A family received PPR with only two months of COPR validity left (limited by the medical exam expiry) and asked whether the COPR could be extended.
The thread's consensus:
- Extensions are possible in theory but unreliable in practice. You request one by writing to your visa office and raising a webform explaining that the travel window is too short. However, members reported extensions taking months, and one member who tried was flat-out rejected.
- The strongly recommended path: do a soft landing. Travel before the COPR expires, complete the landing formalities, wait for the PR card if you can, and then return to your home country to wrap up unfinished business. This preserves your PR status without gambling on an extension.
- If you do request an extension, prepare for landing anyway. The member whose extension was rejected advised trying the webform while simultaneously preparing to travel — treat the extension as a long shot, not a plan.
- Employer exit constraints don't change the math. The poster's husband needed employer permission to exit and re-enter his current country of work; members acknowledged the difficulty but still advised that letting the COPR lapse is the worse outcome — you may have to choose.
Bottom line from the thread: a short-validity COPR is a travel deadline, not a negotiation. Land first, settle logistics later.