₦airaland Forum

Hi everyone, how is it going here?

We have finally gotten our COPR and I wanted to share our timeline, hopefully it encourages someone as the timelines shared previously encouraged me while waiting.

Civil wedding: April 24th 2025
Submitted Application: May 5th 2025
Confirmation of successful submission: immediately after submitting
Acknowledgement or receipt (AOR): May 27th 2025
Biometric instruction letter: June 4th 2025
Submitted biometrics at VFS Abuja: June 10th 2025
Qualified to receive pre-arrival services email: June 11th 2025
Eligible to sponsor email: June 12th 2025
Medical request: June 26th 2025
Medical tests at IOM Abuja: June 30th 2025
ADR for NYSC explanation, in-depth resume/CV, degree certificates: August 18th 2025
Submitted additional documents via webform because they explicitly asked us not to reply the email: August 21st 2025
Passport Request (PPR): August 26th 2025
Submitted passport at VFS Abuja: August 28th 2025
Decision envelop ready for collection: Sept 22nd 2025
Collected the envelop at VFS Abuja: Sept 26th 2025

We were soooo happy and grateful to God for how the application process went.

We submitted 10+ pages of texts including emails, WhatsApp chats and iMessage texts. I explained in a one liner what each conversation was about.
We submitted 20 pictures of us together at different places, including pictures of us and others. Explained where and when each picture was taken
We tried to make sure while filling the forms, the story of how we met and how the relationship has blossomed over the years was consistent with the documents, texts and pictures.
We provided the boarding passes and stamped passport as proof of visit and made sure the dates on passport, boarding pass and explanation regarding my visits were consistent.
We also provided bank statements to proof that we have had money transactions between ourselves
We provided screenshots of our friends posting congratulatory posts for us after our wedding on their social media handles to prove that our friends and family are aware of our union.

Prayers. Lots of prayers.

I wish you all the best!!

bigmills:
I submitted the marriage certificate and also pictures we took at the registry.
We also submitted our chats since 2019 we started dating till the day we submitted the application..and tickets, visas from the time we have travelled together..

Looks like you submitted all that is required. Not sure there’s much that can be done now. I hope people that have had similar experience as yours will be able to help with tips

bigmills:
I Tap into this.
I submit for my wife April 29th, Medical and biometrics confirmed passed June 19.
We have not heard anything since.

We had our church and big party in August 9 although we did intro and trad December last year and we provided pictures from those to them.

Do we still need to send pictures from our church blessing and wedding party to IRCC?

our VO as we know is currently Sydney in Canada.

We requested GCMS notes since July 22 and yet to receive it

Did you submit a marriage certificate? The marriage certificate is important because from what you’re saying it’s only pictures you provided, if you did not provide a registered wedding certificate it will definitely delay the process.

I didn’t do a white wedding. I did only civil and trad. I provided the pictures and the marriage certificate. By God’s grace our application was approved in August, we submitted in May.

phabulous88:
Congratulations!
What VFS did you submit your passport to?

thank you.

VFS Abuja. It was actually available about a week before I went to collect it.

braine:
Congratulations, Jenykech. Where you asked for POF at the point of entry?

No I wasn’t

My PR journey…. 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻

First, I’d like to thank God for making my relocation to Canada a possibility.

I started this entire process in 2020 by verifying by degree with WES and writing IELTS. I created my first Express Entry profile in March 2021 but that profile expired after one year as there were hardly any draws and IRCC was concentrating on the applications that were on hold due to Covid-19. I created a new profile in June 2022, here’s PPR the timeline:

ITA (Invitation To Apply) - 3rd Feb, 2022
AOR (Application received) - 19th March, 2023
Medical passed - 12th April, 2023
Biometric completed - 17th April, 2023
ADR1 (Additional Documents Request) - 1st June, 2023
Submitted - 6th June, 2023
ADR2 - 27th July, 2023
Submitted -28th July, 2023
Passport Request - 21st August, 2023
Passport submitted - 22nd August, 2023
Collected stamped passport and copr - 29th September, 2023
Landed Canada - 18th October, 2023

I’m not even going to lie, I love it here, the exposure, the diversity, the opportunities… everything. I was in downtown Toronto last week for 3 days and that City alone is motivating!!.

I’m a Christian so I was always praying to God about this and thank God my prayers was answered 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻.

This platform was really resourceful, when I came with all my questions, there was always someone willing to respond, especially Profgordons, Littyprincess and Gracious Words Thank you all so much.

I’m grateful for my parents and siblings for their all round support.

If relocating is your dream, don’t give up. With proper research, it’s possible for you to achieve this dream. I am rooting for you

donbrowser:
When last did you go to Zenith for dollars? We did something huge last week. I'm surprised they have enough.

Is this branch in Abuja?

littyprincess:
CAD. Another option is you can withdraw all your cash and travel with it no matter how much it is. Just make sure you can declare it and also keep it safe while traveling. But the thing is will zenith even see dollars to give you? It’s only in Nigeria you will go to the bank to withdraw dollars you kept in account and they will tell you they don’t have. Anyways try sha

littyprincess:
CAD. Another option is you can withdraw all your cash and travel with it no matter how much it is. Just make sure you can declare it and also keep it safe while traveling. But the thing is will zenith even see dollars to give you? It’s only in Nigeria you will go to the bank to withdraw dollars you kept in account and they will tell you they don’t have. Anyways try sha

Okay, this sounds like a safe option. Let me call someone from Zenith bank to know where I can get all that cash

Profgordons:
No, you don’t need to withdraw cash. Upon arriving Canada you can open an account and do a direct wire transfer from your Zenith.

Ahan so this is possible. Thank you. Let me find out from Zenith bank to be sure they’ll not stress me too much

Hello everyone, please how did you do with your money when entering Canada. My pof is in my zenith bank domicilary account. I’ll soon travel to Canada so I don’t know if I can access the money from there (I have the zenith dollar Mastercard) or do I need to withdraw cash and travel with cash.

If I need to withdraw the cash and travel with it, will it be in CAD or USD? Thank you

OTOIDEEHI:
Good afternoon, FAM.
Please I have a question:
In the scheme of most Nigerian employers, it is only when an employee is sacked that he or she is given a termination letter. On the other hand, if you sack the company (by resigning), one is only meant to go through the company's clearance processes. How does on claim to have worked in a company for 5 years in this case when he has only an appointment letter and no "termination" letter

IRCC does not need your termination letter. I only used a reference letter with company letter head and my bank account statement for the last 6 months I worked with them to proof that it was a paid employment.

graciielo:
Let me explain better. My POF is in a dorm account, because of the nature of the account, i cant use it for daily or monthly spendings. When i am then asked to present a 6 month statement of account, the statement would be blank cos no transaction whatsoever. So i am asking if it would be acceptable as well? I hope you understand me better. Thank you

I don’t think that will be an issue. As far as the bank can write you a reference letter confirming when you opened the account, the account balance and confirming that you’re not a debtor and that you’re the sole signatory

graciielo:
I also want to do same, but i am worried if there wont be issues as regards to the account not having daily or monthly transactions like a naira account. What will you advise i do please?

I don’t think there’ll be an issue with that, if it’s gift deed, you can write a letter of explanation and attach to the pof doc to explain. If it’s not gift deed you can still explain. Mine was a combination of gift and my salary earnings and I explained in an LOE

Iamblessed85:
What’s the required limit for individual pls?

I am not sure what you mean by limit but my entire POF for single applicant was there that’s about 10,500 USD

Mayfair19:
Hello everyone,

Please I want to know if I can use a USD account for my POF.

I've been given contradictory information about this issue and I would like to know if it's okay to submit a bank statement from a dollar account rather than having to convert to naira considering the unstable exchange rates.

Absolutely! It’s even better because you won’t be worried about the naira fluctuations. It’s my Zenith bank domicilary account I used as well

May06:
Hello, please was it 5 weeks for the entire process (i.e. from VFS to time of return) or just the time it spent in Accra?

Thanks.

For me, it was the entire process, from submission to return it took approximately 5 weeks

vickyehi:
How long is it taking Accra to return passports these days? Passport was transmitted from vfs to Accra sept 18.

Approximately 5 weeks. Mine took 5 weeks

OfficialMrJay:
Please do you have the link or anyone that can help get the certificate m ready to pay

Benin republic does not issue police certificate to non citizens, I also did my bachelors in Benin Republic. In my application I just wrote a letter of explanation and uploaded it where they asked to upload the Benin police certificate. I also added this screenshot, the quoted sentence and this IRCC website link to my LOE https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/medical-police/police-certificates/how/benin.html

aestake:
Tomorrow is my swearing-in ceremony!

Awn congratulations! as a Canadian citizen?

pwityjj:
Hello house

My bank has refused to give bank letter as requested for POF.
Can I attach one month bank statement and payslips as pof?

I received inflows for other months that I don’t want to include in the pof.

Has anyone applied with one month statement and scaled through?

ha! What bank? And why are they refusing? The letter is compulsory I believe. I also included bank statement of the past 6 months. One month bank statement is not sufficient

Berryman63:
Hi guys pls I'm about evaluating my Msc with WES. I misplaced my Msc certificate and all its copies(soft and hard) due to a robbery incident. I still have the statement of result issued to me earlier by the school so can I upload that to WES? I'm actually going to request a replacement certificate from my school but they might take forever to issue another. So while at it can I upload the statement of result?

I believe the statement of result should be fine because it was my statement of result I evaluated. As at the time I evaluated my msc with WES, my certificate was not ready, I only had statement of result

ganie:
Thanks for the response, I have been thinking of it but I felt this result is enough. If I remark and get to say 7 for writing,will it make a significant difference?

very significant. I had to rewrite ielts because I had 6.5 in speaking. After I rewrote, I got 7 and that 0.5 increased my crs score by over 40 points

Congratulations!!! May Canada be good to you and your spouse

Bulletproof:
Silent reader.
PPR
ITA: Nov 2020
Med. Jan 2021
Biometrics. Jan 2021
AOR. Jan 2021
Long wait
Got Married. May 2022
Raised web form to add spouse. June 2022
Remed. July 2022
ADR: POF update July 2022
Spouse Added. July 2022
Spouse Medical and ADR: August 2022
Long wait
Spouse BIL: May 2023
Remed for me and spouse: June 1 2023
Medical Done: June 23 2023
RFV: July 14 2023
Sent both Passports to VFS kenya: August 5
Received our passports from VFS kenya: August 15
(10 days)

Dglory:
How can I then re-submit. It’s a different NOC

We used nurse practitioner , then employment history Registered nurse noc.
Am I creating another GCKEy or I can modify my response on that one?

yes, just as Luchiee said above same GCKEY, but a different submission\application.

Dglory:
Also, i am able to log on but see a response almost immediately submission

Please assist as I really need to submit express entry profile

I’ll say you should cross check everything carefully. It happened to me last year and after checking I realized I made a mistake with my employment history, I think I used different NOCs or something like that. I tried again the next day after making the correction and I became eligible. So just go through all the pages carefully and ensure there’s no mistake

Ifakiland:
Counterfoil na from week 5/6.....calm down your passport no lose. Your blood just dey rush....book flight, look for actual money to carry go.....rent now dey para for Canada and you suppose hold like 4 month rent to be on safe side

I even did my one on one session wit pre arrival people funded by IRCC today and they said some Landlords ask for 6 months in advance rent while some even ask for a year

Congratulations!!!!!!

Francieuche:
To the Glory of God journey that started has ended in praise
ITA April 26 2023
AOR June 22 2023
ADR July 7 Reason for difference in sibling name newspaper name change and marriage certificate documents submitted July 9th
Biometrics July 10th
Biometrics and medicals passed; Additional documents received and updated July 10th
RFV July 17
Passport Submitted July 28
Counterfoil Aug 23
Collection mail Sept 1st
Confirmation of Permanent Residence Documents and Passport collected by me in person; Sept 5th 2023
May the Land of Maple leaf favour us All

jayF19:
Hopefully, no there's been no further update from VFS

have you tried tracking it? What is it saying?

Congratulations!!🎉. Haaa I’m still wondering how they managed to misplace your passport photographs. Omo. Thank God that was able to be resolved

Jrmh29v11:
Long post ‼️ ‼️

Profile
*Two or more degrees
*IELTS - L8.5 R9 S8 W7.5 (Dec 2022 first and only attempt)
*Sibling in 🇨🇦
*Combined 2 NOCs
*Entered pool Dec 2022 with CRS 489

Timeline
*ITA - 23rd March 2023
*AOR - 24th April 2023
*MEP/BIL/UCI - 5th May 2023
*GU1(gckey) - 8th May 2023
*Biometrics (VFS Lagos) - 11th May 2023 (got a bit worried at this stage because my biometric data/info wasn't updated in GCkey or tracker; later got updated/completed on May 19, but date still registered as 11th May)
*Eligibility in progress on tracker - 31st May 2023
*GU2(gckey) - 3rd June 2023
*BGC/Eligibility completed - 5th June 2023
*RFV - 6th June 2023
*Passport submitted - 23rd June (sent to VFS Lagos via courier. Dispatched to IRCC office same day).

**Unexpected event. Received an email update on 11th July and rushed to gckey hoping to see counterfoil; lo and behold, it was an ADR for passport photographs. Apparently my photos got missing somewhere between vfs and ircc (up till now I still don't understand how this happened). Contacted vfs to find out how my photos got missing and what i should do next; they provided zero explanations and the CS rep I spoke with said they don't accept any submission(s) apart from international passports. I was so confused and perplexed at this point. I searched and searched online hoping to see info from anyone who had experienced something similar; thankfully i found a nairaland post of someone who went through the exact same thing last year. Long story short, I sent my photos directly to High Commission of Canada via DHL on 27th July and package was delivered 31st July.**

--radio silence--
--plenty webforms/emails plus intense prayer--

*GU3(tracker) - 11th August 2023
*GU4(tracker) - 14th August 2023
*Counterfoil - 16th August 2023
*Passport collected with visa and copr docs - 29th August 2023


Docs submitted
*Work ref letter, Work ID, Employment/Promotion letters
*ECA, IELTS, Degree certificates
*Bank ref letter and letter of non-indebtedness
*6 months bank statement
*Gift deed for 100% POF (not notarized) [received funds 2 weeks before submission], plus transfer receipt
*Docs for sibling points (PR card, utility bills, lease agreement, NPC birth certificates showing parents names)
*Upfront medical slip (QLife)
*PCC
*NYSC cert (added this just to put my mind at ease, lol)
*LOE for source of funds and another for previous Schengen visa refusal


The devil tried but God prevailed as always. To anyone else who's going through challenges/difficulties in this journey, just surrender all to God (and please do your due diligence too). This PR journey has been known to offer unlimited subscription of sleepless nights lol; you just never know what to expect! But once you involve God in your matter and let Him lead, you can be sure it will always end in praise! To God be the glory for everything!

You can but your CRS score will be really low so you will need to rewrite and max out if you want to get ITA

Rebeccalola:
please with IELTS of 6.5 can i get into the express entry pool?

It is not supposed to take any time at all. Double check your profile to ensure you transmitted it after updating/uploading

XtinahOo:
Hi guys,

Good morning.

Please of I update my EE profile, how long does it take for the change to take effect? I mean for me to see the reflection on my CRS score.

Lol thank you. I got Passport request on Monday and I’ve gone to go and touch POF almost immediately. So I don dey fear 🙊

Mackie1:
No.. None of that.
No request for POF. I'd even used 40pct of it or so.
So I'm glad they didn't even ask 😂