Operational Bulletin 537 – July 30, 2013

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) instructs officers on the process for handling urgent requests to validate the Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) document. They would validate this document at an inland Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) office. They would only follow this process where officers processed the application for permanent residence through the Global Case Management System (GCMS).

Background

Certain applicants for permanent residence have the option of validating their CoPR at a port of entry (POE). This is only applicable if:

• The applicants have a legal status in Canada
• The applicants are exempt from the visa counterfoil requirement (according to OB 348) or,
• The applicants have a permanent resident visa counterfoil in their passport

Alternatively, applicants could finalise their CoPR processing at an inland CIC office. This is in accordance with OB 076.

Situations could arise where the applicants are unable to travel to a POE. This could be because of their geographical location. Yet, they might still need to obtain urgent processing of their CoPR document at an inland CIC office. In these situations, officers would need to expedite such urgent requests. Officers would also need to treat such urgent requests with uniform consistency across the Canada network.

Eligibility for Urgent Processing

Applicants are eligible for urgent processing if:

• Their permanent residence visa will expire in two months or lesser or,
• Their CoPR will expire in two months or lesser 

Urgent Procedures

Applicants would need to follow the process given below for initiating urgent procedures.

• Applicants requiring urgent processing, because their permanent resident visa or CoPR will expire in two months or less, must contact the Call Centre
• The Call Centre would schedule an appointment for the applicants
• The Call Centre agent would confirm the expiry date after a search in the applicant’s file
• Then, the Call Centre agent would send an urgent referral to the appropriate inland CIC office
• The inland CIC office would contact the applicant for scheduling a landing appointment as soon as possible

Note:

• Such requests do not fall within the regular wait times
• Consequently, officers would need to treat these requests on an urgent basis
• The CIC would update Call Centre procedures subsequently 

The Process for Scheduling Landing Appointments

The process for scheduling landing appointments is as follows:

• Inland CICs would carry the responsibility of scheduling landing appointments
• The inland CIC would need to ensure that they schedule these landing appointments before the expiry of the applicant’s:
• Permanent resident visas
• CoPRs
• Passports
• Travel documents and,
• Any other admissibility assessments including, but not restricted to:
• Medical clearances
• Background checks or,
• Police certificates

Inland CIC Offices Processing

OB 402 contains additional detailed instructions for officers. It instructs officers on how they could grant permanent resident status at an inland CIC.

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)