Travel with PR card expiring in 1 month

[UniqueCase]

My PR card is expiring in Feb. 2022. I am planning to travel outside Canada in Dec with return to Canada within 2 or 3 weeks.

I am planning to apply for card renewal after I come back from the trip. Will I be allowed to enter Canada with expiration date so close?

 

[terryvico]

if you met the residency obligation there will be no issue , you can enter before the expiry date . this is what I know

 

[YVR123]

It's correct. As long as the PR card is still valid, you can travel back to Canada with it.

 

[jakklondon]

My PR card is expiring in Feb. 2022. I am planning to travel outside Canada in Dec with return to Canada within 2 or 3 weeks.

I am planning to apply for card renewal after I come back from the trip. Will I be allowed to enter Canada with expiration date so close?

when are you coming back? You may not be able to renter Canada if you come back after expiration date on your PR card. They also tend to report for breach of RO, so next question is: will you be in breach of RO at the time of returning to Canada? Authorities at POE in Canada are not friendly to immigrants , so be careful and make sure all your paperwork is in order, just as if you were traveling to El Salvador.

 

[armoured]

Authorities at POE in Canada are not friendly to immigrants , so be careful and make sure all your paperwork is in order, just as if you were traveling to El Salvador.

What a profoundly dubious generalization to make - and of course with no supporting source whatsoever.

Simple fact - more than 20% of Canada's population is foreign-born. High levels of immigration annually, many immigrants travel extensively.

It's simply not plausible that authorities are consistently "not friendly to immigrants" without there being a lot of reporting on a widespread systemic issue.

Strong claims require strong evidence; don't see any. Instead, like anywhere, there are incidents; but far from any generalized issue as claimed.

Simple, plausible statement (that's probably pretty close to the truth): Canada's authorities at entry can be good or bad, just like anywhere. Mostly they're okay - just human - some are jerks, some are quite nice. But definitely no wholesale anti-immigrant approach.

 

[YVR123]

when are you coming back? You may not be able to renter Canada if you come back after expiration date on your PR card. They also tend to report for breach of RO, so next question is: will you be in breach of RO at the time of returning to Canada? Authorities at POE in Canada are not friendly to immigrants , so be careful and make sure all your paperwork is in order, just as if you were traveling to El Salvador.

OP said the trip is 2 or 3 weeks in Dec. (assuming 2021)
PR card is expiring in Feb. 2022.

PR card will still be valid but the expiry is within a month or two.

So OP can enter. If OP meets his RO (which I believe so since he/she plans to apply for PR card renewal right after the return of the trip), traveling with a valid PR card back to Canada is FINE.

So you are not answering OP's question.

 

[jakklondon]

OP said the trip is 2 or 3 weeks in Dec. (assuming 2021)
PR card is expiring in Feb. 2022.

PR card will still be valid but the expiry is within a month or two.

So OP can enter. If OP meets his RO (which I believe so since he/she plans to apply for PR card renewal right after the return of the trip), traveling with a valid PR card back to Canada is FINE.

So you are not answering OP's question.

i give advise and warn , when you travel to Canada or El Salvador you must be careful, never know who you will be facing at the border. If OP is NOT in breach of OP and has valid PR card, they should be fine. But if they will be in breach of RO, border agent is likely to intimidate and give them a hard time , and report. OP didn't explicitly say if they are in compliance with RO. I am not clairvoyant and rather than making assumptions warned them what to be on lookout for. I answered the question to the best I could

 

[YVR123]

Authorities at POE in Canada are not friendly to immigrants , so be careful and make sure all your paperwork is in order, just as if you were traveling to El Salvador.

I am sorry. I used to cross the border very often (actually I used to commute daily across the land border for a few years). I am a visible minority and an immigrate. I found most immigration officers VERY friendly. At least they have been to me. As long as you are comply to the rules, travelling in and out of the country is perfectly fine.
Having proper paperwork when cross immigration is normal practice for traveling anywhere.

 

[dpenabill]

My PR card is expiring in Feb. 2022. I am planning to travel outside Canada in Dec with return to Canada within 2 or 3 weeks.

I am planning to apply for card renewal after I come back from the trip. Will I be allowed to enter Canada with expiration date so close?

If your PR card is still valid you will be able to board a flight to Canada. If your PR card expires (if for example your return to Canada is delayed), you will need to obtain a PR TD to board a flight to Canada. (Alternative, if abroad after PR card expires, is to travel via the U.S., if possible, using private transportation to cross the Canadian/U.S. border into Canada.)

PRs will be allowed to enter Canada when they arrive at the Port-of-Entry, even if their PR card is expired. There is no risk of being denied entry because the PR card expired. The validity of your PR status does not depend on the date your PR card is valid.

It is not true that Canadian border officials are not friendly to immigrants. Almost all indications suggest the opposite.

While an expired PR card can trigger questions about PR Residency Obligation compliance, if there is nothing indicating a RO concern, it is not a concern.

There are some obvious indicators which can elevate the RISK of more thorough questioning at the PoE (worst that can happen is being Reported, if for example the PR is in breach of the RO; but entry into Canada will still be allowed). Examples include a flag (technically called an "alert") in GCMS after last entry (if officer noted reasons to watch for RO compliance, for example) or because there is a PR card application pending which has been referred for Secondary Review; arriving in Canada after a very lengthy absence is yet another. An expired PR card increases the risk of additional questioning, but this is relative and not likely a problem for a PR well settled in Canada and returning to Canada after a short trip abroad.

Otherwise the extent to which the PR appears settled in Canada can have some significant influence. Border officials tend to "welcome" Canadians home when it is readily apparent Canada is their home. (PRs are Canadians by the way, as in not Foreign Nationals under Canadian immigration law.)

@armoured and @YVR123 . . . not sure what will work, not all trolls are created equal; and obviously the disinformation cannot be ignored. Maybe focusing on accurate substance and minimizing direct engagement? Not sure, but this one seems hell bent on mischief.

 

[jakklondon]

I am sorry. I used to cross the border very often (actually I used to commute daily across the land border for a few years). I am a visible minority and an immigrate. I found most immigration officers VERY friendly. At least they have been to me. As long as you are comply to the rules, travelling in and our of the country is perfectly fine.
Having proper paperwork when cross immigration is normal practice for travelling anywhere.

I am glad they were friendly to you.That doesn't mean OP will have the same luck. Some border agents are extremely hostile and if OP is in breach of RO they run a high risk of intimidation and being reported for breach of RO.

 

[CaBeaver]

...Authorities at POE in Canada are not friendly to immigrants ...

Most people in these forums are immigrants, and have exited and entered Canada many times, and have personal experiences with authorities at the border. I am one of them, and I can say that I have never interacted with an officer who wasn't friendly to me. But maybe you have a personal experience we don't know about and would like to share. I know you are angry at Canada's RO requirement for whatever reason, but what you are asking is not reasonable to allow people to land and then leave without any consequences. If I were a US citizen with a Canadian PR, and had a good job in the US, I would never feel so angry about RO requirements in Canada, even if I cannot find a job in Canada, especially while I was in the US with a good job.

 

[jakklondon]

Most people in these forums are immigrants, and have exited and entered Canada many times, and have personal experiences with authorities at the border. I am one of them, and I can say that I have never interacted with an officer who wasn't friendly to me. But maybe you have a personal experience we don't know about and would like to share. I know you are angry at Canada's RO requirement for whatever reason, but what you are asking is not reasonable to allow people to land and then leave without any consequences. If I were a US citizen with a Canadian PR, and had a good job in the US, I would never feel so angry about RO requirements in Canada, even if I cannot find a job in Canada, especially while I was in the US with a good job.

If a journalist wrote a critical article about something, would you necessarily assume they are angry? Here is a link to a report about abuses in immigration detention in Canada. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/17/canada-abuse-discrimination-immigration-detention
Here is another article, about border agents https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbsa-misconduct-tunney-1.5560993
I don't think the authors of the report or Amnesty General are angry, I just think they see wrongdoing and report it, so it can be remedied.

Likewise, I am not angry, I just report what I think is not fair or right. I understand concept of RO, but I question the need of bringing almost 400,000 immigrants (half or more skilled) in absence of enough jobs to accommodate the ones who are already in Canada. You have mentioned that number in another thread, and were questioning the need to bring so many immigrants to Canada in a way that leaves many out of work or doing survival jobs. I didn't think you were angry at Canada when I read it, I thought you are giving a fair and balanced assessment of the existing state of affairs.
I believe if Canada reduced admission of skilled PRs to such number as she actually needed, there would be no need to go out of the way enforcing RO, simply because too few would leave Canada and breach RO. People don't leave a country where they can find a work in their field and make a living.

I consider it a civic duty , to be critical of bureaucracy and government when they forget that their prime purpose and reason for existence is service of general public, and not vice versa (like in feudal times or third world countries). Actually, I consider this necessary element of democratic state, to have vigorous, open debate and criticize things that are harmful to citizens and residents. Would you disagree?

 

[jakklondon]

P.S. I also see a lot of few very vocal people in this forum who are angry at me for reporting things that I know or observe . I am glad to note that this doesn't apply to you, but you can follow the threads where I posted and see relentless personal attacks , insults and harassment aimed at me, just because I criticize what I believe to be inherently illogical and counterproductive way of dealing with skilled immigrants. I was in Canada and liked people there , Canada had nice European feel to it past the POE on land border (safe, friendly, welcoming), and it's a bit of surprise to see such hostility and anger in this forum. I hope it's not typical and representative of Canadian society in general.

 

[armoured]

Here is a link to a report about abuses in immigration detention in Canada. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/06/17/canada-abuse-discrimination-immigration-detention
Here is another article, about border agents https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbsa-misconduct-tunney-1.5560993

The problem is, the second article - the one about actual border interactions - does not support your point at all. There's no allegation of systematic dislike or mistreatment of immigrants per your claim.

The first article - well, rather obvious change of subject. Terrible stuff, the system of detention of immigrants; but it likewise doesn't overall support your claim about some huge ongoing problem with normal border interactions . (Shall we dispense with the pretending and just admit you did some quick googling when you were called on your claims and went with the first few you could find that looked superficially to support them, and that mostly you didn't get around to actually reading them? No, you probably won't.)

So here's some numbers:
-Canada's actual average number of detained immigrants per day - what most of us would call the actual detained population on any given day - has been about ~350 total for the last four or five years. During covid, many were released, and it fell below 200 or so - I don't know where it is now; this is down from ~500 or so.
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/detent/stat-2019-2020-eng.html

There's still a lot wrong with it and I applaud those in Canada who work on the topic sincerely.

-USA: the comparable figures are typically ~30-35,000. Actually probably more, they were at 52,000 just before covid started. The shortcomings and problems with those detentions are well-publicized.

https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/americas/united-states#statistics-data
https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-immigration-detention-in-the-united-states/

For those that need the math done for them: the number of detained immigrants per capita in the USA - that is, corrected for population - seems to be more than 10 times that in Canada, possibly significantly more. (Canada's foreign-born and immigration level numbers are also higher). [Probably some serious correction in numbers pending in USA since change in administration, but then again, Canada's fell by approximately half since the start of covid too.]

Likewise, I am not angry, I just report what I think is not fair or right. ... I consider it a civic duty , to be critical of bureaucracy and government

Perhaps you should focus on the civic duty you have at home? Because honestly, if it's your civic duty, your first allegiance should be to do so in the country you reside in, especially when the problems in this area are self-evident and worse than in the country you don't seem to know much about.

Canada knows about its problems. There are people working on them. They know what they're talking about. They know the scale of the problem. It's not a simple process.

Or as I heard it put, "even the simple stuff [in the policy and politics areas] is almost never easy, even if it seems to be." In other words, it's not so simple.

We have plenty of others; many of them are misdiagnosed by those from outside and the suggested solutions miss the mark.

 

[UniqueCase]

Thank you all! I will be coming back within 2 weeks of Dec 2021and PR card won't be expired yet. I know there are options to travel with expired documents but I don't plan to do that. I will be applying for renewal within few days after I come back from my trip (Jan 2022) before expiration date (Feb 2022).

My only concern was that immigration officers or airlines might refuse me to enter since the card is expiring so soon.