Landing Advice

[JRPW]

Hello.

I need some advice on how to proceed with my wife's landing.

Background Information:

My wife and I applied for her PR (outland) in December 2012. However, we moved back to Canada to wait out the process in December 2013. My wife received her COPR on February 10, 2014. I made an appointment with CIC to finish her "landing" at the CIC Center in Edmonton. The appointment is in three weeks.

Question (s):

1) If my wife "lands" at the CIC Center, can she travel outside Canada without her PR card? We have to go back to Japan to tie up some loose ends (close bank accounts, etc.). We are thinking of going back soon (within a month or two).

2) Will my wife have trouble at the border if she travels outside of Canada and then returns without her PR card?

3) Would it be better to cancel the appointment with CIC and just do the landing at the airport when we return to Canada (I.E. less hassle)?

Thanks for the help.

J

 

[mikeymyke]

Hey I know this is unrelated to your question, but I'm in Edmonton too, and I know you were pretty upset at the delays in getting your wife here, but at least you guys can finally realize your dream, congratulations.

 

[JRPW]

Hey I know this is unrelated to your question, but I'm in Edmonton too, and I know you were pretty upset at the delays in getting your wife here, but at least you guys can finally realize your dream, congratulations.

Thanks.

I was more upset at the lack of information and communication than anything else. Well, except when Manila lost the documents I originally sent to prove I was moving back to Canada. Resending the docs added three months.

When I look back now and see the problems others are having with Manila, I feel that my wife and I were somewhat lucky.

 

[Avadava]

If your wife is visa exempt, then she shouldn't have any problems entering back into Canada without her PR card. Keep in mind that the PR card gets delivered to the Canadian address specified at landing.

If you guys applied outland, I don't see why you booked an appointment to do the landing at the CIC office. That can take quite a while an dis usually done with an inland application. Instead, you can flagpole. Basically, go to the nearest US border, exit Canada and before entering US, ask for an administrative refusal. Tell them you want to complete the landing procedure. Enter back into Canada, do the landing and it's done. Can be done quite quickly, and best thing is, you can do it tomorrow if you have the COPR, no need to wait 3 weeks.

 

[JRPW]

If your wife is visa exempt, then she shouldn't have any problems entering back into Canada without her PR card. Keep in mind that the PR card gets delivered to the Canadian address specified at landing.

If you guys applied outland, I don't see why you booked an appointment to do the landing at the CIC office. That can take quite a while an dis usually done with an inland application. Instead, you can flagpole. Basically, go to the nearest US border, exit Canada and before entering US, ask for an administrative refusal. Tell them you want to complete the landing procedure. Enter back into Canada, do the landing and it's done. Can be done quite quickly, and best thing is, you can do it tomorrow if you have the COPR, no need to wait 3 weeks.

Traveling to the border from Edmonton by car in winter can be an unpleasant experience. Plus, we still haven't purchased said car yet. The last few months have been quite hectic. It seemed better, and more convenient, to land at a CIC Center.

 

[Avadava]

Traveling to the border from Edmonton by car in winter can be an unpleasant experience. Plus, we still haven't purchased said car yet. The last few months have been quite hectic. It seemed better, and more convenient, to land at a CIC Center.

Fair enough.

 

[Ellasg]

I'm so sorry you had to go through so much, but congratulations!

I'm glad I chose not to apply through Manila. São Paulo isn't nearly as overwhelmed.
Japan and South Korea should start processing their own Permanent Resident applications! ???

 

[Rob_TO]

1) If my wife "lands" at the CIC Center, can she travel outside Canada without her PR card? We have to go back to Japan to tie up some loose ends (close bank accounts, etc.). We are thinking of going back soon (within a month or two).
2) Will my wife have trouble at the border if she travels outside of Canada and then returns without her PR card?

When returning to Canada, just the COPR + Passport is good enough. The Canadian immigration officer will easily be able to see she has PR status. You can just tell them you're still waiting for it in the mail. My wife also did this shortly after becoming PR.

Any potential problem would only come when trying to board the airplane in Japan. Airline staff are usually only trained to accept PR cards, and may not know what the COPR is. So she would need to travel on visa-exempt passport as a tourist/visitor, and sometimes airlines are picky about people traveling with no return ticket. In most cases there is no problem though.

3) Would it be better to cancel the appointment with CIC and just do the landing at the airport when we return to Canada (I.E. less hassle)?

As long as the expiry date on COPR would still be valid, then that's an option.
Although in most cases I think applicant's want to get their PR status asap after being approved. Personally, I would get the PR and travel as visa exempt with no PR card.

Also depending what address in Canada the PR card is going to, if someone is there to receive the package then they can just courier the PR card to your address in Japan.

 

[Rob_TO]

Japan and South Korea should start processing their own Permanent Resident applications! ???

There used to be offices in Seoul and Tokyo just a short time ago (our app was processed in Seoul in 2012). They closed down these offices I think early 2013 and consolidated them to Manila.

 

[Ellasg]

There used to be offices in Seoul and Tokyo just a short time ago (our app was processed in Seoul in 2012). They closed down these offices I think early 2013 and consolidated them to Manila.

That doesn't sound very productive. :-[

 

[JRPW]

As long as the expiry date on COPR would still be valid, then that's an option.
Although in most cases I think applicant's want to get their PR status asap after being approved. Personally, I would get the PR and travel as visa exempt with no PR card.

Also depending what address in Canada the PR card is going to, if someone is there to receive the package then they can just courier the PR card to your address in Japan.

I agree with getting the PR asap. I just wanted to know if people had any issues traveling without it. Unfortunately, the wife and I will only be in Japan for two weeks. I don't think her card will arrive at my parents' home after "landing" on April 15 (leaving for Japan on May 12). What is the average time of getting one's PR card? Two, three months?