Operational Bulletin 536 – July 30, 2013

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides instructions to officers of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). These instructions concern the manner in which the officers need to process Permanent Resident (PR) Determinations. The Sydney Case Processing Centre’s Permanent Resident Card Centre (PRCC Sydney) would refer such determinations to CIC. This would usually happen in situations where the applicant is outside of Canada.

This OB also reminds all CIC officers to make either a positive or a negative residency determination on all applications. CIC officers must make this determination before returning the applications to PRCC Sydney. There are two exceptions. In these scenarios, CIC officers do not need to make this residency determination on applications before returning them to PRCC Sydney. These are situations where the:

• Application has been abandoned or,
• The applicant has been granted Canadian citizenship

Background

The process for issuing a Permanent Resident card (PR Card) is a multi-step process. The process for issuing new PRs is:

• Officers at the Port of Entry or at a CIC office would need to complete the Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) form
• The officers would then need to send PRCC Sydney:
• A copy of the CoPR and,
• A photograph
• PRCC Sydney would do the necessary quality assurance and scanning of these documents
• Upon completion of this process, the Canadian Bank Note Company would mail these Phase I cards directly to the clients

The process for issuing Phase II PR Cards involves:

• Officers at the Port of Entry or at a CIC office sending the following documents to PRCC Sydney:
• A copy of the CoPR and,
• A photograph
• PRCC Sydney would do the necessary quality assurance and scanning of these documents
• PRCC Sydney would then approve the straightforward PR card applications and issue 5-year PR cards
• PRCC Sydney would send the PR cards to a CIC office for in-person collection (in case PRCC Sydney is aware that the applicant is outside of Canada)
• PRCC Sydney would also send a random selection of Phase II cards to CIC offices for in-person collection
• These cards would be sent for quality assurance purposes
• The number of cards sent by PRCC Sydney would be around 10 percent of the total lot of Phase II cards

Note:

• PRCC Sydney would send more complex PR card applications to the:
• Local CIC offices for:
• Investigation and,
• Residency determination
• PRCC Sydney Client Service Unit for a second-level review
• Complex PR card applications could include applications linked to large scale residency investigations

Procedures

• PRCC Sydney would send referrals to a local CIC office
• The local CIC office would evaluate the application and check whether any additional information is needed
• In case the local CIC office deems that additional information is required, it would ask applicants to complete:
• The Questionnaire: Determination of Permanent Residency Status (IMM 5511)
• A supplementary absences form and,
• The submission of any additional supporting documents
• The CIC office would then await the arrival of the requisite response from the applicant
• Once the applicant reverts to the CIC office, it would proceed as per existing procedures if:
• The CIC office becomes aware that the applicant is outside of Canada and,
• The CIC officer recommends a positive residency determination based on a paper review of the documents
• In this scenario, the CIC office would inform PRCC Sydney about the decision taken
• The CIC agent would also need to remember to include advice for PRC-Sydney directing them that the applicant would need to pick up the PR card in person at a CIC office
• Situations might arise where the local CIC office is not able to make a residency determination based on the information at hand
• Therefore, the local CIC office would direct the applicant to apply for a Travel Document (Permanent Resident Abroad or a PRTD) at the nearest Canadian visa office, if the local CIC office is aware that the applicant is outside of Canada
• The local CIC office would also instruct the applicant to forward a copy of the PRTD to the local CIC office, once the applicant has obtained the PRTD
• The local CIC office would direct all correspondence with the applicant to the applicant’s last known address in Canada
• The local CIC office would then set the application aside for the stipulated compliance period of 180 days (this is accordance with standard procedures)
• Applicant entering Canada without obtaining a PRTD first would need to contact the local CIC office
• The local CIC office would schedule an interview to assess whether the applicant meets the residency obligation
• The CIC agent could complete the residency determination assessment if the agent:
• Obtains the PRTD
• Checks the applicant’s file to see whether an application for PRTD has been finalised
• The CIC agent would approve the referral if there is a positive residency determination overseas
• In this scenario, the CIC agent would return the application to PRC-Sydney
• PRC-Sydney would then issue the 5-year validity card
• However, the CIC agent would schedule an interview with the applicant if there is a discrepancy between:
• The information provided to the CIC office and,
• The information provided overseas
• During this interview, the CIC agent would try to address the issues of discrepancy with the applicant before rendering a residency determination
• CIC agents would need to update the Permanent Residency Determination (PRD) screen in FOSS if they disagree with the positive decision overseas
• This updation would denote that the CIC agents are making a new determination of permanent residency
• The CIC agents would need to ask the applicant for evidence to prove that the applicant appealed the decision, if the CIC agents come across a negative residency determination overseas
• If the applicant provides proof of the appeal, the CIC agent would return the application to PRCC Sydney
• The agents would also advise PRCC Sydney to issue a 1-year validity card (in accordance with R54(2)
• The CIC agent could also refuse the PR card application on the grounds that the applicant has lost PR status (in accordance with A46(1)(b)) if:
• The applicant provides evidence that the applicant waived the appeal rights overseas or,
• The applicant does not provide any evidence of having filed an appeal despite the lapse of the 60-day appeal period
• In these scenarios, CIC agents would only need to enter a Non-Computer Based (NCB) entry into FOSS (especially NCB Type 12 – General Information)
• This is because the overseas visa office would have already completed the PRD screen
• CIC agents could use the text “Loss of PR status as negative PRD overseas is a final determination in accordance with A46(1)(b)” in their NCB entry into FOSS
• CIC agents could also include additional notes in the Work in Process (WIP) screen
• The CIC agent would need to schedule an interview with the applicant, if the applicant:

• Does not apply for a PRTD and,
• Notifies the local CIC office that the applicant has entered Canada within the 180-day compliance period
• Thereafter, the CIC agent would need to apply regular procedures for pursing the residency determination assessment
• The CIC agent would declare the application abandoned if the applicant:
• Does not apply for a PRTD and,
• Does not notify the local CIC office that the applicant has entered Canada within the 180-day compliance period
• In this scenario, the CIC agent would send a notice to the applicant by regular mail
• The CIC agent would advise the applicant that:
• The application has been abandoned and that,
• If the applicant wishes to receive a PR card in the future, then the applicant would need to submit a new application along with the relevant fees

The Reminder Process

The process for issuing reminders as follows:

• PRCC Sydney would refer a PR card application to a CIC office
• The CIC office would need to carry out a residency determination before sending the application back to PRCC Sydney
• This residency determination could either be positive or negative
• The only scenarios where the CIC office would not make a residency determination are if the:
• Application has been abandoned or,
• The applicant has been granted Canadian citizenship
• The CIC office would also need to complete the residency determination decisions for applications that are resolved based on a positive residency determination overseas
• In this situation, the CIC office would close the PRCC Sydney referral after completing the residency determination decision
• The CIC office cannot return an application to PRCC Sydney requesting PRCC Sydney to issue the PR card for in-person collection at the CIC, with the intention of conducting the residency assessment at the time the client comes for collecting the card
• CIC agents would need to ensure that they place everything under the same line of business created by PRCC Sydney at the time of referring the file, when the CIC agents add actions or remarks in the Work in Process (WIP) screen in FOSS
• This would ensure that anyone accessing the information about this application would be able to find all information in the same place
• This would also ensure that the system does not create additional lines of business unnecessarily

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)