Sunny2804 said:
Hi,
I need to travel to Seattle for work and I have just submitted my application for PR renewal. When I am driving back, do the border security ask for any proof of PR card application submitted? My application is still not showing in the system. Not sure whether I should travel or not?
Can anyone please adv on this?
Many thanks
Overall:
Should be little or no problem so long as you present a valid passport plus your expired PR card
AND you have been living and working in Canada for the last three plus years.
That is, if your circumstances are and have been such that a CBSA officer is unlikely to have any concerns about your compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, showing your expired PR card should easily suffice.
Longer explanation with observations:
Typically a PR returning to Canada by private vehicle should present his or her PR card to the PIL officer at the PoE PIL (Port of Entry and Primary Inspection Line), that is the officer at a booth or drive-by window for a PoE at most of the land crossings. You can, however, display your expired PR card to show status. Be sure to carry your passport as well.
Remember, your application is for a new or replacement PR card. Even though we typically refer to it as a "renewal," PR status itself needs
NO renewal. A PR has PR status unless and until that status is terminated by some affirmative action (such as adjudicated as lost after a Removal Order is issued for inadmissibility, or when the PR becomes a citizen).
Thus, at a PoE, displaying the expired PR card suffices to show your status -- the officer will easily identify you in the system.
Beyond that, presenting the expired PR card (and more so not presenting any PR card) may cause the officer to refer you inside for a secondary review. The primary purpose of the secondary review is to verify your identity and PR status.
If referred inside for secondary examination:
Again, the primary purpose of this is to verify your identity and PR status. However, if the examining officer has concerns about compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, you may be asked questions related to how much time you have spent in Canada, and may even be requested to complete a particular form, a type of residency questionnaire (I forget the name of this form off the top of my head).
If you have been regularly living and working in Canada for more than the last three years, there are good odds there will
not be questions about compliance with the PR RO, or if there are they will be brief and no problem. Thus, for example, if your drivers license was issued more than three years ago and the address on it is your current address, and you can readily say where you work in Canada, it is unlikely you would be examined much, more likely a few easy questions at worst.
If in breach of PR RO (less than 730 days within last five years):
If you have not been physically present in Canada for at least 730 days within the five years immediately preceding the date of this border crossing, you will be in breach of the PR RO, and subject to being questioned more extensively about this. Potentially you could be reported for being in breach, issued a Removal Order, and face loss of PR status unless you appeal and win the appeal.
I generally do not give advice, but it is an easy call for someone who has not been in Canada more than 730 days within the previous five years, or if it might appear they have not been in Canada at least this much. Thus:
If you are in breach of the PR RO or perhaps might appear to be in breach, avoid traveling outside Canada.
How much risk it would be to make the trip really depends on the particular facts and circumstances. So ultimately it is a judgment call each individual has to make for herself or himself. But as a general proposition, best to avoid the risk altogether for any PR not in strict compliance with the PR RO.
Living/working in Canada less than three years, plus some absences:
In between those those two (less than near continually for the past three years but at least more than 730 days within the last five years), in addition to the influence of particular factors (in Canada last 30 months better than just the last 25 for example), how it goes can vary depending on what the officer perceives. If in-between these two, best to carry some proof of where you are living and working in Canada, and something to show you have been living there for the last two years. Alternatively, carry proof specifically of being in Canada at least 730 days within the last five years.
Carry any proof you think you might need near at hand and be sure to pick it up and carry it inside if referred to secondary. Avoid carrying a large amount of paper. Focus on a few key documents to show where you have been living and working in Canada, with some dated to show span of time. You only need this if there is a risk your compliance with the PR RO will be challenged. Not easy to guess if this is going to happen. I never carried such paperwork when I was a PR, but I was driving a vehicle registered in Canada and was living continually in Canada since I landed, and was otherwise confident there would be no PR RO questions for me (many factors, including border crossing history). Basically the less you have been in Canada, the more risk there is of PR RO questions.
Final Caution: Be sure to tell the truth about time in Canada and time abroad. I have recently been seeing actual prosecutions (criminal prosecutions) for PRs who have given false information to border officers upon returning to Canada. Obviously these were egregious cases, involving PRs who were in breach of the PR RO and were lying to the border officers about how long they were abroad in the hope of avoiding being reported. But a number of cases lately show that CBSA is paying more attention to the travel history of PRs returning to Canada. For anyone who is close to the minimal threshold for being in compliance with the PR RO, better to avoid travel for at least long enough there is not much room to question their compliance.
