Urgent PR card renewal processing times

[mom23]

Hi there - my husband's PR card has expired and didn't realize it until after we'd booked a trip to the Dominican Republic for Dec 16th to Dec 23rd. We are planning to send his renewal application for urgent processing but are worried he may not receive it in time. We've only put down a deposit and are debating whether to cancel and lose 50% of the deposit (~750) or to go for the urgent renewal option and risk possibly losing a lot more (we have to pay the balance on Monday and even though we have trip cancellation insurance it will only cover 50%, i.e., around 2500).

My question is if anyone knows what the typical urgent processing times are? Is it dependent on how close your trip is (i.e., the sooner the trip, the quicker the turnaround time?) I saw one post where one person indicated that they received their's two weeks after their application was received by the office. Just wondering if this is typical. The travel document option when we are abroad is not something we want to consider doing because I read that the turnaround time for that is 10 business days and we will only be in the Dominican for a week.

My husband hasn't been abroad in the last 730 days so there are no issues on that front.

We are fretting about this so any help would be appreciated!

 

[Leon]

I have heard of people getting an urgent renewal in a month so you should make it before your trip.

 

[Alabaman]

What city do you live?

 

[mom23]

Thank you Leon.

Alabaman: We live in the Toronto area.

 

[mom23]

Just to follow up: we sent our application for urgent processing at the beginning of November with a travel date of mid December. Today we felt so relieved when we got a letter telling us that the St. Claire office has my husband's card. Great, right? BUT we then read the whole letter which says our appointment date to pick up the card is JANUARY 5 2012!!

I'm not sure what our options are at this point but my husband plans to go every day first thing in the morning and hope that they will have some cancelled or no show appointments so he can be seen and hopefully get his card. Is this the only thing we can do at this point?

 

[Alabaman]

St. Claire sucks... that was why I didn't respond when you said you lived in the GTA. I didn't want to discourage you :-X

It's not a bad idea to do as you plan... going there everyday and trying to explain to them. Another option is to still travel with your expired PR card and try to come back in with your card and the letter saying to pick up in Jan. but the issue with this option might be boarding the flight. Maybe to contact your MP or MLA for your area and see if this can help.

BTW, what citizenship does your husband hold?

 

[mom23]

Thanks Alabaman. Your silence could also be interpreted as "um...good luck with that" LOL. I've read some posts that left me with a less than favourable impression of this office anyways, and now this. We recevied an email two weeks ago responding to our urgent fax request saying that our card was approved and that the file has a notation of our travel dates, so I have a hard time believing that our CIC office is not aware of this.

My husband has a British passport. We know we can take a chance travelling without his PR card, but should he not be able to board the flight coming home, it means he will miss Christmas with me and the kids, and he just doesn't want to take that risk.

 

[mom23]

update - so it took me all day but I finally got through to the CIC call centre and they advised that each office has its own policies, and regarding early pickup, St. Claire's is that if you want to pick up your card in advance of your booked appointment date and you are travelling within 5 days, then you may go pick up your card between 8am and 10am with proof of travel because it is then considered urgent. It would have been nice if that could've been stated on the letter. Sheesh. At least now I know there are two tiers of urgency - one at the CPC and one at St. Claire.

 

[Alabaman]

I wouldn't wait until 5 days to travel before stopping by at the St. Claires office though. It would be nice to go as early as possible incase they want to give you another appointment. At any rate I think your husband is covered with his British Passport. All he needs is to be able to board the flight... once he is in Canada he would be fine. He can show his British passport, expired PR and the letter.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[mom23]

We decided to take a chance and just go to the office to pick up the card. My husband was there first thing at 8am and by 8:15 he had his PR card. No guarantees that everyone will get their card that quick but maybe if you get there early, on a day when it's not so busy, you stand a chance like we did.

I hope this information may help someone who finds themselves in the same situation. Total time from the time we sent the urgent application by courier to Sydney to the time we picked up the card from St. Claire: 3 weeks (Our situation was very "ordinary" as in 730 day requirement met, no extensive travelling to explain, no bad photo issues, etc. and we still consider ourselves very lucky)

Thanks to all who replied. Next stop for hubby: citizenship application - don't ever want to do this again!!

 

[MsMobas]

Anyone can walk into St Clair and request their PR prior to the set date. If your application is urgent. I find that it takes 1 to 2 weeks after PR card approvals, before they are shipped to the office.
The dates and set times are to control over-crowding. Get there early (7:45am) and get a ticket. State your name with your IDs. If they have your card, they will give it to you.