Steps to travel outside of Canada while waiting for PR?

[Nepenthe]

Hi all,

Hoping to for help on this topic since I can't seem to find an answer on canada.ca and other immigration related pages. Most pages seem to be related to expired cards or similar scenarios.

My husband and I are waiting for approval for a new PR application (never had it before). We've submitted most things that were required/requested (Biometrics, Police Certificates), and are just waiting on our health evaluations to be submitted by the clinic that did our testing. They should be submitted as a part of our PR application by early Oct.

We've had airplane tickets to go to another country from mid to late Dec for a while now. We had hoped to receive our PR cards by Dec, but we're too close for comfort now and want to make sure we can safely leave and come back. This is for general travel and possible wedding, not something that would qualify for urgent processing.

We have work permits that are valid through next April. We have been residents of Canada since 2019 and own a home here.

I'm wondering about the following:

• Are the work permits sufficient to get us back into the country even if we have not received PR approval yet (still processing) OR we have received approval but not the physical cards yet?
• If the work permits are not sufficient for one or both scenarios, what do we need to safely return? Is there anything we can proactively apply for and likely receive approval on before Dec? I'm seeing that we can apply for a PRTD from outside of the country so in theory we could apply the first day of our trip. It can take 8+ weeks to process though and we only have a 3 week trip, so this doesn't feel like a safe option to get back in a timely way.

Thanks in advance for any help! This has been really confusing to navigate, and I can't find a phone number to contact someone to ask directly about this scenario.

 

[YVR123]

You are not yet PRs until you either landed with passport stamped and travel back to Canada or virutal landing via portal.

So. point 1, you are still work permit holders, you will need TRV to re-enter Canada after you left.
point 2, you cannot apply for PRTD because you are not yet PRs until landing.

I think you got confused with people who are already PRs and are trying to travel back without getting their first PR card. You are not in that situation.

 

[Nepenthe]

Hi YVR123, thank you for the follow up!

I think I may be misunderstanding, but something you mentioned triggered a memory of someone saying you needed to actually leave and re-enter Canada to activate PR (called "rounding the bend" or something?). Do you have a link to a page with information about this by any chance? I'm having trouble finding one.

If I'm understanding right, we have a couple of possible scenarios:

1. We do not receive notification about our PR approval before or during our trip. In this case, we're ok to re-enter with our work permits (we're US citizens, so the TRV is not required).
2. We receive notice about the PR approval before or during our trip. We do not leave Canada or submit anything via the portal to activate the PR before or during our trip. We use the return to Canada from our trip as the official activation of PR. From there, we do not leave Canada again until our card arrives.

Does this sound correct?

 

[YVR123]

Hi YVR123, thank you for the follow up!

I think I may be misunderstanding, but something you mentioned triggered a memory of someone saying you needed to actually leave and re-enter Canada to activate PR (called "rounding the bend" or something?). Do you have a link to a page with information about this by any chance? I'm having trouble finding one.

If I'm understanding right, we have a couple of possible scenarios:

1. We do not receive notification about our PR approval before or during our trip. In this case, we're ok to re-enter with our work permits (we're US citizens, so the TRV is not required).
2. We receive notice about the PR approval before or during our trip. We do not leave Canada or submit anything via the portal to activate the PR before or during our trip. We use the return to Canada from our trip as the official activation of PR. From there, we do not leave Canada again until our card arrives.

Does this sound correct?

oh! You are US citizens. That makes a big difference.
1. Yes.
2. Depends on if IRCC thinks you are inside Canada to ask you to use the portal. There are 2 ways to land/activate your PR. 1 is inside Canada via the portal (virtual landing). The second way is request copy of your passport and IRCC will email eCOPR and you activate by crossing the border. (physical landing)

And since you are US citizens, I think you can re-enter/travel without PR cards. I think airline may not ask for /check your PR cards if you are from US. (you will need to verify with others members. I am not 100% sure.)