PR card In person pick up
- Thread starter tani.singh
- Start date
I sure do! I've been waiting 17 months for our cards. Borders are opening now in less than two weeks. (oh joy!)
Here is what I see, Citizenship applications are being concluded and interviews are being conducted remotely (online). Many new PR applicants are being processed without issues (how!?). There are several thousands of people waiting for their cards all across the country, for various reasons. Why?
The CBSA is open for business [in airports and in land borders], ministerial delegates exist too. If IRCC wants to insure that people are in compliance with RO, and need to see their passports or any documents - why can't all of that can be presented at the border (airport or land border), and the card can be provided at that time? This would clear up a huge backlog. Additionally, most people are vaccinated (at least I hope they are) and could provide proof of this, which would alleviate fears for COVID transmission to Immigration staff, who they themselves should be vaccinated anyway.
Just my thoughts. Any backlog is a logistic nightmare, I get that, but there has been plenty of time to figure out a resolution for these things.
Borders are still open but with restrictions. Up to 9th of Aug, all air travelers (non essetial) will have to spent day in a mandatory hotel quarantine before they can proceed to their destination.
Regarding your observation, there are certainly reasons why people wait for their cards all across the country. If you look at this forum, some people may had photo issues on their first/renewal and had to wait for the cards.
The CBSA is always open for business (even in customs office in city centres). Btw, do you know IRCC and CBSA are not the same?
Hi Steaky,
Firstly, of course I do realize that IRCC and CBSA are not the same entities. Your comment that CBSA is always open, is exactly my point and reason why I suggested that IRCC piggyback off of that 'CBSA open status' to help reduce the backlog. It's being innovative and thinking outside of the box, that will get the country out of this issue.
They managed it with Citizenship apps, as I noted as well, but it appears that there is nothing being done across PR Card renewal sector - unless cards are being mailed directly. [Those with any type of issue are currently hooped, and that delay just keeps growing for everyone involved.]
Again the tone of my message and the key message here is that it doesn't matter WHY people are being delayed at this point, the fact is, they are being delayed, and the rhetoric coming out of the IRCC office is not acceptable or reasonable any longer. And seeing new ads for calls for new immigrants etc.. is very frustrating for those of us who are essentially STUCK waiting for movement in their files.
Assume the fact that if you have been living in Canada you are able to live without problems in Canada without a valid PR card. You can’t just transfer an immigration duty to CBSA.
@Zain53 and @Rasha -- waiting is probably your only option, and there is little or no promise that IRCC will facilitate delivery of your PR cards within any particular time frame. Frustrations understood. But your options are limited.
In this regard, the observation by @canuck78, in particular "Assume the fact that if you have been living in Canada you are able to live without problems in Canada without a valid PR card . . . , " warrants some context and expanding a bit. This explains (at least in part) why scheduling the actual pickup of a new PR card is NOT a priority for IRCC. It is just a status card. PRs settled and living in Canada generally (with some exceptions) do not need to possess or present the PR status card.
Reminder: the PR card is NOT a travel document. PRs do NOT need a valid PR card to travel internationally. IRCC provides an alternative procedure, the PR Travel Document, for PRs who are abroad and need Canadian issued documentation (either a valid status (PR) card or a PR Travel Document) in addition to their regular Travel Document (for most that is their home country passport) to board commercial transportation for traveling to Canada.
That is, from the perspective of IRCC, there is no pressing need to deliver a PR card to a PR. It is not generally needed in Canada. And it is not necessary for international travel (distinguishing necessity from convenience; obviously, having a valid PR card to present when boarding flights to Canada from abroad is far more convenient than having to obtain a PR TD, but IRCC appears to assess priority relative to necessity far more than convenience).
Moreover, relative to international travel, remember that the Charter of Rights distinguishes the protected rights of citizens in regards to international travel, and explicitly does NOT protect such rights for PRs. The capacity of a PR to travel internationally generally depends on the passport the PR carries, not Canadian status or Canadian law.
Potential Questions for PRs Required to Pick-up PRC In-person:
It further warrants noting that, in contrast, most PRs are mailed the newly issued PR card. There are some indications that sometimes the PRC is not mailed, but needs to be picked up in person, randomly, as a more or less spot-check quality assurance procedure.
More often, however, the in-person pick-up is related to the particular PR's case and specific reasons for requiring the PR to personally appear and be subject to at least a counter-interview. This may be no more than a technical issue in regards to the PR's address . . . generally PRCs will NOT be mailed to any address other than a residential address at which IRCC is satisfied the PR is actually residing (and will not be mailed to the PR's representative, for example). That is, PRCs are not, not generally, mailed to an individual's "mailing" address unless it is clear that is the place where the individual is actually living.
So, again, the reason why IRCC did not mail the PRC can range from simply a more or less technical address issue to cases in which IRCC has concerns about where the PR is actually living, including concerns about whether the PR is outside Canada.
In regards to this, in its practices, in the way IRCC actually does these things, the "decision-made" to issue a PRC, and its issuance, does NOT guarantee a decision has been made to actually deliver the PRC to the individual. I have seen some pushback by the Federal Court regarding this practice, but at last count it appears that IRCC continues to sometimes withhold delivery of newly issued PRCs conditioned on the outcome of a counter-interview confirming certain information about the PR . . . and thus, sometimes PRs are not actually delivered the new PRC when they go to pick it up . . . this is NOT a reason to worry for any PR who is in RO compliance and who has given IRCC complete and accurate information (delivery will only be withheld for actual cause).
Bottom-line: not all PRs are required to pick-up PRC in-person, and indeed most are not. Which further tends to lower the government's priority for facilitating this process. In other words, there is not much anyone in the forum can do or say that will offer much help. Sorry.
In this regard, the observation by @canuck78, in particular "Assume the fact that if you have been living in Canada you are able to live without problems in Canada without a valid PR card . . . , " warrants some context and expanding a bit. This explains (at least in part) why scheduling the actual pickup of a new PR card is NOT a priority for IRCC. It is just a status card. PRs settled and living in Canada generally (with some exceptions) do not need to possess or present the PR status card.
Reminder: the PR card is NOT a travel document. PRs do NOT need a valid PR card to travel internationally. IRCC provides an alternative procedure, the PR Travel Document, for PRs who are abroad and need Canadian issued documentation (either a valid status (PR) card or a PR Travel Document) in addition to their regular Travel Document (for most that is their home country passport) to board commercial transportation for traveling to Canada.
That is, from the perspective of IRCC, there is no pressing need to deliver a PR card to a PR. It is not generally needed in Canada. And it is not necessary for international travel (distinguishing necessity from convenience; obviously, having a valid PR card to present when boarding flights to Canada from abroad is far more convenient than having to obtain a PR TD, but IRCC appears to assess priority relative to necessity far more than convenience).
Moreover, relative to international travel, remember that the Charter of Rights distinguishes the protected rights of citizens in regards to international travel, and explicitly does NOT protect such rights for PRs. The capacity of a PR to travel internationally generally depends on the passport the PR carries, not Canadian status or Canadian law.
Potential Questions for PRs Required to Pick-up PRC In-person:
It further warrants noting that, in contrast, most PRs are mailed the newly issued PR card. There are some indications that sometimes the PRC is not mailed, but needs to be picked up in person, randomly, as a more or less spot-check quality assurance procedure.
More often, however, the in-person pick-up is related to the particular PR's case and specific reasons for requiring the PR to personally appear and be subject to at least a counter-interview. This may be no more than a technical issue in regards to the PR's address . . . generally PRCs will NOT be mailed to any address other than a residential address at which IRCC is satisfied the PR is actually residing (and will not be mailed to the PR's representative, for example). That is, PRCs are not, not generally, mailed to an individual's "mailing" address unless it is clear that is the place where the individual is actually living.
So, again, the reason why IRCC did not mail the PRC can range from simply a more or less technical address issue to cases in which IRCC has concerns about where the PR is actually living, including concerns about whether the PR is outside Canada.
In regards to this, in its practices, in the way IRCC actually does these things, the "decision-made" to issue a PRC, and its issuance, does NOT guarantee a decision has been made to actually deliver the PRC to the individual. I have seen some pushback by the Federal Court regarding this practice, but at last count it appears that IRCC continues to sometimes withhold delivery of newly issued PRCs conditioned on the outcome of a counter-interview confirming certain information about the PR . . . and thus, sometimes PRs are not actually delivered the new PRC when they go to pick it up . . . this is NOT a reason to worry for any PR who is in RO compliance and who has given IRCC complete and accurate information (delivery will only be withheld for actual cause).
Bottom-line: not all PRs are required to pick-up PRC in-person, and indeed most are not. Which further tends to lower the government's priority for facilitating this process. In other words, there is not much anyone in the forum can do or say that will offer much help. Sorry.
I overall agree with your points above.
BUT: since one of the potential reasons a PR card is being held for pick-up can be concerns about whether the PR is outside Canada, that makes the prospect of applying for a PRTD rather more fraught with risk. And the potential of substantial delays in the PRTD issuance or even a refusal a LOT more substantive a concern than just an inconvenience.
Unfortunately there's little to no ability to assess from outside what the issue is, including for the applicant.
Which seems more than a little unfair for those who - for example - might well believe that they are in full compliance and whatever reasons IRCC has are erroneous, but assess that they cannot risk or afford a lengthy PRTD delay or dispute. And this an unfairness that really does seem to be directly caused by the long delays, even if the numbers aren't large.