Just to share my experience: I traveled without PR card to Germany. For return, I showed my visa to the airline and at the PoE, the officer did not ask me even a single question. I gave her my passport and CoPR and added that I have landed recently. She was totally OK with them. I did not say anything about my PR card, but she added "So, you have not received your card, yet" and I said "Yes".
Travel to US without PR card but have a COPR and valid WORK PERMIT.
- Thread starter jen10
- Start date
So it seems that sometimes either CBSA does not cancel existing visas when one lands as a PR, or if they do the airlines have no way (or don't bother) to cross reference the visa number against an active database.Meganes said:
While newly landed PRs with no PR card can certainly try this route and may have success, I wouldn't be surprised if somehow this loophole is closed or enforced more diligently in the future.
Below I go into much depth about the prospect a recently landed PR may be able to board a flight to Canada without presenting either a valid PR card or PR Travel Document. The experience reported by Meganes illustrates that this is at least possible.
This experience appears to confirm what I suggested multiple times last month. For example:
There is, nonetheless, and despite how otherwise the trend is toward more strict enforcement of the rules for presenting prescribed documents when flying to Canada, a prospect that recently landed PRs will be given a window of time in which presentation of the passport used when landing, and which thus should have the counterfoil PR visa in it (albeit cancelled, as it is a single-use visa), will suffice for boarding a flight to Canada.
Frankly, to my view, this would make good sense given how common it is that new PRs need to make the landing trip sooner than they are prepared to make the trip to fully settle in Canada. Moreover, many new PRs are already in Canada pursuant to temporary status (work or study), and have firm plans for near-future international travel when their PR applications, somewhat abruptly, are finalized, and are thus in the situation where they need to complete the landing process but there is not time to wait for a PR card before their already planned (and often paid for or is due to important work or family commitments) trip begins.
Unfortunately, and despite this experience reported by Meganes, such PRs face the risk and inconvenience of having to apply for and obtain a PR TD in order to return to Canada. The nature and extent of such inconvenience varies widely, looming larger for those whose planned trip is so short in duration that it will be impractical to timely obtain a PR TD (without expensive or inconvenient delays in travel), or those who will be in countries where applying for a PR TD can be more problematic and take considerably more time.
Nonetheless: my sense is that the experience reported by Meganes offers some hope for new and future new PRs, that airlines, in conjunction with CBSA and IRCC, will allow some leeway in these situations, but the nature and scope of what leeway there might be is unknown, uncertain, and possibly temporary.
Thus, in general, new PRs and those who will become PRs, should be aware that it takes time to obtain a new PR card after landing, and that in the meantime if they go abroad there is a high risk they will need to obtain a PR TD to make the return trip to Canada.
In particular, in the situation reported by giopol, who queried in another topic, it is almost certain (but not absolutely) that a PR TD will be needed to board a flight to Canada (recognizing that with a European passport that giopol could alternatively transit via the U.S.)
Further below, I offer citation and links to some of the more informative sources relevant to this discussion.
The much, much longer, more in depth explanation:
As already noted, this experience appears to confirm what I suggested multiple times last month, and in particular what I posted in response to a recently landed PR with travel plans to the UK, to whom I suggested that " . . . if the airlines do allow some exceptions, my guess is that the recently landed PR with a CoPR, trying to board a return flight to Canada, probably has about as good a chance as any PR would."
Similar observations were included in posts responding to your queries, noting that notwithstanding full implementation of the eTA program that given the discretion airlines still have to allow travelers to board a flight to Canada even if the IAPI system gives the "no board" response, that "perhaps the recently landed PR, particularly one booked on a return flight to Canada," will be allowed to board the flight returning to Canada despite not having either a PR card or PR Travel Document.
I would still caution others against relying on this, if avoidable, since it relies on the airlines' discretion and we do not know the parameters within which such discretion may be exercised generally, let alone the parameters within which it will be exercised by a particular airline, and we are especially unaware how this might be applied in practice as to any specific traveler.
It is relatively easy to identify some factors which would likely influence how such discretion may be exercised (as I have repeatedly noted, recently landed PR with a return ticket to Canada is one), but with no confirmation or description of the discretion the airlines have, no description let alone enumeration of relevant criteria, it is nearly impossible to predict how it will go for any particular PR attempting to board a flight to Canada . . . except to know that boarding may be denied and that reports confirm the strict rule is indeed being applied to many travelers, probably most travelers (recent media reports have described this, including Canadian citizens as well as PRs, in many instances appearing to have a draconian impact on innocent, unsuspecting PRs and citizens), and perhaps to almost all PRs.
Thus, while it is good to know (for those PRs who may be affected) that there is some prospect, perhaps a significant prospect of being allowed to board a flight to Canada despite how strictly the PR card or PR TD rule is now being enforced, those who are in a similar situation (already booked trip, no time to wait for PR card, not enough time during trip to obtain PR TD) should be cognizant that it will be very difficult to know for sure, to know whether they will be allowed to board the flight to Canada, before actually appearing at the airport to board the flight. . . . But for many, the risk may an acceptable one, recognizing that the worst case scenario is they could be denied boarding that particular flight but will be able to obtain a PR TD and catch a later flight.
Thus, in any event, and in addition to what we already knew, what we learn and what is confirmed, from this report, is that indeed, as I previously observed:
-- the airlines still have discretion to allow travelers to board a flight despite the traveler failing to present one of the prescribed documents or despite a "no board" IAPI response
-- and thus, in particular, a recently landed PR may be allowed to board a flight to Canada without presenting either a PR card or a PR TD
The observation, the may-be-allowed-to-board observation, must be juxtaposed with and contrasted to the at least equally true, and perhaps more likely, may-be-DENIED-boarding caution.
This leads to recent query from giopol:
As your experience, Meganes, illustrates or at least suggests, the "absolutely" part of Scylla's further observations may not be so certain, that is, not absolute.
These factors are
-- the length of time since the date of landing and becoming a PR
-- the length of time abroad since last time in Canada
-- it is not a return flight on a trip originating in Canada
These are overlapping factors, all related to how new PR status is, as in how recently the PR landed and was in Canada. Since we do not know the parameters of airline discretion, and we do not know the particular criteria the IAPI system employs in screening travelers, certain nuances could make the difference. For example, I do not know whether Meganes' flight returning to Canada was specifically the return leg of a round-trip ticket or not. If yes, it is possible Meganes was, in effect, cleared to take this flight before leaving Canada. If this was a tipping factor, obviously it is not applicable to giopol's situation. In any case, I believe these differences in respective situations means that giopol is far more likely to need a PR TD in order to board a flight to Canada.
Some Sources:
For those with further interests in this, or perhaps just curious, in addition to the particular statutory and regulatory provisions which I have cited in other posts many, many times, and linked rather often as well, here are some sources which offer further information about this subject:
For the applicable and recently completely updated Operational Manual, see ENF 15 "Obligatons of transporters," which can be accessed as a pdf reached by link at IRCC website for updates to Operational Bulletins and Operational Manual at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/rss.asp )
(Note: This source includes the statement: "The CBSA maintains an advisory role, and the decision to deny boarding is the carrier's alone." This, in addition to other language like the use of "may" in IRCC's cautions about being denied boarding, overtly indicate that the airlines retain discretion to allow boarding even if the traveler otherwise does not have advance clearance from CBSA, that is, that an airline may allow a traveler to board a flight even in the absence of a "board" response from the IAPI system.)
For the more recent version of the CBSA Guide for Transporters, see http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trans/guide-eng.html
For more specific information about the IAPI system, see
-- "Interactive Advance Passenger Information (IAPI)" at http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/btb-pdf/iapi-ipvi-eng.html
-- "Advance Passenger Information / Passenger Name Record Program" at http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/api_ipv-eng.html
-- Memorandum D1-16-3 titled " Guidelines for the Access to, Use, and Disclosure of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) Data" at http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d1/d1-16-3-eng.html
-- General information about Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) can be accessed following links at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp
Reminder: eTA is only a part of what was fully implemented November 10, 2016. Its significance to PRs is mostly related to the fact that it was a necessary piece of the IAPI system, its implementation enabling CBSA to fully implement the IAPI system, which in turn simply makes practical the full enforcement of the rules governing PRs traveling to Canada, which had been the rules for many years, requiring PRs to present either a valid PR card or PR TD when boarding a flight to Canada.
Thus, prior to November 10, 2016, there was indeed, in effect, a loophole for PRs with visa-exempt passports. Perhaps this was so accepted it became, essentially, the de facto rule, not a loophole as much as an intentional feature of the system (to borrow a programmer's coy rationalization commonly employed to positively spin the presence of a bug in a program); after all, multiple airlines affirmatively informed prospective travelers that PRs with visa-exempt passports could fly to Canada based on their visa-exempt passport (see much older discussions about this).
Generally it is not important to characterize a particular anomaly or peculiarity, in how a system works, as a loophole, bug, or feature, since how it actually works is far more important than how it is labeled. But in the context of the experience reported here, by Meganes, it is way too early to reach any conclusions about how likely it is that others might have a similar experience in not needing a PR TD in order to return to Canada when traveling abroad at least relatively soon after landing and returning to Canada on a return flight (or at least returning after a short duration abroad).
I fully agree with the caution posted by Rob_TO, in the second paragraph of this post:
The problem is that we do not know, beyond what common sense suggests are obvious factors, what specific criteria are employed, how they are employed, whether this instance was an airline specific decision or is the manifestation of more general policy in the instructions or guidelines (more specific than the Guide for Transporters I link above) provided by CBSA Liaison Officers who work directly with airline personnel, providing support to transporters relative to traveler and document screening.
As I previously posted, we know the airlines have some flexibility, that the decision to allow boarding or deny boarding is ultimately the airline's decision to make, and as I suggested more than a month ago, " . . . if the airlines do allow some exceptions, my guess is that the recently landed PR with a CoPR, trying to board a return flight to Canada, probably has about as good a chance as any PR would."
See
Overall / Summary:
Further anecdotal reporting may offer additional illumination about this, and in particular about the possibility that an airlines will allow boarding despite the absence of clearance from CBSA, and despite not having the precise documents prescribed for a PR returning to Canada.
Whether one describes the reported experience as a loophole or a discretionary exception, it is almost certainly a narrow one and does not indicate there is much hope for PRs in other situations to be allowed boarding without a PR card or PR TD.
Moreover, despite this reported experience, new PRs and those who will become a new PR should be cautious and recognize that there is a high risk they will nonetheless need a valid PR card or obtain a PR TD to return to Canada from abroad (recognizing that for some, travel via the U.S. will still be an option). For example, no great power of prophesy is necessary to predict that in contrast to the experience reported here by Meganes, that giopol will most likely need a PR TD, or travel via the U.S., to return to Canada.
And, ultimately, even if there is currently fairly broad discretion being employed by the airlines, there is always the prospect, if not outright likelihood, that the scope of such discretion will be tightened going forward, in the not-so-distant future.
All this said, concluding observations:
All this said, the new PR who goes abroad before receiving a PR card should be, at worst, merely risking the inconvenience of having to apply for and obtain a PR TD before making the return trip to Canada. How inconvenient this is can depend a lot on where abroad the PR goes.
In the meantime, however, this is a common scenario, since many new PRs need to make the landing trip sooner than they are ready to fully settle in Canada, so it would not be surprising if IRCC and CBSA deliberately incorporate some leeway in the system for this . . . be that policy or training instructions (between the CBSA Liaison Officers and airline personnel) outlining the airline's discretion to allow boarding for PRs with not just a PR visa but a passport in which the PR visa was recently used . . . or the IAPI system is programmed to send a "board" response when such passports are used (remember, while the IAPI system screens the traveler, its decision-making is dependent on authorization for the particular passport being used by that traveler). It is unlikely that CBSA or IRCC will publicly disclose specific information about this. But over time, there should be anecdotal reports giving the forum a better idea if there will be much leeway allowed new PRs, and if so, some sense about how much.
Otherwise, though, the primary caution remains: to return to Canada from abroad, a PR:
-- needs a valid PR card or a PR TD to board a flight to Canada, or
-- capacity to travel via the U.S. and cross the land border into Canada using private transportation
And the risk this will apply to a new PR remains substantial, perhaps high.
This experience appears to confirm what I suggested multiple times last month. For example:
However, it is difficult, if not practically impossible, to forecast how this will work for any other PR, including a recently landed PR in very similar circumstances.dpenabill said:
There is, nonetheless, and despite how otherwise the trend is toward more strict enforcement of the rules for presenting prescribed documents when flying to Canada, a prospect that recently landed PRs will be given a window of time in which presentation of the passport used when landing, and which thus should have the counterfoil PR visa in it (albeit cancelled, as it is a single-use visa), will suffice for boarding a flight to Canada.
Frankly, to my view, this would make good sense given how common it is that new PRs need to make the landing trip sooner than they are prepared to make the trip to fully settle in Canada. Moreover, many new PRs are already in Canada pursuant to temporary status (work or study), and have firm plans for near-future international travel when their PR applications, somewhat abruptly, are finalized, and are thus in the situation where they need to complete the landing process but there is not time to wait for a PR card before their already planned (and often paid for or is due to important work or family commitments) trip begins.
Unfortunately, and despite this experience reported by Meganes, such PRs face the risk and inconvenience of having to apply for and obtain a PR TD in order to return to Canada. The nature and extent of such inconvenience varies widely, looming larger for those whose planned trip is so short in duration that it will be impractical to timely obtain a PR TD (without expensive or inconvenient delays in travel), or those who will be in countries where applying for a PR TD can be more problematic and take considerably more time.
Nonetheless: my sense is that the experience reported by Meganes offers some hope for new and future new PRs, that airlines, in conjunction with CBSA and IRCC, will allow some leeway in these situations, but the nature and scope of what leeway there might be is unknown, uncertain, and possibly temporary.
Thus, in general, new PRs and those who will become PRs, should be aware that it takes time to obtain a new PR card after landing, and that in the meantime if they go abroad there is a high risk they will need to obtain a PR TD to make the return trip to Canada.
In particular, in the situation reported by giopol, who queried in another topic, it is almost certain (but not absolutely) that a PR TD will be needed to board a flight to Canada (recognizing that with a European passport that giopol could alternatively transit via the U.S.)
Further below, I offer citation and links to some of the more informative sources relevant to this discussion.
The much, much longer, more in depth explanation:
Meganes said:
Your report is appreciated.Meganes said:
As already noted, this experience appears to confirm what I suggested multiple times last month, and in particular what I posted in response to a recently landed PR with travel plans to the UK, to whom I suggested that " . . . if the airlines do allow some exceptions, my guess is that the recently landed PR with a CoPR, trying to board a return flight to Canada, probably has about as good a chance as any PR would."
Similar observations were included in posts responding to your queries, noting that notwithstanding full implementation of the eTA program that given the discretion airlines still have to allow travelers to board a flight to Canada even if the IAPI system gives the "no board" response, that "perhaps the recently landed PR, particularly one booked on a return flight to Canada," will be allowed to board the flight returning to Canada despite not having either a PR card or PR Travel Document.
I would still caution others against relying on this, if avoidable, since it relies on the airlines' discretion and we do not know the parameters within which such discretion may be exercised generally, let alone the parameters within which it will be exercised by a particular airline, and we are especially unaware how this might be applied in practice as to any specific traveler.
It is relatively easy to identify some factors which would likely influence how such discretion may be exercised (as I have repeatedly noted, recently landed PR with a return ticket to Canada is one), but with no confirmation or description of the discretion the airlines have, no description let alone enumeration of relevant criteria, it is nearly impossible to predict how it will go for any particular PR attempting to board a flight to Canada . . . except to know that boarding may be denied and that reports confirm the strict rule is indeed being applied to many travelers, probably most travelers (recent media reports have described this, including Canadian citizens as well as PRs, in many instances appearing to have a draconian impact on innocent, unsuspecting PRs and citizens), and perhaps to almost all PRs.
Thus, while it is good to know (for those PRs who may be affected) that there is some prospect, perhaps a significant prospect of being allowed to board a flight to Canada despite how strictly the PR card or PR TD rule is now being enforced, those who are in a similar situation (already booked trip, no time to wait for PR card, not enough time during trip to obtain PR TD) should be cognizant that it will be very difficult to know for sure, to know whether they will be allowed to board the flight to Canada, before actually appearing at the airport to board the flight. . . . But for many, the risk may an acceptable one, recognizing that the worst case scenario is they could be denied boarding that particular flight but will be able to obtain a PR TD and catch a later flight.
Thus, in any event, and in addition to what we already knew, what we learn and what is confirmed, from this report, is that indeed, as I previously observed:
-- the airlines still have discretion to allow travelers to board a flight despite the traveler failing to present one of the prescribed documents or despite a "no board" IAPI response
-- and thus, in particular, a recently landed PR may be allowed to board a flight to Canada without presenting either a PR card or a PR TD
The observation, the may-be-allowed-to-board observation, must be juxtaposed with and contrasted to the at least equally true, and perhaps more likely, may-be-DENIED-boarding caution.
This leads to recent query from giopol:
In response to what an immigration officer stated in 2015, as Scylla observed,giopol said:
In particular, that immigration officer's advice was probably based on how easy it was, before eTA, to board a flight to Canada for most Europeans who could present a visa-exempt passport. While the rule for PRs has not actually changed, enforcement of the rule (requiring a PR to present a valid status document, that being either a valid PR card or PR Travel Document) did not apply to many (probably most) PRs traveling with a visa-exempt passport until November 10, 2016, when the eTA became functional and the IAPI system was more or less fully implemented.scylla said:
As your experience, Meganes, illustrates or at least suggests, the "absolutely" part of Scylla's further observations may not be so certain, that is, not absolute.
This is where the continuing caution looms large. Despite essentially the same status, both new PRs (PRs less than five years) who have not been given a PR card (even more alike if you, like giopol, carry a visa-exempt passport), there are at least two or three salient differences in the situation for giopol which strongly suggest that giopol will most likely (perhaps almost certainly, but not necessarily absolutely) need to obtain a PR Travel Document to board a flight to Canada.scylla said:
These factors are
-- the length of time since the date of landing and becoming a PR
-- the length of time abroad since last time in Canada
-- it is not a return flight on a trip originating in Canada
These are overlapping factors, all related to how new PR status is, as in how recently the PR landed and was in Canada. Since we do not know the parameters of airline discretion, and we do not know the particular criteria the IAPI system employs in screening travelers, certain nuances could make the difference. For example, I do not know whether Meganes' flight returning to Canada was specifically the return leg of a round-trip ticket or not. If yes, it is possible Meganes was, in effect, cleared to take this flight before leaving Canada. If this was a tipping factor, obviously it is not applicable to giopol's situation. In any case, I believe these differences in respective situations means that giopol is far more likely to need a PR TD in order to board a flight to Canada.
Some Sources:
For those with further interests in this, or perhaps just curious, in addition to the particular statutory and regulatory provisions which I have cited in other posts many, many times, and linked rather often as well, here are some sources which offer further information about this subject:
For the applicable and recently completely updated Operational Manual, see ENF 15 "Obligatons of transporters," which can be accessed as a pdf reached by link at IRCC website for updates to Operational Bulletins and Operational Manual at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/rss.asp )
(Note: This source includes the statement: "The CBSA maintains an advisory role, and the decision to deny boarding is the carrier's alone." This, in addition to other language like the use of "may" in IRCC's cautions about being denied boarding, overtly indicate that the airlines retain discretion to allow boarding even if the traveler otherwise does not have advance clearance from CBSA, that is, that an airline may allow a traveler to board a flight even in the absence of a "board" response from the IAPI system.)
For the more recent version of the CBSA Guide for Transporters, see http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trans/guide-eng.html
For more specific information about the IAPI system, see
-- "Interactive Advance Passenger Information (IAPI)" at http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/btb-pdf/iapi-ipvi-eng.html
-- "Advance Passenger Information / Passenger Name Record Program" at http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/api_ipv-eng.html
-- Memorandum D1-16-3 titled " Guidelines for the Access to, Use, and Disclosure of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) Data" at http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d1/d1-16-3-eng.html
-- General information about Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) can be accessed following links at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp
Reminder: eTA is only a part of what was fully implemented November 10, 2016. Its significance to PRs is mostly related to the fact that it was a necessary piece of the IAPI system, its implementation enabling CBSA to fully implement the IAPI system, which in turn simply makes practical the full enforcement of the rules governing PRs traveling to Canada, which had been the rules for many years, requiring PRs to present either a valid PR card or PR TD when boarding a flight to Canada.
Thus, prior to November 10, 2016, there was indeed, in effect, a loophole for PRs with visa-exempt passports. Perhaps this was so accepted it became, essentially, the de facto rule, not a loophole as much as an intentional feature of the system (to borrow a programmer's coy rationalization commonly employed to positively spin the presence of a bug in a program); after all, multiple airlines affirmatively informed prospective travelers that PRs with visa-exempt passports could fly to Canada based on their visa-exempt passport (see much older discussions about this).
Generally it is not important to characterize a particular anomaly or peculiarity, in how a system works, as a loophole, bug, or feature, since how it actually works is far more important than how it is labeled. But in the context of the experience reported here, by Meganes, it is way too early to reach any conclusions about how likely it is that others might have a similar experience in not needing a PR TD in order to return to Canada when traveling abroad at least relatively soon after landing and returning to Canada on a return flight (or at least returning after a short duration abroad).
I fully agree with the caution posted by Rob_TO, in the second paragraph of this post:
However, as should be obvious from my observations above, my impression is that there was an overt, deliberate decision prior to the boarding pass being issued to allow boarding the flight to Canada in the situation described by Meganes, that this was no loophole, that the system incorporates sufficient flexibility, including airline discretion, to facilitate this outcome.Rob_TO said:
The problem is that we do not know, beyond what common sense suggests are obvious factors, what specific criteria are employed, how they are employed, whether this instance was an airline specific decision or is the manifestation of more general policy in the instructions or guidelines (more specific than the Guide for Transporters I link above) provided by CBSA Liaison Officers who work directly with airline personnel, providing support to transporters relative to traveler and document screening.
As I previously posted, we know the airlines have some flexibility, that the decision to allow boarding or deny boarding is ultimately the airline's decision to make, and as I suggested more than a month ago, " . . . if the airlines do allow some exceptions, my guess is that the recently landed PR with a CoPR, trying to board a return flight to Canada, probably has about as good a chance as any PR would."
See
dpenabill said:
Overall / Summary:
Further anecdotal reporting may offer additional illumination about this, and in particular about the possibility that an airlines will allow boarding despite the absence of clearance from CBSA, and despite not having the precise documents prescribed for a PR returning to Canada.
Whether one describes the reported experience as a loophole or a discretionary exception, it is almost certainly a narrow one and does not indicate there is much hope for PRs in other situations to be allowed boarding without a PR card or PR TD.
Moreover, despite this reported experience, new PRs and those who will become a new PR should be cautious and recognize that there is a high risk they will nonetheless need a valid PR card or obtain a PR TD to return to Canada from abroad (recognizing that for some, travel via the U.S. will still be an option). For example, no great power of prophesy is necessary to predict that in contrast to the experience reported here by Meganes, that giopol will most likely need a PR TD, or travel via the U.S., to return to Canada.
And, ultimately, even if there is currently fairly broad discretion being employed by the airlines, there is always the prospect, if not outright likelihood, that the scope of such discretion will be tightened going forward, in the not-so-distant future.
All this said, concluding observations:
All this said, the new PR who goes abroad before receiving a PR card should be, at worst, merely risking the inconvenience of having to apply for and obtain a PR TD before making the return trip to Canada. How inconvenient this is can depend a lot on where abroad the PR goes.
In the meantime, however, this is a common scenario, since many new PRs need to make the landing trip sooner than they are ready to fully settle in Canada, so it would not be surprising if IRCC and CBSA deliberately incorporate some leeway in the system for this . . . be that policy or training instructions (between the CBSA Liaison Officers and airline personnel) outlining the airline's discretion to allow boarding for PRs with not just a PR visa but a passport in which the PR visa was recently used . . . or the IAPI system is programmed to send a "board" response when such passports are used (remember, while the IAPI system screens the traveler, its decision-making is dependent on authorization for the particular passport being used by that traveler). It is unlikely that CBSA or IRCC will publicly disclose specific information about this. But over time, there should be anecdotal reports giving the forum a better idea if there will be much leeway allowed new PRs, and if so, some sense about how much.
Otherwise, though, the primary caution remains: to return to Canada from abroad, a PR:
-- needs a valid PR card or a PR TD to board a flight to Canada, or
-- capacity to travel via the U.S. and cross the land border into Canada using private transportation
And the risk this will apply to a new PR remains substantial, perhaps high.
Hey Meganes,
Did you have to show your Work Permit as well?
I am thinking of doing the same by just showing them my TRV (valid until 2019) but the officer took away my Work Permit.
Also, would the airlines not check the Immigrant visa sticker on your passport? I am a wee bit nervous. Anyone else can please help!?
I just landed 3 days ago (by flagpoling) as a Permanent Resident. When processing the landing, the CBSA told me that unless you are travelling back from countries other than the US, you won't have to wait until you get a PR card. You can use your IM-1 and CoPR as the travel document to travel back to Canada. However, when I checked with IRCC by phone, they told me that it is incorrect information. I will have to travel to the US next week and I am not sure if I can board the flight back to Canada without applying for PRTD.
If you are taking a flight then either the PR card or PRTD is required but if you fly to the nearest border town in US and from there you drive to Canada in a rent a car or any private car then the CoPR is enough.
No, she specifically mentioned travelling using "commercial transport such as airplane, bus, train, etc.".
If the CBSA officer told that then it is incorrect. You need PRTD or PR card to travel by any commercial transport.
Hi,
Can you please advise whether you did or did not apply for an ETA while in Germany? Was this at Pearson airport? I understand that as a PR, if you applied for an ETA as a visa-exempt passport holder it will be denied because the system can see you are a PR (hence no need to apply for an ETA).
Also - did the official look at your CoPR or work permit in order to rant you entry? i.e was it sufficient that you had your CoPR with you or the fact that you had a work visa in addition to your non Canadian passport? Trying to understand if a work permit (although invalid since you don't need one as you are PR) was what permitted you to enter.
I need to travel to US for a couple of days next week but there's a chance I wont have my PR card by then.
Thank you
Hello,
I received my COPR today however I have already booked my tickets from Toronto to India for January 1st week.
If I do the landing, I would need PR Travel card which might be difficult to get as I will only be staying for 2 weeks in India. So, I prefer not to take that risk.
If I do Landing and book a ticket from Toronto to Detroit on my return from India, will I need to go through immigration that is will I still need the travel document? OR can I just board the plane without any issues at Toronto airport?
Please suggest what shall I do as I do not want to delay landing and thus PR card.
Thanks.
I received my COPR today however I have already booked my tickets from Toronto to India for January 1st week.
If I do the landing, I would need PR Travel card which might be difficult to get as I will only be staying for 2 weeks in India. So, I prefer not to take that risk.
If I do Landing and book a ticket from Toronto to Detroit on my return from India, will I need to go through immigration that is will I still need the travel document? OR can I just board the plane without any issues at Toronto airport?
Please suggest what shall I do as I do not want to delay landing and thus PR card.
Thanks.
based on my past experience, it is under no circumstances where the airline will let you board a flight to Canada without a PR card, unless the airline staff you are dealing with doesn't really know what the policy is. Even if you fly from any US airport to Canada, you will still need to present your PR card before you can even check in.
Hello,
You have the following options:
1. Do your landing here sooner: (locally at a CIC office or flagpole at Niagra). This jeopardizing your trip to India because you will need your PR card to return to Canada once you activate your PR status. The only other option is to go to India anyway and apply for a PR Travel Document (PRTD) at the Canadian embassy in Delhi but this would take weeks to process and as you are only going for 2 weeks it is not worth it since you have already booked your return flight from India. The PRTD is proof that you are a Canadian PR. PR cards are currently taking 50-60 days to process from landing date. I landed July 30th and didn't get my card until Sept 27th - 57 days.
2. Wait to activate your PR status until you are returning for your trip to India. Do your landing on the day you come back into Pearson airport from India. Unless you are in a hurry to activate your PR (e.g work permit expiring) this is the best option: wait, go on your trip and land when you come back.
Doing the landing now and leaving Canada without the PR card needed to return is risky. A commercial carrier (airline) will not permit you to board a flight to Canada without your PR card.
I would recommend you wait to do your landing until after your trip to India. That is, go to India in December ad do your landig noreturn to Pearson airport.
Good luck!
Hi there,
I have just landed in Canada and have validated by CoPR. I'm now waiting for my PR card but am planning a trip to Hawaii for Christmas with my parents family. I know the CoPR is not a valid travel document but has anyone had issues with travelling in the past or will I be OK?
My old work visa (before PR) has expired but I will be travelling on a New Zealand passport which is visa exempt.
I have just landed in Canada and have validated by CoPR. I'm now waiting for my PR card but am planning a trip to Hawaii for Christmas with my parents family. I know the CoPR is not a valid travel document but has anyone had issues with travelling in the past or will I be OK?
My old work visa (before PR) has expired but I will be travelling on a New Zealand passport which is visa exempt.
Hi
2. Other choice is apply for PRTD but that has to be done in either New York of LA VAC.
1. Except as a NZ citizen, you would require an ETA to board the flight from Hawaii (If it is direct to Canada) but as you are now a PR you are no longer eligible for an ETA. You could fly into the US and cross the border in a Private vehicle (or walk) and be admitted on the basis of the COPR.
2. Other choice is apply for PRTD but that has to be done in either New York of LA VAC.