I am a Permanent Resident in Canada who has applied for citizenship (October 2017). My Permanent Resident Card will expire (Feb 2018) while being in process. My question is -Do I need a valid (non-expired) Permanent Resident card at the time of interview, citizenship test or at the time of Oath ceremony?
Also my passport is expired, I didn’t get a new one as I’m not planning on traveling anytime soon.
I concur in observations made by
devilhimselff.
I especially concur in being patient. There is no reason to panic. No reason to rush.
IRCC may get a little antsy about expired passports. But that depends on context, on other circumstances, and especially if IRCC perceives a possibility the applicant traveled abroad during a period of time the applicant purports to not have a valid passport. But that is already in play, explained, and if your explanation makes sense in your situation, should not cause any concerns let alone problems.
PR card expiring while the citizenship application is in process is definitely not an issue other than, as you are obviously aware, if there is a need to travel after the PRC expires and before you become a citizen, you will need (with some exceptions, like for Americans) to obtain a PR Travel Document to fly back to Canada.
While personal experience does not always reflect how things usually go, let alone will always go, I let my PRC expire while my application was in process, no problem at my interview, no problem surrendering the expired PR card when I took the oath. As anyone who has read many of my posts could probably guess, yes I did a good deal of research before I proceeded that way. Not a problem.
Whether to proceed without a valid passport or valid PRC tends to be a very personal decision, largely dependent on the individual's own situation. PRs who can travel via the U.S., for example, have options if they let their PRC expire and there is a sudden need to travel.
Of course, one still needs a valid passport to travel. So to retain any option to travel in the meantime, a PR should of course obtain a valid passport. But those who for sure are not going to travel in the meantime, no need to get the home country passport.
Another factor is how not obtaining a new passport might affect status in the home country, how difficult letting it expire will make getting a new one if the PR wants to still have a home country passport after becoming a citizen. In this regard, my passport also expired shortly after I applied for Canadian citizenship, and I elected to proceed to obtain a new one while my citizenship application was in process, particularly since the place I travel to most often is my home country and it insists on its citizens using their passport when entering the country. So I was going to need my home country passport generally and even after I obtained a Canadian passport.
All of which are merely examples of factors personal to an individual which can influence what the best choice is for himself or herself.
