Email broadcast from IRCC regarding PR Travel.
- Thread starter zardoz
- Start date
I also got same email
But this is for what
It says you may be PR in Canada of course I am PR
What they mean may be you are Canada PR holder
But this is for what
It says you may be PR in Canada of course I am PR
What they mean may be you are Canada PR holder
Despite repeated and various forms of notice about the impact of eTA requirements on PRs, including prominent warnings posted on CIC and now IRCC web pages for PRs, going back years now, this is one more round of doing due diligence to make sure PRs are aware that with the full implementation of eTA (took place November 10th), the pre-boarding requirements for PRs are now being actually enforced.
The rules have not changed. What has changed is the enforcement of the rules. For a long time PRs were supposed to present either a valid PR card or a PR Travel Document before boarding a flight to Canada from abroad. But these rules were often not enforced for PRs carrying and presenting visa-exempt passports. Now they are being enforced. They are being enforced because a PR cannot obtain eTA and now visa-exempt travelers need eTA to board a flight, so PRs with visa-exempt passports can no longer skirt the rules for PRs.
And apparently more than a few PRs are complaining I did not know . . .
In many respects CIC, and still with IRCC, communication has been poor, often insufficient. Not for this issue. CIC and now IRCC have given notice after notice about this.
The rules have not changed. What has changed is the enforcement of the rules. For a long time PRs were supposed to present either a valid PR card or a PR Travel Document before boarding a flight to Canada from abroad. But these rules were often not enforced for PRs carrying and presenting visa-exempt passports. Now they are being enforced. They are being enforced because a PR cannot obtain eTA and now visa-exempt travelers need eTA to board a flight, so PRs with visa-exempt passports can no longer skirt the rules for PRs.
And apparently more than a few PRs are complaining I did not know . . .
In many respects CIC, and still with IRCC, communication has been poor, often insufficient. Not for this issue. CIC and now IRCC have given notice after notice about this.
hello Hasnain1985 and Bs65
myself and brother both got the same email from IRCC however at the time we were both minor and my parents had voluntary renunciation PR to Canada. It was done in Trinidad, WI. in 2009
In 2015 i had apply for a Visitor Visa and was approved
do you believe its a possibility that i might still have PR for Canada?
how can i approach this topic?
myself and brother both got the same email from IRCC however at the time we were both minor and my parents had voluntary renunciation PR to Canada. It was done in Trinidad, WI. in 2009
In 2015 i had apply for a Visitor Visa and was approved
do you believe its a possibility that i might still have PR for Canada?
how can i approach this topic?
I got the email as well. Does anyone know when you are supposed to show your card? I've flown into Canada a few times since getting my PR, but was never once asked about my immigration status or asked to show my PR card.
I am from a visa and eTA exempt country and have a feeling that I'm probably never going to be asked. It just makes me wonder if I'm supposed to say something. Thanks.
I am from a visa and eTA exempt country and have a feeling that I'm probably never going to be asked. It just makes me wonder if I'm supposed to say something. Thanks.
AshesNdust said:
Assuming you are an American citizen (only a very small number of others are also both visa and eTA exempt, such as certain French citizens in very specific circumstances, and diplomats), you can board a flight or train to Canada by displaying your U.S. passport. While you can also present your U.S. passport at the Poe, better practice would be to present your PR card. The whole time I was a PR, the only document I ever presented, to Canadian authorities at a PoE, in dozens of border crossings, was my Canadian PR card, and never faced any immigration related questions beyond "where do you live?"
Of course at land crossings you can alternatively present an enhanced drivers license or other special identification the U.S. will issue.
(Going the other way, while I was a PR I always presented a U.S. passport and often had to answer a variety of questions, and this continues now that I am a Canadian citizen; sometimes the U.S. side asks very odd questions and sometimes I have been asked about why I live in Canada, to which I am tempted to say DUH!, as in because I can and it is a much better country to live in, but I hold my tongue and give some innocuous response about how much I like the city where I am living. I am frequently asked "what do I do?" which bugs me, being well past retirement age, but not retired, and having explained the kind of work I do at the border many times, assuming they are not asking about my hobbies or daily routine despite how broad the question "what do you do?" is. Another question I often get from the U.S. side is "where are you from?" I guess they are asking where was I born, but not taking chances I say something like "I was born in xxxx." Really, I have lived in many places since becoming an adult a half century or so ago, more than a few long enough to usually say that is the place I am from, and as far as I am concerned I am now from the Canadian city which has been my home now longer than any other city I have lived in my entire life. But since they have already asked, and I have answered, where do I live, which is the most common question going both ways, I assume that is not what they want when they ask where am I from.)
Yes, I know all the ways in and out of Canada and which documents you need to have, I have Nexus as well as a passport card which add various other options.
I don't even go through Passport control with an officer, only the Nexus kiosks. So, I have never been asked to show my PR or even what my status is at any point. It kind of made me wonder if I was supposed to be saying something before I board a plane since that's really the only time a person would most likely be barred from going into Canada if they are up to date with their paper work, but not in pocession of a PR card.
Seems kind of odd that you aren't required to declare your status upon check in or at the boarding gate of an airport.
I don't even go through Passport control with an officer, only the Nexus kiosks. So, I have never been asked to show my PR or even what my status is at any point. It kind of made me wonder if I was supposed to be saying something before I board a plane since that's really the only time a person would most likely be barred from going into Canada if they are up to date with their paper work, but not in pocession of a PR card.
Seems kind of odd that you aren't required to declare your status upon check in or at the boarding gate of an airport.
AshesNdust said:
You do declare your status: by presenting a proper Travel Document when requested. Which last I flew across the border, everyone still had to do. (At the PoE itself, if one is not using an automated kiosk or such, these days the request is often expressed by no more than the PoE officer holding out his or her hand.)
The U.S. side is more strict. Americans who also have Canadian status must, ordinarily, present their American status document. Canada is not so strict about Canadians with American status, and often allow the Canadian to present their American status document when entering Canada (with only a few exceptions because I've been lax, I always present each side their respective document, almost always showing Canadian documents when entering Canada for example).
How it goes usually, when crossing the border, or even most of the time, even nearly always, is not necessarily how it will go every time. A Canadian with American status presenting only American status documents when traveling to Canada could be asked further questions at the PoE, for example, and may be referred for a Secondary Examination if, say, there is a question about complying with the PR Residency Obligations. But typically those individuals with both U.S. and Canadian status, especially those who regularly cross the border (as someone with Nexus usually does) can sail rather easily and smoothly back and forth across the border . . . albeit, as I previously noted, the U.S. side tends to be strict about showing U.S. documentation and is often more probing and sometimes oddly so.
The email was simply one more effort by IRCC to be sure PRs have notice of the strict enforcement of PR rules now, given that for many, many years, there was very lax enforcement of the rules for PRs with visa-exempt passports. But U.S. citizens are exempt from the program which effectively implements the strict enforcement for PRs with visa-exempt passports.