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Jul 8, 2025
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Hello! my wife and I are currently in Russia without a PR card. We noticed after boarding the flight here it was expired. We have applied online for an URGENT PR travel document and sent in the required documents. I have sent an inquirery, after a few weeks, and it was replied that all the documents have been received and they are processing the application. I read that once it is approved, we have to send away the passport to get the document installed. The only problem is that we have paid for flights to Turkey Aug 12 and paid for accommodation (Non refundable) then we fly home back to canada Aug 25. How can we travel to turkey without her passport? Is it common to send a passport from russia to Poland and have to wait sometime to get it back?? Any idea how long it takes?? We are worried now about the situation. I wrote them again to explain everything, but nobody replied... Why do they need to make this so difficult? thanks for reading and please share your knowledge if you have any. .
 
Hello! my wife and I are currently in Russia without a PR card. We noticed after boarding the flight here it was expired. We have applied online for an URGENT PR travel document and sent in the required documents. I have sent an inquirery, after a few weeks, and it was replied that all the documents have been received and they are processing the application. I read that once it is approved, we have to send away the passport to get the document installed. The only problem is that we have paid for flights to Turkey Aug 12 and paid for accommodation (Non refundable) then we fly home back to canada Aug 25. How can we travel to turkey without her passport? Is it common to send a passport from russia to Poland and have to wait sometime to get it back?? Any idea how long it takes?? We are worried now about the situation. I wrote them again to explain everything, but nobody replied... Why do they need to make this so difficult? thanks for reading and please share your knowledge if you have any. .

You can’t travel to Turkey without the passport. Unfortunately your oversight is going to cause you huge headaches. Are you compliant with your RO? Can you change your flight back to Canada without incurring large costs?
 
Hey, thanks for the reply. What do you mean? Am I compliant with my ro??

My wife is a permanent resident of Canada come out. We've been married since 2018. We replied for urgent travel document so she can get back into Canada
 
If you're asking if she qualifies for a renewal, yes she does. She's been in Canada with me most of the time, we've traveled a couple of places, but I submitted all the documents that proves that she's eligible
 
Hello! my wife and I are currently in Russia without a PR card. We noticed after boarding the flight here it was expired. We have applied online for an URGENT PR travel document and sent in the required documents. I have sent an inquirery, after a few weeks, and it was replied that all the documents have been received and they are processing the application. I read that once it is approved, we have to send away the passport to get the document installed. The only problem is that we have paid for flights to Turkey Aug 12 and paid for accommodation (Non refundable) then we fly home back to canada Aug 25. How can we travel to turkey without her passport? Is it common to send a passport from russia to Poland and have to wait sometime to get it back?? Any idea how long it takes?? We are worried now about the situation. I wrote them again to explain everything, but nobody replied... Why do they need to make this so difficult? thanks for reading and please share your knowledge if you have any. .

Unfortunately there's not much you can do but wait since you failed to renew the PR card before traveling. Chances should be very good that you will have the PRTD in time but it's impossible to say for certain or guarantee this.

If the PRTD is not ready in time, you have two options. (1) Change your plans and don't travel to Turkey. (2) Change your flight home to fly to the US and then re-enter Canada through a land border. If you do this, you will need to make sure your spouse has a valid US visa.

Make sure you keep much better track of PR card expiry in the future and apply to renew the card well before the expiry date.
 
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Yeah that's what I thought. Thanks for the reply. We did apply about 3 weeks ago, and the inquiry said that my documents were sent to Poland, and everything was in order. We applied under urgent. I can't find any processing times online, nor get any information on this. I also don't want to bug them. If our application is approved, and they request our passport, do you know how long it takes after we send the passport to get it back? I think this is the key for us.
 
You will just have to wait. No way to really expedite it.
Yeah that's what I thought. Thanks for the reply. We did apply about 3 weeks ago, and the inquiry said that my documents were sent to Poland, and everything was in order. We applied under urgent. I can't find any processing times online, nor get any information on this. I also don't want to bug them. If our application is approved, and they request our passport, do you know how long it takes after we send the passport to get it back? I think this is the key for us.
You can send your passports but they won't sent it back abroad to Russia, only within Poland.

But you submit your passports in Russia.
 
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Yeah that's what I thought. Thanks for the reply. We did apply about 3 weeks ago, and the inquiry said that my documents were sent to Poland, and everything was in order. We applied under urgent. I can't find any processing times online, nor get any information on this. I also don't want to bug them. If our application is approved, and they request our passport, do you know how long it takes after we send the passport to get it back? I think this is the key for us.

There are no published or standard processing times for PRTDs. Processing times vary country by country and case by case.
 
If our application is approved, and they request our passport, do you know how long it takes after we send the passport to get it back? I think this is the key for us.
I can't say for certain how long it takes. I believe the Embassy in Moscow has the ability to print visas and insert in passports, i.e. they should not need to have it sent to Warsaw embassy; however, I'm not certain about this because what they have in place in Moscow may have changed.

You will (likely) submit the passport through VFS in Moscow, and if in Moscow, will be handled by whatever courier company (used to be Pony Express). Handling time for this could be up to two weeks - assuming it does not have to go to Warsaw. (it could be faster of course - 'up to')

This was from previous experience with visa handling and the like (incl PR) but not PRTDs. That said, a PRTD is just a type of visa.

Good luck.
 
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You can send your passports but they won't sent it back abroad to Russia, only within Poland.
I have no idea what this is supposed to mean exactly, but as written, it is wrong. VFS/IRCC through various will arrange for it to be returned to the applicant in Russia, whether the passport has to be franked in Poland or Ouagadoudou. (Probably can still be done in Moscow)
 
You will just have to wait. No way to really expedite it.

You can send your passports but they won't sent it back abroad to Russia, only within Poland.

But you submit your passports in Russia.
The letter said that we needed to send it to Poland. I believe it's because of the sanctions and there's no Canadian offices now in Russia probably. But that doesn't make any sense. How can we be in Russia, and have to send the passport to Poland and they won't send it back? That doesn't make any sense because we can't travel without the passport to Poland
 
Okay, well sounds like there's some light at the end of the tunnel, we are currently in Eastern Russia, and traveling to Moscow on August 1. Our thoughts were if the application is approved soon, we could mail it out and have it mailed to our friend in Moscow for pick up, since we're going to be there anyway, before our flight to Turkey on the 12th. I guess we'll just wait and see if we can submit it in Moscow. If we can do that. This is the best case scenario since we're going to be there anyway, but I'm unsure if there's even an office now because of the war and the sanctions
 
When we filed the application and I did, my inquiry, clerk told me that the application was sent to Poland, so I assumed that our passport would need to be sent to Poland as well, assuming that embassy was closed in Moscow. Now I'm realizing that probably they will tell us to send the passport to Moscow, as I was only assuming it would be sent to Poland ss that's where their processing the application. In any regard, if this is the case, this is very good. Thank you everybody for your replies. I'm feeling much better about the situation
 
When we filed the application and I did, my inquiry, clerk told me that the application was sent to Poland, so I assumed that our passport would need to be sent to Poland as well, assuming that embassy was closed in Moscow. Now I'm realizing that probably they will tell us to send the passport to Moscow, as I was only assuming it would be sent to Poland ss that's where their processing the application. In any regard, if this is the case, this is very good. Thank you everybody for your replies. I'm feeling much better about the situation
You're going in circles before asking questions. You submitted your PRTD app online, correct? The government advised you they sent it to Poland because they have centralized some types of applications for the region in Warsaw. Moscow visa office in embassy has its own tasks - but probably can still do the visa stamping.

But physical interaction - i.e. submitting and receiving passport - will be done through the (third party) visa application centres. Go here to find them:
https://visa.vfsglobal.com/rus/en/can

Or here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...rcc/offices/find-visa-application-centre.html

Check the website of that visa applicatoin centre (VFS global), but there's only the one in Moscow. You can actually submit from other places in Russia, since mostly they send/receive through local courier companies - so if you're in, say, Novosibirsk, you deal with the courier company for the pickup and delivery. (Only biometrics require physically showing up at the VFS office).

It in theory is possible to submit from one city or address and have it returned to another - if you get the passport request before August 1st, it may be relevant.

VFS will know how to get the passport to the right location for visa insertion - they deal directly with IRCC for that. Probably it goes to Moscow for the visa, but only relevant to you for how long it takes.

From experience: check CAREFULLY what VFS requires, minor screw-ups can cause delays - manageable but not ideal when timeline is tight.

Ah - I just remembered - at VFS website, you have to look at the subsection marked 'Submit Passports and Documents' - that's what's needed when you're submitting after the passport request (which you'll get from IRCC when approved).
https://visa.vfsglobal.com/rus/en/can/passport-submission

Your situation a bit different than things i've dealt with there so next bits I can't say for sure, good luck.