From Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Last updated: March 29, 2020
On this page:
- If we already approved your permanent resident application
- Permanent residence applications that we’re still processing
- To withdraw your application
If we already approved your permanent resident application
Permanent residence applications approved on or before March 18, 2020
If your application was approved on or before March 18, 2020, but you haven’t travelled to Canada yet, you’re exempt from the travel restriction measures.
Landing appointments will be held by telephone, if possible
We cancelled all in-person permanent resident landing appointments until April 13, 2020. All landing appointments will be done by telephone whenever possible. Otherwise, we’ll reschedule them for later.
We’ll contact you by email to let you know when your phone appointment will be. Use the Web form if you need to update your contact information.
Approved permanent resident applicants with expired or expiring documents
If we already approved your permanent resident application but you can’t travel to Canada before your documents expire, use the Web form to tell us why you can’t travel.
Once it’s possible for you to travel, use the Web form to let us know so we can tell you what to do next.
Permanent residence applications that we’re still processing
Some steps you may not be able to complete right now include
- submitting your passport or supporting documents, such as a police certificate
- completing an immigration medical exam
No application in progress will be closed or refused because of documents missing due to COVID-19. We’ll automatically give you 90 days to complete these steps. Once you’re able to, complete the steps as soon as possible to avoid delays.
Biometrics deadline extended to 90 days
Even though your biometrics instruction letter (BIL) says you must complete this step in 30 days, we’ll automatically give you 90 days. You won’t need a new BIL.
Biometrics at Service Canada locations
To keep everyone safe, Service Canada has temporarily stopped collecting biometrics until further notice.
- All biometrics appointments have been cancelled.
- You’ll have to reschedule your biometrics appointment when Service Canada locations return to normal operations.
- If you can’t give your biometrics at a Service Canada location, don’t go to another location like
- a Canadian port of entry
- an Application Support Centre in the United States or
- a visa application centre
To withdraw your application
If you’re affected by the travel restrictions and want to withdraw your permanent residence application, use the Web form to let us know.
We’ll give you a refund if
- you withdraw your application within 24 hours of submitting it
- we haven’t started processing
Updates and related links
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