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Asked to come pick up PR card in person

julies39

Full Member
Jun 4, 2012
26
2
Hello,

My husband is a Permanent Resident. I am a Canadian citizen. He has recently applied to renew his PR card, and we received the below letter. They sent the letter instead of mailing the card because we currently live in the UK. He has more than fulfilled his residency requirement over the last 5 years, PLUS we have lived together in the UK and therefore UK days count as well because I'm Canadian and we live together. We did re-enter Canada earlier this year in order to apply. He now has to fly back next week just for this.

My questions are:

1) What does this letter mean. Is he going to pick up the card, or is he going to get interrogated and then refused because at the moment we live in the UK. He can clearly demonstrate that he meets the residency requirements. Has anyone had experience with these sorts of meetings?

2) He missed his appointed day that they indicate on the letter, but is still well within the 180 days. How likely is he to be seen if he shows up early in the morning and is willing to stay all day. Does anyone have experience with how busy the Etobicoke office is?

3) They ask for all passports and travel documents. Does this mean all passports and all travel documents since he was an infant or just for the 5 year period in question. I have some of his super old passports but not all of them since he was a baby. Also a lot of the travel documents like old visas have been removed by immigration officials when they had become expired. This is a very unclear request. Please help.

4) He has passport stamps from 10 years ago that are in Spanish, just entry and exit stamps from traveling through South America. Do I really have to get certified translations of these really old stamps?

5) Any advice on making it through this meeting successfully and actually walking out with his PR card?

HERE IS THE LETTER:

PLEASE READ ALL OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION CAREFULLY
According to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, all permanent residents of Canada are subject to a
residency assessment at the time of distribution of their new Permanent Resident Card. An immigration official
will review your documents and may request additional information to determine your eligibility for a PR card.
Every individual who receives this notice must be seen in person and present the following:
• This letter;
• All passports and travel documents (current and expired);
• Passport stamps and visas, not in English/French, must be accompanied by a certified translation in one of
the official languages;
• Total of all absences from Canada (for the 5 years prior to the date you applied);
• Valid photo ID issued by the province or by a federal agency (e.g. driver's license, health card);
• Expired PR card.
• Proof of residence in Canada for the 5 years prior to the date you applied (e.g. Notice of Assessment from
Canada Revenue Agency, T-4 statement, employer's letter, school records, bank or bill statements);
• Minors under age !4 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian with a birth certificate and/or legal
guardianship papers;
• Spouses of Canadian Citizens should bring marriage certificate (with translation) and copy of spouse's
Canadian passport.
• An interpreter if required.
Please come to our office on this date during the following hours (Except Holidays):
Date: February 13, 2018
Time: Between the hours 9:30 am to 3:00 pm
Location: 5343 Dundas Street West, Etobicoke, 1st Floor
(TTC access Bloor Subway Line 2 to Kipling Station)
Please note that if you are unable to appear on the date scheduled, you must come to our office within 180 days from your scheduled date. Should you choose not to come on your appointment date, there is a possibilitythat you will not be seen if there is a high volume of clients on the day you come to the office.

By law, any unclaimed permanent resident card must be destroyed 180 days after the date of this letter. There areno exceptions. If your card is destroyed by this method you must make a new application and pay another fee.
If you require additional information please call the IRCC National Call Centre: 1-888-242-2100 or email them
at question ^'cic.gc.ca .
Yours sincerely,
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

HUGE THANKS TO ANYONE THAT CAN PROVIDE ADVICE WITH THIS.

Julie
 

zardoz

VIP Member
Feb 2, 2013
13,298
2,167
Canada
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
16-02-2013
VISA ISSUED...
31-07-2013
LANDED..........
09-11-2013
Basically, it means that they know he isn't living in Canada and they won't post a PR card outside Canada. Therefore he has to go and collect it.

Only the 5 years before the date of application are considered as far as the supporting documents are concerned. No need for baby passports etc :)
 
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julies39

Full Member
Jun 4, 2012
26
2
Basically, it means that they know he isn't living in Canada and they won't post a PR card outside Canada. Therefore he has to go and collect it.

Only the 5 years before the date of application are considered as far as the supporting documents are concerned. No need for baby passports etc :)
Thanks! But if that's all it is, why do they ask for all that other stuff? And why didn't they just mail the card to the Toronto address that we provided on the application (which is where we were staying while in Canada)? Is there a chance that they will say: sorry you don't live in Canada at the moment so we are not going to give you this card. Go apply for Permanent Resident Travel Document instead.

Again, I really appreciate your response, just so nervous about this.
 

zardoz

VIP Member
Feb 2, 2013
13,298
2,167
Canada
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
16-02-2013
VISA ISSUED...
31-07-2013
LANDED..........
09-11-2013
Thanks! But if that's all it is, why do they ask for all that other stuff? And why didn't they just mail the card to the Toronto address that we provided on the application (which is where we were staying while in Canada)? Is there a chance that they will say: sorry you don't live in Canada at the moment so we are not going to give you this card. Go apply for Permanent Resident Travel Document instead.

Again, I really appreciate your response, just so nervous about this.
They may well do another residency assessment but even if they don't, they still want to double check the supporting documents.
They will not refuse to hand over the card unless there is evidence that the original application was in some way fraudulent.
I believe that it's IRCC policy to hand over in person if the applicant is non-resident.
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
95,909
22,155
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
Thanks! But if that's all it is, why do they ask for all that other stuff? And why didn't they just mail the card to the Toronto address that we provided on the application (which is where we were staying while in Canada)? Is there a chance that they will say: sorry you don't live in Canada at the moment so we are not going to give you this card. Go apply for Permanent Resident Travel Document instead.

Again, I really appreciate your response, just so nervous about this.
FYI - He's going to need to get a PRTD to come to Canada and pick up his PR card unless he plans to fly to the US and enter Canada by land.
 

zardoz

VIP Member
Feb 2, 2013
13,298
2,167
Canada
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
16-02-2013
VISA ISSUED...
31-07-2013
LANDED..........
09-11-2013
FYI - He's going to need to get a PRTD to come to Canada and pick up his PR card unless he plans to fly to the US and enter Canada by land.
We don't know that his current card is expired. I was assuming "not".
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
95,909
22,155
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010

julies39

Full Member
Jun 4, 2012
26
2
His current card is NOT expired. It is valid until May 1, 2018. He will enter Canada on April 22... so not a lot of time left on it but still he'll be current when he enters. That's another one of my anxieties, I wish it wasn't so close to the expiration date but its what we have to work with at this point. From what I understand, as log as its valid he can use it to the last day. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 

julies39

Full Member
Jun 4, 2012
26
2
They may well do another residency assessment but even if they don't, they still want to double check the supporting documents.
They will not refuse to hand over the card unless there is evidence that the original application was in some way fraudulent.
I believe that it's IRCC policy to hand over in person if the applicant is non-resident.
Thanks. That does make me feel better. Now I just have to make sure we get all the documents in perfect order for his trip.
 

bricksonly

Hero Member
Mar 18, 2018
434
54
His current card is NOT expired. It is valid until May 1, 2018. He will enter Canada on April 22... so not a lot of time left on it but still he'll be current when he enters. That's another one of my anxieties, I wish it wasn't so close to the expiration date but its what we have to work with at this point. From what I understand, as log as its valid he can use it to the last day. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Hi, Julie, can you share when did your husband send his application and about the residency address, you put UK address during your stay in UK or just Ontario address? thanks
 

julies39

Full Member
Jun 4, 2012
26
2
Hi, Julie, can you share when did your husband send his application and about the residency address, you put UK address during your stay in UK or just Ontario address? thanks
He mailed his application on December 11, 2017. We indicated on the application that we live in the UK at the moment and provided our UK address for the dates we have been in the UK. I then provided a Toronto address (my dad's) with an indication of when we would be at that address. We were in Canada between Dec, 10, 2017 and January 10, 2017. Unfortunately the letter from CIC did not arrive until January 17th. By that point my dad had put his mail on hold because they were going to Europe for 3 months. Something my dad failed to mention when I asked if we could use his address, grrrr! So we only gained access to the letter early this week when my dad returned from holiday.
 

bricksonly

Hero Member
Mar 18, 2018
434
54
He mailed his application on December 11, 2017. We indicated on the application that we live in the UK at the moment and provided our UK address for the dates we have been in the UK. I then provided a Toronto address (my dad's) with an indication of when we would be at that address. We were in Canada between Dec, 10, 2017 and January 10, 2017. Unfortunately the letter from CIC did not arrive until January 17th. By that point my dad had put his mail on hold because they were going to Europe for 3 months. Something my dad failed to mention when I asked if we could use his address, grrrr! So we only gained access to the letter early this week when my dad returned from holiday.
Thank you so much Julie! Really, your husband mailed from UK to make his application but leave a Toronto address to receive PR Card? I called IRCC and they said people can only make application when they were PHYSICALLY in Canada....As your letter only mentioned your intention to Canada, I believe that's the reason they ask you to pick up in person.
 

julies39

Full Member
Jun 4, 2012
26
2
Thank you so much Julie! Really, your husband mailed from UK to make his application but leave a Toronto address to receive PR Card? I called IRCC and they said people can only make application when they were PHYSICALLY in Canada....As your letter only mentioned your intention to Canada, I believe that's the reason they ask you to pick up in person.
No, you misunderstand. We did go back to Canada in order to apply. All I meant to say is that on the application we gave our UK address for the time we were in the UK and our Canadian address for the time we were in Canada. They would not have processed the application if they saw that it had been mailed out of country. We were very careful to follow all the rules.
 

speeditx

Member
Apr 6, 2018
17
0
"sent the letter instead of mailing the card because we currently live in the UK. " - so I understand that you were in Canada when your applied and then you went back to UK after applying. Which is totally appropriate considering your situation.

But in ref. to your above statement - do they know that your are currently living in UK? did you change your address on e-Cas reflecting a change of address out of Canada? If yes then that could be a probably cause, coz they only look at the most recent address prior to mailing the card, even if you had a Canadian address when you applied.
 

speeditx

Member
Apr 6, 2018
17
0
If you still maintained a Canadian address, then it's just bad luck. Based on the Officer you just got picked up. Now that they called you, all you can do is go for that interview and you have nothing to worry. You will get your card. Please do post your interview experience after.