A short-landing PR should have NO problem obtaining a PR Travel Document (so long as it is applied for well within the first three years of landing) BUT NOTE that it is important, nonetheless, to properly make the PR TD application. In particular . . .
Overt grounds for inadmissibility (security, criminality, RO breach) aside:
Any risk for a short-landing PR, who makes the PR TD application well within three years of the date of landing, is almost entirely rooted in failing to properly complete the PR TD application. Similar risk for any PR who is otherwise solidly in compliance with the PR RO.
A PR abroad without a valid PR card is presumed to NOT have valid PR status. So it is important to NOT be too casual when making a PR TD application. That presumption is no big deal for any PR who is NOT inadmissible, but it does mean the PR must properly complete the application and submit required documents.
Examples of PRs who should have readily received a PR Travel Document but were denied:
-- PR's entitled to credit for days accompanying Canadian citizen spouse have reported PR TD denied; circumstances strongly suggest the PR failed to adequately show the relationship or the spouse's Canadian citizenship or cohabitation
-- a couple years ago there was a high profile case in the media when an elderly woman who went abroad for a short trip and applied for a PR TD (do not recall why she needed a PR TD, lost PR card perhaps) and was denied, stranding her abroad (in apparently difficult if not precarious circumstances)
Such PRs, those who are too casual in making the PR TD application such that it is denied, can appeal and can usually, ordinarily, resolve the issue in the appeal so that they do not lose PR status. For a short-landing PR, if the PR TD application is NOT made within a year of landing or within a year of last time in Canada, the PR will need to make a strong application for a special PR TD to travel to Canada while the appeal is pending. Generally a PR who was last in Canada more than a year previous is not entitled to a special PR TD allowing a return to Canada pending the appeal. Appeals can be lengthy, many months, often longer than a year, some much longer.
In the elderly woman's case, apparently she was not in a situation conducive to waiting while an appeal was made and then a special PR TD obtained. Media attention invited a special reconsideration of the PR TD denial and she was issued a PR TD. This prompt relief appears to be extremely unusual. Most will have to work their way through the appeal process and obtain a special PR TD.
In any event, the lesson here is that being entitled to a PR Travel Document does not automatically result in one being issued. It is important to read and follow the instructions, to properly provide the information required in the application, and to properly submit documents requested. Among the more common reasons for tales of woe told in forums like this is making a mistake in an application.
