Waiting for PR renewal so long

[mariano.avino]

They received my application for PR card renewal on November 10, 2016. Started processing my application on December 1, 2016. Sent me correspondence on December 6, 2016 for having my passport in color copies. I sent them back my passport color copies on December 14, 2016. On February 1, 2017, I sent them this email:
'I had sent you the color copy whole passport as requested from you (on Dec 06 2016) more than 6 weeks ago. According to CanadaPost you received my documentation on December 14, 2016 but you had never replied to that so far (I have proof of signature from your office through CanadaPost. Please let me know the status of my application. Thank you very much.'
On February 21, 2017 they replied my email:
'We verified the information on file and can confirm that your documents were received by the responsible office.
Please note that the processing times provided to you on our website are an approximation. Currently, your file is still in process and there is no maximum timeframe to finalize an application.
If further information is needed, the responsible office may contact you.'
On April 10 it is going to be 5 months since I started, meanwhile my PR is expired and I cannot leave the country for whatever reasons. Do you think is normal to wait so long?
Thank you very much.

 

[scylla]

At the time you applied, how many residency days in Canada did you have in the last five years? Did you have close to 730 - or were you well over?

 

[dpenabill]

. . . meanwhile my PR is expired and I cannot leave the country for whatever reasons. Do you think is normal to wait so long?

Timelines do indeed vary greatly, even though the more common timeline is much faster than yours has been.

Since IRCC made a request for additional documents, a color copy of your passport, your application is not routine, and the timeline for non-routine processing tends to vary even more so, and of course also tends to be longer.

To be clear, of course your "PR" did not expire, since PR status does not expire.

I assume you mean your PR card expired. This does not affect your status. This does not preclude a PR from traveling abroad.

It is of course far more convenient to have a valid PR card when traveling abroad, since it can be used to board a flight headed back to Canada. But a PR can also obtain a PR Travel Document while abroad which will allow the PR to board a flight to Canada.

Which is to say that if there are reasons why you cannot travel abroad, it is NOT because the processing of your PR card application is taking so long.


If you have been well-settled and living in Canada for more than two plus years as of last December:

Assuming that at the time you made your application for a PR card you had been well-settled and living in Canada for more than two years, and have continued to remain living in Canada, the odds are good it will not take much longer to get your new PR card. No guarantees, but as long as you are well settled in Canada it should go OK and relatively soon.

Additionally, assuming these facts (well settled in Canada, and at this point living here for more than two and a half years), you should clearly be eligible for a PR TD and obtaining one abroad should be relatively easy (subject to the country you are in and potentially more difficulty for certain countries and parts of the world).


If NOT well-settled and living in Canada for more than two plus years as of last December:

As the query from scylla suggests, a big factor in how these things go depends on how clearly the PR is in compliance with the PR RO.

Cutting-it-close can be risky, or at least result in non-routine processing which can mean a long delay in processing the PR card application. And, it can also make it more risky to go abroad since the PR needs to affirmatively prove PR RO compliance to be eligible for a PR TD.

Moreover, since the overt purpose of PR status is to accommodate settling in Canada permanently, any PR who is not clearly well-settled in Canada can anticipate an increased risk of more probing and skeptical scrutiny.

That is to say, a PR who is well-settled and living in Canada for a long term will typically have an easier time obtaining a renewed PR card. In contrast, a PR who is not clearly well-settled in Canada, or who otherwise is not unquestionably in compliance with the PR RO, can anticipate non-routine processing and delays. To what extent varies.

 

[Blueboy1980]

They received my application for PR card renewal on November 10, 2016. Started processing my application on December 1, 2016. Sent me correspondence on December 6, 2016 for having my passport in color copies. I sent them back my passport color copies on December 14, 2016. On February 1, 2017, I sent them this email:
'I had sent you the color copy whole passport as requested from you (on Dec 06 2016) more than 6 weeks ago. According to CanadaPost you received my documentation on December 14, 2016 but you had never replied to that so far (I have proof of signature from your office through CanadaPost. Please let me know the status of my application. Thank you very much.'
On February 21, 2017 they replied my email:
'We verified the information on file and can confirm that your documents were received by the responsible office.
Please note that the processing times provided to you on our website are an approximation. Currently, your file is still in process and there is no maximum timeframe to finalize an application.
If further information is needed, the responsible office may contact you.'
On April 10 it is going to be 5 months since I started, meanwhile my PR is expired and I cannot leave the country for whatever reasons. Do you think is normal to wait so long?
Thank you very much.

Very normal unfortunately.

3 months after they received my application (April 2016) they sent me a letter saying it's gone for a secondary review. I got my card February 2017. Total of 11 months. They never requested more information and I had been outside of Canada for less than 3 weeks since landing...

They will always say the time scale on their website is an approximation so I will never understand that because it's never similar to actual days for the process...

They state that Citizenship application takes 12 months. I've done everything and now just waiting for my oath letter and the whole process took less than 2 months.

 

[mariano.avino]

Thank you very much for your replies.
I had been to Canada from December 2011 (when I was granted PR status) till June 2014 (except for a few weeks per year for vacation). I left Canada to go to live in Italy from June 2014 till September 2016. Then, last October (2016) I returned to Canada because hired by the University of Western Ontario in London. The total days stayed in Canada during this five year is longer than the requested ones. Said that, I don't know if the delay is caused by my last two years (of the five) being mostly in Italy.
Could you please post me the link to travel with an expired PR card?

 

[dpenabill]

Thank you very much for your replies.
I had been to Canada from December 2011 (when I was granted PR status) till June 2014 (except for a few weeks per year for vacation). I left Canada to go to live in Italy from June 2014 till September 2016. Then, last October (2016) I returned to Canada because hired by the University of Western Ontario in London. The total days stayed in Canada during this five year is longer than the requested ones. Said that, I don't know if the delay is caused by my last two years (of the five) being mostly in Italy.
Could you please post me the link to travel with an expired PR card?

The extended absence probably is at least a factor.

Not sure what link you are looking for. It is not that an expired PR card facilitates travel, it does not. But an expired PR card does not preclude travel either.

A PR can continue to travel using the PR's home country passport.

But to board a flight to Canada from abroad, the PR (who does not have a valid PR card) will need to apply for and obtain a PR Travel Document. For legitimate, qualified PRs this is fairly simple in many countries (such as most Western European countries), but can be problematic in other countries. The PR does need to submit proof of compliance with the PR Residency Obligation with the application for a PR TD. So if you travel abroad (1) consider which country you will be staying in, (2) be sure to give yourself time to apply for and obtain a PR TD (which can vary depending on the country), and (3) be sure to take copies of records which document your presence in Canada, including documentation as to employment and rental or ownership of a home in Canada.

There are also limited reasons for which IRCC will consider urgent processing of the PR card application. See the online instructions for applying for a PR card. Urgent processing is no longer routinely available for holiday or other discretionary travel, but it still can be obtained for certain compelling circumstances. Again, see IRCC's information about PR card applications.

 

[James John]

Just one question, should the passport copies be coloured?
Thank you

 

[mariano.avino]

I was just asking about the link where to get all the information to get a PR Travel Document. However, you explained me perfectly.
And yes, after had sent in my first application for PR renewal black and white copies of my passport (just the pages of my last 5 years), they told me they want copies of the whole passport in color.
Thanks again for the help.

 

[MatQue]

They received my application for PR card renewal on November 10, 2016. Started processing my application on December 1, 2016. Sent me correspondence on December 6, 2016 for having my passport in color copies. I sent them back my passport color copies on December 14, 2016. On February 1, 2017, I sent them this email:
'I had sent you the color copy whole passport as requested from you (on Dec 06 2016) more than 6 weeks ago. According to CanadaPost you received my documentation on December 14, 2016 but you had never replied to that so far (I have proof of signature from your office through CanadaPost. Please let me know the status of my application. Thank you very much.'
On February 21, 2017 they replied my email:
'We verified the information on file and can confirm that your documents were received by the responsible office.
Please note that the processing times provided to you on our website are an approximation. Currently, your file is still in process and there is no maximum timeframe to finalize an application.
If further information is needed, the responsible office may contact you.'
On April 10 it is going to be 5 months since I started, meanwhile my PR is expired and I cannot leave the country for whatever reasons. Do you think is normal to wait so long?
Thank you very much.

Hi Mariano,

yes, it can take that long. Sent my application on the March 26th, 2016, from Montreal. Then left back to Brazil to finish Ph.D. My application started to be processed on April 26th and was sent to secondary review on May 26th the same year (2016). I had no news and no documents requested the whole process. IRCC approved my application on January 18th, 2017 and requested the card to be printed. There was an error during the printing and it took more two months to correct it. They sent the card by mail last March 20th, 2017, even though I was the whole process outside Canada. I'm still in Brazil.

To summarize, what I think is, if you meet PR RO, there's no reason to worry about. It will take long or not, but it will be approved.

The hard part is surely be patient. It's an awful process but it definitely comes to an end... Good luck!

Matheus

P.s.: The whole process (mine) took from the date they started processing it to the day they sent the card back home, almost 11 months

 

[dpenabill]

I was just asking about the link where to get all the information to get a PR Travel Document. However, you explained me perfectly.
And yes, after had sent in my first application for PR renewal black and white copies of my passport (just the pages of my last 5 years), they told me they want copies of the whole passport in color.
Thanks again for the help.

see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/travel-document/index.asp

Otherwise, the link to PR Travel Document application and related information can be found on same web page as link to new PR card application information, the page for "new immigrants" generally.

 

[mariano.avino]

OK I have an update of my situation and a new question:
I had not received my PR card yet, however I need to go for a conference work to USA from June 21 to June 28.
Thus, my employer bought me the ticket, the accommodation and the enrollment for the conference I need to attend.
Then he prepared a letter for me to be sent to the Canadian Immigration office, along with receipts of my travel, to go for a "Request urgent processing of renewal or replacement card and have already applied" category on May 01, 2017 (thus, more than three weeks from the flight departure, as they request).
They answer me on May 04, 2017 by email saying that they would have done the best to process my urgency and send me the card in time, but also, if not received in time, I could have gone to USA and apply there for a "Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD)" to a Canadian visa office (VAC) to return to Canada.
Now I find this last thing insane. Suppose my card does not arrive in time, I will go to USA to Portland (OR), from Toronto, by flight. I have to stay in Portland just 7 days and the closest VAC which deals with PRTD is in Los Angeles. Thus, in seven days, I need to send them by fedex my application and then, fingers crossed, hope that they send this document back before my departure. That is way too crazy. What if the document does not arrive in time? Will I be stuck in USA waiting for the document?
Am I missing something here?
Thanks again for the help.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thus, in seven days, I need to send them by fedex my application and then, fingers crossed, hope that they send this document back before my departure. That is way too crazy. What if the document does not arrive in time? Will I be stuck in USA waiting for the document?
Am I missing something here?

Unfortunately yes. As you also need to send your physical passport with the PR TD application (the PR TD is placed directly into your passport), you will be stranded in USA until you get the package back.

Alternatively you can skip the PR TD process entirely and instead fly to a US city close to Canada. Then rent a car (or bus, walk, etc) to cross the border. For this, CBSA can determine your PR status without need for PR TD or a valid PR card.

 

[mariano.avino]

Dear Rob_TO,
thank you very much for replying me so fast.
I was considering going by car from Vancouver as an alternative...
However, let's say I go to Los Angeles in person for applying for the PRTD.
Will they give me the PRTD the very same day? Is there any information or estimate about its processing time?
Thanks again.

 

[Rob_TO]

Dear Rob_TO,
thank you very much for replying me so fast.
I was considering going by car from Vancouver as an alternative...
However, let's say I go to Los Angeles in person for applying for the PRTD.
Will they give me the PRTD the very same day? Is there any information or estimate about its processing time?
Thanks again.

You can contact the LA office directly to ask. There is an email and phone number. http://www.csc-cvac.com/en-US/selfservice/cvac_application_centres

Not sure if same-day service is possible.

 

[Harryhere101]

Dear Rob_TO,
thank you very much for replying me so fast.
I was considering going by car from Vancouver as an alternative...
However, let's say I go to Los Angeles in person for applying for the PRTD.
Will they give me the PRTD the very same day? Is there any information or estimate about its processing time?
Thanks again.

Was your card processed urgently?