One-Way Flight to US - Canadian PR

[kgllewellyn]

Hi,

Got a question which I really can't find a straight answer on. Me and my common-law partner are permanently moving to Vancouver in Feburary. I have already activated my PR status, and my PR card is waiting at my address in Canada, my other half has yet to activate his.

We have one way flights booked to Seattle, whereby a friend of ours who is a US Citizen will be driving us over the border. We'd be likely to only be staying in the US for a couple of hours at most.

I cannot fly direct to Canada as I don't have my PR card and it made little sense and extra cost for my partner to travel separately.

Do you think we will have problems either boarding our flights to the US or being admitted into the country? As I understand there's requirements to prove onward travel, is a CoPR sufficient to US CBP?

Both of us have valid ESTAs as we are from VWP countries, I'm a British Citizen and he's a Swedish citizen. I have a regular prior travel history to the US and have never overstayed.

 

[links18]

If you are not a US citizen or Permanent Resident, US CBP has absolute discretion over who they let into the country. They can deny you entry and send you back from whence you came for any reason or no reason and you have next to no legal recourse. Its entirely up to whatever officer you draw on a given day. That said, in your particular circumstances, I'd think you are unlikely to encounter too much of a problem. I would be prepared, however, to demonstrate some ties to Canada beyond your COPR, such as mail received at a Canadian address, etc and be prepared to demonstrate imminent onward travel to Canada (maybe get a notarized letter from your US citizen friend stating his/her intentions to provide onward transportation). But nobody can offer you absolute assurance of anything when it comes to US CBP. There is no "straight answer." Is there not someone who can mail you your Canadian PR card to Europe?