After you submit: what happens between filing and landing

Submission is not the end of the work. It is the point at which IRCC starts setting deadlines, and most are short. The couples with a smooth file know what is coming and are ready when the request arrives. This is the sequence where the sponsored partner is outside Canada. Not every file includes every step, and the order can vary.

Acknowledgement of receipt, and how you check status

IRCC's first communication is the acknowledgement of receipt: "After we receive your application and check that it's complete, we'll send you an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) letter or email."

Two things follow. The AOR comes after a completeness check, so an incomplete application does not get one, it gets returned. And it is the gate for tracking: "You can only check your application status after you receive your AOR letter or email."

If you applied on paper, you can link the application to an online account. IRCC warns that after linking, "you won't receive paper letters about your application". Enter your details exactly as they appear on the application: IRCC allows five attempts before locking you out.

Biometrics

Your spouse or partner and any accompanying family members will give fingerprints and a photo. IRCC is explicit that this is not a one-off: "You must give your biometrics every time you apply for permanent residence, even if you've already given them." A set given for an earlier visitor visa does not carry over.

The deadline is the part people miss. IRCC sends a letter asking for biometrics, and says "They have 30 days from the date of the letter to go to a biometric collection site. They must bring the letter and their passport with them."

Outside Canada, biometrics are usually given at a visa application centre, and availability at some is limited. Children aged 13 and under at submission, and applicants aged 80 and over at submission, are exempt.

The medical exam

For a family class application you wait to be told: "After you submit your complete application for permanent residence, we'll send you instructions on how to get your medical exam done." That differs from Express Entry, where the exam is done before applying.

The exam must be done by an IRCC-approved panel physician. IRCC puts it bluntly: "Your own doctor can't do the medical exam. You must find a panel physician we've approved to do medical exams." A report from a family doctor is not accepted.

Once instructed, IRCC's spousal process guidance allows 30 days to complete the exam. Results are valid for a limited window: "Your medical exam results are valid for 12 months. If you don't come to Canada as a permanent resident within that time, you may need to have another exam."

Family members must be examined too: "Your family members must also have a medical exam, even if they're not coming with you." A child from a previous relationship who stays behind still has to be examined and declared.

Police certificates

The application guide sets the rule. Family members aged 18 or over who are not permanent residents or Canadian citizens must provide "a valid police certificate for any country other than Canada in which you spent 6 or more months in a row since the age of 18." None is needed for a country where you were under 18 the whole time you lived there, or for time in Canada.

Recency matters. For the current country of residence, IRCC asks for a certificate "issued no more than 6 months before the date you submit your application." For other countries, one "issued after the last time you resided there for 6 consecutive months or longer since the age of 18" is acceptable. Certificates must be scanned in colour. Start early: a certificate for a country your partner left a decade ago is often the slowest document in the file.

Requests for documents, and the possibility of an interview

IRCC reserves the right to come back to you at any point: "We may ask for more information or an in-person interview at any time."

When a request arrives, follow the method it specifies. IRCC warns: "Make sure to send your documents the way we ask you to. Otherwise, you could experience delays." Each item carries a "Required by" date, which IRCC describes as the latest date by which it needs the document.

On interviews, IRCC says only this: "In some cases, your family members may need to meet with an immigration officer for an in-person interview. If an interview is required, we'll tell them what documents to bring, and the time and place." IRCC does not publish what happens inside the interview, so treat anything you read about the questions asked as second-hand experience, not official guidance.

What we can say from practice is how to prepare. Re-read the forms and the relationship narrative you submitted, so your account matches the file. Be able to speak to dates, addresses and the history of the relationship. If something has changed since you filed, say so. Honest inconsistency is recoverable. A rehearsed answer that contradicts the documents is not.

When circumstances change mid-process

Applications outlast the circumstances they were filed in, and IRCC expects you to tell it when things move.

• Address and contact details: IRCC states "You must keep your contact information (address, email and phone number) up to date", and warns that otherwise "important documents could be delayed or lost" and "your application may be refused or considered abandoned".
• Family situation: IRCC asks you to "tell us about changes to your family situation, for example, marriage, birth, divorce or death", and directs you to its web form.
• A new baby: send IRCC a request to add the child, and it will tell you what documents to submit. IRCC confirms the application will take longer, and warns that a child cannot be added once the applicant has already become a permanent resident.
• A renewed or replaced passport: the application guide instructs that if the passport of the sponsored person or an accompanying family member is renewed or replaced while the application is in process, you must advise IRCC as soon as possible.
• A move to another country: this changes the address, and sometimes the police certificate picture and the office handling the file.

A note on travel. IRCC says you "may travel to Canada as a tourist before you get your permanent resident visa", while adding that it "strongly advise[s] against making any definitive arrangements for your stay in Canada until you have received your permanent resident visa" and that "having a valid visitor visa does not guarantee your entry into Canada." The officer at the port of entry decides.

The decision, and landing

If the application is approved, IRCC issues the documents that let your partner travel and land: the "Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR), which is a document confirming they've been approved to become permanent residents" and "a permanent resident visa, if required." These must be presented at a Canadian port of entry "before their documents expire".

Watch the dates on the COPR. It carries a date by which a person outside Canada must arrive, and its expiry date reflects when the travel document expires. The COPR is "valid as proof of permanent resident status in Canada until you get your permanent resident card."

At the port of entry an officer checks that the person arriving is the one who was approved, examines the accuracy of the information on the COPR, asks questions to confirm continuing eligibility, then completes the COPR by signing and dating it with the entry date. That signature is the moment permanent residence begins. The officer also confirms the Canadian mailing address for the PR card.

The first PR card needs no separate application, but it is conditional. IRCC states: "We automatically send you your first PR card if you give us your Canadian mailing address and photo within 180 days of becoming a permanent resident." If your partner lands and then leaves without supplying an address, that does not happen.

We have not heard anything since we applied. Is something wrong?

Not necessarily. Silence between steps is normal. What matters is that the contact details on file are current and that someone is checking the account and the email address you gave, including spam.

Can my partner use the biometrics they gave for a visitor visa?

No. IRCC states that you must give biometrics every time you apply for permanent residence, even if you have already given them. Budget for a separate appointment.

Can our own family doctor do the medical exam?

No. The exam must be done by a panel physician approved by IRCC, which states plainly that your own doctor cannot do it. For a family class application, wait for IRCC's instructions before booking.

Our medical exam is getting old. Do we need another one?

Possibly. IRCC states that results are valid for 12 months and that if you do not come to Canada as a permanent resident within that time you may need another exam. If your file is approaching that point, take advice.

We are expecting a baby before a decision is made. What do we do?

Tell IRCC and send a request to add the child. IRCC will tell you what documents to submit, and confirms the application will take longer. Do not wait until landing, because a child cannot be added once the applicant is already a permanent resident.

Can my spouse visit Canada while the application is in process?

IRCC says a person may travel to Canada as a tourist before receiving a permanent resident visa, but strongly advises against making definitive arrangements for the stay beforehand, and notes that a valid visitor visa does not guarantee entry.

If a request has arrived and you are unsure what it asks for, or your circumstances have changed, get it looked at before the deadline passes. Book a consultation

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