Can I leave Canada while waiting for my first permanent resident card

[Yanjing Qiu]

SOS!

I just finished my permanent resident interview and officially became a permanent resident today. BUT!

1) I am going to New Zealand in two weeks, and the trip was booked six months ago

2) The immigration officer crossed out my valid Canadian Visa and Work Permit

3) There is no enough time to apply for PR Travel Document

4) I can't have my friend in Canada mail me the PR card while I'm in New Zealand, cuz I only spend two weeks there

Will I have trouble boarding the flight or returning the Canada while waiting for my first PR card?

I shouldn't have attended the permanent resident interview before the trip, but I was blinded by the joy that my application was approved.

WHAT CAN I DO NOW? Don't ask me to cancel the trip!

 

[Bs65]

Your only option is assuming you have a US visa to fly back via the US and cross over the land border with your COPR.

There is always a remote possibility that the system may not have caught up between time of initial landing and PR card issue but you can only find that out at checkin. Given your visa has been struck out in your passport this might complicate matters though at checkin in NZ.

Initial cards by the way take 6-8 weeks to arrive and as for a PRTD there is no published processing time but a 2 week trip is unlikely to be long enough to get one.

Doesn’t help but as you say in hindsight you could have simply taken your vacation and completed your landing on the return back from NZ.