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Expired PR card- trying to get a visa to another country

ly_ygtq

Member
Dec 27, 2013
19
0
Hi all,

My PR card has expired and is being renewed. I met the residency obligation so its only a matter of time before I receive my new card.

However I need to go to another country which I need a visa to enter. Their consulate in Toronto only issue visas for ppl who are legally residing in Canada, and they won't accept my landing paper and expired PR card as proof of my legal status in Canada.

I applied for urgent processing on Friday Dec 20 through email and they sent an urgent request to the processing centre on Monday Dec 23, but with the holidays and all my application is still "in progress" atm. The plane ticket i bought departs on Jan 6, but I know I'll likely need to change that date to a later one. It also takes at least a week for me to get the visa. The latest I can change my travel date to is to Jan 15

The call centre people told me it usually takes a month to receive the physical card for urgent processing. Is this true by your experience?

Before i receive my physical card, is there anything else I can do to make the consulate accept that I am a PR?

Thank you in advance.
 

Dejaavu

Hero Member
Aug 17, 2013
530
15
I don't think there is anything you can do with regards to consulate until you actually you have the renewed pr card.
 

Msafiri

Champion Member
Nov 18, 2012
2,667
104
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Not enough time for this to be processed and mailed out to you especially since you did not submit copies of all pages of your passport as required. CIC may do your favor and ask for the pages on the premise its an innocent error or they may decide you have something to hide especially with reference to your CBSA entries and refer your application to the Local Office which will delay the processing.
 

ly_ygtq

Member
Dec 27, 2013
19
0
Msafiri said:
Not enough time for this to be processed and mailed out to you especially since you did not submit copies of all pages of your passport as required. CIC may do your favor and ask for the pages on the premise its an innocent error or they may decide you have something to hide especially with reference to your CBSA entries and refer your application to the Local Office which will delay the processing.
It is an innocent error, I don't know why I missed that whole section. I just want to add those documents to my file, is there really nothing I can do right now? Would it be faster if I re-submit the whole application?
 

Dejaavu

Hero Member
Aug 17, 2013
530
15
Can you call them and find out? They should be open tomorrow. You can send them a request for faster processing by providing your ticket information and adding the passport page copies.
 

ly_ygtq

Member
Dec 27, 2013
19
0
Dejaavu said:
Can you call them and find out? They should be open tomorrow. You can send them a request for faster processing by providing your ticket information and adding the passport page copies.
I already sent them the ticket and payment page,.. And they told me to just wait until I get asked for the missing documents. But that's gonna take time, and time is one thing that I don't have right now. Why can't I save everybody some time by submitting my missing documents before they ask for them? This doesn't make any sense.....

Does anyone know if there's a fax number, phone number, email or something which I can reach the Processing Centre directly??? The call centre can't answer any of my questions and all they tell me is to wait wait wait wait wait....
 

ly_ygtq

Member
Dec 27, 2013
19
0
Hey guys, just wanna deliver some good news. My status changed to "approved" on Jan 2 so I'm only waiting for the card now! And the Japanese consulate agreed to process my Visa if I show them the online approved status. I just need to have the card ready when I pick the Visa up.
 

alsabbag

Newbie
Jan 6, 2014
8
0
Hi,
I have the same issue but I am planning to travel to US and I am not sure about what Toronto Consulate position is. I applied for urgent PRC Renewal back in December 13th. The Application was approved on 19th. When I didn't receive the PR Card, I called CIC help centre. The agent said that though the application was approved my urgency request was denied by the officer and I have to wait for up to 60 days before receiving the card and he suggested to send an email request to process the application as urgent.

I sent the application over email last week, today I got a response from CIC that since the application is already approved. They will not make urgent processing and that is it. For my frustration. I am not sure what to tell the US Consulate during the interview. They don't have a phone line to enquire about the subject so I am left in the dark. :(
 

Dejaavu

Hero Member
Aug 17, 2013
530
15
Does it show in ECAS approved?

If it does, just print it out and have your current PR card and explain the situation to the US Consulate officer.

I am they have encountered with similar situations at the US consulate before.
 

alsabbag

Newbie
Jan 6, 2014
8
0
Thank you very much. Yes my card status does show as approved since December 19th. I will take a print out to the visa office. It was kind of weird that when I was talking to the CIC Help Centre yesterday. The lady said that my card is due for printing, I ask should i expect it by the end of the month and she said no, printing by itself can take a month. I exclaimed, saying do you mean that printing the card can take a month and she replied YES. What kind of printing machines they use!!

Oh. She also mentioned that urgency applies to processing and approval. But printing and mail will take the same time no matter whether the application was urgent or not.
 

ly_ygtq

Member
Dec 27, 2013
19
0
alsabbag said:
Thank you very much. Yes my card status does show as approved since December 19th. I will take a print out to the visa office. It was kind of weird that when I was talking to the CIC Help Centre yesterday. The lady said that my card is due for printing, I ask should i expect it by the end of the month and she said no, printing by itself can take a month. I exclaimed, saying do you mean that printing the card can take a month and she replied YES. What kind of printing machines they use!!

Oh. She also mentioned that urgency applies to processing and approval. But printing and mail will take the same time no matter whether the application was urgent or not.
That is weird because when I called today the call centre lady said my card has already been mailed out.

Which is not necessarily a good thing for me because I just noticed there's a typo in my mailing address! They typed A instead of O! But hopefully Canada Post will figure it out because it has the correct postal code.


Anyone have any experience as in how long the mailing usually takes?