Valid COPR holders can travel to Canada as of June 21

Valid Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) holders can now complete their landing in Canada.

As of June 21, 2021, approved immigrants can now enter Canada. Around 23,000 COPRs have been issued since March 2020. However, because of the COVID-19 travel restrictions, candidates could not come to Canada.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that the COPR must be valid for an individual in order to travel to Canada to complete their landing.

A COPR is issued to candidates who have been approved by the IRCC to immigrate to Canada. The individual has met IRCC’s program criteria, paid the fees, and passed health, security, and criminality screenings. Once they hold a COPR, they can travel to Canada to begin their new life.

Up until today, only candidates with a valid COPR issued on or before March 18, 2020 were exempt from Canada’s COVID-19 travel restrictions. Individuals who received their COPR after March 18 could only come to Canada under certain circumstances. They could enter Canada if they met one of Canada’s other travel exemptions or were a United States resident and were moving to Canada to settle permanently.

IRCC explicitly stated that anyone with an expired COPR should not book their flight or attempt to travel to Canada until they have been issued a new COPR.

The IRCC is working with expired COPR holders to reissue new COPRs.

COPRs are valid for up to one year and are tied to the individuals’ passport and their immigration medical exam.

COPR holders will need to follow Canada’s travel rules upon arrival such as quarantining for fourteen (14) days. However, the government also announced today that people who are fully vaccinated – with Canada approved doses – will be exempt from the quarantine requirement.