POE Letter Canada: What You Need to Know
What is a port of entry (POE) letter?
- It’s a letter you may receive from IRCC if you’ve been approved for a
- study permit
- work permit or
- super visa (if you’re from a country that doesn’t require a visitor visa)
- Officially, it’s called the port of entry (POE) letter of introduction. But this letter is sometimes called the
- correspondence letter
- introduction letter
- introductory letter
The letter of introduction is not your study or work permit.
You’ll get this letter if you were approved and you
- applied online or
- gave us your email address in your study or work permit application
When you arrive in Canada
- Tell the officer at the port of entry about your approved application.
- If you don’t have a printed copy of your letter of introduction, you can show
- an electronic version or
- the visitor visa in your passport, if you have one
Below listed are a few things that the applicant must bear in mind vis-a-vis POE-
- Your POE letter is valid up to a certain time period after which, it becomes null and void and the applicant then, has to file his/her application again. The date of validity is written on the POE letter under the title- Permit Validity.
- In case you lost or damaged the physical copy of your POE letter, you can always ask the authorities in charge to resend it to your online account.
- It is strongly recommended not to land in Canada for work or study before receiving your POE letter. You will simply be put in the tourist visa category where you cannot work or study. If you receive your POE during your stay in Canada, then you need to go back to your home country and re-enter the port.
- Due to unavoidable reasons, if you fail to land in Canada before the expiry of your permit validity, then no refund will be initiated by the Canadian authorities in this regard. It is purely at the discretion of the POE letter holder whether to use it or not.
