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ITA to eCOPR in ~5 months (transport category): full timeline plus how Portal 1 and Portal 2 work

Canada • Express Entry • immigration 0 views
By VisaBuddies Communityvia community — compiled from public visa forums

Timeline

Applied
2022-09-21
Documents Submitted
2022-12-13
Decision
2023-02-16
Total Duration
~5 months from ITA to eCOPR

Documents Needed

  • Additional Document Request (ADR) — college diploma

    IRCC asked mid-process for the Canadian college diploma; respond quickly to keep the file moving.

  • Biometrics

    Requested after medicals passed; tracker updated the day after completion.

  • Photo + Canadian address

    Uploaded through the PR Portal at the Portal 2 stage.

Step-by-Step

An in-Canada applicant (arrived on a 1-year study program, invited under the 2022 transport-occupations category draw, Montréal visa office) shared a complete inland EE timeline and, in the comments, a useful explanation of the confusing Portal 1 / Portal 2 stage.

The timeline: ITA 20 Sep → AOR 21 Sep → medical passed 22 Nov → ADR (college diploma) 29 Nov → biometrics requested 29 Nov, done 13 Dec → eligibility & background completed on tracker 7 Feb → final decision 7 Feb → Portal 1 email 9 Feb (responded same day) → Portal 2 13 Feb (photo and address uploaded same day) → eCOPR 16 Feb. Roughly five months, ITA to eCOPR.

How the PR Portal stage works (from the comments):
  1. Portal 1 arrives by email after final decision — for a single applicant it goes straight to the applicant's email. Respond promptly.

  2. Portal 2 follows a few days later and asks you to upload a photo and your Canadian address through the PR Portal.

  3. If you never received portal credentials, call IRCC — they can resend or set up access on the same email. One caution passed on in-thread: don't try to create the portal account yourself until you actually get the Portal 2 stage.

  4. eCOPR (the "golden email") lands a few days after Portal 2 is completed — this applicant had it within 3 days.


(Category-based draws and their occupation lists are time-bound — the transport category invite here was specific to 2022–23 draws. The portal mechanics remain the useful part.)

Dos, Don'ts & Tips

  • Do: Respond to Portal 1, Portal 2 and any ADR the same day if you can — this applicant's fast responses kept the final stage to about a week.
  • Don't: Don't create a PR Portal account on your own before you're actually invited to Portal 2 — wait for the request, or call IRCC if credentials never arrive.
  • Tip: Track stage completion (biometrics, eligibility, background) in the IRCC tracker — it updates within a day or two of each real event and tells you where the file is.

Have a question about this? Join the discussion.

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