Advice from Seniors please - New permanent resident

[Beaverdiva]

Hi, I'd like some advice off Seniors please;

I would like to complete my application / land as a new Permanent Resident approximately one month ahead of my children.

Then, I would like to return to the UK in order to accompany my kids to Canada to complete their landing. I have to sign the immigration papers for my daughter who is under 14 years of age but more importantly, I would like to support them all through the landing process.

My question is:-

Will I be allowed to enter Canada without having a PR card? Will having a copy of my landing papers be enough to satisfy CBSA at the point of entry.

(If it's too risky, we will all land together. I don't want to create problems for myself or run the risk of not being allowed entry in to Canada.)

Thanks

 

[Ponga]

You won't need it to get back into Canada.
You will need it, or an eTA, to travel via a commercial air carrier, as of March 15th of this year:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp

 

[Beaverdiva]

So, just to confirm - are you saying that if I arrive with my kids, having already completed my own landing, I won't need a PR card to re-enter Canada?

(Not sure I explained myself on previous post)

Thanks

 

[Ponga]

A PR card is not needed to enter Canada, as CBSA will be able to confirm your status in their system.

A PR card is generally needed if you are travelling via a commercial carrier, if you are not from a visa exempt country.
As mentioned in the eTA website, even those that are visa exempt (save for U.S. citizens) will now require the eTA, if travelling on/after March 15th.

 

[Rob_TO]

With CBSA you are fine, as all they need is passport/landing papers.

However as mentioned, as of March 15 the new eTA system kicks in. This means that the second you land as a PR, you must have a valid PR card to board any international flight to Canada. If you are a PR but don't have your valid PR card (which takes 2-3 months to get after landing), then you must have a PR Travel Document which you would need to arrange from a UK visa office. These are the only 2 options.
There is no more traveling on a visa-exempt passport for PR holders without PR card (except for Americans). With no PR card an airline would demand to see your eTA authorization, which you can't get as a PR.

So if you're travelling after March 15, you should hold off on your landing and do it together with your kids.

Note that if you return to UK before your landing, you and your kids will all need eTAs to board the flight to Canada to land since you would all be traveling as visitors. They are super easy to get (all done online) and cost only a few dollars (unless there is some new way of CIC including travel authorization on the COPRs after eTA system is in full force).

 

[Beaverdiva]

Thank you both for your replies, you've been really helpful. I sound a bit stupid here but I will ask the questions anyway:-

So if I obtain an eTA and travel/arrive by air as a visitor would that be okay?
Will it get flagged up by CBSA and cause problems?

I would then fly home and return for the kids and we would do our landing together a week or so later....

(It might just be easier to all land together and sort everything out once we're there! )

 

[Ponga]

(It might just be easier to all land together and sort everything out once we're there! )

And cheaper too,

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you both for your replies, you've been really helpful. I sound a bit stupid here but I will ask the questions anyway:-

So if I obtain an eTA and travel/arrive by air as a visitor would that be okay?
Will it get flagged up by CBSA and cause problems?

I would then fly home and return for the kids and we would do our landing together a week or so later....

(It might just be easier to all land together and sort everything out once we're there! )

Yes, you would get the eTA in order for you to fly as a visitor. You can only get an eTA if you have not yet landed as a PR.

Once you officially "land" as a PR, you are no longer able to get an eTA (since you are not a visitor anymore). So in your case it's probably easier to travel to UK BEFORE activating your PR, and all returning and doing PR landings together.

Of course you could always land first if you're desperate to activate your own PR asap, and then go through the process of getting a PR Travel Document for your travel without your PR card. Not sure how much of a hassle/difficult a Travel Doc is from the UK.