Permanent Residence Validation Pilot Project

On March 19, 2018, the IRCC announced that they are launching a pilot project where applicants can have their Permanent Residence (PR) validated at an IRCC office without needing to make an appointment. The IRCC is piloting this new procedure to improve client services and processing times.

Currently, applicants who wish to validate their Permanent Residence have two options:

1. Make an appointment at one of the local IRCC offices (in some cases securing an appointment can take a few weeks);
2. Leave Canada and return through an international airport or a Canadian land border to complete an interview with an IRCC officer to be granted entry based on visa information.

From March 19 – April 20, 2018, the IRCC will be emailing selected clients in Montreal, Fredericton and Halifax areas. The email will provide clients with a list of dates and times when clients can attend their local IRCC office to receive Permanent Residence validation.

At present, clients cannot request to be included in the pilot project, nor is it available to clients in Toronto. The IRCC plans to review the outcomes of the pilot project and determine if the process could be implemented for all clients throughout Canada. If the project is successful and is implemented countrywide, the benefits for clients would include shorter wait times for PR validation and more certainty around meeting validation deadlines. This could be particularly helpful for clients who must travel to Canada solely to validate their PR due to various familial and business circumstances.

A reminder that regardless of the validation pilot project outcome, clients must always present the following documents and records to IRCC officers when seeking validation:

1. Passport, travel or identity document (including the visa sticker, if relevant);
2. Confirmation of Permanent Residence, permanent resident visa, Certificat de selection du Quebec (if relevant), letter of introduction or any instructions from the Canada visa office, and;
3. Proof of legal status in Canada, such as a valid work permit, study permit, temporary resident permit, or visitor document, or any immigration document (whether valid or not), or;
4. Proof of implied status (when applied to extend stay before it ended). Proof of status may include:
   • Payment receipt;
   • Copy of application to extend stay;
   • Printout of online application, or;
   • Proof of mailing.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/notices/validate-permanent-residence-within-canada-pilot-project.html