Ukraine – CUAET: Overseas applications and port of entry (POE) processing for temporary resident visas and temporary resident permits

The Prime Minister announced on February 23, 2022, that the Government of Canada has taken a strong stance against Russia’s attack on Ukraine and is committed to helping Ukrainian nationals and their family members overseas and in Canada.

As per the Minister’s announcement on March 22, 2023, the Government of Canada had extended the CUAET via public policy. This means that

• Ukrainians and their family members had until July 15, 2023, to apply overseas for a CUAET visa free of charge
• anyone holding a CUAET visa will have until March 31, 2024, to travel to Canada under the special measures

These program delivery instructions inform IRCC staff on how to process applications for temporary resident visas (TRVs) and requests for temporary resident permits (TRPs) under the CUAET measures.

Under the extended CUAET measures, most overseas applications for a TRV will be processed within 60 calendar days of receiving a complete application.

On this page

• TRVs
• Eligibility
• Admissibility
• Immigration medical examinations (IMEs)
• Biometrics
• Non-compliance
• TRPs
• Fees
• Client identification and tracking
• Port of entry (POE) processing

TRVs

Under the extended special measures for Ukraine, the CUAET allowed Ukrainian nationals and their family members outside of Canada to apply for a fee-exempt multiple-entry TRV, valid for up to 10 years (or to passport validity, whichever comes first).

Overseas clients are directed to apply through the Ukraine flow in the IRCC Portal. Instructions for clients can be found on the following page: Immigration measures for people affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must

• hold a valid Ukrainian passport (see note below for those without valid passports) or
• hold a valid passport from a TRV-required country and demonstrate that they are a family member of a Ukrainian national

It is not necessary for family members to be travelling together.

Admissibility

Eligible foreign nationals are subject to all admissibility requirements, except section 39 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) (the requirement for a foreign national to not be inadmissible for financial reasons) and section R179(b) (the requirement that a client must satisfy the officer that they will leave at the end of their authorized period of stay), which are waived via the public policy.

Immigration medical examinations (IMEs)

The IME requirement for overseas applicants coming from a designated country has been waived through public policy. However, Ukrainians arriving to Canada from a tuberculosis (TB) designated country may require a medical diagnostic test (MDT) on arrival to identify any conditions of public health concern. Clients may apply to have their work permit restrictions removed once they have completed and passed the MDT.

Biometrics

Ukrainian nationals and their family members applying under the CUAET measures from outside of Canada may be eligible for an exemption from the requirement to submit biometrics if they meet the requirements of the biometrics exemption public policy.

Biometrics cannot be enrolled with an expired travel document. However, it is possible for biometrics to be enrolled using an identity document issued outside Canada, such as the Ukraine national identity document.

See below for more information relating to fees.

Non-compliance

There are 2 cohorts of non-compliant applications:

1. non-compliance related to document requests
2. non-compliance related to biometrics

A phased approach to managing these non-compliant cases to finalization will be undertaken.

1. The department may issue procedural fairness letters to non-compliant applicants from whom we have not received a response to give them 30 days to submit the requested documentation or information.
2. Applicants may be granted an extension if they have requested one to comply.
3. The department will refuse the applications for which the requested document or information was not provided within the allotted time.

TRPs

Officers may consider issuing a TRP to a foreign national found to be inadmissible or who does not meet the requirements of the IRPA.

Please refer to Temporary resident permits for additional guidance.

Fees

As part of the Government of Canada’s response to support those affected by this situation, the department is waiving certain fees.

Under these measures, the following fees are waived for eligible Ukrainian nationals and their family members, overseas:

• TRV ($100)
• TRP ($200)
• biometrics ($85)

For applications received through the IRCC Portal as part of the CUAET, the TRV and biometrics fee waivers are automatically captured on the back end and do not require officer intervention.

For applications received through the authorized paid representatives portal, officers should manually input the following fee exemption codes:

• TRV – code “999”
• TRP – code “999”
• biometrics – code “B11”

Client identification and tracking

In order to identify applications submitted under this measure for fee waivers, the following instructions can be used to pull applications from the queue.

Overseas TRV applications submitted via the Ukraine flow in the IRCC Portal will be auto-associated to one of the following special program codes (SPCs), depending on whether the client is also requesting an open work permit (OWP):

• TRV application only: “UAC2” – Ukraine Crisis (Special)
• TRV applications where the client has also requested for open work permit: “UAC3” – Ukraine Crisis (Special + OWP)

Overseas TRV applications submitted via the Authorized Paid Representative Portal will include one of the following identifiers in the “purpose of visit – other” open text box, depending on whether the client is also requesting an OWP:

• TRV application only: “UKRAINE 2022”
• TRV applications where the client has also requested an open work permit: “UKRAINE 2022 OWP”

Overseas TRV applications submitted on paper by those who meet one of the exemption criteria to the requirement to apply online will be identified with the following:

• TRV application only: “Urgent: Ukraine” on the front of the envelope, as well as on the first page of the application
• TRV application where the client has also requested an open work permit:
  • “Urgent: Ukraine” on the front of the envelope, as well as on the first page of the application
  • “Ukraine 2022 OWP” in the “purpose of visit – other” field

For tracking purposes, and to ensure that the CUAET client does not encounter issues applying for transitional financial assistance once in Canada, all applications received under the CUAET must be tagged with one of the following special program codes:

• Standalone TRV: “UAC2” – Ukraine Crisis (Special)
• Standalone TRP: “UAC2” – Ukraine Crisis (Special)
• TRVs where client is also issued an OWP - “UAC3” – Ukraine Crisis (Special + OWP)
• TRP where client is also issued an OWP- “UAC3” – Ukraine Crisis (Special + OWP)
• OWP - “UAC3” – Ukraine Crisis (Special + OWP)

Applications submitted on paper or through the Authorized Paid Representative Portal will require manual input of one of the special program codes above.

Port of entry (POE) processing

On arrival to Canada, a border services officer at the POE will examine the client for admission as a temporary resident, as per the CUAET public policy.

Once the border services officer has determined that a client meets the applicable admissibility requirements, they will issue them the appropriate document based on the following:

• If the client is seeking to enter as a visitor, officers are encouraged to issue a visitor record with a 3-year validity (or until passport or biometric validity, whichever comes first). Officers are reminded to ensure that SPC UAC2 is included in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) visitor record (VR) application and to impose the following visible remark on the VR: “CUAET/AVUCU”.

If the client

• does not have valid IME results and has resided in a TB designated country for at least 6 months in the last year, officers are encouraged to
  • impose a condition (condition 56) on their visitor record stating “Must report for a medical diagnostic test to identify conditions of public health concern within 90 days”

• has valid IME results, the client does not require a condition on their visitor record.

  Note: Border services officers maintain the discretion to determine the authorized length of stay, validity period of permits and to impose conditions.

  Note: Border services officers should verify whether the client has previously completed an IME by conducting an integrated search. IME results may exist under another UCI or a T#.

For instructions on POE Open Work Permit issuance, please refer to Ukraine – CUAET: Overseas, ports of entry and in-Canada applications for an open work permit.

For instructions on POE Study Permit issuance, please refer to Ukraine – CUAET: Port of entry and in-Canada applications for a study permit.