PRTD London office

[helenaD]

Hi - am travelling to Ireland in summer months, concerned we may not have our renewed PR cards back on time. I am aware we should apply for Travel Documents - in absense of PR cards. We have previously used our 'non visa required' Irish passports to board flights returning to Canada, but with the new ETA, it seems the PR card will be necessary now. Our issue is the office is in London and we will not be in the UK. Has anybody had experience of applying for these by mail - and if so - how long the process took - we will only be in Ireland for 3 weeks, and am concerned this will not be enough time. We cannot ask for urgent processing until we are within 3 months of travel, and even then - CIC will not guarantee that they will process them in time - we are a family of 4, and as far as I'm aware, the application was entire and complete.
Anyone have previous experience of this?
thanks
Helena

 

[spyfy]

Regarding processing times: It seems that a PRTD can take anything from a week to several months. CIC seems to (intentionally?) keep the processing times for PRTDs a secret. Generally, for basically all immigration purposes, European offices and Visa Application Centres are faster than non-European offices. But still, applying for a PRTD would be a gamble.

However, if you are in Ireland or the UK really shouldn't make any difference regarding processing times. People mail in applications all the time.

While nobody knows yet for sure (since it's not March yet), it seems to be the consensus that since PRs cannot apply for eTA, you won't be able to do the "visa-exempt-passport-trick" anymore. So you are right about that.

From my common sense, I would say one of these two options make the most sense:
- Try to reach the London visa office somehow to get an idea about the processing times for PRTDs.
- Alternatively, you could go this safe but also a bit cumbersome route: Instead of buying a flight back to Vancouver (I read your old posts and it seems that's where you live), buy flights to Seattle. Fly to Seattle with your Irish passports, then rent a car and drive to Vancouver, crossing the border with your Irish passports, your CoPRs, your expired PR cards and maybe also some proof that you already applied for your new PR cards.

The second way definitely adds some hours to your trip, but at least it gives you peace of mind.

Hmmm, this whole case shows again how stupid the PR-Card/PRTD System really is. Why don't they just hire more people to get down the PR Card Processing times to some weeks? Frankly, when you apply for PR it's not really your say to ask for shorter processing times, but if you are a PR, live in Canada and it is your taxes like anyone else's that pay for Government services, it is unfair that Canadian passports get processed in weeks but PR cards get processed in months.

 

[spyfy]

I just checked this page:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/pr-card/apply-urgent-processing.asp

It seems that if you have less than 6 weeks outside of Canada, you can ask for urgent processing of the PRTD. Also, according to different forums, the fastest a PRTD was ever processed is 7 business days (i.e. 9 actual days). I haven't found anything faster.

Just as some additional info...

 

[ttrajan]

In India it takes around 2 weeks.

 

[helenaD]

Thanks for the info - yes we thought about the Seattle return option, and it maybe the only way to go - I'll
continue to hope that our PR card renewal processing speeds up and we don't need to do this - the journey is already long enough when travelling with children! I really don't want to go through the whole PRTD application - when there are 4 of us - it seems too many things could go wrong - and I doubt their ability to process within the timeframe we need.

 

[helenaD]

Hi again folks,
so I emailed the London VAC and got the following reply, looks like 5 days processing, and another 2-4 for delivery and return, could be possible to have the PRTD in less than 10 days, by mail/courier.


Dear Applicant,

Thank you for writing to the Canada Visa Help Desk.

With regards to your Email query, If you wish to apply for a Travel Document you may submit your application in person or post the application to our office, Our office address is Canada Visa Application Centre 66 Wilson Street, London EC2A 2BT. Please note the processing time for a Travel Document is 5 days and you need to submit your passport, And after the processing of the application we do have the facility to send the passport back to you by courier. Please check these links for assistance http://vfsglobal.ca/Canada/UnitedKingdom/contact_us.html http://vfsglobal.ca/Canada/UnitedKingdom/permanent_resident_travel_document.html http://vfsglobal.ca/Canada/UnitedKingdom/servicechargeschedule.html

For further assistance, please visit our website http://vfsglobal.ca/Canada/UnitedKingdom/ or contact us on +44 (0) 203 7938 624. Our working hours are from Monday to Friday between 8.30 am-4pm.

 

[Salzub]

Hello
I've applied for PRTD from Abu Dhabi on 6th December 2017 and still no clue.
Is it advisable that I withdraw my application from Abu Dhabi and apply from UK.
Will it be done faster.

Best Regards
Sal

 

[Haizhen wang]

I submitted my application on June 22/2022 still not see any email yet. Any one know if I mail to the Canada embassy London is faster or I have to wait for them email me
Thanks

 

[Haizhen wang]

I just checked this page:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/pr-card/apply-urgent-processing.asp

It seems that if you have less than 6 weeks outside of Canada, you can ask for urgent processing of the PRTD. Also, according to different forums, the fastest a PRTD was ever processed is 7 business days (i.e. 9 actual days). I haven't found anything faster.

Just as some additional info...

Anyone can help
I submitted my PRTD June 22/2022
But I didn’t hear anything yet
Can I mail my application and all the paper to Canada embassy London or not
Or I have to wait utill government email me
Thank you

 

[asaeed100]

Anyone can help
I submitted my PRTD June 22/2022
But I didn’t hear anything yet
Can I mail my application and all the paper to Canada embassy London or not
Or I have to wait utill government email me
Thank you

how did you apply?

 

[Haizhen wang]

Anyone can help
I submitted my PRTD June 22/2022
But I didn’t hear anything yet
Can I mail my application and all the paper to Canada embassy London or not
Or I have to wait utill government email me
Thank you

I submitted online June 22/2022Bernard wait for 5 weeks now didn’t see any email yet .
So I need to mail all my documents and my passport to the embassy in London Will take 7-9 business days ?
Or do I need to fill out different from
Thank you

 

[canuck78]

I submitted my application on June 22/2022 still not see any email yet. Any one know if I mail to the Canada embassy London is faster or I have to wait for them email me
Thanks

You have to wait until you are contacted to submit your passport. Processing times are always estimates. Could be longer or shorter. Don’t book any tickets until you have the PRTD.

 

[Haizhen wang]

You have to wait until you are contacted to submit your passport. Processing times are always estimates. Could be longer or shorter. Don’t book any tickets until you have the PRTD.

Do you know how long I have to wait for it ?
I been In London for two months
Thank you

 

[canuck78]

Do you know how long I have to wait for it ?
I been In London for two months
Thank you

Impossible to say. Didn’t you say you applied June 22 so that would be one months. Based on others it seems like under 2 months is common if you meet your RO but due to increased summer travel, application from Ukraine, heat wave may have affected offices for a few days, etc. there may be more delays. If you have a US visa you could fly to the US and drive to the Canadian border and enter that way.