Please can anyone help, landing info needed please.

[Bumblecheck]

Hey there!
Does anyone know once you receive your visa and 'land' in Canada are you allowed to leave? How long can you leave Canada for and when? We are hoping to receive my husbands visa before our 10 day trip to Canada feb 1st 2013. We are hoping to 'land' then and come back to the UK to wrap things up and go for good the 3rd of May 2013. Is this allowed or do you need to stay in Canada for a certain amount of time after landing?
I'd be grateful for any advice.
Many thanks in advance
Felicity

 

[achander]

As far as i know, you can leave once you land in Canada. A lot of people stay back to get their PR card (which is arnd 2 months) during which they get their heath card, SIN and other formalities taken care of. But if you know someone who can receive your PR card in the mail and then forward it to you in UK, you can leave whenever. If you leave the country and want to return before you get your PR card, you will need to get a travel document from the consulate/embassy in UK.

The only requirement that you need to meet is the fact that you need to live in Canada for 2 out of 5 years to renew your PR status, but if you are coming back for good in May 2013, you should be good.

good luck
cheers

 

[sakamath]

While there is no restriction on the number of days you have to stay back once you 'land' there is a restriction on 'coming back' to Canada once you leave. To return back to Canada, you need a PR card (Permanent Resident Card). This card is mailed to you to a Canadian address you would provide during the first landing formality. It takes at least a month or so for this card to arrive. If you do not have PR Card, then you must get a travel document http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/travel.asp before you are allowed to board a plane.

That being said, I do not know how UK citizens (visa exempt country) would be affected by the above.

 

[achander]

^^ Right about giving a Canadian address on landing to recieve your PR card. Wrong about 1 month for PR card. Its 63 days.

 

[Sweden]

as you are visa-exempt, you don't need the PR card to travel. So you can "land" in february, go back to the UK to wrap up things, and come back in may 2013 even without the PR card - just go with your UK passport, and at the border, tell them you are a PR of Canada, and they can check on the computer. IF you have your card, it's easier, but if you don't, it's no problem.
Sweden

 

[Leon]

If you are visa exempt to Canada, you do not need a travel document to return, even without a PR card. You can board a plane with your visa exempt passport and when you get to Canada immigration, you show your landing papers and tell them you had to leave before you could get your PR card. It is not a problem at all.

The only residency obligation for PR's is staying in Canada at least 730 days in the first 5 years as a PR and any rolling 5 year period after that.

In order to get your PR card, when you land, if you have a secure address, friends, relatives etc., give that address. It is possible that the immigration officer will ask if you will be at the address in 2 months when the PR cards arrive. If you say you will not, they may decide to refuse the address. What you can then try is wait a couple of days after your landing, then call CIC and say that you did not have an address when you landed and now you do and try to give the same address again. This has worked for people in the past. Your PR cards would be mailed to your address and your friend/relative can mail them to you where you are.

If you do not have an address when you land, you could arrange an address through a UPS store with mail forwarding to your address overseas and see if that will work for you. You could also just leave it and take care of it when you are back in Canada to stay. If you are back to stay less than 6 months after you landed, you just have to call CIC and give your address and ask them to mail your PR card to you. If it's more than 6 months, you will have to fill out a PR card application form, get new photos and pay $50 but it is not a big deal.