Traveling overseas with an expired PR card

[traveler2014]

Hi all,
We are traveling to Turkey this week, but my husband's PR card is expired a month ago. He is a US citizen and meets the residency requirements. I am a Canadian citizen.

We looked into getting a travel document in Turkey but they said it will take at least three weeks. That will be after our return date (and they will keep his passport during this time, which is worrisome).

Meanwhile, he applied to renew the PR card, so we have a receipt of that.

I read that if you are traveling by car, you can get in the country with COPR, but not if you are arriving on a plane. This is a strange rule. We are living very far away from the border and we already have a ticket to Toronto, which is very expensive to reschedule.

He is also about to take his citizenship oath and does not want to do something wrong that can potentially jeopardize that.

What is the best course of action in this case? Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[steaky]

He won't need a PR travel document because he can return to Canada using his US passport.

 

[Matt the Aussie]

He won't need a PR travel document because he can return to Canada using his US passport.

Beat me to it. Second this.

It may help to carry the expired PR card with you and explain to the IO that your application for a new one is in progress.

 

[traveler2014]

He won't need a PR travel document because he can return to Canada using his US passport.

Thank you. But my concern is that he is not a visitor, he needs to enter as a PR. So he normally needs to show the PR card to enter the country.

Beat me to it. Second this.

It may help to carry the expired PR card with you and explain to the IO that your application for a new one is in progress.

Thank you for your answer. I read that they can use discretion to determine the PR status at the border. That is good. But the same document also says people with expired PR visa are not admissable. Maybe I am reading it wrong. He is still a PR, it is just the card that is expired.

Also the car/plane difference may be because plane will not let you board if you are from a non-visa exempt country.

The whole thing is not clear...It would help to see the regulations or experience of someone who had a similar problem.

 

[traveler2014]

Specifically, it says
"Expired or cancelled permanent resident visas:
A person who presents an expired or cancelled permanent resident visa cannot be authorized to enter Canada as a permanent resident. The person may be reportable under A41 by R6 for non- compliance with the Regulations as a foreign national may not enter Canada to remain on a permanent basis without first obtaining a permanent resident visa."

This may mean PR status rather than the PR card.

The people at the call center advised us to get a TD but it doesn't make sense that you don't need it if you are traveling by car.

 

[zardoz]

The PR card is needed to board a commercial carrier. It's the carrier that will refuse you, not Canadian immigration.
So, going by private vehicle avoids this block. That's why you can do it..

 

[meyakanor]

Specifically, it says
"Expired or cancelled permanent resident visas:
A person who presents an expired or cancelled permanent resident visa cannot be authorized to enter Canada as a permanent resident. The person may be reportable under A41 by R6 for non- compliance with the Regulations as a foreign national may not enter Canada to remain on a permanent basis without first obtaining a permanent resident visa."

This may mean PR status rather than the PR card.

The people at the call center advised us to get a TD but it doesn't make sense that you don't need it if you are traveling by car.

It applies only to people who have not landed yet. If you were given a PR visa, then let it expire without landing, then you could not use that (expired) visa anymore to land as a permanent resident. PR card, however, is something that is completely different as it is a status document, given ONLY to those who have become permanent residents.

From that very same document you quoted that from, check sections 11.1 - 11.3. It is clear that, once CBSA has established that a person is a PR (not revoked yet; even if the PR is in a removal proceeding), then they would have to let them in, with or without valid documents.

BSOs at ports of entry have the discretion to authorize the entry of permanent residents, even in the absence of documentation. If documentary evidence is not available, the BSO at Immigration Secondary must establish the person's permanent resident status through questioning and checking the person's status in FOSS.
...
Once a BSO is satisfied that a person is a permanent resident, the examination should be concluded and the person should be allowed to enter Canada without delay.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/enf/enf04-eng.pdf

 

[traveler2014]

Okay, that makes sense. PR visa is something entirely different.

But then what do we tell Air Canada if they ask his status? All of his previous entry stamps has PR written on it.

Thank you so much for the replies!

 

[Alurra71]

Okay, that makes sense. PR visa is something entirely different.

But then what do we tell Air Canada if they ask his status? All of his previous entry stamps has PR written on it.

Thank you so much for the replies!

He has a US passport, he can tell them he is a visitor. Air Canada has nothing to do with PR or CIC. He can fly on his US passport alone because he is visa exempt.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

But then what do we tell Air Canada if they ask his status? All of his previous entry stamps has PR written on it.

If the airline asks, he should simply tell them he is visiting Canada with his Canadian wife. He doesn't need to mention anything about being a PR; the check-in agent isn't going to go leafing through his passport reading all of his stamps.

 

[traveler2014]

This is very helpful (and makes a lot of sense!). Thank you so much.

Then what do we expect at the border? We will bring a copy of the PR card renewal application receipt, and list of entry/exit dates from the country in the last five years, COPR, the expired card...Anything else? We just sent out the PR card application on Monday, it may not be in their system by our return date.

What made us uneasy is that the call center specifically said he needs a TD if we are arriving on a plane. They knew that he was a US citizen.

 

[Matt the Aussie]

This is very helpful (and makes a lot of sense!). Thank you so much.

Then what do we expect at the border? We will bring a copy of the PR card renewal application receipt, and list of entry/exit dates from the country in the last five years, COPR, the expired card...Anything else? We just sent out the PR card application on Monday, it may not be in their system by our return date.

What made us uneasy is that the call center specifically said he needs a TD if we are arriving on a plane. They knew that he was a US citizen.

Unfortunately, I wouldn't trust what the call centre tells you on any topic. I've been personally burned before. Whenever they can't figure something out they just point you back to the website or read their response directly from it.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

This is very helpful (and makes a lot of sense!). Thank you so much.

Then what do we expect at the border? We will bring a copy of the PR card renewal application receipt, and list of entry/exit dates from the country in the last five years, COPR, the expired card...Anything else? We just sent out the PR card application on Monday, it may not be in their system by our return date.

What made us uneasy is that the call center specifically said he needs a TD if we are arriving on a plane. They knew that he was a US citizen.

The Canadian border officer won't care that he doesn't have his PR card. They will see in their system that he is a PR; if they ask anything about his expired card, your husband can say that he has applied for renewal and show the receipt. Given the fact that he will be on the return leg of a trip that originated in Canada, they probably won't ask much beyond that.

Don't take the COPR, completely unneeded and doesn't really prove a thing; keep it safe at home.