Re-entering Canada without PR Card, only CoPR and passport - by plane

[MarlenTleu88]

Once you are a PR, you can enter Canada at a land border without a PR card or PRTD. You don't actually need your COPR, as your PR status can be determined by CBSA when swiping your passport.

Are you sure? I am in the same situation, currently staying in Toronto, however, I want to visit NYC for a week. I just landed so my PR card is not yet ready. I was thinking of using a car rental to go back or I am not sure if I can go with Greyhound bus.

 

[Buletruck]

Are you sure? I am in the same situation, currently staying in Toronto, however, I want to visit NYC for a week. I just landed so my PR card is not yet ready. I was thinking of using a car rental to go back or I am not sure if I can go with Greyhound bus.

Yup! Answered here as well:

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/re-entering-toronto-without-pr-card-just-landed.545320/

 

[MarlenTleu88]

Yup! Answered here as well:

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/re-entering-toronto-without-pr-card-just-landed.545320/

Thanks, what about a transit flight through Toronto?

 

[Buletruck]

You won't be able to board a flight originating outside Canada and flying into Canada without a PR card or a PRTD.

 

[axolotl]

How so? In what way?

As @Rob_TO has explicitly and correctly pointed out, eTA is NOT a physical thing anyone can show to an airline. Visa-exempt travelers do not carry any document which states the traveler has eTA and, in particular, eTA is not something physically stamped in or attached to a passport.

What eTA means is that when the passport number and traveler's identity information is submitted to the CBSA system, electronically, a "board" response (as opposed to a "no board" response) is generated. The airlines may infer the visa-exempt traveler has eTA based on a "board" response.

Airlines may typically ask a visa-exempt traveler if they have eTA when there is a no board response, but that is their way of asking the passenger if they have obtained the necessary eTA (and to apply for it if not) or there is some other reason for the no board response. If the traveler has obtained eTA, again it is NOT as if the traveler has any physical thing to present which shows the traveler has obtained eTA.

Note: airlines have discretion to allow a passenger to board a flight despite a no-board response from the CBSA system. There are certain protocols or procedures for the airlines to follow in making this decision. But the decision to allow boarding or not is ultimately for the airline to make. Of course, if the airline allows boarding and it turns out the traveler is not admissible to Canada, there are compensatory and punitive consequences for the airlines. So it is usually anticipated that airlines are reluctant to allow a traveler to board in the event there is a no-board response from the CBSA system.

The "no board" response is NOT at all related to or akin to things like a "no fly" for security reasons list. Those are far more strict.

They asked "Do you have an ETA? Have you printed it out?" I showed them the ETA email on my phone. I guess they were idiots. But idiots are everywhere.

 

[axolotl]

And I wonder what Japan airlines was expecting to see, since as mentioned eTA is something linked electronically, not something you can show.

They asked "Do you have an ETA? Have you printed it out?" I showed them the ETA email on my phone. I guess they were idiots. But idiots are everywhere.

If your eTA was cancelled and you weren't asked to show a PR card, then this was a huge mistake made by the airline. They overrode the no-board notice that would have popped up if your eTA was not active, and didn't ask for your PR card or PR TD.

As others have mentioned, this was an aberration and should not be relied on by anybody.

WOW Air has never swiped my passport. I used a machine at the airport to print the boarding passes. At the gate, WOW only scanned my boarding pass.

 

[axolotl]

An eTA is created and linked to passport automatically with issuance of COPR. It's not required to show COPR to airline, as the eTA is what gets you to Canada.

If this is the case, then I had two ETAs when they issued me the COPR: one from my previous application in July 2017 (for which I paid 7 CAD), another automatically generated with the COPR in Oct 2017. The one they cancelled later was the one from July 2017.

This would explain everything. But on the other hand, the system would seem rather stupid to allow one person to have two ETAs.

 

[evdm]

They asked "Do you have an ETA? Have you printed it out?" I showed them the ETA email on my phone. I guess they were idiots. But idiots are everywhere.


WOW Air has never swiped my passport. I used a machine at the airport to print the boarding passes. At the gate, WOW only scanned my boarding pass.

Air Canada at AMS hires a private security firm to carry out checks at check-in, and at the gate. In this check, the security person checks all passports, PR Cards, Visas, or asks visa-exempt passengers if they have an eTA. Once checked and verified, the security person applies a sticker on the back of the passport. At the gate, the security person checks for this sticker and waves you through to board, or if you don't have the sticker you are checked again and your passport is scanned by the gate agents. You couldn't get on the plane without being checked at least once for the proper documents/authorization.

 

[Rob_TO]

If this is the case, then I had two ETAs when they issued me the COPR: one from my previous application in July 2017 (for which I paid 7 CAD), another automatically generated with the COPR in Oct 2017. The one they cancelled later was the one from July 2017.

This would explain everything. But on the other hand, the system would seem rather stupid to allow one person to have two ETAs.

Possibly, I have no idea if one could have 2 eTAs somehow linked to their passport. I doubt it, but you never know.

When my wife tries using the automated kiosks or online checkin from home to enter passport info and print boarding pass, it always denies her and instructs her to go in person to the counter. This is so the check-in agent can physically verify her PR card before issuing the boarding pass. No idea why some airlines seem to allow you to skip this step, perhaps they are just behind on their processes, or as you said perhaps they were reading another active eTA so thought you were a foreign national.

 

[another_new_pr]

I'm in a very similar situation as the original poster, except that I am a U.S. citizen. How likely is it that I would be able to board the plane, and what's likely to happen (as well as the worst case) if I arrive with just a CoPR at airport customs in Canada? Are there any negative implications for my immigration status/record if I do this? I've already traveled to the US, and am trying to decide within the next day or two if I should change my travel plans to drive across the Canada-U.S. border on my return.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I'm in a very similar situation as the original poster, except that I am a U.S. citizen. How likely is it that I would be able to board the plane, and what's likely to happen (as well as the worst case) if I arrive with just a CoPR at airport customs in Canada? Are there any negative implications for my immigration status/record if I do this? I've already traveled to the US, and am trying to decide within the next day or two if I should change my travel plans to drive across the Canada-U.S. border on my return.

As an American, you can board a plane to Canada on the strength of just your passport. Don't mention your PR status to the airline. When you enter Canada, you then present yourself to CBSA as a PR.

 

[keesio]

I'm in a very similar situation as the original poster, except that I am a U.S. citizen. How likely is it that I would be able to board the plane, and what's likely to happen (as well as the worst case) if I arrive with just a CoPR at airport customs in Canada? Are there any negative implications for my immigration status/record if I do this? I've already traveled to the US, and am trying to decide within the next day or two if I should change my travel plans to drive across the Canada-U.S. border on my return.

Check out my recent post here:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/prtd-for-us-citizen-pr-returning-to-canada-by-air.481947/#post-6752236

 

[another_new_pr]

Thank you! I've had a hard time finding recent examples of people who actually did this successfully.

 

[keesio]

Thank you! I've had a hard time finding recent examples of people who actually did this successfully.

Just want to clarify that when she arrived at Pearson Airport, she used a NEXUS kiosk to bypass standard immigration/customs (we are NEXUS members). So I can't comment what the standard immigration/customs experience is like without your PR card. But I have heard that it is not an issue since they can look up your status. But what we can confirm is that she has been able to board her flights back to Canada with just her US passport.

 

[evdm]

US citizens do not need an eTA and can travel to Canada solely on the merits of their passport. Therefore, for US citizens it should be relatively easy to travel without the PR Card.