waiting for PR card

[natalyalex]

I was Feb 2012 applicant. The decision had been made on my application and I landed on Nov 29, 2012. During the landing process I was told that a PR card would be sent to me within 2 months approx. It's been almost 3 months and I still without a card. I am planning to travel in March , got tickets already. Never ending stress!!!
Anybody, please help, what's the current situation on PR card business? Are they behind the processing time or something else? Any Feb-March 2012 applicants got their cards?

 

[ONAP]

I was Feb 2012 applicant. The decision had been made on my application and I landed on Nov 29, 2012. During the landing process I was told that a PR card would be sent to me within 2 months approx. It's been almost 3 months and I still without a card. I am planning to travel in March , got tickets already. Never ending stress!!!
Anybody, please help, what's the current situation on PR card business? Are they behind the processing time or something else? Any Feb-March 2012 applicants got their cards?

Hi,

please call CIC and check with them as by now you should be having them. I guess currently 35-50 business days process time.

I have completed my landing Oct, 2012 and received my cards on Dec,2012

thanks
ONAP

 

[natalyalex]

ONAP, thanx for your reply. I did call CIC and the agent looked up my file and told me they're still processing it : even though the decision has been made on my application and the landing was completed. Very confusing! He gave me an email that I need to contact in urgent situations like mine. So, I emailed them my info and the copy of my flight itinerary. Waiting...

 

[draxz1289]

It does take that long, after my landing it look me 58 days to get the PR Card

 

[ofvgard]

I landed on Jan 13 just past midnight @ Niagra , during the time it said 56 Calendar days.
However, I was suprised to find mine in the mail on Feb. 15.
I guess Im just lucky then. I mean I am a single applicant, dont know if that makes any difference.

 

[natalyalex]

I was on the phone with an agent again. It turned out that they did not have any record of me landing!!! The document got lost somehow! They requested to fax them the page with the stamp. So, what I learnt from this experience, it would not hurt to call CIC from time to time to check status of your PR card. If I didn't call them and tell that I actually landed they wouldn't have started processing my PR card. Three months down the drain and my vacation is under big question :-[.
I wish everybody on this great forum very smooth and fastest possible processing of their applications, without any complications!

 

[KamSut]

So did you get your PR card?
If yes, could you please paste your timelines here?

 

[Karioca]

Does anybody know if after we land, can we travel outside of Canada before receive the PR card?

 

[elwebmaster]

Does anybody know if after we land, can we travel outside of Canada before receive the PR card?

Official answer: you can travel, but to return you need either a Travel Document (to be obtained from an embassy) or, if and only if, returning in your personal vehicle (no plane, bus, boat) you can come back with the CoPR.

Does anybody know from the time your status changes to "completed" on ECAS how long does it take for the PR card to arrive? Does it mean that they have finished processing your PR card application or it just means they received the paper from the border?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Official answer: you can travel, but to return you need either a Travel Document (to be obtained from an embassy) or, if and only if, returning in your personal vehicle (no plane, bus, boat) you can come back with the CoPR.

This is true for non visa-exempt citizens but not for visa-exempt. The PR card or PRTD is really only to prove to the airlines that a person is allowed into Canada; if an airline flies a person without proper status and that person is refused entry, the airline is responsible for the cost of the return flight.

So a non visa-exempt PR without their PR card or a PRTD would be refused boarding on the plane because they wouldn't be able to show proper status in Canada and the airline would not risk that, whereas a visa-exempt PR can travel to Canada on the strength of just their passport.

 

[milindpr]

What if a person already has a valid WP/Visitor Record and visa, can that person travel and re-enter canada while waiting for PR card to arrive?

 

[2_of_5]

What if a person already has a valid WP/Visitor Record and visa, can that person travel and re-enter canada while waiting for PR card to arrive?

Once you've landed your work permit and previous visa are void.

 

[elwebmaster]

So a non visa-exempt PR without their PR card or a PRTD would be refused boarding on the plane because they wouldn't be able to show proper status in Canada and the airline would not risk that, whereas a visa-exempt PR can travel to Canada on the strength of just their passport.

A visa-exempt passport holder is required to show proof of intention to leave Canada. Such proof can be a return ticket (out of Canada), hotel reservations, letters of invitation or other documents. CIC is clear on this matter, the rule is the same for every PR, visa-exempt or not. The fact that some people may have gotten lucky on some airlines (example: a UK citizen boarding a plane to Canada from the UK in a group of other UK tourists) doesn't mean that every PR from a visa-exempt country can travel to Canada without a PR card. It's a risk one would be taking.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

A visa-exempt passport holder is required to show proof of intention to leave Canada. Such proof can be a return ticket (out of Canada), hotel reservations, letters of invitation or other documents. CIC is clear on this matter, the rule is the same for every PR, visa-exempt or not. The fact that some people may have gotten lucky on some airlines (example: a UK citizen boarding a plane to Canada from the UK in a group of other UK tourists) doesn't mean that every PR from a visa-exempt country can travel to Canada without a PR card. It's a risk one would be taking.

CIC doesn't give a damn if a visa-exempt enters Canada without a PR card; they are easily able to verify PR status in the computer. As I said, the PR card or PRTD is simply to show the airline to be allowed to board the plane. CIC will not deny entry to a PR without their PR card.

As for visa-exempt having to show proof of intention to leave Canada, airlines almost never enforce this. My British partner has entered Canada many times; no airline has ever asked him to prove he intended to leave. Why? Because he is visa-exempt and 99.999% of the time, visa-exempt are allowed entry.

My partner landed in March; we are going on holiday and were unsure whether his PR card would arrive before we left, so we queried his landing officer. The officer said exactly what I did above: it doesn't matter because he is visa-exempt and can just use his passport to enter Canada.

 

[KamSut]

Does anybody know from the time your status changes to "completed" on ECAS, approximately how long does it take for the PR card to arrive?