shanchu said:
Thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate it! I have landing document and passport. What do you mean by passport with cancelled PR visa?
Ordinarily, unless the PR has obtained a new passport after landing and becoming a Canadian PR, the original PR visa with which the individual (then a FN) came to Canada to become a PR was affixed in the passport. At the time of landing this visa is cancelled (it is a one-use visa), and reflects that it has been used and the individual has landed. Importantly this shows the date of landing in addition to the fact of landing, and thus when you are at the POE seeking re-entry into Canada, your passport alone (but especially if accompanied by the CoPR) will show you are a PR returning to Canada.
If for whatever reason you do not have a cancelled PR visa in your passport, that is a circumstance I am not familiar with.
By the way: what you are in the process of doing is
very common. Many new PRs must return to their home country, or the country where they were residing, soon after landing. This is for various reasons, ranging from settling affairs to completing employment commitments to other reasons. CBSA and CIC are well familiar with this. Thus, there should be no problems at all at the POE when you return.
The only question is whether or not the visa-exempt passport will suffice for boarding the flight itself. Anecdotal reports strongly suggest it will, despite the technical rule that a Canadian PR should present a valid PR card or a PR Travel Document.
CastorT said:
Im from Taiwan holding a visa exempt to Canada as well,and i havent got my renew PR card. Im wondering if i need this TD things?
My first post above addresses whether a visa-exempt passport is sufficient for purposes of boarding an international flight destined for Canada. Technically it is not for PRs, but practically it has been . . . although some participants in this and other forums strongly suggest not mentioning one's PR status, but rather just show the airlines personnel the visa-exempt passport (may help to have the passport already opened to the photo and bio page).
I would just caution that while I have seen no PRs report a problem using a visa-exempt passport to board a flight destined for Canada, the number of reports of no problem using the visa-exempt passport is small, and as I recall predominantly by PRs traveling to Canada from the U.S., the UK, and Western Europe, with very few reports of actual experience flying from other parts of the world.
So there is no guarantee. So, if there is time to apply for and obtain the PR Travel Document, that is probably the more prudent approach.
Of course, a PR applying for a PR Travel Document must submit proof of compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, recognizing that there is a presumption that a PR abroad without a valid PR card does
NOT have valid PR status. This is mostly a technicality totally shifting the burden of presentation and proof to the PR, and is thus fairly easily overcome with a reasonable showing of proof. Nonetheless, the burden of proof is on the PR to show compliance with the PR RO and a failure to do so will result in the denial of the application for the PR TD . . . and that is an adjudication resulting in the loss of PR status (unless successfully appealed).
The situation for
shanchu is different because the date of landing is so recent. Indeed, for a PR still within the first three years of landing, there is no question about compliance with the PR RO, since there is still enough time left prior to the fifth year anniversary of landing to meet the PR RO. After the third year anniversary of landing, however, compliance is a question of fact in which actual time spent in Canada needs to be established in order to prove compliance.
If you are allowed to board the flight to Canada by presenting only a visa-exempt passport, upon arrival at the POE in Canada once the border officers have confirmed your identity and status as a PR, you
must be allowed to enter Canada. But of course, if you do not have a currently valid PR card you are likely to be questioned about residency.
If you only recently left Canada, and you have a new PR card application in process, and CIC has no concerns or questions about your qualifications for the new card, the POE examination may be perfunctory despite your lack of a currently valid PR card. But otherwise, anticipate an examination regarding compliance with the PR Residency Obligation . . . so, best to have at least some documentation to show you have been residing in Canada, including Canadian identification (drivers license, health card), some documentation showing where you live (or have lived) in Canada, similarly relative to employment in Canada.
Worst case scenario: you still are allowed to enter Canada, but if the examining officer concludes you have not complied with the Residency Obligation, a 44(1) Report will be issued, followed by a Removal Order (unless you successfully present H&C grounds), which you must appeal within 30 days.
