Got oath letter BUT Outside Canada with expired PR. Plz help

[screech339]

Travel by Car from border by taxi/bus etc.... check nearest usa border

and travel fast and no need to cancel oath otherwise you will have to wait long.

You still need a PR card if traveling by taxi/bus to enter Canada. You need to enter Canada border privately, no commercial travel.

You can rent a car or walk across the border without a PR card.

 

[besho]

I think entering Canada through US will be easier and faster But they are saying that I have to travel by a private car. What do they mean by a private car. How come I can have my private car and I am outside Canada? Can a friend of mine collect me by his private car?

 

[dpenabill]

Expired PR card does not change a PR's status. You are still a PR.

However, since you are outside Canada and your PR card is expired, it is presumed you do not have valid PR status. What this really means is that the onus is on you to prove compliance with the PR Residency Obligation in your application for a PR Travel Document. If you prove compliance with the PR RO, you will be issued a PR TD.

Fact you have an application for citizenship pending, however, is likely to raise a flag. Depending on this or that factor, your personal circumstances, there is a significant risk the application for a PR TD will not result in getting a TD in time to reach Canada for the scheduled oath.

If you miss the scheduled oath, your application will be terminated as abandoned. You can request re-scheduling but being abroad is not an acceptable excuse (per CIC policy).

If you can travel to the U.S. and then by private transportation to Canada, that might work. Whether or not your FOSS record is flagged is uncertain, but at the least we have seen cases in which PRs abroad scheduled for the oath have been flagged and the oath cancelled pending further review of the applicant's residency. If you had a valid PR card, probably good odds this would not happen. Without a valid PR card, however, odds of elevated scrutiny at the POE increase and in the course of that scrutiny the fact you have the citizenship application pending will likely be noticed. How this goes depends in part on your overall circumstances and history, whether you still have a residence in Canada, how much you have been absent from Canada, among other factors. Almost impossible to predict how this will go in an individual case.

Yes, a friend can pick you up and drive you across the border.

 

[cedarjet]

I think entering Canada through US will be easier and faster But they are saying that I have to travel by a private car. What do they mean by a private car. How come I can have my private car and I am outside Canada? Can a friend of mine collect me by his private car?

Yes ur friend can bring u..this is private and not commercial.

 

[OhCanadiana]

But My PR is expired. Am I still considered permanent resident? I think travel document is for those whose PR is still valid. Mine is expired. Am I right?

The PR Card is a travel document that enables you "to provide proof to a transportation company that the holder is entitled to re-enter Canada as a permanent resident." This is why it (or a Travel Document* for a PR abroad is required) for you to be able to travel via commercial transportation (e.g., non-private plane). Your PR status, however, is independent from your PR card's expiration.

As long as you meet the residency obligation, you maintain your PR status (even if the PR card is expired). Since your citizenship just got approved, I gather it's likely that you've been in Canada at least 730 days during the last 5 years so that would be enough to meet the requirements.

To travel back to Canada, you have 2 options:

1. Travel via private transportation. This way, the commercial transporter doesn't have to check your documents before you travel. Once you reach the border, you can show the Border Services Officer your Confirmation of Permanent Residency (and your passport) for entry. The cheapest would be to travel to the US and then either walk over the border, take a cab, or rent a car and drive over the border (ETA - or, yes, have a friend pick you up). Alternatively, you can fly on your own plane ;D

2. Get a Travel Document for a PR abroad* at the nearest Embassy of Canada. That travel document (and possibly facilitation visa provided with it) will be recognized by a commercial airline as a valid travel document so they will allow you to board the plane. Before choosing this path, make sure the Embassy in your geography can provide a travel document fast enough to make it back in time for July 8.

* http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5529ETOC.asp

 

[SoClose]

Travel by Car from border by taxi/bus etc.... check nearest usa border

and travel fast and no need to cancel oath otherwise you will have to wait long.

"Permanent residents returning to Canada by airplane, boat, train or bus must show a valid permanent resident card (PR card) or travel document before boarding."

It is saying that if one travels by bus they must show a valid permanent resident card.

 

[yr97]

I think entering Canada through US will be easier and faster But they are saying that I have to travel by a private car. What do they mean by a private car. How come I can have my private car and I am outside Canada? Can a friend of mine collect me by his private car?

Either a friend's car, or a rental car.. both are fine. This is ur fastest option.. Do ur best not to postpone the oath.

 

[deweysmith]

But My PR is expired. Am I still considered permanent resident? I think travel document is for those whose PR is still valid. Mine is expired. Am I right?

Your PR status does not go away unless you were absent from Canada for more than 3 years of the last 5. The only thing that expired was your PR card.

Think of it like a passport… Just because your passport expired does not mean you are no longer a citizen, just that the proof that you are a citizen has expired.

 

[neutral]

But My PR is expired. Am I still considered permanent resident? I think travel document is for those whose PR is still valid. Mine is expired. Am I right?

No, you aren't right and it doesn't make any sense.

If the travel document would be only for those whose PR card is still valid, so you have a PR card what's the purpose of having a travel document?

If you have lived in Canada at least 2 years in the last 5 years period, ask for a travel document at the Canadian consulate as soon as possible.

 

[neutral]

I think entering Canada through US will be easier and faster But they are saying that I have to travel by a private car. What do they mean by a private car. How come I can have my private car and I am outside Canada? Can a friend of mine collect me by his private car?

Private car means that you're in your own, not a bus. Have you heard about Hertz, Alamo, Dollar? They are rent a car's companies and that's what you need if going through US.

 

[sjakub]

PR is a travel document so yes u are a permanent resident.

If by "PR" you mean "PR card" then no, PR card is NOT a travel document.

 

[cedarjet]

If by "PR" you mean "PR card" then no, PR card is NOT a travel document.

I meant to say PR card IS a travel document.

 

[screech339]

I meant to say PR card IS a travel document.

In a strictest sense of the word, PR card is not a travel document. Not by itself. You cannot enter another country or Canada with a PR card alone. You need a travel document to go along with your PR card to re-enter Canada. In other words, you need a passport (travel document) to enter Canada. You can legally enter Canada with a passport without a PR card. But you won't be able to enter Canada with a PR card without a passport or travel document.

 

[lenium]

Just to make it clear, your PR card has expired not your PR. you still hold PR status as long as you have made the physical presence requirement in the past 4 years.
go to the nearest canadian embassy. they will immediately issue a Canadian visa for you, so you can re-enter.

 

[dpenabill]

For clarification:

In a strictest sense of the word, PR card is not a travel document. Not by itself. You cannot enter another country or Canada with a PR card alone. You need a travel document to go along with your PR card to re-enter Canada. In other words, you need a passport (travel document) to enter Canada. You can legally enter Canada with a passport without a PR card. But you won't be able to enter Canada with a PR card without a passport or travel document.

In the strict sense, technically the PR card is indeed a Travel Document, actually that is precisely what it is, a Travel Document, even though it is a Travel Document with very limited validity, which is to say it is only recognized as a valid Travel Document by Canada (well, there may be some countries which recognize it as such, but it is not generally recognized as a TD outside Canada). That said, many agencies in Canada (federal and provincial) recognize the PR card as proof of immigration status in Canada.

BTW: in the dozens of times I returned to Canada while I was a PR, I never once presented any additional documentation at the POE, only my PR card. The border officers have discretion to ask for additional documentation, including in particular additional identification, including passports. Since the PR card is only recognized by Canada, PRs traveling outside Canada necessarily must be in possession of some other Travel Document, which usually (except in private land crossings with the U.S.) means a passport. So border officers know the PR returning to Canada must be in possession of such other Travel Document and it would not be unusual to require the traveler to present it . . . but, as I said, in dozens of times returning to Canada, I only presented my PR card and I was never asked for anything more.

Just to make it clear, your PR card has expired not your PR. you still hold PR status as long as you have made the physical presence requirement in the past 4 years.
go to the nearest canadian embassy. they will immediately issue a Canadian visa for you, so you can re-enter.

As most of us here have posted, it is correct that the expired PR card does not mean PR has expired.

But it is not true that a PR abroad without a currently valid PR card can just to to the nearest Canadian embassy and immediately be issued a "visa."

In fact, as most others have pointed out, what the PR abroad needs to board commercial transportation destined for Canada is a PR Travel Document, which is indeed obtained at the nearest Canadian embassy, but which must be applied for and, given the presumption that in the absence of a valid PR card there is a presumption the individual does not have valid PR status, that application needs to be accompanied by proof of compliance with the PR residency obligation. And it usually takes a significant period of time to process, many days at minimum in most embassies.