goneforgood

Hi all....is it just us or is everyone having a problem?
We landed at Toronto Pearson Feb 13, still no PR card at the Canadian address we provided. Two Case Specific Enquiries via the website have yielded precisely nothing, nada, no response other than the standard 'we'll get back to you within 10 working days'. It is pretty scary that government departments can operate like this...is it just incompetence or are they so seriously understaffed that they can't deal with the simplest issue in a timely fashion?
We are back in the UK winding up our affairs, but this unresolved problem is a constant worry and hardly inspires confidence. We are at a loss what to do next, soon it will be 6 months....surely it's not too much to ask that this final stage of the process proceeds smoothly. We've paid for it after all.

Snowy560

If IRCC thinks you are not in Canada it won't send the cards out. If you don't have a card (PRCs are not supposed to be forwarded on outside of Canada) you'll have to apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document to return.

goneforgood

Er...what? Not what we've been told. Many previous posts have just this scenario as a starting point.

christmasoompa

They may do, but Snowy's right, you're not supposed to have PR cards posted outside of Canada. When you sent the case specific enquiries, did you say you were in the UK?

Snowy560

The envelopes the PRCs are posted in clearly state they're not to be forwarded.

As well if IRCC has indications the person is out of Canada or it was a short landing trip, it will flag the PR card file. Not saying this has definitely happened to you, but if you don't have a card, you'll need a PR Travel Document to return.

goneforgood

OK, that may well be the case. We did not say we were in the UK when we submitted the first enquiry, we were just asking where our card was. It still does not excuse the lack of response, nor the fact that the situation is created by insisting that we land by a certain date when it is likely that affairs need to be sorted out after the PR is approved in the first place. We explained at the airport that we needed to have time back in the UK to sell the house etc, at no point were we told we couldn't have a card till we returned to Canada. We accept that it is likely we will have to fork out for a travel document, but the mess around the issuance of PR cards generally is a bit pathetic to be honest.

christmasoompa

I'm not sure you can blame CIC for their policies tbh, you have another 2.5 years before you actually have to move, and a house can always be sold from Canada.

I agree that they should have replied to your case specific enquires (you have checked your junk/spam folder I take it?), and it's unusual that they haven't, but I think the year to land and then a further 3 years before having to move is pretty generous personally.

Novocastrian

You'll get used to that when you finally settle.

goneforgood

Getting the PR card should be automatic as after 6 months it counts as a renewal I think, and you have to pay again. May be wrong on that one, anyone? I'm not complaining about the amount of time we have to move, only that the PR card seems to be caught up in this Catch 22 situation and no, we can't sell the house from Canada as we need the money to live on.

Siouxie

Apply for, renew or replace a permanent resident card

There is no fee for an initial PR card (so there is no 'paying again' as you wouldn't have had to pay for it originally). However, you are correct that there is a $50 fee if you don't notify them of an address in Canada within 180 days and have to apply for a PR card.

goneforgood

The trouble is, I don't know if a card has been issued and lost in the post, or just not issued. The complete lack of response to our enquiries (and yes, we check our spam folders all the time) leaves us in limbo...where do we go from here? I can't give our permanent address in Canada as it is a rural location and we haven't applied for a mail box yet. The address we did give is a friend's.

goneforgood

Thanks for the helpful replies btw.

cxx

We didn't get one of our PR cards sent and when we queried it they said it was because they didn't accept the photo (even though all photos were from the same place!) so they sent us the documentation to submit another. I got the impression that we had to chase them and they wouldn't have done anything if we hadn't.

Siouxie

Do you have a MyCIC account? You could check on there or send a message if you do. Present processing times is 57 days and they will only respond to a case specific enquiry if it has been the processing time plus 6 weeks - so 14 weeks total... which has already passed. It may be worth your while to fill out the 'solemn declaration' - Solemn Declaration Concerning a Lost, Stolen, Destroyed or Never-Received Permanent Resident Card

"Use this form if: you have waited six weeks longer than the normal processing time and you still have not received your PR card"

goneforgood

Thank you...we will try this shortly if things don't come to fruition.