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Refugee Travel Document - Questions and Answers

farsxp

Hero Member
Apr 19, 2019
235
93
The most complete update for Urgent RTD on July 15 2021: (How it works to get an RTD)
I applied by mail because my travel was not urgent. Then an urgency came up and I applied for urgent RTD. YOU HAVE TO APPLY FIRST BY SENDING THEM A WEBFORM. No documents needed just explain the urgency. The webform is a hit and miss. Mine was accepted on the first try. My wife's webform was accepted on the 3rd try! Funny! Keep sending webforms left and right and mention the urgency of your travel until one of the recipients accepts your urgency. It seems there are 2 different departments taking care of RTD by working together.1. IRCC webform guys and 2. The application processing guys. The first guys only determine if your story fits an urgent travel and if yes, they send your request to the processing guys. They will send you either an epost to send your electronic application (you have to create an epost account) or they push your mailed application forward like mine by asking (calling you) for your tracking number. In general, it is very chaotic! I hope the Quebec office opens ASAP so all will get their RTDs. I have paid for the application online because I changed my credit card and someone called me to pay online then FAX them the receipts. Oh God, who uses fax these days? :D So I did. And still we are waiting for our RTDs, we will propably get them in the mail next week as the guy calling me said they are ready to send our RTDs for printing. If we are lucky we get them soon.
PS: They said to get an update by calling IRCC. You cannot reach an agent by calling IRCC. Don't waste your time. They process applications at their own pace and based on their will. Good luck getting your RTDs.
Finally after many ups and downs and back and forth calls we got our RTDs in the mail. It took around a month from the beginning to the end.
 

Besttee

Star Member
Nov 8, 2020
166
57
Finally after many ups and downs and back and forth calls we got our RTDs in the mail. It took around a month from the beginning to the end.
Congrats! Were you given 5yrs with the PR card? When were you assigned an application number after it was granted as URGENT RTD? Did you call to receive the application number or emailed to you?
 

Masjuy

Hero Member
Dec 6, 2020
283
89
I want to apply to go to Russia with refugee travel document
Has anyone done that
I could find info at Russian embassy site
 

Fpas

Star Member
Mar 15, 2019
67
15
Hello everyone. Does ones that sent an urgent web form, what are your urgent situations? My brother is getting marry in September out of Canada and my father is waiting for his travel document to be able to travel. I would like to know if this situation falls into urgent, specially now that we are all vaccinated and the borders are open.

Thank you,
 
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farsxp

Hero Member
Apr 19, 2019
235
93
Hello everyone. Does ones that sent an urgent web form, what are your urgent situations? My brother is getting marry in September out of Canada and my father is waiting for his travel document to be able to travel. I would like to know if this situation falls into urgent, specially now that we are all vaccinated and the borders are open.

Thank you,
Here are urgent reasons:
  • for a medical reason because you have a serious illness
  • because of the serious illness or death of someone you know
  • because you’ll have financial problems from the loss of a job or business
  • to support an essential service
  • for humanitarian reasons
    • You need a letter from your organization that lists the humanitarian reasons.
If your reasons fall under any of the above reasons you will be approved to apply for urgent RTD.
 

szagham

Hero Member
Apr 24, 2018
233
48
Finally after many ups and downs and back and forth calls we got our RTDs in the mail. It took around a month from the beginning to the end.
Hi
Thanks a lot for explaining the whole procedure and sharing your exp, May I ask how many days they take to contact you via email or phone after they accept your urgency through that webform?
Regards
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,981
12,774
Hello everyone. Does ones that sent an urgent web form, what are your urgent situations? My brother is getting marry in September out of Canada and my father is waiting for his travel document to be able to travel. I would like to know if this situation falls into urgent, specially now that we are all vaccinated and the borders are open.

Thank you,
Marriage is not an urgent situation.
 

Linda123678

Full Member
Jan 29, 2021
33
5
Sorry to ask this question, which I believe that people must have asked before, but it's hard to read all the messages.

The question is: after receiving positive NOD, how do you get back your passport and other identification from IRCC? When applying for PR, in the application form, do you enter the passport information even if you don't have the passport with you?

Thanks.
 

farsxp

Hero Member
Apr 19, 2019
235
93
Congrats! Were you given 5yrs with the PR card? When were you assigned an application number after it was granted as URGENT RTD? Did you call to receive the application number or emailed to you?
RTDs for non-PR applicants have 2 years validity. I don't know when. They called and gave us the application number.
 
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farsxp

Hero Member
Apr 19, 2019
235
93
Sorry to ask this question, which I believe that people must have asked before, but it's hard to read all the messages.

The question is: after receiving positive NOD, how do you get back your passport and other identification from IRCC? When applying for PR, in the application form, do you enter the passport information even if you don't have the passport with you?

Thanks.
Here we talk about RTDs not unrelated issues but I will respond for your information.
As soon as you get your positive decision, IRCC will email you and warn you about getting back your passport and renewing it or even using it. Doing anything with your passport is called "a sign of reavailement". You can legally fill out an application to get your passport back but I strongly encourage you NOT to do that. This is why we all applied for RTD. RTD is a powerful tool to easily go around Europe and many other countries which accept RTDs. Long story short: Forget about your seized passport or you will get yourself in trouble.
With regard to your last question: when you applied for refugee protection, you were given a certified copy of your passport or any identification document which were seized. So feel free to use those certified copies in your PR application.
 

Ahmed_h_m

Member
Oct 23, 2020
13
2
Hello there
I am a protected person, and I have a valid Refugee Travel Document (light blue). However, Recently I received the COPR, but the card is not yet.my question is Can I travel outside Canada with my COPR and back to Canada without the PR card, or do I have to wait till I received the PR card?
 

farsxp

Hero Member
Apr 19, 2019
235
93
Hello there
I am a protected person, and I have a valid Refugee Travel Document (light blue). However, Recently I received the COPR, but the card is not yet.my question is Can I travel outside Canada with my COPR and back to Canada without the PR card, or do I have to wait till I received the PR card?
Use your RTD for travel. Even if it is expired you may renew and use it.
COPR is not an equivalent to a PR card.