Travel document requirement for US passport holder - (PR processed)

[SunAg]

We landed in Canada in May-2010 and got our PR cards issued but my dughters' PR card got delayed. Meanwhile we had to come back to India as my daughter had to complete her school session. In October, we received a letter from Canadian office that there was some problem with her picture and she will need to appear in Canadian office in person for the photo re-take for the issuance of the PR card (before March-11).

Now, as she will have to travel (from India) to Toronto for photo re-take for the PR card, I would like to know if she needs to apply for any travel document. My daughter has US passport and also the landing papers as she had landed in Canada in May 2010.

Please advise.

 

[karsatjaya]

Just curious did you resolve the issue.

 

[SunAg]

Yes, we needed to apply for her travel document with the canadian consulate office (Returning-PR category).
It seems for Permanent Residents, even if the country of citizenship enjoys the visa-exemption, travel document is required if you donot have PR card in your possession (lost or stolen etc) and plan to enter Canada.

 

[kelKel]

I'm not sure if you're visa exempt this is an absolute truth. My bf didn't have his PR card when just recently travelling. He just showed his landing papers when boarding flight and when entering Canada not a question asked. We asked at the gentleman at the airport about travel docs and he said this is mainly meant for people that require a visa to enter the country as visa waiver countries can usually travel on the strength of the passport alone. I also checked with the airport (Air Canada) and people from visa waiver countries don't need to carry a valid PR card to board and airplane.

Perhaps its different if you've been out of Canada for quite awhile. I just can't see it being harder to enter Canada (obtaining travel doc) than it was before you were a PR if you don't have a card/valid card.

 

[SunAg]

I agree with you. It makes complete sense to me too. However there was very interesting sequence of events...

I had first emailed my enquiry to Canadian High Commission in India and I got their email response back confirming that US passport holder does not require tarvel-document even if he/she does not have PR card in possession while entering Canada (because of visa-waiver country status)
However, I found somthing contradicting on their official website and became a bit confused. I wrote again to them citing the link and interestingly they wrote back apologizing that their earlier response was in error and travel-document is indeed required.

While I was more inclined to believe that travel-document should not be required, we finally decided to play safe.

 

[SunAg]

canadainternational.gc.ca/india-inde/visas/pr_return-retour_rp.aspx?lang=eng#Travel_Doc

The text on web-page is ....
"If you are a Permanent Resident who holds a passport which is exempt from the requirement to obtain a Temporary Resident Visa for Canada, you are still required to obtain a Permanent Resident Travel Document to return to Canada."

 

[kelKel]

Thanks for the link! I would have played it safe as well. Wouldn't be cool not being allowed on the plane There was no way we could have got a travel doc as there was no embassy located on the island we were on so we took the chance and no problems.

 

[Leon]

As long as you have a visa exempt passport, you would always be let on the plane. You don't have to mention anything to the airline about being a PR, it is none of their business.

As for getting into Canada, with a passport and landing papers, it should not be a problem. At least not for somebody who is in your situation of being such a recent PR that there is no chance they could have lost it due to residency requirements yet.

 

[kelKel]

Leon although my bf is German they did ask him at the airport before returning if he was living in Canada. He answered yes and they asked for documentation of this. Perhaps it was because he was flying in on a one way ticket.