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PR denied at port of entry

angel.nancy

Member
Nov 6, 2014
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Hello,
I have situation and posting the letter i have written to the consul general, to see what can be done in this situation. And any help or advise will be really appreciated.
November, 06, 2014

Consulate General of Canada

Re: PR denied at port of entry

Dear Consul General,

My name is_______ and I am a Canadian Citizen, who has sponsored my husband___________ for a Canadian PR. I am writing concerning which my husband met with some rather unfortunate circumstances when he landed on October 12th, 2014 at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, and the officer denied him to give his Permanent Residency Card.
The situation is that we had applied for my husband’s PR for which finally received receipt in January 2013. He is residing in US on work permit. However it took long for our process to be completed for the PR file which was out of the normal processing time of eight to ten months for USA. As a dependent of him in USA, I was not allowed to work and so I decided to start my Masters on F1 (student visa) here in USA. It was just unfortunate that by the time I was done with the process of applying and getting the approval of my admission and before I can inform the Canadian consulate about it, around the same time we received the PR permission for him in May 2014 and was only given five months to land in the country, which will was until October, 17th, 2014. Since he was on work permit in USA, and bylaw if he leaves the country he would have to get USA H1 (work visa) stamping done while returning. Since, this situations were happening parallel, finally in October we decided he will land and get the PR and I was in the middle of my semester so was not able to accompany him.
However, officer at the airport not only denied him the PR, but when he called me I tried to explain him the situation as to why it is like this now, he simply said just apply again once you are done with your masters in US. However my query is that we have tried to do everything right as per our knowledge and understanding. Now the officer have sent the case in hearing, and initially my husband was not allowed to leave the country with passport being in possession of Canada. However, with some struggle and help from Ottawa Consulate my husband was allowed to go attend his US visa appointment and now they have the possession of his passport. And due to this situation he had to explain his current situation in Canada, as he did not have his PR card to show in his interview to US visa officer and so now they are running an investigation to give him US H1 (work visa) based on his current situation in Canada.

It is very frustrating and a difficult situation for us as now my husband is jeopardized between this and it can cost him his job here in US and also the chances of him coming back. I had tried to explain my situation to the officer at airport and also after that to another office in Ottawa, and we have not really got a good answer as to how to handle this situation. We reside in Kansas and so I even tried to contact a Canadian Consulate Office in Denver, Colorado to see if they can guide me, but the answer I received is they cannot help really. All we have tried to do is the right thing and it is just a misunderstanding, miscommunication and things happened parallel. However, the lady who guided me, has asked to write this letter to the Consulate General in Los Angeles and so I am writing this plea to you in hope of help.

So, at this point, I want help as a Canadian Citizen and want someone to take a look at this case in person, and if my husband can get his PR card while he is still in Canada right now, and hopefully this can be taken care of without a hearing; so at least he can show that to the US consulate, if we get further inquiries with them. Also, my husband do not have much time to report back to his current job in US, which is based on his work visa (H1).

I am very disappointed in lack of availability and help to its own nationals during such a difficult time. At the very least, I feel that the officer at the airport should have listened carefully and understand the situation to me and to my husband before taking the decision away my husband’s passport. As, a Canadian Citizen I should be able to use my rights from anywhere in the world, I did not think it is a requirement for me to accompany my spouse when he lands for the first time in Canada or be present in Canada. I am sorry for this confusing situation and that it got complicated. But it is almost one month that my husband is stuck in this situation. I hope that you will consider this situation and have someone personally look into our case and help us.



Sincerely,

A Canadian National
 

Ponga

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Oct 22, 2013
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Sorry, but if your husband arrived at the airport with his CoPR in hand...why/how did the officer deny him from landing as a PR?

A person does not get a PR Card when they land. It is mailed to the PR at a later date.
 

MissRepresentation

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Apr 11, 2014
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Sounds like a crappy situation but I don't understand how is it possible that your husband was denied entry once he'd been granted PR. What exactly were the reasons given to deny him entry into the country?
 

angel.nancy

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Nov 6, 2014
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This was his first landing after getting the approval of PR. So he did not have a PR yet. And we did not get it in mail.
 

MissRepresentation

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Do you mean he didn't have his COPR with him when he landed? That shouldn't matter anyway, I remember reading posts from applicants who landed without it and the customs agents printed it for them. Weird, unless 'someone' at CBSA was on a power trip....
 

sammystorm19

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angel.nancy said:
This was his first landing after getting the approval of PR. So he did not have a PR yet. And we did not get it in mail.
What was the PR permission you got then? From the sounds of it it was his CORP giving him authorization to land in Canada as a PR with this passport. The PR card doesn't get issued until a few weeks/months after they land and have crossed the border and this is what is mailed out

So I don't know how you are saying he was denied. Was there anything stamped on this 'PR permisson" you are talking about?
 

angel.nancy

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Nov 6, 2014
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At the time of application I had provided a open job offer letter from a company in Canada, to support us financially when we move. But we had all along also show his US status of working, so really even if we move we will have enough financial support. Now the situation changed while PR was in process. As a dependent of H1 in US I cannot work so I decided I will get my own status of F1 (student visa), which I did and before I can consult to see if i need to report this to Canadian Immigration, parallel we got this news that he got his PR, and so he would need to land in Canada by october 2014, to get his PR card. So at the port of entry he was questioned about my status of being in US and it sound like they expect us to stay apart and freeze our life untill this process was done.
 

novembre2013

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hello, I think the problem is that you should live in canada. He can't be PR if you the sponsor lives outside canada.
 

Rob_TO

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angel.nancy said:
This was his first landing after getting the approval of PR. So he did not have a PR yet. And we did not get it in mail.
What do you mean, did he bring the COPR with him when he tried to land?

It sounds to me like the landing officer recognized that he had no intention to actually stay in Canada, and would be moving back to USA right away. So he took it upon himself to enforce the "intent to reside in Canada" rule, and not grant his PR. Hence why he mentioned to apply again after finishing the degree in the US.

I think any landing officer is within their rights to deny a person's PR at landing if they see any changes in the applicant's circumstances. It sounds like a jerk move though for a landing officer to do this.
 

angel.nancy

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Nov 6, 2014
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Yes, he had his COPR and passport. He was a pain, even called me and i explained why we took the step as it took longer than the normal processing period for his PR. So I thought within that time I can make use and study further.

Also, I don't think it should matter as a Canadian citizen where I reside. After that the Officer we have been talking to in Ottawa, said whoever that officer was at port of entry just wanted to give him hard time as they don't see a reason to deny him, as we both are on temporary visa in US and cannot move back until we get a PR in canada. And we didnot want to stay apart during this time, and even our immigration lawyer did not see this coming.
 

sakamath

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novembre2013 is correct.

To be granted PR status (landing), the spouse has to either reside in Canada or accompany the applicant showing their intent to reside in Canada. May be that is the reason the officer refused granting the PR status.
 

angel.nancy

Member
Nov 6, 2014
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novembre2013 said:
hello, I think the problem is that you should live in canada. He can't be PR if you the sponsor lives outside canada.

No since we applied for PR the immigration knows he is working in US right now, the only that changed is during this time I decided to do my masters and didn't accompany him when he landed. however before i can ask my lawyer about it or report this to immigration on the other side we got his PR paper work with approval to land in Canada before October.
 

angel.nancy

Member
Nov 6, 2014
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Rob_TO said:
What do you mean, did he bring the COPR with him when he tried to land?

It sounds to me like the landing officer recognized that he had no intention to actually stay in Canada, and would be moving back to USA right away. So he took it upon himself to enforce the "intent to reside in Canada" rule, and not grant his PR. Hence why he mentioned to apply again after finishing the degree in the US.

I think any landing officer is within their rights to deny a person's PR at landing if they see any changes in the applicant's circumstances. It sounds like a jerk move though for a landing officer to do this.

Jerk move yes, but after we talked to many officers about this situation and they said people have gotten PR for their spouses while living in other countries. there are many Canadians working on TN visa in US.
 

MissRepresentation

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Apr 11, 2014
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angel.nancy said:
Also, I don't think it should matter as a Canadian citizen where I reside. After that the Officer we have been talking to in Ottawa, said whoever that officer was at port of entry just wanted to give him hard time as they don't see a reason to deny him
As per the latest CBSA operating manual, landing officers can only deny entry if, and I quote, "they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is inadmissible on grounds of security or for violating human and international rights" (ENF 4, page 17). Under section 11.3 of the same manual it is stated that IF the person claiming PR status lacks documentation, the officer must cross check with the FOSS system and that once status is established, the person "should be allowed to enter Canada without delay". There's NOTHING about the Canadian partner needing to be present upon landing.

I'm not saying the officer denied entry to your husband just to be an ass, maybe he was 'just' incompetent or misunderstood something. You should definitely pursue this.
 

angel.nancy

Member
Nov 6, 2014
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MissRepresentation said:
Do you mean he didn't have his COPR with him when he landed? That shouldn't matter anyway, I remember reading posts from applicants who landed without it and the customs agents printed it for them. Weird, unless 'someone' at CBSA was on a power trip....

Power trip it is for them, but it is so much time and money invested in it. I need to know where I can e-mail this letter to get a answer.