CBSA stamp on arrival
- Thread starter PhdStream
- Start date
NOT stamping the passport appears to now be more common (and perhaps more common by a big margin) than stamping the passport. And, as @cursor18 observed, perhaps as a matter of routine practice Canada has ceased stamping passports . . . although there are some entry transactions, other than the routine entry of Canadians (remember, PRs are Canadians under Canada's immigration laws), which still involve passport stamping.
For purposes of IRCC verification of travel dates this should pose little or NO issue. Odds are very high that the CBSA Travel History (which applicants give IRCC permission to access and CBSA permission to share; see item 14.b) in CIT 0002 (01-2019), the current version of the application) will accurately show all dates of entry into Canada by air (and mostly so for land crossings as well, though there may still be some gaps sometimes).
REMINDER: Prospective applicants should NOT rely on passport stamps for the purpose of populating information in the Presence Calculator.
Applicants are required to declare ALL dates of exit from Canada and Entry into Canada ACCURATELY. There is ONLY ONE PERSON, one source, in the WHOLE WORLD who can FOR-SURE have ALL this information. THE PR HIMSELF or HERSELF. He or she is the one person, the one source, who was for-sure there each and every time. Get it right. Keep complete, accurate records.
Sure, it is a very good idea to compare passport stamps with the information the applicant enters into the Presence Calculator and reconcile any apparent discrepancy. BUT passport stamps are NOT a reliable enough source of information to use as a primary source. This is especially true regarding stamps showing entry into other countries as if they indicate a date of exit from Canada. At minimum the entry stamp into another country is often at least a day later than the date of exit from Canada, and for Trans-Pacific flights it is often TWO days later . . . and depending on the practice of the other countries, there may be no stamp at all, or no stamp for in-transit stops which can mean an entry stamp is several days later than the date of exit.
IRCC tends to be flexible, even forgiving, when applicants make small mistakes in their travel history (as long as there is enough of a buffer over the minimum presence requirement to accommodate a correction), so it is NOT a disaster if the applicant has a date or two off by a little (applicants making mistakes adding up to a few weeks have been OK as long as they had enough of a buffer to cover the difference). BUT getting it right can make a big difference and really help avoid non-routine processing. And getting it right is well within the PR's control. All the PR has to do is keep a precise record and accurately report all dates of travel. And it is important to do this.
