PR Card (New/Renewal) Processing Timeline 2021
- Thread starter Jet.a1
- Start date
My ecas reads as Decision Made and gc key no update still in process. Is that normal for PR Renewal application ?
Timeline
Application Received: Dec 6, 2021
AOR: Jan 28, 2022
Ghost Update in gc key: March 17, 2022
DM in ecas only: March 18, 2022
Any comments will be appreciated
Timeline
Application Received: Dec 6, 2021
AOR: Jan 28, 2022
Ghost Update in gc key: March 17, 2022
DM in ecas only: March 18, 2022
Any comments will be appreciated
bradybunchmom
Star Member
- Aug 25, 2015
- 4
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- Ottawa
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 02-11-2015
- AOR Received.
- 24-12-2015
- File Transfer...
- 13-01-2016
- Med's Done....
- 16-10-2015
- VISA ISSUED...
- 11-04-2016
Well I guess I am screwed. I am scheduled to fly back in to Canada on the 20th with my children including PRs and Canadian citizens. We have our USA passports but our PR cards are expired. We did everything required and it is long past the estimated time frame. This is ridiculous. I am not going to miss my sisters wedding or my children’s father’s funeral so not sure what we can do.
There are other ways to return to Canada without a valid PR Card.
You can try applying for a PRTD. It varies though. I heard people getting it in within 2 weeks, but others have gotten it in a span of 6 months.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/pr-travel-document/eligibility.html
Or
You can travel to the US and then cross the US-Canada land border on a private vehicle, presenting your signed COPR as proof of status. Make sure you have a US Visa though if you plan to go with this route:
https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1457&top=10
*Edit
If you hold a US Passport, you should be able to enter Canada without any other requirements
I am an American citizen. What do I need to enter Canada?https://www.cic.gc.ca › english › helpcentre › answer
Please clarify - An American Citizen who is a permanent resident of Canada does NOT need to have a valid PR card?? Why would it be issued in the first place then, for American Citizens. I believe this is incorrect. From what I know, any permanent resident, regardless of their citizenship, needs to have valid Canadian document to travel here as a resident. Yes, as a visitor they can enter Canada with a US Passport - but not as a permanent resident.
Same thing here:
App: Dec 20 2021
AOR: Feb 11 2022
Ghost Update: Mar 18 2022
DM in ecas only: Mar 19 2022
OVERVIEW: Yes, it is correct that PRs who are American citizens can board a flight to Canada from abroad without presenting or possessing a valid PR card. In contrast, PRs who are citizens of other countries must present a valid PR card, or a PR Travel Document, to be given a seat on an airline headed to Canada from abroad.
PRs do NOT need a valid PR card to actually enter Canada. Does not matter what their citizenship is.
Note: I will probably skip citations to authority or sources below. This is a subject others here and I have discussed at length, in-depth, in numerous topics here, where I and others have referenced, cited, and linked both official and other authoritative sources. If you are skeptical or otherwise looking for confirmation, you should be able to use the site's search function to find at least posts by me "dpenabill" that include these sources.
LONGER EXPLANATION:
For clarity: Whether a Canadian PR needs a valid PR card, and when, depends on context. For purposes of keeping PR status, there is no requirement to have a valid PR card, so PRs are not required to apply for or obtain a replacement PR card when their card expires.
However, a valid PR card can be required in some circumstances. In situations where a valid PR card is required, generally (that is in most contexts with some specific exceptions, regarding which I will get to below), the PR's citizenship does not affect whether a valid PR card is required. The PR's citizenship makes no difference, for example, when a PR applies for coverage by provincial health care insurance. Some provinces, like B.C., require presentation of a valid PR card, while others like Ontario may accept an expired PR card (for up to a certain amount of time). No special or separate treatment for American citizens.
I recognize that your question and comment are undoubtedly in regards to PR cards and a more limited context: traveling to and entering Canada from abroad. So . . .
TRAVEL to versus ENTERING Canada:
There is a big difference in what is needed to ENTER Canada VERSUS what is needed to board an airline flight headed to Canada from abroad. That is, TRAVEL to Canada, and that is travel with COMMERCIAL carriers in particular, is subject to more strict requirements than who border officials will allow into Canada, including who border officials MUST allow into Canada.
PRs MUST be allowed to enter Canada.
In particular, in this context it needs to be recognized, with some emphasis, that there is NO requirement a PR have a valid PR card in order to be granted permission to physically enter Canada. Here too, the PR's citizenship makes no difference. Easy to forecast it is likely to be easier, in the Port-of-Entry (PoE) screening process, for an American citizen than it might be for PRs from various other parts of the world. But generally a person who is a Canadian PR MUST be allowed to enter Canada when they arrive at a PoE even though they do not present or have a valid PR card. The only question is whether or not they can sufficiently establish their identity (valid passport from any country would usually suffice) and PR status, and for most PRs establishing their identity will suffice in establishing PR status (the latter accomplished by border officials verifying the traveler's status in their GCMS client records). Typically it goes much easier if the PR can present direct documentation of their PR status (expired PR card works best; copy of CoPR works) or at least corroborating identification (provincial drivers' license for example), but no particular documentation is necessary as long as there is sufficient information to verify the traveler's identity and correspondingly their PR status in the system.
This is mandated by statute. It is not a Charter right. So it is a little different for Canadians who are PRs, who are statutorily entitled to enter Canada, versus Canadians who are citizens who have a Charter right entitling them to enter Canada.
Note: Canadian PRs are NOT Foreign Nationals in Canadian immigration law.
In reference to an American citizen you say that "as a visitor they can enter Canada with a US Passport - but not as a permanent resident."
Canadians in Canada are Canadians. Including Canadian PRs.
Be they Canadian PRs or Canadian citizens, if and when they enter Canada lawfully (that is properly going through a PoE) they are in Canada as a Canadian. Regardless what documentation they presented at the PoE. Even if a border official is not aware they are a Canadian and waived them into Canada as if they are a Foreign National visitor, thinking or mistaken they are a FN. The latter has no effect on their status. Those who are Canadians PRs are in Canada as a Canadian PR.
This is why some PRs abroad in breach of the PR Residency Obligation and without a valid PR card, who have status allowing them to travel via the U.S., will try to return to Canada without applying for a PR TD, by traveling to a U.S./Canada border crossing, presenting a visa exempt passport to Canadian border officials hoping the border officials do not question them about being a PR and their compliance with the PR RO . . . hoping to be waived through without being reported. If they succeed, and are waived into Canada as if they are a FN visitor, they are still PRs and can legally stay and work and so on, and as long as they wait long enough their days in Canada meet the RO, they can then apply for a new PR card without risk of losing their PR status.
There are other risks doing that. These days most will be readily recognized as a Canadian PR because their GCMS client record will pop up on the screening officer's computer. Worst case scenario then is being Reported for a PR RO breach. They will be, as they must be, still allowed to enter Canada . . . but if Reported they will need to appeal to keep their PR status.
If they make misrepresentations to the border officials, such as deliberately concealing the fact they are a PR, and get caught, that can lead to admissibility proceedings and potentially the loss of PR status. But pending any such proceedings they will be, as the must be, allowed to enter Canada.
PR card Requirement to "Travel" to Canada:
The need to present a PR card (or a PR TD) ONLY applies to travel on commercial carriers. This applies to almost all but not all PRs. (Similarly true for Canadian citizens, who must present either a Canadian passport or a special travel document to board a commercial flight to Canada from abroad.) This is implemented and enforced through the regulation of commercial carriers, specifically in regards to who commercial carriers can provide transportation to Canada.
There is an exception for U.S. citizens. That is, the regulations requiring Canadians to present certain documents to show their Canadian status do not apply to travelers carrying a U.S. passport. So American citizens who are also a Canadian (either a PR or citizen) do NOT need to present documentation to show their status in Canada. Thus, in particular, PRs who are American citizens can board a flight to Canada from abroad without needing to show either a PR card or a PR TD.
That is how it is. Might not make sense to some, but it is mostly about how these rules and regulations fit into the bigger scheme of reciprocal, mutually accommodating provisions for citizens in the two respective countries. It is part of the same regulatory scheme that requires most visa-exempt FNs to have eTA in order to board a commercial flight to Canada, but similarly not American citizens.
What a load of delusional nonsense and spam...
To every PR, who wants to get to Canada:
The requirements are as follows (and can be spelled in few sentences):
To board a plane you will need electronic authorization. You will need a valid PR card for that (if you hold a PR status in Canada). The only exception are US Citizens, who can board the plane with US passport and without electronic authorization (therefore, no PR card is needed to board a plane).
PRs who are not US citizens and don't have a valid PR card: your only option to get into Canada is to travel to US first, and then approach Canadian land border (on foot or by private vehicle). Once at POE, present documents identifying yourself and proving that you are Canadian PR For example, your national passport and COPR document).
End of story.
Document requirements for travel to Canada and at Canadian POE are not a rocket science, quantum physics or Manhattan Project.
Do not get confused by too much Ado about nothing. Some posters just miss their daily doze of mental pills. Stay focused on your needs.
To every PR, who wants to get to Canada:
The requirements are as follows (and can be spelled in few sentences):
To board a plane you will need electronic authorization. You will need a valid PR card for that (if you hold a PR status in Canada). The only exception are US Citizens, who can board the plane with US passport and without electronic authorization (therefore, no PR card is needed to board a plane).
PRs who are not US citizens and don't have a valid PR card: your only option to get into Canada is to travel to US first, and then approach Canadian land border (on foot or by private vehicle). Once at POE, present documents identifying yourself and proving that you are Canadian PR For example, your national passport and COPR document).
End of story.
Document requirements for travel to Canada and at Canadian POE are not a rocket science, quantum physics or Manhattan Project.
Do not get confused by too much Ado about nothing. Some posters just miss their daily doze of mental pills. Stay focused on your needs.
Last edited:
Hey , you have the option to renew your PR as early as April 2022 ( 270 days from the PR card expiry Date). however , You don't need to apply for renewal if you are not going to travel outside Canada until you have your Canadian passport.
https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=057&top=10
It takes 113 days to renew your PR as per https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html