denotes the client’s acceptance that:
      • The information provided is accurate and,
      • The client acknowledges the terms and conditions
  • Thereafter, the officer would proceed to update the record in the Field Operations Support System (FOSS)
  • In some cases, the officer could find that someone has made a clerical error on the IMM 5688 Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) document
  • In this scenario, the officer would need to:
    • Correct both, the Client Copy and the CIC Copy
    • Bring both, the Client Copy and the CIC Copy into agreement with the bio data listed in the passport or the travel document
    • Make a correction by:
      • Placing an asterisk beside the error and,
      • Annotating the correction in the Remarks section of both copies of the IMM 5688
    • Ensure that any corrections made to any of the copies of the IMM 5688 must also reflect in the remarks in the Field Operations Support System (FOSS)
  • The officer would need to issue the Client Copy to the client as a historical record, once the authorities grant Permanent Resident (PR) status to the client
  • The client would receive the official status document i.e. the Permanent Resident Card (PR Card) by mail within six to eight weeks of receiving Permanent Resident (PR) status
  • The officer would then, forward the CIC Copy of the IMM 5688 to the Case Processing Centre (CPC)-PR Card in Sydney
  • Officers would need to note that the IMM 5688 version of the Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) document does not have any National Headquarters (NHQ) copy
  • In certain cases, the officer might find it necessary to issue a replacement document in the Field Operations Support System (FOSS)
  • In these cases, the officer would need to print the new Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) document on IMM 5292 stock
  • The officer would need to get the clients to sign the IMM 5292 Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) document in the designated places
    • The client’s signature denotes the client’s acceptance that:
      • The information provided is accurate and,
      • The client acknowledges the terms and conditions
  • Thereafter, the officer would need to distribute the form by:
    • Sending Part 1 to the CPC Sydney
    • Sending Part 2 to the National Headquarters (NHQ) for archiving and,
    • Issuing Part 3 to the client

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)