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My PR Card will expire while on Vacation, how to come back?

eblend

Full Member
Dec 30, 2018
22
3
Hi guys, I am new here but I have read multiple threads on here and found it very useful, so I decided to sign up as I have a question that I couldn't find an exact answer for.

My wife and I are travelling to Japan from Feb 7th to Feb 27th. She has been in Canada for almost 10 years now as a PR, and has renewed her PR card in the past, however, this time around, because of the many different trips we took abroad, we completely forgot about her renewal date for her PR, and it looks very likely that we won't get her card in time before our trip. She is a Japanese citizen. Her PR Card expires Feb 18th, 2019, just 9 days before we are due back in Canada. The day we found out about this fact, we applied for a renewal and sent out our documents on Dec 7th, and FedEx tracking shows that the package was received on Dec 11th.

If the card arrives back in Canada within the first few weeks of us being there, I can have my parents ship it to us express to Tokyo and there won't be any further issues.

Our plan is to go to the airport and try to board the plane. I am a Canadian citizen, but since my would not have her physical PR card, we were hoping to present other supporting documentation, but from reading on here, it seems like she will be denied boarding. If we get the physical PR card back in Canada I could have my parents take pictures of it and send it to us, but I don't think it will be of much help. We have come to Japan at least 5 times in the last 10 years, always without issues, but we never had an expired PR card :(

We have looked at the PRTD route as well, but it appears in Tokyo it takes between 10 and 30 days to get your PRTD (apparently it's actually processed in Manila, based on some Japanese forums my wife read), so there is no guarantee we would get it back in time for our flight anyways, in which case my wife would be out of a passport without any other alternatives until the PRTD arrives. We won't be in Tokyo until 4 days before our departure, so we would have to ship all the documents pretty much upon landing in Tokyo the first time, before our connection to Sapporo, or ship from Sapporo the following day. She has a friend in Tokyo where she could stay for a few extra nights, but not for an extended period of time. If the PRTD comes on time, everything is great, no extra costs (aside from processing fees), but if it doesn't, we are in worse position as she has to wait for her passport to come back.

Our other option is, upon being denied boarding, is to buy a ticket to Seattle for her. She can fly there the following day, in the mean time, I would proceed to Canada by myself, land, sleep, grab some food, and start the 14 hour drive to Seattle from Calgary to pick her up. Once at the boarded there is no issues as she does not need the PR card to prove her PR.

Just looking for suggestions to see if there is some other option we overlooked. We would like to contact the Canadian embassy in Japan but with all the holiday we can't do much anywhere until early Jan, so trying to get as much stuff figured out as possible while we are off.
 

canuck_in_uk

VIP Member
May 4, 2012
31,553
7,205
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
06/12
Hi guys, I am new here but I have read multiple threads on here and found it very useful, so I decided to sign up as I have a question that I couldn't find an exact answer for.

My wife and I are travelling to Japan from Feb 7th to Feb 27th. She has been in Canada for almost 10 years now as a PR, and has renewed her PR card in the past, however, this time around, because of the many different trips we took abroad, we completely forgot about her renewal date for her PR, and it looks very likely that we won't get her card in time before our trip. She is a Japanese citizen. Her PR Card expires Feb 18th, 2019, just 9 days before we are due back in Canada. The day we found out about this fact, we applied for a renewal and sent out our documents on Dec 7th, and FedEx tracking shows that the package was received on Dec 11th.

If the card arrives back in Canada within the first few weeks of us being there, I can have my parents ship it to us express to Tokyo and there won't be any further issues.

Our plan is to go to the airport and try to board the plane. I am a Canadian citizen, but since my would not have her physical PR card, we were hoping to present other supporting documentation, but from reading on here, it seems like she will be denied boarding. If we get the physical PR card back in Canada I could have my parents take pictures of it and send it to us, but I don't think it will be of much help. We have come to Japan at least 5 times in the last 10 years, always without issues, but we never had an expired PR card :(

We have looked at the PRTD route as well, but it appears in Tokyo it takes between 10 and 30 days to get your PRTD (apparently it's actually processed in Manila, based on some Japanese forums my wife read), so there is no guarantee we would get it back in time for our flight anyways, in which case my wife would be out of a passport without any other alternatives until the PRTD arrives. We won't be in Tokyo until 4 days before our departure, so we would have to ship all the documents pretty much upon landing in Tokyo the first time, before our connection to Sapporo, or ship from Sapporo the following day. She has a friend in Tokyo where she could stay for a few extra nights, but not for an extended period of time. If the PRTD comes on time, everything is great, no extra costs (aside from processing fees), but if it doesn't, we are in worse position as she has to wait for her passport to come back.

Our other option is, upon being denied boarding, is to buy a ticket to Seattle for her. She can fly there the following day, in the mean time, I would proceed to Canada by myself, land, sleep, grab some food, and start the 14 hour drive to Seattle from Calgary to pick her up. Once at the boarded there is no issues as she does not need the PR card to prove her PR.

Just looking for suggestions to see if there is some other option we overlooked. We would like to contact the Canadian embassy in Japan but with all the holiday we can't do much anywhere until early Jan, so trying to get as much stuff figured out as possible while we are off.
Hi

She will be denied boarding without the actual valid PR card or a PRTD. Pictures of the PR card will not be accepted. Your parents would need to courier the card to her in Japan.

20 days should be enough time for the PRTD but no guarantees. Flying to Seattle is the most certain option.
 

eblend

Full Member
Dec 30, 2018
22
3
Are there any issues in applying for PRTD, if she was already issued a PR card, but not enough time to get it couriered over, or applying for PRTD by mail the moment we land in Japan....while at the same time having your PR process going in Canada?
 

canuck_in_uk

VIP Member
May 4, 2012
31,553
7,205
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
06/12
Are there any issues in applying for PRTD, if she was already issued a PR card, but not enough time to get it couriered over, or applying for PRTD by mail the moment we land in Japan....while at the same time having your PR process going in Canada?
No issues.
 

eblend

Full Member
Dec 30, 2018
22
3
Interesting, will have to think about it pending how things look mid January, hopefully at least my status shows something by then, as currently I am not able to check the status at all.

All these options kind of suck, live and learn I guess, can't believe we screwed this up so bad, but at the same time, it's surprising that Canada, a developed country, can't issue an immediate document stating you can travel if you go to their consulate, what happens if you are in a foreign country and lost your PR card all together, it would be $$$$ for someone to stay somewhere for an extra month, job problems etc etc. Most of those things don't apply to us as my wife's work is very flexible and we have friend and family in Japan, but still, seems like 3rd world country process if you ask me.
 

ContactFront

Champion Member
Feb 22, 2017
2,482
707
The logic is simple, if you lose your PR card and show up at their door asking for a travel document in a foreign country, their assumption is you are not a PR until proven otherwise. They need to run checks and that unfortunately takes time
 
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eblend

Full Member
Dec 30, 2018
22
3
The logic is simple, if you lose your PR card and show up at their door asking for a travel document in a foreign country, their assumption is you are not a PR until proven otherwise. They need to run checks and that unfortunately takes time
In this day and age, it should be a matter of entering a passport into their system which would verify residency, everything is connected, guess the government being the government just hasn't caught up. I used to work for the government so I know how far behind they are, mainframes are still a thing. Hell the payroll system change they did a few years ago that got screwed up totally is an indication of our government. Anyways, it's just surprising they can issue you a passport in 1 day on emergency basis, but PR is so much more complicated.
 

ContactFront

Champion Member
Feb 22, 2017
2,482
707
One thing they need to check is if the person meets the residency obligation. That's probably more than just swiping the passport on a machine.
But guess you are right, that's government being the government. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

keesio

VIP Member
May 16, 2012
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In this day and age, it should be a matter of entering a passport into their system which would verify residency, everything is connected, guess the government being the government just hasn't caught up.
The issue is not CBSA. It is the airline. The airline does not have access to all that information, hence they cannot determine if someone is a PR or not without the proper documentation. If you can board the plane and get to Canada, then CBSA can look up your info by swiping your passport.
 

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
13,187
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The issue is not CBSA. It is the airline. The airline does not have access to all that information, hence they cannot determine if someone is a PR or not without the proper documentation. If you can board the plane and get to Canada, then CBSA can look up your info by swiping your passport.
The point is though that when a visa exempt checks in for a flight to the Canada the airline scans the passport and can see if an ETA has been issued or at least a board / no board. Have to ask how difficult would it be for the Canadian government to take similar approach for PRs then it would be upto CBSA to process anyone who has failed the RO. Guess in the end the government will just say they can spend the money on higher priorities versus the small number of people needing PRTD applications.
 
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