A Verification of Status (VOS) application (i.e. your replacement record of landing application) normally takes six months to process. If you need your Verification of Status sooner than six months, you will need to submit proof of urgency to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC, formerly CIC) as part of your application.
If your proof of urgency is accepted by IRCC, your application should be processed within 4-8 weeks, instead of 6 months.
*Please note that urgency processing is at the discretion of the IRCC officer.
First, let’s be clear as to what constitutes proof of urgency:
IRCC will accept proof of urgency to process your application for situations in which you need to prove your permanent residence or your date of landing in Canada, and you have a limited time to do so. You will need to submit enough documentation to IRCC to prove that you need your Verification of Status urgently. You should submit your proof of urgency at the time you file your application. Be sure to make a copy of your proof of urgency to keep for your records and for corresponding with IRCC.
Below are examples of the most commonly accepted reasons for urgency. Please note that this list is not exclusive. If you cannot conclusively prove you need the VOS within a fixed amount of time, your urgency request will likely be ignored.
If you were not born in Canada but have worked in Canada and are eligible for Old Age Security, you need to submit your Record of Landing / Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) to Service Canada so that they can calculate your OAS payments. Service Canada will not process your OAS application without your Record of Landing / Confirmation of Permanent Residence / Verification of Status.
Courier your package but be sure to make copies of everything before couriering. See sample courier waybill.
Keep checking your status online or call on a regular basis.
Once you have received your VOS, you can submit it to Service Canada.
If you are submitting an application to IRCC (formerly CIC) and you are required to submit your Record of Landing or Confirmation of Permanent Residence with the application, you can use correspondence from IRCC as proof of urgency. You will first have to submit your application (for example, a PR Card application) and wait for IRCC’s request to supply your Record of Landing or COPR. Once you have that request from IRCC, you can submit it with your VOS application as proof of urgency.
Note: A letter from IRCC is the most commonly successful proof of urgency.
Courier your package to IRCC. See sample waybill. Make sure to make copies before you send it!
If you do not have a valid PR Card, you may need to use your Record of Landing or COPR as proof of your status in Canada. If you need to prove your status to get a job or to continue working in your current job, you will need a letter from your employer or prospective employer stating that they need your proof of status by a certain date. The letter should be on company letterhead.
Courier your package to IRCC or send it by registered mail. See sample waybill. Don’t forget to make copies!
If you do not have PR Card, you need to use your COPR or Record of Landing to prove that you are permanent resident (for elementary and secondary schools) or that you are not an international student (for post-secondary institutions). You will need to get a letter from the school requesting your proof of status by a specific date (for example, the start of the next semester). The letter should be on the letterhead of the educational institution.
Courier your package to IRCC or otherwise send it by a method you can track. See a sample waybill. Make sure to make copies before you submit your application.
Be sure to check your status online or call IRCC regularly.
If your provincial health card has expired and you do not have a PR Card, you may need your Record of Landing or COPR to prove that you are eligible for provincial health coverage, to the ministry, a doctor’s office, clinic or hospital. You will need to get a letter requesting proof of status from the applicable office or institution stating they require your proof of status by a given date or you will lose your health coverage (be forced to pay a bill that you would be covered for, etc.).
Please note that this will not work for health card applications if the issuing office does not provide a date by which you must submit the proof of status.
Please note that not all clinics and hospitals will accept a Verification of Status as proof of status. Please ask the administrative staff at your institution what kinds of proof they accept and if they say “PR Card only,” renew your PR Card instead.
Courier your package to IRCC. Be sure to make copies before sending. See a sample waybill.
Check the application status online or call frequently to ensure it’s processed in time.
Some countries require their expatriate citizens to provide proof of legal residence in another country as part of the passport renewal process. If this is true of your country, and you do not have a PR Card, you may be able to expedite your VOS application with a letter from your local Embassy or Consulate of your home country (or the passport issuing authority of your home country).
Make copies of everything before you seal your application package. Submit your application by courier or registered mail so that you can track your package. See a sample waybill.
Because urgency is at the discretion of the officer, please check your status regularly. Or Call IRCC’s call centre.
Basically IRCC will consider many different requests for urgency, the main point to remember is that you need to demonstrate that your life will negatively affected if you do not provide proof of your permanent residence status. You can also submit a free evaluation of your urgency claim. We try to respond to all questions within two business days. Use the email box below or email Riley at riley@immigroup.com and make sure you subject is “Review my IMM1000 urgent request.”
Now that you’ve submitted proof of urgency for your Verification of Status application, you want to know when it will receive the document. There are two common ways to check the status of your application with IRCC:
To learn more about how to check your status, please go here.
If the status says “processing” and the date you need your VOS is fast approaching, you should call IRCC to figure out when your application will be completed.
Call IRCC at 1-888-242-2100. Make sure you have ready both your UCI and a copy of your proof of urgency. Explain the situation to the call centre representative as clearly as possible.
Call centre representatives do not process files, so they will not be able to speed up the processing. However, if the date you need your Verification of Status by is fast approaching, don’t worry about calling back to find out how things are progressing.
I submitted my application months ago, should I just fill a new application and try again?
No. You should submit your proof of urgency to IRCC. Make sure to indicate your name and UCI or application number in the package.
The IRCC call centre keeps telling me to call back at a later date but it’s months in the future? Can I call sooner?
Yes, you can call as many times as you want.
I think they lost my application, what now?
Call IRCC at 1-888-242-2100. The recording will tell you whether or not they are working on applications later than you submitted yours. If that’s true and they should be processing it already, check your application status online. If it doesn’t say “Processing” for your application, call IRCC and get them to check whether or not they’ve received your application.
If they haven’t received your application, you will need to resubmit it. This time, courier your application so that you can track the package.
I have no way of tracking my application, I did not keep copies and I sent it by Canada Post.
Call IRCC to see what date they are processing applications from. If you think that date is later than you submitted yours, speak to a call centre agent to see whether or not they have your application.
