Hello,
The first part may be useful to anyone planning on returning without a PRC/PRTD to Canada but is worried whether they will face difficulties along the way.
This may be sort of a long read, be advised. I have nothing better to do with my time right now, so here is my story. A little background first. I have returned to Canada with my family in August 2020 amidst the pandemic. Prior to coming back we landed in 2006, when I was around 7 years old at the time. The last time I was in Canada after landing was 2007. I have spent no more than 45 days in total between 2006-2007. My family had decided to leave Canada at the time as they determined work back home was too good to be left.
Fast forward to 2020, the tides have turned and work back home was in a bad state. As a family we decided sustaining a life there would be difficult and we all packed our bags for Canada. We have a visa to the U.S and that is how we overcame the travel issue since our PRCs are expired and we do not meet RO. We obviously had our doubts as to whether we would be reported, but thankfully the CBSA agent was lenient and has let us through and informed us he will not report us. However; he said not to apply for a PR card renewal until we have stayed 2 years in Canada. Not a problem, completely understandable, thank you for welcoming us back.
It was a beautiful summer day which was made even nicer by the encounter at the borders. A heavy thought off our chests. Bear in mind there was no “Plan B” as we have sold everything we owned and if anything would have went wrong; we would have returned to nothing.
So the hard part was done, or at least I thought. As a recent university graduate at the time, the first and only thing I had in mind was finding a job and starting my career in Canada. So, I was applying here and there and talking to people for advice. One day I found out I would need a SIN to be able to work. When we first landed, my parents did not think it was necessary for children to have a SIN and they only applied for themselves. Before returning to Canada, it did not cross my mind and I thought if I am able to prove my status to the agent then surely I could prove my status to anyone that I am able to work legally in Canada. Obviously, not the case. So, what are the required documents for a SIN? Nothing that I have. An expired PR and a CoPR since 2006. Despite that, I still applied for one but I got a rejection letter. I was starting to get worried.
The reason I was convinced and didn’t mind staying in Canada for 2 years without leaving is the ability to work, because what else would I be doing? Time would pass, I would have earned some money and progressed in a career. After 2 years, I could reward myself with a small vacation back home. In fact, I knew I would have to stay 2 years without leaving in order to renew my PRC before coming, but I did not mind; I just wanted to get out of the country I was in. That was the plan.
After some advice from an immigration consultant, I was advised to apply for a PRC regardless of not meeting RO under a H&C appeal indicating that I was a dependent child when I left in addition to the need of a SIN to be able to do almost anything in Canada. I took the advice and applied in November 2020 for a renewal. I knew the pandemic has significantly increased processing times, so I was a bit frustrated as there was nothing I could do now. I estimated 4-5 months till I hear something back from IRCC. I also remember titling my application as urgent because I thought that my case would be deemed urgent given the situation and because how is a PR supposed to cope without a job, a bank account or government benefits should they be needed?
Come March 2021 and while I am doing my bi-weekly routine of checking my application status, I see “Decision Made”. Could this whole issue now be finally resolved. I wanted to know what that means exactly, and by IRCC’s definition it means I will either receive a rejection letter or my card would be mailed within 4 weeks. I was optimistic and hoping for the latter outcome. 4 weeks pass and I hear nothing. No worries, we wait for 2 more weeks, delays are the norm in COVID. Still nothing. In the back of my mind I was very sure that it might have been sent to a local office for in person pickup as I have been constantly visiting this forum to hear about other people’s updates. So I call IRCC, wait the line, speak to a call center agent for an update and there it was; the dreaded “your card has been selected for in person pick up at your local office” sentence. Dreaded because I knew that the local offices were not doing in person pickups due to COVID since Feb 2020 and I knew there were no plans of opening in the near future. At the same time; I was also relieved because that means they considered my H&C appeal and approved it, but still the main point is physically obtaining the card so that Service Canada can finally give me my SIN, and that was still not possible. I kept on checking IRCC’s Newsroom website and even their Twitter every now and then for updates in addition to calling IRCC call center to ask agents if they were planning to open to which they answer they have no idea when. I was also in touch with my MP’s office and they have contacted IRCC as well, but to no avail. My MP told me to come back to them in August and they would try again. I came back as they told me and they tried reaching out but same result. It seems no one can reach IRCC. I also wrote a letter to the local office itself and to the office of Minister Sean Fraser detailing my situation and why I urgently need it. I have even gone to the extent of going to my local office and speaking to an agent through the intercom hoping for only an update and to try to explain my situation, but no luck as well; I was turned away. I expected no one to be there since they claimed to be closed, but there were other appointments for other matters not related to in person pickup. It seems IRCC has halted this process completely. I remember seeing an immigration officer in uniform through the glass doors and thinking: “I am so close yet so far. My card is in there but I can not get it.”
So, what am I doing now? To stall this wait I decided to go for a one year post-grad course (started Jan 2022) in college which will grant me an opportunity to work in the end through a Co-op semester in Aug/Sep this year. In the event I still do not obtain my PR Card to get my SIN, I have been told I won’t be able to complete the Co-op semester and fail to graduate from the college. At that point I would have exhausted all my options and playing cards and would have hit a major obstacle and my time and money at college would have been wasted. Speaking of college, I could not apply to OSAP as well.
So my final course of action that I have been planning on doing to help overcome this ridiculous loophole is going for Writ of Mandamus which I saw was spoken of quite a bit here. I would need your advice on some of the following questions:
1. Is it worth it given my situation?
2. Will I achieve an outcome by Aug/Sep
3. Is the court likely to approve my case?
A final thing I would like to say is that IRCC and Minister Sean Fraser released a statement about modernizing processes in IRCC which was released 31 JAN 22. In that statement they said they understand the processing delays this has caused for people and that they know something needs to be done. The statement indicated an investment towards modernizing processes and increasing staff to help address all occurring processing problems, but still nothing was said about in person pickups. This was somewhat reassuring but I am still not guaranteed.
Any other advice is appreciated but I think I tried every avenue here. This has been the only thing on my mind ever since I faced this problem. It has consumed me mentally and it took its toll on me. I feel like I’m being a burden to myself and to my family who also have other obligations to take care off and my brother who is facing the same situation. I feel redundant and useless, seeing all my friends from university getting into jobs we have talked about. Is my case really not that urgent? Because surely they would not leave me like this if it wasn’t? I try to consolidate myself by saying that there are lots of other people who may be in a worse situation. At least I am present in Canada and contributing time to my RO. Last year I said that this wouldn’t matter next year; it would be resolved. I am saying the same thing this year, but this time with less hope.
I am sorry for the detail in writing and the length of this post but I am just trying to be heard. Till this day, I still do not feel settled in Canada.
The first part may be useful to anyone planning on returning without a PRC/PRTD to Canada but is worried whether they will face difficulties along the way.
This may be sort of a long read, be advised. I have nothing better to do with my time right now, so here is my story. A little background first. I have returned to Canada with my family in August 2020 amidst the pandemic. Prior to coming back we landed in 2006, when I was around 7 years old at the time. The last time I was in Canada after landing was 2007. I have spent no more than 45 days in total between 2006-2007. My family had decided to leave Canada at the time as they determined work back home was too good to be left.
Fast forward to 2020, the tides have turned and work back home was in a bad state. As a family we decided sustaining a life there would be difficult and we all packed our bags for Canada. We have a visa to the U.S and that is how we overcame the travel issue since our PRCs are expired and we do not meet RO. We obviously had our doubts as to whether we would be reported, but thankfully the CBSA agent was lenient and has let us through and informed us he will not report us. However; he said not to apply for a PR card renewal until we have stayed 2 years in Canada. Not a problem, completely understandable, thank you for welcoming us back.
It was a beautiful summer day which was made even nicer by the encounter at the borders. A heavy thought off our chests. Bear in mind there was no “Plan B” as we have sold everything we owned and if anything would have went wrong; we would have returned to nothing.
So the hard part was done, or at least I thought. As a recent university graduate at the time, the first and only thing I had in mind was finding a job and starting my career in Canada. So, I was applying here and there and talking to people for advice. One day I found out I would need a SIN to be able to work. When we first landed, my parents did not think it was necessary for children to have a SIN and they only applied for themselves. Before returning to Canada, it did not cross my mind and I thought if I am able to prove my status to the agent then surely I could prove my status to anyone that I am able to work legally in Canada. Obviously, not the case. So, what are the required documents for a SIN? Nothing that I have. An expired PR and a CoPR since 2006. Despite that, I still applied for one but I got a rejection letter. I was starting to get worried.
The reason I was convinced and didn’t mind staying in Canada for 2 years without leaving is the ability to work, because what else would I be doing? Time would pass, I would have earned some money and progressed in a career. After 2 years, I could reward myself with a small vacation back home. In fact, I knew I would have to stay 2 years without leaving in order to renew my PRC before coming, but I did not mind; I just wanted to get out of the country I was in. That was the plan.
After some advice from an immigration consultant, I was advised to apply for a PRC regardless of not meeting RO under a H&C appeal indicating that I was a dependent child when I left in addition to the need of a SIN to be able to do almost anything in Canada. I took the advice and applied in November 2020 for a renewal. I knew the pandemic has significantly increased processing times, so I was a bit frustrated as there was nothing I could do now. I estimated 4-5 months till I hear something back from IRCC. I also remember titling my application as urgent because I thought that my case would be deemed urgent given the situation and because how is a PR supposed to cope without a job, a bank account or government benefits should they be needed?
Come March 2021 and while I am doing my bi-weekly routine of checking my application status, I see “Decision Made”. Could this whole issue now be finally resolved. I wanted to know what that means exactly, and by IRCC’s definition it means I will either receive a rejection letter or my card would be mailed within 4 weeks. I was optimistic and hoping for the latter outcome. 4 weeks pass and I hear nothing. No worries, we wait for 2 more weeks, delays are the norm in COVID. Still nothing. In the back of my mind I was very sure that it might have been sent to a local office for in person pickup as I have been constantly visiting this forum to hear about other people’s updates. So I call IRCC, wait the line, speak to a call center agent for an update and there it was; the dreaded “your card has been selected for in person pick up at your local office” sentence. Dreaded because I knew that the local offices were not doing in person pickups due to COVID since Feb 2020 and I knew there were no plans of opening in the near future. At the same time; I was also relieved because that means they considered my H&C appeal and approved it, but still the main point is physically obtaining the card so that Service Canada can finally give me my SIN, and that was still not possible. I kept on checking IRCC’s Newsroom website and even their Twitter every now and then for updates in addition to calling IRCC call center to ask agents if they were planning to open to which they answer they have no idea when. I was also in touch with my MP’s office and they have contacted IRCC as well, but to no avail. My MP told me to come back to them in August and they would try again. I came back as they told me and they tried reaching out but same result. It seems no one can reach IRCC. I also wrote a letter to the local office itself and to the office of Minister Sean Fraser detailing my situation and why I urgently need it. I have even gone to the extent of going to my local office and speaking to an agent through the intercom hoping for only an update and to try to explain my situation, but no luck as well; I was turned away. I expected no one to be there since they claimed to be closed, but there were other appointments for other matters not related to in person pickup. It seems IRCC has halted this process completely. I remember seeing an immigration officer in uniform through the glass doors and thinking: “I am so close yet so far. My card is in there but I can not get it.”
So, what am I doing now? To stall this wait I decided to go for a one year post-grad course (started Jan 2022) in college which will grant me an opportunity to work in the end through a Co-op semester in Aug/Sep this year. In the event I still do not obtain my PR Card to get my SIN, I have been told I won’t be able to complete the Co-op semester and fail to graduate from the college. At that point I would have exhausted all my options and playing cards and would have hit a major obstacle and my time and money at college would have been wasted. Speaking of college, I could not apply to OSAP as well.
So my final course of action that I have been planning on doing to help overcome this ridiculous loophole is going for Writ of Mandamus which I saw was spoken of quite a bit here. I would need your advice on some of the following questions:
1. Is it worth it given my situation?
2. Will I achieve an outcome by Aug/Sep
3. Is the court likely to approve my case?
A final thing I would like to say is that IRCC and Minister Sean Fraser released a statement about modernizing processes in IRCC which was released 31 JAN 22. In that statement they said they understand the processing delays this has caused for people and that they know something needs to be done. The statement indicated an investment towards modernizing processes and increasing staff to help address all occurring processing problems, but still nothing was said about in person pickups. This was somewhat reassuring but I am still not guaranteed.
Any other advice is appreciated but I think I tried every avenue here. This has been the only thing on my mind ever since I faced this problem. It has consumed me mentally and it took its toll on me. I feel like I’m being a burden to myself and to my family who also have other obligations to take care off and my brother who is facing the same situation. I feel redundant and useless, seeing all my friends from university getting into jobs we have talked about. Is my case really not that urgent? Because surely they would not leave me like this if it wasn’t? I try to consolidate myself by saying that there are lots of other people who may be in a worse situation. At least I am present in Canada and contributing time to my RO. Last year I said that this wouldn’t matter next year; it would be resolved. I am saying the same thing this year, but this time with less hope.
I am sorry for the detail in writing and the length of this post but I am just trying to be heard. Till this day, I still do not feel settled in Canada.