PR card is expired

[dorota 1973]

My PR card is expired 3 months. I am a US citizen now i am in the Untied States, because my mother has cancer. I have to go back to canada to my husband and kids! can i travel by land with my private car?

 

[armoured]

My PR card is expired 3 months. I am a US citizen now i am in the Untied States, because my mother has cancer. I have to go back to canada to my husband and kids! can i travel by land with my private car?

Any PR can enter by land. US citizens (PR or not) can fly on basis of US passport.

If you are not in compliance with your residency obligation, you may have issues/be questioned but you'll be let back in.

 

[dorota 1973]

Any PR can enter by land. US citizens (PR or not) can fly on basis of US passport.

If you are not in compliance with your residency obligation, you may have issues/be questioned but you'll be let back in.

Thank you

 

[dorota 1973]

My son has US passport but his Canadian PR card is expired he is now in Berlin Germany my questions is he can fly directly to Toronto airport with out of PR card .

 

[armoured]

My son has US passport but his Canadian PR card is expired he is now in Berlin Germany my questions is he can fly directly to Toronto airport with out of PR card .

US passport holders who are permanent residents can fly directly without a valid PR card. Importantly: this is NOT true for PRs who hold other passports, AND you cannot 100% rely upon airline staff to know that US citizens are an exception in this regard.

Yes, it is possible to find a page on internet that states this explicitly, no, I don't have it to hand.

 

[dorota 1973]

Okay,i understand, so your saying that my son can go with out a problem to canada even tho his PR card is expired. At the border in Berlin before you enter the airplane there is an immigration officer and they specifically ask where do you live, where are you going questions. And since my son will be going with his sister who is a Canadian citizen. He can go with no problem to Canada with an American passport and say he lives in Canada? Thank you and I'm waiting for a reply.

 

[Ponga]

Okay,i understand, so your saying that my son can go with out a problem to canada even tho his PR card is expired. At the border in Berlin before you enter the airplane there is an immigration officer and they specifically ask where do you live, where are you going questions. And since my son will be going with his sister who is a Canadian citizen. He can go with no problem to Canada with an American passport and say he lives in Canada? Thank you and I'm waiting for a reply.

Why would it matter if the traveler (your son) lives in Canada? He will be exiting Germany, so why would the officer even care? If he were entering Germany...totally different picture, IMHO.

Both your son (and you, too) should use your expired PR cards at the airport in Canada if using an airport PIK (kiosk). Since you are both PRs (not foreign nationals visiting Canada), your U.S. passport will probably not work, so you would scan your expired card. Even though the card is expired, it will still work with the PIK. You may be sent to Secondary Inspection solely because your cards are expired, but this is nothing to be alarmed about.

If you choose to bypass the PIK and instead see a Primary Inspection CBSA officer, you will also likely show your expired cards. Your passport is really only needed to board the flight to Canada.

 

[armoured]

Okay,i understand, so your saying that my son can go with out a problem to canada even tho his PR card is expired. At the border in Berlin before you enter the airplane there is an immigration officer and they specifically ask where do you live, where are you going questions. And since my son will be going with his sister who is a Canadian citizen. He can go with no problem to Canada with an American passport and say he lives in Canada? Thank you and I'm waiting for a reply.

I would suggest he just answer truthfully. I don't believe and can't imagine why German border police would give a damn. He can show his expried PR card and tell them the truth, PR status does not expire.

Keep this distinct from the airline: because to fly to Canada he has to get on the plane. And it's the airline that decides that, not German border police. They're the ones who enforce - effectively - the requirement that PRs have to have valid PR cards. As I said, it is 100% that US citizens-PRs do not need the valid PR card, but the issue can be that airline staff do not always know all this stuff well.

[There was a news story recently about a Canadian PR travelling with a Canadian govt travel card wasn't allowed to board a flight to Mexico. The PR was very angry, accused the airline - publicly - of racism. The airline's response was (in brief) these rules are complicated and we (our check-in person) made a mistake. And the truth is, it does happen. Your son could avoid disclosing to the airline people he lives in Canada (if he's not asked), or carry with him a print-out of the relevant rules. Probably they won't ask and don't care.]\

@Ponga wrote that your son should declare he's a PR in Canada and show his expired card, and I agree with that.

 

[dorota 1973]

Okay thank you very much for your help. Everything is clear now. Have a good day