Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR)
Maria, a citizen of Timor-Leste (East Timor), receives a positive response to her immigration application. However, on top of a visa counterfoil, IRCC sends her a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) form. Maria wonders what a COPR is. Moreover, she doesn’t understand the category code on the Confirmation of Permanent Residence form.
Table of contents
What is a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) form?
When you immigrate to Canada, IRCC issues you a document to confirm your permanent residency. They call this form the Confirmation of Permanent Residence or COPR for short. The form number is IMM 5688. It replaced the old landing paper IMM 1000 a few years ago. Moreover, you could see the following on a typical COPR form:
- Name, date of birth, sex, and citizenship of the applicant
- Their UCI, application number, and the document number
- Some personal details of the applicant
- The application details (e.g., the date and location of issuance and the category)
- Other information (e.g., the sponsor‘s info, if applicable, medical information, and dependents)
If you apply for PR from outside Canada, you receive a raw COPR. Therefore, you need to take the form to the port of entry and validate it with the help of a CBSA officer. However, if you are inside Canada, you will receive an eCOPR, and there is no need to validate it.
COPR v. a PR card
A COPR only shows the date you became a permanent resident of Canada. Therefore, you need a PR card to show you are still a permanent resident. Moreover, a PR card assists you in travelling to Canada. If you are outside Canada and your PR card has surpassed the expiry date, you need a PRTD to travel back to Canada. Of course, the same applies to you if you have lost your PR card. Unfortunately, COPR cannot help you in travelling to Canada. Nonetheless, it could assist you in the verification of your status or applying for a PR card.
Category types on the Confirmation of Permanent Residence form
The following image shows the PR section of a COPR:
As you can see, there is a section that shows the category of immigration. Since these categories are in codes, they appear confusing. Consequently, I list these categories below. I have taken these lists verbatim from the IRCC website.
Economic immigration category codes on COPR
- CEC: Canadian Experience Class
- CG: Caring for Children Program
- EN2-FED: Entrepreneur – Federal
- EN2-QC: Entrepreneur – Quebec
- HMN: Caring for People with High Medical Needs Program
- LC: In-Canada Live-in Caregiver
- LC2: Dependant residing abroad of a member of the live-in caregivers in Canada class
- MST-FED: Skilled Trades – Federal
- NV5-FED: Investor – Federal
- NV5-QC: Investor – Quebec
- PV2: Provincial Nominee – Selected by a province other than Quebec
- SE2-FED: Self-employed – Federal
- SE2-QC: Self-employed – Quebec
- SUD-FED: Startup Business
- SW1-FED: Skilled Worker – Federal
- SW1-QC: Skilled Worker – Quebec
If they do not add the FED appendix, they usually mean Federal options. For example, SE2 means SE2-FED. Of course, if you are the applicant, you are also aware of your immigration category.
Family class category codes on COPR
- FC1: Spouse
- FC3: Son/Daughter
- FC4: Parent/Grandparent
- FC5: Orphaned sibling/nephew/niece/grandchild
- FC6: Child to be adopted in Canada
- FC7: Other Relative
- FC9: Child adopted by perm resident of Canada
- FCC: Common Law Partner
- FCD: Dependant of a member of the spousal in Canada class residing abroad
- FCE: Conjugal Partner
Refugee category codes on COPR
- BSR: Blended Sponsorship Refugee
- CR: Convention Refugee
- DR: Dependant of REF-CDA residing abroad and in Canada and who has not been deemed to be a Convention refugee in their own right
- DR2: Dependant of CR8 refugee claimant who resides abroad and who has not deemed to be a Convention refugee in their own right
- RA: Country of Asylum
- REF-CDA: In-Canada Refugee and Protected Persons
- REF-OVS: Refugee Overseas
- RS: Source Country
- REF-CLM: Refugee Claim
Sometimes they use CR8 instead of CR for convention refugees.
Other application class category codes on COPR
- DPO: Dependant residing abroad of a member of the in-Canada H&C and TRP class – Admissibility
- PD2: Dependant of a member of the post-determination refugee claimant in Canada class residing abroad
- PP1: Public Policy Processing – application under A25(1) based on public policy processed per ministerial guidelines
- RM2: Dependant residing abroad of a member of the deferred removal class
Non-immigration category codes
The following list also helps you understand other codes appearing on a COPR. However, these codes do not refer to permanent residence directly.
- ARC: Authorization to Return to Canada
- PRTD: Permanent resident travel document
- RHB: Rehabilitation
- SV: Status Verification
- TRP: Temporary Resident Permit
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Al Parsai, LLM, MA, RCIC-IRB
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Adjunct Professor, Queen’s University Faculty of Law
Instructor, Ashton College, Immigration Consulting Program
Author of 88 Tips on Immigration to Canada and Inadmissibility to Canada for Human Rights Violations
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