I submitted my PR card renewal application in May this year. They asked me to resubmit the photos which I did and since then the application is in submitted status. It’s been almost 4 months. I have to travel next month to India. I don’t know how to check on the status on the application?
PR CARD RENEWAL DELAY
- Thread starter Brainwashyourface
- Start date
You do not need your renewed PR Card to leave Canada, right? If there is someone at the address that you provided to IRCC for the card to be mailed to, you can have someone at that address courier the new card to you in India. DHL seems to be a popular choice for others from India.
There is always the possibility that IRCC will ask you to pickup the card in-person. If that happens, you can just apply for a PRTD to return to Canada. If your PR Card is approved, it means that you have met the Residency Obligation, so obtaining a PRTD would seem to be quick.
In terms of the timeline, @canuck78 asks a key question. Nearly four months since the application was first made illuminates nothing. It is how long it has been since a complete application was made, including proper photos.
It is possible that an inquiry through the call centre or by webform might, but only might provide you some information that will help you forecast how much longer it will be. You should be able to learn if the application has been approved, and if so you could expect to get the card within two to four more weeks.
There can be a big difference in the timeline, a significantly longer if not lengthy timeline, for any PR card application deemed "complex" and referred to the Domestic Network for processing. I do not know if in response to a direct inquiry whether or not IRCC will inform a PR their PR card application has been deemed complex (if you make the inquiry, please let the forum know what you learned, especially if you can report that IRCC will give this information to a PR).
Since routine processing is currently just a bit more than ten weeks, if it has been more than four months since a complete application was made (again, including proper photos submitted), and in response to an inquiry the application is still in process (not yet approved), it is increasingly likely the application is subject to non-routine processing which in turn means further delay and a timeline which is difficult to forecast. If it has been more than six months since a complete application was made and there is no approval yet, that signals the application has quite likely been referred for complex case processing, in which case the timeline is likely to be significantly longer and forecasting how much longer it will take is at best a wild guess. In the latter scenario it is probably prudent to NOT rely on getting the new card anytime soon, and perhaps being prepared to not have the new card mailed to your residence (an in-person pick-up required -- we do not know how likely this is for complex cases, just that it happens).
Since the PR knows their own case better than anyone else in the world, many should be able to figure out if it is likely their application is complex and thus likely to take longer than the four to six months it takes for routinely processed PR card applications (noting that an online application that qualifies for automated processing can result in a near immediate approval, in which case the PR card will ordinarily arrive in the mail within two to six weeks of when the application was made).
We know that just cutting-it-close does not itself trigger complex case processing. But a PR can foresee the prospect of complex processing and a longer timeline to get a new card if in conjunction with cutting-it-close there are other factors or circumstances in which IRCC might see reason to review the application and probe the PR more closely. Hard to enumerate examples other than the obvious ones, like a PR whose travel, address, and work history is not consistent with having settled permanently in Canada; or a PR who appears to have more continuing ties to living or working outside Canada than to living and working in Canada. Among others.
Obviously an application by a PR who is not currently in compliance with the RO, including a PR relying on H&C relief, is quite likely to be deemed complex and take longer.
Generally a PR who is in compliance with the RO, and especially one whose residence (the place they actually live) is in Canada, and who has been outside Canada only for a relatively short period of time, will indeed be able to relatively quickly obtain a PR TD. Albeit some visa offices are slower than others.
Beyond that, a point of clarification:
IRCC can and sometimes does "approve" the issuance of a PR card EVEN in cases where there is still some open question about the PR's compliance with the Residency Obligation. That is, the fact the PR card application is "approved" does not necessarily mean IRCC has concluded the PR meets the RO. Among various scenarios, for example, if IRCC requires an in-person card pick-up that often involves an interview in which the IRCC official will determine whether to deliver a five-year card or a one-year card, the one-year card specifically issued pending further processing (which is usually about whether to issue a Removal Order for a breach of the RO, or in cases where a Removal Order has already been issued, pending the right of appeal).
Of course typically an application is approved based on the PR's RO compliance. And the PR knows whether or not they are in RO compliance. A PR who is living in Canada (settled in Canada) and is in fact in RO compliance, but who travels outside Canada for a relatively short period of time after making a PR card application, should indeed be able to apply for and be issued a PR TD relatively quickly.
A PR who is outside Canada and is not currently in compliance with the RO should be prepared to include H&C reasons with the PR TD application and anticipate a longer timeline . . . EVEN if IRCC has approved their PR card application.
Meanwhile, there have been numerous cases involving PRs outside Canada (after making the card application) where IRCC has approved the application and required an in-person card pick-up in which it is clear that IRCC intends the PR's compliance with the RO to be screened attendant a PR TD application or attendant a Port-of-Entry examination (such as if the PR is able to return via a land crossing on the U.S.-Canadian border).
