Refugee Travel Document - Questions and Answers
- Thread starter rainbowbee
- Start date
HiYou do not need visa to Mexico with your Canadian RTD. I went there at least 10 times in the past 4 years, so book your trip and go
Also, you don’t need it for Cuba, Bermuda, and Dominican Republic - 100% confirmed as I have travelled there before with my RTD.
In addition to that, there are a few European countries in the Schengen zone that waive a visa requirement for the RTD holders - Germany is one of them. 100% confirmed. Also, Italy has recently joined this list - I have applied for the visa to Italy, but they closed my application and said I no longer need a Schengen visa if I’m a RTD holder. Those are the countries I can speak for.
But there are more - I’ve heard Slovenia, Slovakia, and Hungry are in that list too, but I would double check with their embassies just in case.
Did you have your PR when you travelled to all these countries?
Thanks
Hi
My parents have RTD and applied for PR (not PR yet).
Do you know if they are going to have any problem in the port of entry to Canada? Since they don't have any visa or status rather than being refugees?
Hi
I just called IRCC regarding the RTD holders.
my question was, my parents are traveling with RTD without PR status. what will happen at the port of entry to Canada?
the lady said, it is not recommended to travel with RTD, because at the port of entry, the officer may decide to refuse their entry!!!!!
it's weird! if they can not enter to Canada, why do they issue travel documents then????
Has anyone had any issue at the port of entry to Canada?
I just called IRCC regarding the RTD holders.
my question was, my parents are traveling with RTD without PR status. what will happen at the port of entry to Canada?
the lady said, it is not recommended to travel with RTD, because at the port of entry, the officer may decide to refuse their entry!!!!!
it's weird! if they can not enter to Canada, why do they issue travel documents then????
Has anyone had any issue at the port of entry to Canada?
You will not be refused entry if you are a convention refugee and have a RTD.
Just make sure to walk with your Notice Of Decision letter from IRB.
Thats all you need. Nobody will refuse you entry.
I travelled many time before receiving PR. Never had any issues entering Canada.
Remember, as a Convention Refugee, you are under the protection of CANADA.
Canada has taken you as their own responsibility.
They wont give you problems returning to your new HOME (CANADA). unless ofcourse you have become a security risk via crime etc.
Just make sure to walk with your Notice Of Decision letter from IRB.
Thats all you need. Nobody will refuse you entry.
I travelled many time before receiving PR. Never had any issues entering Canada.
Remember, as a Convention Refugee, you are under the protection of CANADA.
Canada has taken you as their own responsibility.
They wont give you problems returning to your new HOME (CANADA). unless ofcourse you have become a security risk via crime etc.
I have travel document for refugees and I am already a permanent resident, which countries can I visit with the travel document?I created this topic to share my knowledge and experience with all of you. I will try to answer some important questions and concerns regarding travel as a Convention Refugee or a Protected Person living in Canada.
I’m not a lawyer, just a person who likes clarity. I am very proud to call Canada my new home. I want continue traveling and explore the world, but at the same time stay I want to stay mindful, and avoid doing anything wrong that would compromise my PR or Refugee status here. Some terms are below being simplified.
As most of you know, when you make your refugee claim, your passport is being seized by CIC or CBSA.
When my refugee claim was accepted I discovered that there are certain things we are not advised to do:
• Do not travel back to your home country
• Do not renew your home country’s passport.
• Do not travel on your home country’s passport, even to a third country, such as USA for example
• Just simply don’t have any contact with embassy of your home country.
All those things could put you at risk of losing your refugee status, because CBSA may interpret those actions as you no longer fear your home country, so you no longer need Canada’s protection.
I am not able to specify which law applies here and so on, but I know for sure that there are legal cases in which government took action and stripped or tried to strip person’s protection because they did one of above mentioned things.
Also it’s a matter of interpreting the law, so I think we should take those warnings seriously, it’s our lives and protection we are talking about.
If you want to get more information, I would suggest checking out Canadian Council for Refugees and other websites.
After I received a positive decision on my refugee claim, soon I applied for RTD and was able to get it. It says that the RTD validity period is determined by the issuing office. In my case it was issued for 2 years. I personally know at least four other cases, where people applied for RTD before becoming PRs and received it also for 2 years. So I guess it’s safe to assume that majority of people, before PR will get it for 2 years.
When I was applied for it, I noticed that on application form it says: “I understand that if I am issued a Canadian travel document and later obtain a passport issued by my country of citizenship, I am obliged to return the Canadian travel document to Passport Program, Citizenship and Immigration Canada.”
Obviously I started to get worried, because once I become a PR, CIC will return my national passport and in theory I must return RTD. I will have no choice, but to use my national passport to travel, but I don’t want to do that! What should I do?!
After more than two years, I got my PR interview, I got my passport back, at the end of my interview I decided to ask officer in person about my RTD dilemma.
So I did, I called them and I talked with call center agent at first, and explained my situation:
So finally after several minutes of back and forth, agent agreed to put a special call back request directly from “Certificate of Identity Section - Passport Program” located in Gatineau, QC.
Next day I received a call and talked with a senior officer from that department, I explained my situation to him and finally I got the missing peace of a puzzle.
Some important points and additional information:
• As a Convention Refugee or a Protected Person in Canada we do have a right to travel.
• In order to be able to travel internationally, we must have a valid Travel Document.
• The only Travel Document we entitled to is a Refugee Travel Document, forget about Certificate of Identity
• In order to apply for RTD you need to use an application form “[PPTC 190] Adult travel document application form”, form is universal and is used to apply for both – RTD and COI.
• After becoming a Permanent Resident, you are still considered to have a refugee status in Canada
• RTD issued for 2 years before PR and after becoming PR for 5 years
• If you got your national passport back when you became PR, do not use it, instead send it to “Certificate of Identity Section - Passport Program” along with your explanation letter
Travel Document - is an identity document issued by a government and allowing us to travel internationally. Generally, Travel Documents look like a passport-like booklets. The most common Travel Document is a Passport.
Government of Canada has a special department responsible for issuing Travel Documents for Refugees and Stateless Persons, and it’s called: “Certificate of Identity Section - Passport Program”, located in Gatineau, QC
That department is issuing two types of a Travel Documents:
1. Refugee Travel Document (light blue) (United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 and its Protocol of 1967): issued to persons in Canada with protected person status, including Convention refugees and persons in need of protection
2. Certificate of identity (grey or formerly brown): issued to permanent residents of Canada who are not yet Canadian citizens, who are stateless or who are unable to obtain a national passport.
Personally I would advise everyone including myself, travel only using RTD, we shouldn’t put ourselves at risk. Getting RTD for 5 years is a great solution and hopefully by the time we need to renew it, we will have our Canadian Citizenship
I will mention it again, I am not a lawyer, just sharing summary of my findings with you. If you have additional questions or information, you are welcome to ask and contribute.
Best to tell us the options. Nobody is going to go through the list of every country.
Hi
I have a question that if we have a 14 hr layout in London on the way to Malaysia then do we have to get Visa of UK as well?
I have a question that if we have a 14 hr layout in London on the way to Malaysia then do we have to get Visa of UK as well?