- apologies for the long post-
my condolences on the passing of your brother, may he rest in peace. As scylla said if you visit algeria or use your algerian passport you are risking reavailement and there is no avoiding that. I do not believe your stay in europe will deter CBSA agents from checking if you were in algeria, they will ask you point blank when you return to canada if you visited algeria and you should answer truthfully.
I was in a similar situation but not exactly the same, so I will share my experience in case its helpful. my grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in may and I decided I needed to visit her. I went for 2 weeks.
she lives in a neighboring country to my country of origin and I did not go back to my country of origin, but I did use my passport from my country of origin to enter the neighboring country, as they do not accept RTD at all. my flight was via europe, and I used my RTD to leave and to enter Canada. Upon entry back to canada they only asked where I was coming from, for what purpose did I travel and if I visited my home country, I answered all questions truthfully and passed w no issues. I also applied to renew my RTD after this trip and I declared visiting the neighboring country w no issues. As you know this still technically puts me at risk of reavailement because i used my national passport, personally for me that was a risk i was willing to take. she died last week.
In my experience of having an RTD for almost 3yrs, every time I enter canada from travel overseas (4-5 trips) CBSA always asks me if I visited my home country so I imagine they will ask you the same.
I do not recommend lying to CBSA officers under any circumstances, I believe that would put you at further risk and is difficult to rectify in the future. Also if you decide to lie about your visit you will have to continue that lie into your RTD & Citizenship applications and I do not recommend that for the same reasons.
before going to visit my grandmother I spoke to 2 immigration lawyers about my situation and this was what they said to me:
- using your nat'l passport or visiting your home country increases your risk of reavailement and there are varying levels of cessation
- do not lie to immigration officers at any point, you have an obligation to answer questions truthfully
- you have no obligation to disclose anything
- travel with medical reports proving your grandmothers sickness in case you are interrogated at the border
- there are multiple points at which reavailement could come up, 1 is at the airport with the CBSA officer who questions you upon entry, 2 is when you renew your RTD (declaring foreign travel), or 3 is when you apply for citizenship (declaring foreign travel) and a citizenship officer reviews your application. I become eligible to apply for citizenship in 2026 so i'll just have to wait and see
- if it is a short trip and purposeful around a family members end of life, IRCC *could* be more understanding but there is no certainty
I came to my decision after reading too many cases online on cessation/reavailement, I read through every reddit rabbit hole I could find and studied this legal policy on cessation/reavailement
https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/legal-policy/legal-concepts/Pages/RefDef12.aspx. From what I read the cases where cessation/reavailement was successful and protected person status was revoked is where folks either went back repeatedly to their home country, or went back to their home country for long periods of time before citizenship
(**more experienced members of the forum please correct me if im wrong**)
I am not suggesting anything other than do not lie to IRCC/CBSA agents, I believe no good can come from that. I am sorry this is a really difficult decision for you, I hope you find the mental and emotional strength you need to make it. Take care and good luck!
