Travel without PR card! Can't understand how the system works?!

[SBassett]

Hi all.

I just received my COPR from immigration Canada.
I have flights already booked for a holiday in Mexico for a week, in 3 weeks time. I did not realise I couldn't travel without an actual PR card. I won't be in Mexico long enough to obtain a PR travel document.

On the COPR document on it is stamped not valid for travel. What does this mean??

From what I have read I can travel across a land border back into canada by private vehicle without my PR card but showing relevant documents. I am thinking of changing my return flight and hiring a car to travel back across the border. Is a rental car considered a commercial vehicle??

I am from a visa exempt country (Australia), and held a valid work permit until it was void when I got my COPR.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank-you!!

 

[ttrajan]

With your visa exempt passport and copr, you can enter canada.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

You can board the plane on the strength of your passport alone as if you were a visitor. Don't tell the airline that you are a PR, as they may refuse to board you when you cant show a PR card. When you enter Canada, you present yourself to CBSA as a PR; they will be able to see your status when they swipe your passport.

 

[keesio]

How the system works (simplified) is this:
-CBSA officers can look up your PR status in their system. So if you can get to a Canadian border, you just need your passport and they can use that to look you up and see that you are a PR and let you in
-If coming to the USA in a private vehicle, then you can simply go up to the Canadian land border
-If taking a commercial carrier (airline, bus, boat, etc) back to Canada, the commercial carrier will want to see if you can enter Canada. The reason is because if you are denied, the commercial carrier is responsible for your fare back to where you came from. This costs the commercial carrier $$$ so they will want to make sure that you have the proper documentation to enter Canada before they will let you board. This would be things like a canadian passport, or PR card, or visitor visa or a visa-exempt passport. COPR is NOT accepted. That is why it is stamped "Not valid for travel" and commercial carriers will not recognize it. Unlike CBSA, which can look up your status in the system, commercial carriers do not have access and are not trained to look for alternate types of documentation (like COPR) so you must have one of the proper documents that they are looking for.

Since you have a visa-exempt passport, you should be fine. Some people suggest carrying your COPR too to show to CBSA as backup. But CBSA should be able to look you up without it.

 

[steaky]

You can board the plane on the strength of your passport alone as if you were a visitor. Don't tell the airline that you are a PR, as they may refuse to board you when you cant show a PR card. When you enter Canada, you present yourself to CBSA as a PR; they will be able to see your status when they swipe your passport.

Technically OP is not a PR yet. He or she needs to complete landing formality first!

 

[SBassett]

Thank-you all for the advice!!
My wife rang immigration today and sorted a few things out. It's just scary running the risk of not being let back in via going on a plane and getting back to work
It's just stupid that I have my PR, stamped in my passport, and the COPR but can't travel until I get the card??!!!
When you get a new drivers licence and you get a temporary paper one...you can still drive. Just don't get it. Takes two years to get the damn thing and now have to wait another 3mths. Harper made too many budget cuts. Enough ranting...

 

[keesio]

It's just stupid that I have my PR, stamped in my passport, and the COPR but can't travel until I get the card??!!!

As many people already mentioned, you can travel without your PR card since you have a visa-exempt passport.

 

[ttrajan]

This problem will not happen, if they issue PR visa as multi entry visa like work permit visa. Visit visa, they are issuing for 10 years multi entry visa and PR visa as one time entry visa???

 

[david1697]

This problem will not happen, if they issue PR visa as multi entry visa like work permit visa. Visit visa, they are issuing for 10 years multi entry visa and PR visa as one time entry visa???

You don't qualify for "Visa" once you are a PR.
They issue you PR Visa, but it's not PR status. You are not PR until you are Landed. Visa is to facilitate your travel to POE, so you can become PR.
Once PR you are no longer eligible to get a Visa.

If you wish to travel, they basically suggest applying for PR Card (and waiting for it to arrive, before you can use it).
OR pay a a fee and apply for a travel document. If you have some urgent matter, I think they have a way to request expedited processing.

But I am not sure why there is an epidemic of ever making it harder for people to travel. I remember as a kid I grew up in Socialist Block country, and we always looked up to West, because over there we were always, 24/7 controlled and restricted from doing anything freely. Leaving the country was NOT permissible, you had to actually apply for "International Passport" (Regular "Passport" was used only internally, as a mandatory ID), and you depended on some bureaucrat to process it for you. And you would have to have a strong proof that you would not leave the country, that you were a good and loyal Citizen and there was nothing held against you by Communist party officials.
Going abroad was actually like flying to Moon. How we envied Western way of life then! Thinking "There they live Free life, as Humans should!".
Now, it seems every day some new regulation comes in Canada which makes it harder than ever to do even the routine things, like traveling, going abroad, returning etc.
Oh well...

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thank-you all for the advice!!
My wife rang immigration today and sorted a few things out. It's just scary running the risk of not being let back in via going on a plane and getting back to work
It's just stupid that I have my PR, stamped in my passport, and the COPR but can't travel until I get the card??!!!
When you get a new drivers licence and you get a temporary paper one...you can still drive. Just don't get it. Takes two years to get the damn thing and now have to wait another 3mths. Harper made too many budget cuts. Enough ranting...

Did you not bother to read any of the responses to your post?

 

[Jamesdavid3]

With your visa exempt passport and copr, you can enter Canada without any issues

 

[SBassett]

I have read and re read all of your replies thank-you. I have also contacted cic 3x and they all state I need my PR card to re enter even though I'm from a visa exempt country. Crazy. Applying for urgent processing asap.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I have read and re read all of your replies thank-you. I have also contacted cic 3x and they all state I need my PR card to re enter even though I'm from a visa exempt country. Crazy. Applying for urgent processing asap.

The CIC call centre workers are untrained idiots who very often give completely wrong information. For example, they tell people in Canada that they can't apply outland.

Furthermore, it is CBSA that will be allowing you back into Canada, not CIC. Call CBSA and they will say exactly what we have been telling you. I was in the exact same situation when my partner landed. I asked the landing officer what to do if the PR card didn't arrive before our trip to Mexico 2 months later. He told me it was no problem because my partner could return to Canada using just his British passport and CBSA would be able to see his PR status in the computer when we returned.

 

[keesio]

I think in March of next year when eTA comes into effect, you may need to travel with a PR card, even with a visa-exempt passport...

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I think in March of next year when eTA comes into effect, you may need to travel with a PR card, even with a visa-exempt passport...

Yes, when the eTA becomes mandatory, visa-exempt PRs will need to have a PR card to travel to Canada.