PR travel document

[andydandy]

Hi,

My wife will be "landing" in the Calgary office in 1.5 weeks, and she had already bought a ticket to visit her family in Germany a month ago leaving a couple days after she officially becomes a PR. From what I have read, she needs to apply for a PR travel document to return to Canada as a PR, but she is only going to visit Germany for 2 weeks, and the visa office is in dusseldorf, which is on the other side of Germany from where she will be. Since she has a German passport and is visa exempt to enter Canada anyways (she also is currently on a student visa for Canada), does she need to get the PR travel document? From the description on CIC it seems the main reason for this document is to show the airline that she can legally come to Canada so they will let her on the plane, but because she is visa exempt, they would let her on the plane anyways.

Anyone have experience on this question?

Thanks!\

 

[setec-astronomy]

If I'm understanding the situation right, COPR is the document she would use, along with her visa-exempt passport, to be allowed to travel to Canada to land, and to enter Canada as a Permanent Resident.

 

[andydandy]

If I'm understanding the situation right, COPR is the document she would use, along with her visa-exempt passport, to be allowed to travel to Canada to land, and to enter Canada as a Permanent Resident.

sorry i maybe wasn't clear. we applied inland and she will be landing on may 17 at the calgary office. So I guess she will get some sort of document saying she has landed and is a permanent resident, but she won't get her PR card yet. She is leavimg to visit her family in germany a few days later for two weeks. She won't have her PR card so I read that she needs to get a PR travel doc in order to come back to canada. The thing is she has to apply for it once she is in germany but the consular office is in Düsseldorf which is across the country from where she is visiting. we arent sure if they will even process the PR travel doc that quickly. From what I read on CIC page it seems they require that doc mainly so the commercial airline knows she can legally travel to canada so they will let her on the plane, but shr has a visa exempt passport anyways so they should let her on the plane anyways. Will that be okay? then when she gets to customs at calgary when she flys back she can just show them the landing doc they gave her on the 17th to show she is a PR instead of having to get the PR travel doc. hope that makes sense. Will she be able to do this? or must she get the PR travel doc while she is visiting germany?

 

[steaky]

As of now, your wife is not a PR yet. She needs either to "land" in a CIC office or at the international airport in order for CIC to mail her a PR card.

 

[Rob_TO]

but shr has a visa exempt passport anyways so they should let her on the plane anyways. Will that be okay? then when she gets to customs at calgary when she flys back she can just show them the landing doc they gave her on the 17th to show she is a PR instead of having to get the PR travel doc. hope that makes sense. Will she be able to do this? or must she get the PR travel doc while she is visiting germany?

Yes, many people have done exactly this in the past, and continue to do so today. As of Sept 30 the new eTA rule becomes absolutely mandatory and she will definitely not be able to do this (since as a PR she won't qualify for an eTA), so hopefully she if flying back to Canada before then.

Upon checking into her flight home, she will need to pretend she's a foreign national and NOT a PR to the airline. Recent reports from travelers have indicated the airlines still can't determine on their own if one is a PR or not during the check-in screening process, or if they can they still don't care for visa-exempt travelers. So you will need to hope this continues when your wife flies home. Worst case if they can determine she's a PR, they can demand a PR card to allow boarding.

Some airlines are picky about seeing a return or onward ticket from Canada in order to fly as a foreign national visitor. So should be prepared to buy a fully refundable one if needed, and just cancel afterwards.

Once back in Canada, it's perfectly fine to show passport + COPR and CBSA will easily be able to determine her PR status and allow her entry into Canada as a PR.

 

[andydandy]

Yes, many people have done exactly this in the past, and continue to do so today. As of Sept 30 the new eTA rule becomes absolutely mandatory and she will definitely not be able to do this (since as a PR she won't qualify for an eTA), so hopefully she if flying back to Canada before then.

Upon checking into her flight home, she will need to pretend she's a foreign national and NOT a PR to the airline. Recent reports from travelers have indicated the airlines still can't determine on their own if one is a PR or not during the check-in screening process, or if they can they still don't care for visa-exempt travelers. So you will need to hope this continues when your wife flies home. Worst case if they can determine she's a PR, they can demand a PR card to allow boarding.

Some airlines are picky about seeing a return or onward ticket from Canada in order to fly as a foreign national visitor. So should be prepared to buy a fully refundable one if needed, and just cancel afterwards.

Once back in Canada, it's perfectly fine to show passport + COPR and CBSA will easily be able to determine her PR status and allow her entry into Canada as a PR.

thanks it sounds like she will be okay. she is only visitng for 2 weeks and will be coming back in early june. she also applied and got an eta several months ago (she isn't a PR yet) so im not sure if they will automatically cancel it when she is a PR but also she has a valid student visa for canada in her passport.. again i guess it becomes invalid when she becomes PR but i doubt the airline check-in person can know all this info

 

[Rob_TO]

thanks it sounds like she will be okay. she is only visitng for 2 weeks and will be coming back in early june. she also applied and got an eta several months ago (she isn't a PR yet) so im not sure if they will automatically cancel it when she is a PR but also she has a valid student visa for canada in her passport.. again i guess it becomes invalid when she becomes PR but i doubt the airline check-in person can know all this info

eTA is automatically cancelled as soon as she lands as a PR. This has happened to a few people already. The student visa is also automatically cancelled.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Upon checking into her flight home, she will need to pretend she's a foreign national and NOT a PR to the airline. Recent reports from travelers have indicated the airlines still can't determine on their own if one is a PR or not during the check-in screening process, or if they can they still don't care for visa-exempt travelers.

To confirm, airlines can't see a PR's status. I recently had some time to kill on a few layovers and took the opportunity to query some different check-in staff. They can see where a person has flown from and their passport information but cannot see anything about status.