Approved immigrants can now travel to Canada as of June 21

All valid Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) holders can complete their arrival in Canada as of today, June 21, 2021.

The Government of Canada made the announcement this morning at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).

In its announcement, the Canadian government said the COPR must be valid for a person to travel to Canada to complete their landing.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) work with expired COPR holders to reissue new COPRs.

A COPR is a confirmation to the applicants who have been approved by IRCC to move to Canada as permanent residents. This means that the person has met the criteria for the IRCC program, paid their fees, and passed the health, safety, and crime exams. With a COPR, they can travel to Canada to start their new life.

However, according to the data released by the Canadian government, a total of 23,000 CoPR holders have not traveled to the country since the travel restrictions were imposed in March 2020.

Get a Free Express Entry Assessment

Until now, only the immigrants who have their CoPR issued on or before March 18, 2020, were exempted from the travel restrictions. Those who obtained their COPR after March 18, 2020, could only come to Canada if they met one of Canada's other travel exemptions or were residents of the United States and moved to Canada to settle permanently.

Restrictions on expired COPRs

The Canadian government has indicated that more information on when and how to obtain a new COPR will be published shortly on the IRCC website.

He stressed that anyone with an expired COPR should not book their flight or attempt to get to Canada until IRCC issues them a new COPR.

COPRs are valid for up to one year. They are linked to the applicant's passport and immigration medical examination. Many people were unable to travel to Canada due to coronavirus-related disruptions or because they do not fall under one of Canada's travel restrictions. This caused their COPR to expire. They won't need to go through the immigration process again, but they will need IRCC to reissue a new valid COPR to allow them to travel to Canada.

COPR holders will need to follow Canada's travel rules upon arrival, such as possible quarantine for 14 days. However, the federal government also announced today that fully vaccinated people will be exempt from the quarantine requirement.