URGENT!!! US citizen. Stolen PR card and trip to Mexico.

[Usa2canada123]

I'm an American citizen holding US passport, my Canadian PR card was stolen(police report has been made) , I have a trip to Mexico coming up (in 6 days). I called CIC, air Canada, and local MP and they call said I won't be able to come back to Canada. I was wondering if any of you were in a similar situation and successfully boarded on a plane and entered Canada. Thank you very much.

 

[CDNPR2014]

i'm surprised all those people don't know the fact that a US citizen does not need a PR card to travel to canada by air. Perhaps it's how you are phrasing your question because you can cerrtainly board a plane to canada on the strength of your US passport, and then use your COPR to get through immigration once in canada. So you will want to bring your COPR (landing document) with you so it will make it easy for CBSA to confirm your PR status upon entry back in canada.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1116&top=16

i would recommend calling air canada again, and ask if a us citizen needs anything but their us passport to fly from mexico to canada and see if they give you another answer. you are not obligated to tell them you are a canadian pr, so leave it out of your conversation. just use your us passport and don't tell the airline about your canadian pr status.

also, i would recommend calling the US embassy, not the MP. Obviously MP offices are not knowledgeable of US citizen's rights to fly in and out of canada with only their passport. As a US passport holder, your pr status in canada is not relavant to your travels.

 

[scylla]

Agreed with the above comment.

And yes - don't go to MPs for immigration advice.

 

[Usa2canada123]

Thank you so much for your answer, as per Cic they said if you are us citizen and don't have pr then you can come to Canada no problem, but if you are permanent resident of Canada and us citizen then you need PR to board the plane.

My fair is what if air Canada can see in their system that I have Canadian PR?

I'm flying with my husband who is Canadian and my son who is Canadian and American

 

[CDNPR2014]

unless this is a new rule, i would say that is really not true. there are many people here who fly to and from canada with just their us passport. also, CIC do not board passengers on the plane. that is at the discretion of the airline. if they airline doesn't know you are a pr, then there's no reason you would be denied boarding when you present your us passport.

how would air canada know you are a canadian pr if you didn't tell them? did you use your pr card to book the flight? if not, then i don't see how they can find out that information without you voluntarily providing it. they don't have access to immigration files and can't run id's for immigration statuses. it's really none of the airlines' business that you are not the same citizenship as your spouse. their only business is checking you have the right to travel (which you do as a us passport holder) and you are not on a watch list.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you so much for your answer, as per Cic they said if you are us citizen and don't have pr then you can come to Canada no problem, but if you are permanent resident of Canada and us citizen then you need PR to board the plane.

My fair is what if air Canada can see in their system that I have Canadian PR?

I'm flying with my husband who is Canadian and my son who is Canadian and American

That is IRCC official stance - all PRs need PR card or PR TD, end of story.

In reality things often work differently. If you pose as a foreign national to the airline (so do NOT tell them you're a PR), you should be able to board easily as a US citizen visitor to Canada.

Once in Canada, CBSA will not care how you got there or what you told the airline. They can easily look up your PR status with just your passport (and COPR will make the process quicker and easier).

This all hinges on the fact that airlines can't see your PR status upon check-in and will simply get a "board" message when swiping your passport. To date all anecdotal reports show this is the case. Of course this is subject to change at any time, but I wouldn't expect it to.

 

[Usa2canada123]

And CBSA won't give a hard time that I don't have pr with me? I have COPR and police report.

I havent booked my trip using pr card. But then I travelled before I always have my passport and pr card at the same time for check in. Not that airline asked me for it, I just gave it voluntarily

 

[CDNPR2014]

And CBSA won't give a hard time that I don't have pr with me? I have COPR and police report.

I havent booked my trip using pr card. But then I travelled before I always have my passport and pr card at the same time for check in. Not that airline asked me for it, I just gave it voluntarily

NO! CBSA will not give you an issue if you don't have your PR Card. if they ask why you don't have your pr card, then tell them about it being stolen. they can check your immigration status by your passport and/or COPR. you will most likely be sent to secondary to confirm your status, but it's really not a big deal. you don't need a police report. you are no longer entering as a visitor or pr applicant, so stop thinking/acting like you are. you are now a pr and can legally enter canada. stop trying to find an issue where there isn't one.

as we have all already mentioned, to avoid issues with the airline, don't voluntarily tell the airline about your canadian pr status.

 

[Rob_TO]

they can check your immigration status by your passport and/or COPR. you will most likely be sent to secondary to confirm your status,

With COPR, will probably not even go to secondary. My wife did exactly this on a trip home from Mexico (this is a non-US passport, and way before eTA was introduced). We just told the initial CBSA officer we were waiting for her PR card in the mail, he swiped her passport, took a look at her COPR, and took all of 1 minute total to be waved through.

 

[Usa2canada123]

Thank you guys! And they didn't give a hard time to your wife in Mexico?
For sure I won't voluntarily tell I'm a Canadian PR.
If airline asks where do I reside, what should I say? Usa?

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you guys! And they didn't give a hard time to your wife in Mexico?
For sure I won't voluntarily tell I'm a Canadian PR.
If airline asks where do I reside, what should I say? Usa?

No hard time, we just stated she was flying on a visa-exempt passport (again this was before eTA) as a visitor to Canada, and that was it.

They shouldn't need to ask where she resides, as this is not normally asked of random foreign nationals.

 

[mermaid]

Thank you guys! And they didn't give a hard time to your wife in Mexico?
For sure I won't voluntarily tell I'm a Canadian PR.
If airline asks where do I reside, what should I say? Usa?

Hello USA2CANADA123, how did your trip go? Were you able to use just your us passport and no pr card to re enter canada?

 

[Berty3000]

Would all of the advice given here apply to a British passport? I would like to do a short landing as I cannot wait around for 2 months waiting for the pr card at this time. But I do want to secure my pr status asap. If I leave without the pr card, will an airline know I am a pr if I try to go back again by air?

 

[Rob_TO]

Would all of the advice given here apply to a British passport? I would like to do a short landing as I cannot wait around for 2 months waiting for the pr card at this time. But I do want to secure my pr status asap. If I leave without the pr card, will an airline know I am a pr if I try to go back again by air?

British passports require an eTA to travel which a PR is not eligible for, unlike a US passport.

To fly back to Canada, any eTA you had before becoming a PR may be cancelled. So if this is the case, you would need a PR card or PR Travel Document obtained from London visa office in order to board an airplane back to Canada.

Alternatively you can travel to USA and cross into Canada by land, where only passport + COPR would be enough.

 

[Berty3000]

British passports require an eTA to travel which a PR is not eligible for, unlike a US passport.

To fly back to Canada, any eTA you had before becoming a PR may be cancelled. So if this is the case, you would need a PR card or PR Travel Document obtained from London visa office in order to board an airplane back to Canada.

Alternatively you can travel to USA and cross into Canada by land, where only passport + COPR would be enough.

Thanks Rob