Mailing Permanent Resident Cards to Representatives

Last Updated on July 3, 2014

Operational Bulletin 491 (Modified) – June 30, 2014

Summary

Situations could arise where applicants indicate the address of a third party representative for their:

• Residential address or,
• Mailing address

The Case Processing Centre in Sydney (CPC-S), Nova Scotia, would handle the Permanent Resident Card (PR Card) distribution in these cases.

This Operational Bulletin (OB) summarises and clarifies the procedures that officers in the Case Processing Centre in Sydney (CPC-S), Nova Scotia, would need to follow in these cases.

Background

The authorities mail the majority of Phase II Permanent Resident Cards directly to permanent residents (PRs). Phase II Permanent Resident Cards entail the:

• Renewal of the existing Permanent Resident Cards or,
• Replacement of previous Permanent Resident Cards

This had been the case since May 2012, as part of a pilot project.

Therefore, all Phase II permanent residents needed to appear in person to collect their Permanent Resident Cards. They could collect their Permanent Resident Cards from the offices of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in Canada. 

However, the authorities observed that officers often mailed Permanent Resident Cards to immigration representatives. This led them to the conclusion that the possibility existed where individuals could mail these Permanent Resident Cards to the permanent residents overseas. This would result in circumventing the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its regulations. 

The authorities note that new immigrants to Canada might not have a permanent address. Therefore, it allows new immigrants to provide the address of a third party in Canada. The third parties that new immigrants could use the address of include:

• Friends
• Relatives
• Service providers or,
• Paid representatives

This would help facilitate the processing and issuance of the card, once the new immigrants arrive in Canada. This is the process prescribed by the authorities for issuing Phase I cards to new immigrants when they enter Canada.

Instructions 

Phase I Cards

• CPC-S would continue to mail the Permanent Resident Cards to the Canadian address provided by the new permanent resident upon arrival
• This is in accordance with the process currently in place
• However, officers would need to flag certain cases with a note indicating that the client is outside Canada
• These cases would pertain to those applications, where the officers have clear indications that:
• The client’s initial entry into Canada was only for a short duration and,
• The client provided a third party address with the sole objective of having the third party forward their initial Permanent Resident Card outside of Canada
• Officers would also need to highlight the fact that the:
• Photo retake took place outside Canada and,
• Submission of the photo took place to produce the first Permanent Resident Card
• In addition, the officers would need to mention the date they recorded this information 

Phase II Cards

• In certain situations, the CPC-S would only update the Global Case Management System (GCMS) with only the residential address of the applicant
• They would do this in cases where:
• Applications indicate the mailing address of a third party
• Applications have a Use of Representative (IMM 5476) form on file
• The CPC-S would record the mailing address of the third party in the GCMS as the third party address “Authorised to disclose”
• The CPC-S would also mail the Permanent Resident Card to the client at the residential address provided
• In certain cases, the CPC-S would send a letter to the applicant at the mailing address of the third party provided on the application (refer to the Template given subsequently)
• This would take place when the CPC-S receives an application having:
• The residential address of a third party
• The mailing address of a third party and,
• An IMM 5476 form on file
• The letter would inform the applicant that:
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) does not mail Permanent Resident Cards to third party addresses
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) would mail the Permanent Resident Card to the residential address of the client (once the client provides the residential address)
• The CIC does not mail Permanent Resident Cards to addresses having P.O. boxes
• Therefore, clients indicating a P.O. box instead of a mailing address would need to provide the relevant justifications for not having an acceptable mailing address to the officers of the CIC
• Officers of the CIC would need to handle files in accordance with CIC’s standard procedures on unauthorised and concealed representatives
• They would do this when:
• Applications indicate the address of a known or suspected third party
• There is no IMM 5476 form on file
• This is in accordance with the stipulations set out in Section 7.2 of IP 9
• This process would also apply in situations where:
• Applications appear to list the applicant’s home and mailing addresses and,
• The return address mentioned on the envelope belongs to:
• An immigration company or,
• A lawyer’s office
• The CIC has updated its website, application forms and guides
• It has availed of all platforms to inform clients that it would only mail Permanent Resident Cards in Canada and not to any third party’s address 

The Template for the Letter Sent by CPC-S

CASE PROCESSING CENTRE

P.O. BOX 9000

SYDNEY, NS B1P 6K7 

[Date]

[Client Name]

[Client ID]

[Street Address]

[City, Prov. Postal Code]

Your application indicates your representative’s address as your home and mailing address. As per subparagraph 56(2)(a)(iv) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, we require that applicants provide their personal mailing address, as Permanent Resident Cards are not mailed to third parties.

Please provide your mailing address and the information requested by “dd, mm, yyyy” to enable us to issue your Permanent Resident Card. If the information requested is not provided by the date indicated, we will consider your application as abandoned and you will have to submit a new application, including processing fees. 

Once you have provided this information we will continue with the processing of your application.

Should you require further assistance, please visit our website.

Officer

Case Processing Centre

Sydney, Nova Scotia

 

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)