Canadian Travelling Document/ Citizenship and Studying Abroad as a permanent res

[Poloi]

Good day everyone, I urgently need your help with this question.
I'm a former refugee claimant and now have permanent residence in Canada. I'm currently completing my undergraduate degree and just found out that I got accepted to study for a Master program with a generous 70% tuition scholarship in Cape Town. Since am originally from Southern Africa there are benefits to studying in South Africa in terms of paying local fees and such. The only way I can achieve this is travelling with a Canadian travelling document, as there are implications to renewing my native country's passport. What citizenship will I have travelling with a Canadian travelling document. Am I still a citizen of my native country and just a permanent residence in Canada? Am a little confused. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[scylla]

You are a citizen of your native country. You are not a citizen of Canada.

You need to read through the following thread carefully before returning to South Africa to study and renewing your passport. Renewing your passport could end up costing you your PR status in Canada: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/refugee-status-cessation-and-prs-applying-for-citizenship-t333455.0.html

 

[dpenabill]

Good day everyone, I urgently need your help with this question.
I'm a former refugee claimant and now have permanent residence in Canada. I'm currently completing my undergraduate degree and just found out that I got accepted to study for a Master program with a generous 70% tuition scholarship in Cape Town. Since am originally from Southern Africa there are benefits to studying in South Africa in terms of paying local fees and such. The only way I can achieve this is travelling with a Canadian travelling document, as there are implications to renewing my native country's passport. What citizenship will I have travelling with a Canadian travelling document. Am I still a citizen of my native country and just a permanent residence in Canada? Am a little confused. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

So long as South Africa itself is not your home country, nor the country you fled, there should be no problem traveling there or studying there using the Canadian Travel Document, so long as South Africa accepts the Canadian refugee TD. Such a TD is issued by Canada, upon application, to refugees to facilitate travel to those countries which will accept the Canadian refugee Travel Document as a valid Travel Document. That said, I am not sure how much time abroad is a good idea. Remember, Canada has given you status in order to provide you with a haven. If you no longer need a haven in Canada, perhaps that could be reason to conclude you no longer need refugee status or Canadian PR status.

You are correct that there are indeed implications, negative implications, if you were to renew your native country's passport. Best to not go there, at least not without expert legal advice from a proper and experienced lawyer who has practiced refugee law.

You are not a citizen of Canada, but you are a "Canadian," a Canadian PR. And you are a refugee. How other countries treat you will be, of course, according to their own law. And subject to treaties with Canada as well as international law. Thus, for refugees especially, it is important to research, to do your homework about the country you plan to go to, and exercise caution before traveling to any country, even if they are totally open to recognizing the Canadian refugee Travel Document.

I suspect that despite being a refugee, you are still bound to meet the PR Residency Obligation. I do not know this for sure. But here too, unless you have expert advice from a qualified lawyer otherwise, best to not stay abroad so long studying in another country that you fail to comply with the PR Residency Obligation.

Generally, most countries will treat Foreign Nationals entering their country based on the Travel Document used to enter the country. But I do not know the practical implications of this for refugees traveling with the Canadian refugee TD.

There are other things a refugee can do, that is more than just obtaining a passport from the home country or otherwise re-availing oneself of the home country's protection, which can lead to cessation of refugee or protected person status. I am not very familiar with these. I do not know to what extent obtaining more than tourist status in another country could lead to a determination of having obtained the protection of another country and be grounds for cessation of refugee status in Canada. Before going abroad for long, this is something you probably want to research.

The topic here in which cessation of status is discussed is far, far from complete or authoritative. Again, before spending much time abroad, this is something you should at least do some research about, or better still consult with a lawyer with refugee law expertise. Remember, cessation is largely governed by the UNHRC guidelines, and if you do something constituting grounds for cessation of status, a determination of cessation will automatically terminate PR status as well.

 

[Poloi]

So long as South Africa itself is not your home country, nor the country you fled, there should be no problem traveling there or studying there using the Canadian Travel Document, so long as South Africa accepts the Canadian refugee TD. Such a TD is issued by Canada, upon application, to refugees to facilitate travel to those countries which will accept the Canadian refugee Travel Document as a valid Travel Document. That said, I am not sure how much time abroad is a good idea. Remember, Canada has given you status in order to provide you with a haven. If you no longer need a haven in Canada, perhaps that could be reason to conclude you no longer need refugee status or Canadian PR status.

You are correct that there are indeed implications, negative implications, if you were to renew your native country's passport. Best to not go there, at least not without expert legal advice from a proper and experienced lawyer who has practiced refugee law.

You are not a citizen of Canada, but you are a "Canadian," a Canadian PR. And you are a refugee. How other countries treat you will be, of course, according to their own law. And subject to treaties with Canada as well as international law. Thus, for refugees especially, it is important to research, to do your homework about the country you plan to go to, and exercise caution before traveling to any country, even if they are totally open to recognizing the Canadian refugee Travel Document.

I suspect that despite being a refugee, you are still bound to meet the PR Residency Obligation. I do not know this for sure. But here too, unless you have expert advice from a qualified lawyer otherwise, best to not stay abroad so long studying in another country that you fail to comply with the PR Residency Obligation.

Generally, most countries will treat Foreign Nationals entering their country based on the Travel Document used to enter the country. But I do not know the practical implications of this for refugees traveling with the Canadian refugee TD.

There are other things a refugee can do, that is more than just obtaining a passport from the home country or otherwise re-availing oneself of the home country's protection, which can lead to cessation of refugee or protected person status. I am not very familiar with these. I do not know to what extent obtaining more than tourist status in another country could lead to a determination of having obtained the protection of another country and be grounds for cessation of refugee status in Canada. Before going abroad for long, this is something you probably want to research.

The topic here in which cessation of status is discussed is far, far from complete or authoritative. Again, before spending much time abroad, this is something you should at least do some research about, or better still consult with a lawyer with refugee law expertise. Remember, cessation is largely governed by the UNHRC guidelines, and if you do something constituting grounds for cessation of status, a determination of cessation will automatically terminate PR status as well.

The reason for my wanting to renew my native country's passport is so that I don't have to pay painfully high tuition fees for international student if I moved to South Africa as a Canadian student. For now I have made peace with probably never returning to my home country, even if I acquired citizenship in Canada. Do you guys still think by renewing my passport simply for the aforementioned reason I will be implicated under the re-availment that dpenabill comprehensively discussed in the threat that scylla suggested?

 

[Poloi]

Or maybe I should just wait to get citizenship, before I acted on my desires to study in South Africa or anywhere else for that matter?
For clarification I am not from South Africa, but Angola.

 

[dpenabill]

The reason for my wanting to renew my native country's passport is so that I don't have to pay painfully high tuition fees for international student if I moved to South Africa as a Canadian student. For now I have made peace with probably never returning to my home country, even if I acquired citizenship in Canada. Do you guys still think by renewing my passport simply for the aforementioned reason I will be implicated under the re-availment that dpenabill comprehensively discussed in the threat that scylla suggested?

Delaying plans to spend any extended amount of time abroad (including to study), anywhere abroad, until after taking the oath of citizenship, is probably a very good idea.

I cannot emphasize enough that before you obtain a passport from your home country, or before you go abroad for any extended period of time (such as to study abroad), you should do some serious homework AND it would be better to obtain the advice of a reputable lawyer experienced in refugee law. You have status in Canada because you are deemed to need a safe haven and Canada is providing you that safe haven. If you no longer need a safe haven in Canada, if you can find safe haven elsewhere, it may be determined you are no longer entitled to status in Canada.

There may be another conference in the Canada visa immigration forum more focused on refugee issues. I do not know. I only participate in discussions about preserving PR status and obtaining citizenship, and these topics do not reflect much familiarity or understanding of the particular issues refugees have.

Consulting with a lawyer would be best.


Obtaining home country passport:

I am no expert and I am not all that well acquainted with the UNHRC, but as I understand it, just the act of obtaining the home country passport raises some kind of presumption of re-availment. Re-availment is a specific ground for cessation of refugee status. Cessation of refugee status automatically terminates Canadian PR status.

Whether you will or will not be subject to cessation proceedings if you obtain a passport from your home country I cannot say. There are many others with status similar to yours who have obtained a passport from their home country and have not, at least NOT YET, had cessation proceedings initiated against them. But there are many others who have had cessation proceeding commenced, among whom there are a number who have indeed lost their status.

I do not have so much as a ballpark idea what the practical risks are. Significant aspects of cases involving cessation proceedings are in the appeal phase. I just see some of the cases reported from the Federal Court and the IAD. And in those, references to the governing law. That is enough to recognize that given the presumption of re-availment, due to obtaining a home country passport, and especially actually using that passport, risks cessation of status in Canada.

In several cases I have seen, some refugees have managed to successfully challenge cessation proceedings, based on their particular circumstances. For those who obtained a home country passport, however, my impression is their success depended in significant part on not actually using that passport, or having used it very little.

Reminder: If you use your home country's passport to travel, and it is the passport you use to enter a country, that generally constitutes availing yourself of your home country's protection.