Soft landing from USA to CANADA

[canadapr1982]

Hello All Members,

I need your advice for soft landing. Basically, I have one question....I am planning to do soft landing and I hear that pr card will take 4 weeks....so first time I am fine as I have valid visa and copr to enter in Canada but this immigrant visa is single entry only....my question is that can I travel again to canada from usa without pr card as pr card will take 4 weeks almost??? I am planning to visit for 2 days for initial formalities of pr card and come back to usa without pr card....How I can enter again in Canada without pr card??? Experts please advice.

 

[langoorbandar]

You can travel by road in a private transport (rental car, own car etc.) with just the passport and signed COPR which you will get back after completing landing. CBSA will verify that you are a PR of Canada and let you in when you approach them at the crossing. I have done it without issue and many others have done it as well, there are many examples on this forum. Do not try to fly to Canada or book travel on Amtrak or Greyhound etc. they will not allow you to board without proper travel document. If you live far from the border, fly to closest US city and rent a car, I'm from California and when I had to visit Toronto, I flew to Buffalo and rented car and went to Toronto by crossing the land border with just COPR and Passport.

 

[canadapr1982]

You can travel by road in a private transport (rental car, own car etc.) with just the passport and signed COPR which you will get back after completing landing. CBSA will verify that you are a PR of Canada and let you in when you approach them at the crossing. I have done it without issue and many others have done it as well, there are many examples on this forum. Do not try to fly to Canada or book travel on Amtrak or Greyhound etc. they will not allow you to board without proper travel document. If you live far from the border, fly to closest US city and rent a car, I'm from California and when I had to visit Toronto, I flew to Buffalo and rented car and went to Toronto by crossing the land border with just COPR and Passport.

Thanks for reply. But, I have valid canada visitor visa for 10 years. Is it valid after copr or this visitor visa is no valid after copr?

 

[harirajmohan]

Thanks for reply. But, I have valid canada visitor visa for 10 years. Is it valid after copr or this visitor visa is no valid after copr?

Technically they should cancel the visitor visa upon first landing. If you still try to enter as a visitor after you gained PR status then they wont let you in as a visitor as the system will anyway show up as a PR. I dont think the system will allow a person to move to visitor after PR unless its renounced.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/eta/facts.html
Travellers who cannot apply for an eTA and need to carry other identification:
Important – former residents of Canada: Permanent resident (PR) status does not expire.

 

[lampbreaker]

They do not cancel the physical visitor Visa in your passport, however it is possible that it will get canceled in the system. So when you try to board an airplane using that Visa, the airline may deny boarding. However, it is all speculation. I haven't seen any posts from anybody having actual experience in this matter.

When I landed, the CBSA officer told me that I can use the visitor visa to board an airplane even if I am a PR. Just to be clear he meant it to board an airplane only, not to actually enter Canada as a Visitor.

The only way to know is to try. PR cards are pretty quick these days, so it may not be much of a problem for you.