I have an issue, I'm travelling to San Francisco from Calgary for 4 days this week (friday-monday).
I have been a Canadian permanent resident since 2013, but my card expired end of may 2018.
. . . does Air Canada scan my PR card or just look at it?
Follow up question:
I called Air Canada, and the lady on the phone told me they might not even let me board to the US because I also have a return flight booked, which they know I wont be able to get on.
Does Air Canada check for Canadian visum/pr card when leaving Canada??
It helps to be clear about the baseline rules and practices: except for a U.S. citizen (and a few other very limited exceptions), when boarding a flight destined for Canada, a Canadian PR needs to present a valid passport PLUS either a VALID PR card or a PR Travel Document. Trite, yes, I know. BUT it warrants stating because THIS IS WHAT WORKS, this is WHAT THE RULES SPECIFY.
So far as the rules apply, then, a Canadian PR can anticipate, or perhaps expect, airline personnel to deny boarding when the Canadian PR attempts to board a flight from the U.S. to Canada . . . unless the PR presents a valid PRC or PR TD.
Presenting an expired PRC does NOT suffice. Not according to the rules. As others have noted, whether the PR card is "swiped" or visually examined is NOT likely to change how it goes.
NONETHELESS, THERE IS SOME ROOM TO QUESTION HOW THINGS MIGHT GO IN PRACTICE; IN PARTICULAR, IT IS POSSIBLE THE AIRLINES WILL ALLOW THE CANADIAN PR TO BOARD NOTWITHSTANDING THE EXPIRED PR CARD.
It is possible, in these circumstances, the airlines will allow the Canadian PR to board the flight to Canada. At the very least, the airline has the discretion to allow the PR to board the flight (explanation for this has been the subject of more in-depth discussions in other topics and no need to get bogged down in that tangent here).
That possibility, however, is so difficult to quantify it would be utterly imprudent to rely on it given the utter certainty of the baseline rule. We do not know the odds, not by a long shot. We do know the rule, and the rule is both fixed and without ambiguity, and in particular the rule overtly dictates boarding to be denied. (Which is why I repeated it so emphatically.)
If the traveler has both the financial and time resources to adapt, and upon being denied boarding being able manage alternative travel arrangements (ranging from purchasing alternative flight to near border and using land crossing, to staying long enough to apply for and obtain a PR Travel Document),
it might be worth taking the risk.
Here is why (with some serious caveats):
Upfront caveat: prospect the PR is denied boarding even the departing leg of the flight. This does seem a possibility. When the traveler goes to check in for the departing flight, when an actual boarding pass is to be issued, it is possible (perhaps probable) the airlines will check the traveler's documents FOR ALL LEGS of the flight, that is, including the return flight. This would particularly loom as more likely if the traveler's status is such that having a flight departing the U.S. is a prominent factor in being allowed to enter the U.S. That is, if the traveler needs to have a valid ticket departing the U.S. in order for the airline to be assured the traveler will be allowed into the U.S.
Which in turn highlights the main factor giving credence to the possibility of being allowed to board the return flight is that it is indeed a RETURN FLIGHT. Depending on the particular airline and the particular flights involved, it is possible the airline will do the OK-to-board screening for both the departing and return flights upon initial check-in. And if this is the practice, it is possible that the lack of a valid PR card will result in being denied boarding even the departing leg of the trip.
OR, in CONTRAST, if all the airline screens at that stage is boarding approval rules governing the flight to the U.S., then that might also effectively give the traveler a pass to the screening to board the return flight to Canada. (Sometimes a boarding pass is issued, or at least OK'd, during the initial check-in.)
For emphasis: this is about POSSIBILITIES. With no suggestion let alone assurance this is likely to happen.
Another way in which the RETURN FLIGHT aspect may affect how it goes in practice, again, is the fact that the airline has full discretion to allow a passenger to board a flight notwithstanding the failure to present the precise documents required by rule. In the circumstances described, this may a situation in which the airlines recognize it for what it is and, given that it is a return flight after a short absence, allow boarding notwithstanding the rule. NOT a bet worth risking much, emphasis on possibilities not what is likely. (Note: having and presenting an expired PR card might help.)
It is impossible to know for sure, but I strongly suspect this may explain some of the anecdotal experiences reported about new PRs who departed Canada and had return flight tickets, departing Canada before obtaining their PR cards; there are some who believed it was their pre-landing status in Canada which allowed them to board the return flight to Canada. Many have speculated this has been about the system failing to cancel the pre-landing status. My speculation is that some of these are EXCEPTIONS to the rule rooted in the fact of a return flight, for which the boarding permission may have been generated as part of the initial screening before departure from Canada.
In neither scenario, however, is it worth risking much on the hope of being allowed to board the return flight. The rule is what it is. Notwithstanding sporadic and sparse enforcement in the past, since the advent of eTA these rules are clearly enforced far more consistently, and more strictly. If the prospective traveler needs assurance about being allowed to board the return flight, the only way to get that assurance is to carry a valid PR card or be prepared to obtain a PR TD before the return flight.
