A PR holder's wife received passport request for her spousal-sponsorship PR while she was already in Canada on a visitor visa. The couple couriered her passport for stamping without telling IRCC she was in Canada — and then asked whether she could activate her CoPR without flying home.
What members explained:
- The correct move was a webform before stamping. If the applicant is inside Canada when the approval arrives, you're supposed to inform IRCC via webform that she is in Canada; IRCC can then arrange a virtual landing (landing completed remotely, no border crossing). Sending the passport for stamping first, without that notice, muddied the file.
- It's still fixable, but slower. Members said the couple could still submit the webform explaining she is in Canada — but since a visa/CoPR may already have been issued, IRCC has to reconcile that first, so the virtual-landing email will take longer.
- The alternative: flagpole. Drive to a US land border without entering the USA. Tell the US officers you want to flagpole; they hand you a document and turn you around, and the Canadian (CBSA) officers then process the PR landing on the spot. No US visa is needed because you never enter the USA. (Flagpoling policies have tightened over time — verify current availability before relying on it.)
- Or a genuine return trip — fly out and re-enter to land normally, the costliest option.
Practical takeaway: if a PR approval lands while the applicant is already in Canada, tell IRCC immediately via webform and ask for virtual landing
before doing anything with the passport.