Travelling with PR card after Citizenship Test

[celle17]

Hi,

I have my Citizenship Test scheduled for mid March however I have plans to travel overseas around April. Can I still travel with my PR card until I have the oath ceremony?

Also I heard they take your PR card at the oath ceremony, can anyone confirm this? and how long does it normally take to get your first passport? I see on the website it says 10 business days processing, but I can't see if this is just for renewals or if takes longer for your first canadian passport?

Any info would be helpful! Thanks!

 

[ecstrom]

i heard they will take your pr card away for sure.... i think passport canada has urgent service.

 

[Rigly68]

Hi,

I have my Citizenship Test scheduled for mid March however I have plans to travel overseas around April. Can I still travel with my PR card until I have the oath ceremony?

Also I heard they take your PR card at the oath ceremony, can anyone confirm this? and how long does it normally take to get your first passport? I see on the website it says 10 business days processing, but I can't see if this is just for renewals or if takes longer for your first canadian passport?

Any info would be helpful! Thanks!

Yes you can travel with your PR card until your oath.
The 10 days is for both, initial or renewal, but only at a passport office if you apply in person. At another Service Canada location it will take 20 days.

 

[Quink]

Until you take your oath you'll remain as a permanent resident. Nothing changes until then. Once you take you're oath you're instantly no longer a permanent resident and that's when they take your card. You need to wait two days before you can apply for your first passport (the systems need to update), and then it will take a short amount of time after that once you apply with urgent processing. So you will be safe to make travel plans as long as they're not close to the date of your oath ceremony.

 

[Rigly68]

Until you take your oath you'll remain as a permanent resident. Nothing changes until then. Once you take you're oath you're instantly no longer a permanent resident and that's when they take your card. You need to wait two days before you can apply for your first passport (the systems need to update), and then it will take a short amount of time after that once you apply with urgent processing. So you will be safe to make travel plans as long as they're not close to the date of your oath ceremony.

Regarding urgent processing...I had 6 business days between my oath and travel and they wouldn't process as urgent (next business day) as my flight did not leave the next day or two, but only as express pick up (2-9 days). And urgent process is not guaranteed even with confirmed airfare as sometimes you need to provide further proof for urgent travel....
But it never hurts to try...all the best!

 

[Quink]

Regarding urgent processing...I had 6 business days between my oath and travel and they wouldn't process as urgent (next business day) as my flight did not leave the next day or two, but only as express pick up (2-9 days). And urgent process is not guaranteed even with confirmed airfare as sometimes you need to provide further proof for urgent travel....
But it never hurts to try...all the best!

That seems pretty dumb - if your travel was 6 days away then there would be a chance that your passport could take 7, 8, or 9 days to arrive which would cause you problems. I would have thought logically they should allow you to move to a processing option that will guarantee you to have received your documents before you travelled.

But that said, I'm not entirely surprised. Canadian bureaucracy works in mysterious ways!

 

[Rigly68]

That seems pretty dumb - if your travel was 6 days away then there would be a chance that your passport could take 7, 8, or 9 days to arrive which would cause you problems. I would have thought logically they should allow you to move to a processing option that will guarantee you to have received your documents before you travelled.

But that said, I'm not entirely surprised. Canadian bureaucracy works in mysterious ways!

In the end it luckily worked out....I had the trip planned for a while and did give IRCC my travel dates.

 

[celle17]

Thank you for all the replies everyone! very helpful info!