Immigration Stopping PR Every time

[harith86]

Hello,

I am a PR now, but I have claimed refugee in the past, and now I am a PR holding a refugee travel document that I travel with. Every time I fly back to Canada, immigration stops me for further screening. Unlike other PRs who exit right away to claim their baggage.

Every time I get asked by Immigration exactly the two same questions only: 1) Where did I go 2) How long I stayed there

I asked Immigration why this happens with me every time, and they said is because I made a refugee claim before, but this won't happen again if I get my Canadian citizenship.

Is that true that I won't have to stop by immigration if I get my citizenship? Any experience from anyone?

Thanks,

 

[Buletruck]

Immigration can stop citizens as well. That’s what they do….

 

[harith86]

Immigration can stop citizens as well. That’s what they do….

Citizens didn't make refugee claims before so those citizens that get stopped would be for other reasons than refugee claims.. That's not what I was asking.. I was asking about my case where Immigration said to me I am being stopped particularly because I made a refugee claim in the past..

Any other advice from other people who experienced this specific scenario would be helpful please..

 

[derin1010]

Citizens didn't make refugee claims before so those citizens that get stopped would be for other reasons than refugee claims.. That's not what I was asking.. I was asking about my case where Immigration said to me I am being stopped particularly because I made a refugee claim in the past..

Any other advice from other people who experienced this specific scenario would be helpful please..

Many Canadian citizens went though the refugee stage before eventually becoming Canadian citizen,
Its not very comon for the border officer stop people everytime they travel just because they made a refugee claim in the past.

there must be something on your file.

 

[cvisaquestions]

All the PRs with RTDs that i know of go through this secondary screening. I believe that it is to check if you went to your home country or not but i could be wrong. I was one and experienced it as well and i was told by officers that this would stop once i became citizen but it didn't. I kept trying to figure out what was going on until recently when it was theoretically solved but i haven't traveled yet to test if the flagging stopped or not. It wasn't solved in the airport but by an agent who has worked in CBSA and IRCC who according to her, i should not have experienced this since 2019 and that there is nothing on file that would require me to go the extra screening when she examined all my information and file on detail. The screening should have stopped after i became citizen according to her based on the rules. I don't know other citizens who were refugees to double check with them if they experienced something similar. If it does happen to you once a citizen, don't rely on the airport agents as she said they don't have full access like those in the ministry so it is with it that you solve the matter.

 

[harith86]

Many Canadian citizens went though the refugee stage before eventually becoming Canadian citizen,
Its not very comon for the border officer stop people everytime they travel just because they made a refugee claim in the past.

there must be something on your file.

Advice is not relevant to my question.
Thanks,

 

[harith86]

All the PRs with RTDs that i know of go through this secondary screening. I believe that it is to check if you went to your home country or not but i could be wrong. I was one and experienced it as well and i was told by officers that this would stop once i became citizen but it didn't. I kept trying to figure out what was going on until recently when it was theoretically solved but i haven't traveled yet to test if the flagging stopped or not. It wasn't solved in the airport but by an agent who has worked in CBSA and IRCC who according to her, i should not have experienced this since 2019 and that there is nothing on file that would require me to go the extra screening when she examined all my information and file on detail. The screening should have stopped after i became citizen according to her based on the rules. I don't know other citizens who were refugees to double check with them if they experienced something similar. If it does happen to you once a citizen, don't rely on the airport agents as she said they don't have full access like those in the ministry so it is with it that you solve the matter.

Thanks for the advice.. Keep me posted after your test
After becoming a citizen, we should NOT go to secondary screening at Immigration simply because we made a refugee claim in the past.

 

[Simba112]

Hello,

I am a PR now, but I have claimed refugee in the past, and now I am a PR holding a refugee travel document that I travel with. Every time I fly back to Canada, immigration stops me for further screening. Unlike other PRs who exit right away to claim their baggage.

Every time I get asked by Immigration exactly the two same questions only: 1) Where did I go 2) How long I stayed there

I asked Immigration why this happens with me every time, and they said is because I made a refugee claim before, but this won't happen again if I get my Canadian citizenship.

Is that true that I won't have to stop by immigration if I get my citizenship? Any experience from anyone?

Thanks,

You shouldn't be going through secondary examination specific to determine if there is possibility of re-avail once you become Citizen. You could go for other reason other than that.

 

[canada619]

You shouldn't be going through secondary examination specific to determine if there is possibility of re-avail once you become Citizen. You could go for other reason other than that.

I heard some Canadian citizents that had refugee status before were told that their status is still appear as refugee even though they are Canadian citizen and travelling with their Canadian passport. Officers told him there is a flag that appears on the screen which means passport holder has refuge le status and needs to be removed. Have you heard something like that? Do we need to apply to remove our refugee protection even though we became a Canadian citizen? Even some people say US told them did you get your Canadian citizenship from refugee program at the USA border.

 

[Simba112]

I heard some Canadian citizents that had refugee status before were told that their status is still appear as refugee even though they are Canadian citizen and travelling with their Canadian passport. Officers told him there is a flag that appears on the screen which means passport holder has refuge le status and needs to be removed. Have you heard something like that? Do we need to apply to remove our refugee protection even though we became a Canadian citizen? Even some people say US told them did you get your Canadian citizenship from refugee program at the USA border.

The law is clear, your permanent resident “protected status” will cease once you become a Citizen. All and entire section of IRPA, 108 cease to apply. I cant comment on “I heard from other people”,

 

[cvisaquestions]

I heard some Canadian citizents that had refugee status before were told that their status is still appear as refugee even though they are Canadian citizen and travelling with their Canadian passport. Officers told him there is a flag that appears on the screen which means passport holder has refuge le status and needs to be removed. Have you heard something like that? Do we need to apply to remove our refugee protection even though we became a Canadian citizen? Even some people say US told them did you get your Canadian citizenship from refugee program at the USA border.

This is true in the sense that CBSA and the other agencies have a record of you and it shows the different steps you have taken. For example, came as a student in 2010, then became PR 2018, then citizen in 2020. But once a citizen, it becomes your current status. So if you are flagged as a citizen and go for secondary screening, the officer will pull your record and try to make sense of who you are and why you were flagged and could blame it on your previous refugee status, which is wrong according to what the ministry agent who fixed the issue for me said. It is worth mentioning that there are multiple flaggings such as name similarity, random selection, removal orders, suspicions etc. In all my conversations with the airport officers regarding my flagging, some were adamant on trying to solve the matter and they acknowledged that there is no reason for this flag to exit at this point, while two of them tried to blame it on the previous refugee status and i could see how unconfident they were with their answer. One of them said this will always happen since my refugee status was on the "record".

I just need to travel to test the situation out, and if it is solved, that means that anyone who could be in a similar situation, can get it solved as well. So i'll update this thread once i do.

I have been to the USA both as Canadian citizen and as a RTD holder a never faced questioning about the matter and if you did, then that is fine either way.

 

[canada619]

This is true in the sense that CBSA and the other agencies have a record of you and it shows the different steps you have taken. For example, came as a student in 2010, then became PR 2018, then citizen in 2020. But once a citizen, it becomes your current status. So if you are flagged as a citizen and go for secondary screening, the officer will pull your record and try to make sense of who you are and why you were flagged and could blame it on your previous refugee status, which is wrong according to what the ministry agent who fixed the issue for me said. It is worth mentioning that there are multiple flaggings such as name similarity, random selection, removal orders, suspicions etc. In all my conversations with the airport officers regarding my flagging, some were adamant on trying to solve the matter and they acknowledged that there is no reason for this flag to exit at this point, while two of them tried to blame it on the previous refugee status and i could see how unconfident they were with their answer. One of them said this will always happen since my refugee status was on the "record".

I just need to travel to test the situation out, and if it is solved, that means that anyone who could be in a similar situation, can get it solved as well. So i'll update this thread once i do.

I have been to the USA both as Canadian citizen and as a RTD holder a never faced questioning about the matter and if you did, then that is fine either way.

Did you request your national passport back after becoming a citizen? Maybe requesting the national passport removes the flag for refugee protection or maybe thats why some people flagged?

 

[cvisaquestions]

Did you request your national passport back after becoming a citizen? Maybe requesting the national passport removes the flag for refugee protection or maybe thats why some people flagged?

I don't think that this is the reason. The conditional removal order, which has a flag, is removed right after you become a PR. It could be just a glitch since according to the agent, it was all automatic. There could be other internal reasons we are not aware of but the point is that once you become a citizen and this continues to happen, you could do something about it to hopefully resolve the matter or get clarification.

 

[harith86]

Did you request your national passport back after becoming a citizen? Maybe requesting the national passport removes the flag for refugee protection or maybe thats why some people flagged?

No I didn't.. I haven't been in touch with the embassy of country of origin

 

[99909]

I don't think that this is the reason. The conditional removal order, which has a flag, is removed right after you become a PR. It could be just a glitch since according to the agent, it was all automatic. There could be other internal reasons we are not aware of but the point is that once you become a citizen and this continues to happen, you could do something about it to hopefully resolve the matter or get clarification.

Just to add, conditional removal order removes, right after one becomes protected Person(before PR).