Travel to US while waiting for PR Card

[s.buj]

Hey there folks! I will be landing in Vancouver in approximately 16 days (yay!). My husband and I are of course very excited, but we're also a little concerned about how long it will take to receive my PR card after landing, as we had planned for a short trip to Portland, OR in early September. The current processing for PR cards looks to be about 58 days, plus mailing time, which is just a tad too long to make our planned trip.

So, my question is, would I have difficulty coming back into Vancouver with my passport and CoPR? Normally I would assume yes, based on research, but there seems to be some contention that US citizens would not have an issue.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

[jeff198901]

Hey there folks! I will be landing in Vancouver in approximately 16 days (yay!). My husband and I are of course very excited, but we're also a little concerned about how long it will take to receive my PR card after landing, as we had planned for a short trip to Portland, OR in early September. The current processing for PR cards looks to be about 58 days, plus mailing time, which is just a tad too long to make our planned trip.

So, my question is, would I have difficulty coming back into Vancouver with my passport and CoPR? Normally I would assume yes, based on research, but there seems to be some contention that US citizens would not have an issue.

Anyone have experience with this?

No issue. Btw, my wife got her PR card in 48 days. She just received it last week

 

[KBH]

Answer depends on whether you are driving or flying.

Driving - it's a non-issue, as long as you are in a private vehicle (not on a bus or train) you can use your COPR at the border, no PR card required.

Flying - this is a little complicated to explain, but US citizens can typically get away with not having their PR card because US citizens are the only people in the world who neither require a visa nor an ETA to board a plane to Canada. If your passport was from any other country, your lack of visa and/or ETA would tip off the airline to your PR status and cause them to request your PR card. But US citizens never have either of these. This means when you're boarding the plane, the airline has no way of knowing if you are a visitor or a PR. So you can just present yourself as a visitor at the airport and, in theory, be able to board the plane. The lack of PR card is an airline issue, not a CBSA issue. Once you land in Canada you can present your signed COPR to the CBSA officer as proof of your PR status.