Can you leave Canada while on the PR status ?

[mikaeru]

Hi,

my wife is currently in Canada with me and we received the COPR documents indicating that she should now leave canadian borders and re-enter in order to get her PR.

It's unclear to us, but according to the CIC's site, once she gets the PR, she won't be allowed to return to her home country to visit her family once in a while, until the PR status is over (2 years) ?

Is that so, or it doesn't matter for her to visit her relatives from time to time ?

 

[Ponga]

It sounds like your wife has `Condition 51' written on her CoPR. If she does, that simply means that you must continue living together for 2 years, but she CAN travel without you for short periods of time (like a couple of weeks, but probably not for a couple of months).

She won't be able to travel via a commercial carrier (air, bus, train, etc.) until she actually receives her PR card in the mail. She can cross the border in a private vehicle, such as your car, with just her CoPR and her passport.

 

[Kayaker]

If she's Japanese, she can leave and re-enter Canada without her PR card. PR cards take a few weeks (like 6?) to arrive, so if she wants to go somewhere (doesn't matter by land or air or ship) she should just take her COPR and passport and she won't have any problem.

As for the 2 years, as Ponga says, short term absences are fine. You just don't want to do anything that would make CIC suspect you two are not actually living together.

 

[Ponga]

If she's Japanese, she can leave and re-enter Canada without her PR card. PR cards take a few weeks (like 6?) to arrive, so if she wants to go somewhere (doesn't matter by land or air or ship) she should just take her COPR and passport and she won't have any problem.

As for the 2 years, as Ponga says, short term absences are fine. You just don't want to do anything that would make CIC suspect you two are not actually living together.

It's the commercial carriers that often require the PR card to return to Canada.

 

[rhcohen2014]

It's the commercial carriers that often require the PR card to return to Canada.

i *think* Japanese citizens are visa exempt, therefore all they need to get on the plane is their passport, then the COPR is used to enter canada.

 

[mikaeru]

ok thanks

so you mean once we go out and in the borders, she won't receive her PR card right away but still be allowed to re-enter canada ?

 

[rhcohen2014]

ok thanks

so you mean once we go out and in the borders, she won't receive her PR card right away but still be allowed to re-enter canada ?

the pr card is not issued upon landing. it takes about 4-6 weeks to be issued, sometimes sooner. she can leave at anytime, and since she is visa exempt, she can use the COPR (approval paper) that confirms her PR status to enter canada.

while she can leave, it's important to remember applying for PR means you are planning to reside and make a life in canada, so unless there is an emergency, trips should not be months at a time.

 

[Kayaker]

It's the commercial carriers that often require the PR card to return to Canada.

Commercial carriers do not ask for proof of return ticket, or a visa, or a PR card, from Japanese citizens.

All she needs is a valid passport and her stamped COPR and she can travel freely. In about 6 weeks or so they'll send her the PR card and she won't have to carry her COPR around.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

All she needs is a valid passport and her stamped COPR and she can travel freely. In about 6 weeks or so they'll send her the PR card and she won't have to carry her COPR around.

She doesn't actually need to carry the COPR, as CBSA will be able to see her PR status in the system when they swipe her passport.