ukgirly

Hi,

Sorry, I’ve looked through the forums and everybody’s story is different, so I hope it’s ok to ask this question here.

I am asking this question on behalf of my daughter. She has been a PR of Canada (British Citizen) since 2001.

She applied for renewal of her PR Card in February 2023, through the online portal. No card came and whenever she enquired on the web form it was an automated message saying there were delays from covid and there was a huge walkout of IRCC staff. She tried calling a million times with no success in actually talking to someone.

Fast forward to July 2023 (still no pr card)

In July of 2023, she had to leave Canada and has been in the U.K. ever since. (Long story but quite traumatic)

I know about the PRTD but she’s finding it hard to understand the whole process and is trying to get home to Canada ASAP now.

She has photos of her pr card (cut in half .. she did this after doing her pr card renewal 😭 thinking a new card would arrive, as they tell you to destroy it) and one photo of it before she cut it in half.

She has a copy (from a photo) of her Landing document in 2001.

Is there anyway, she can fly from the U.K. to the USA and cross over the border, in a private vehicle without her PR card or a PRTD?

She has a British Passport.

thank you so much for any advice!

christmasoompa

She could return by vehicle, but what is your daughter finding hard to understand about the PRTD process? It may be worth suggesting she signs up to BE so she can ask any questions about it. It is quick once she's applied so that would be the best route by far.

Presumably her card must have been delivered by now? Can somebody collect it and mail it to her maybe?

ukgirly

Hi,

No PR card has arrived and she’s not heard anything about having to submit extra documents. I just don’t know whether it became lost in cyberspace during the strike. It’s really strange.

The problem she has (finding the PRTD hard), is on top of everything.. she had her phone stolen in London with everything she had saved on there for her supporting documents etc. Luckily she has some that she’d emailed to herself but the majority was on her phone and not backed up 😭

I had to do a PRTD myself last year after my PR card took forever. I had to leave for an emergency, so I can guide her through the process, it’s just that without supporting documents, she may not have enough. It’s all such a mess.

I was just really wanting to find out, how she can cross the USA border into Canada (what she needs) as I read that you can do that. Unfortunately on the Canadian website when you click for more info, about crossing by land if you’re a PR … there’s nothing about PR there’s only info about Canadian citizens/passports.

Jerseygirl

You say she had her phone stolen. Can she not access the pics she took of her records using a different device? I know that if it was an iPhone she would be able to via iCloud.

Unfortunately she will not be able to board a plane to Canada as a PR, as proof is required upon check in at the airport. She could fly to the US as a visitor, then state her case at the Canadian land border.

If she was a visitor to Canada she could enter on her UK PP. Unfortunately she is not a visitor she is a Canadian PR, therefore she should not try to enter as a visitor. If she did it could cause further problems down the line, as her records will show she has left Canada and has not returned. If it were me I would explain to the Immigration Officer at the border…he/she will be able to access her immigration records. She may be sent to secondary inspection. She should not worry if this is the case. I would be very apologetic and humble, taking as much information with her as possible.


Edit: One of our members is a Canadian Imm. Officer. I will drop him a note, if he is around he will be in a better position to advise you.

ukgirly

Thank you,

She can’t access anything (Android) all photos are gone (not backed up since storage was full) I have iPhone and the cloud is the same if not backed up.

I know you have to have a PR Card/PRTD for commercial vehicles but I had read somewhere you can cross without a PR in a private vehicle (land crossing)

We have driven over the border before but my husband is a Canadian citizen and they just wanted everybody’s passport in the car. Of course mine was a British passport, didn’t even ask for my PR card.

However, if she was to cross the border alone I just wondered what papers she could show, as they’d probably ask her questions (why are you here/where are you going, type of thing) with her British passport.

Also, not sure how she’d do it anyway, as she’d have to rent a car in the USA as her car is in Toronto 😭 if you get a rental in the USA and cross into Canada, surely you’d have to return the rental to the US??

Of course, we (her parents) moved province so she’s supposed to be coming to us first as we have been looking after her dog. We don’t live near the border anymore.

Just had really bad luck, the phone theft and it’s not going well trying to get her home.

I'm so angry at the IRCC … in 24 yrs a PR Card has never taken over a year, so it’s obviously gone astray, since she submitted the application for PR Card renewal in early 2023. Automated messages about strikes and delays from covid every time she tried the IRCC webform and nobody picking up the phone for months of trying!

I read on the internet at the time that everybody was going through the same problem but I thought her card would have come by now.

Had also read that even if it had come, you can’t post them internationally now, as the chip alerts the post and becomes confiscated due to security arghhhh maybe the PRTD will go through but I just wondered how other people have done it because there’s lots who’ve said they’ve crossed by flying into the USA and crossed by land into Canada without a valid PR card/No PR card.

Thanks again

Jerseygirl

She maybe lucky and able to do that. Whatever happens she should be absolutely truthful to any questions she may be asked.

She could get the train from US to TO. The train stops on the Canadian side of the Whirlpool Bridge and the passengers go through immigration then. As I have posted the Immigration Officer will have access to all her details. One time when we lived in NJ, we travelled to Toronto 3 or 4 times a year with our 2 small dogs, One time the Officer asked where the dogs were! On BE we usually say ‘Assume The Imm..Officer knows what you had for breakfast’. lol

bc2015

Can't take a train - has to be a private vehicle.

ukgirly

She would be truthful of course but I’m still wondering what documentation she’d need, minus her passport, if any? If anybody has actually done this and what did they have on them apart from their British passport? .. as in ID … would copies of her expired PR Card, landing document, Driving licence, Health card, copies of her flight tickets when she left Canada suffice?

I don’t think she could do a Train, as that is a commercial vehicle? It says a none commercial private vehicle, so I presume a car is the only option.

Former Lancastrian

From the official website

Permanent residents (PRs) of Canada must carry and present their valid PR card or permanent resident travel document (PRTD) when boarding a flight to Canada, or travelling to Canada on any other commercial carrier. The bus would be a commercial carrier. Some rental companies will allow a drop off in Canada from the USA though don't ask me which ones now do it.

She would need to apply for an ESTA to fly to the USA. Does she have any friends that could pick her up in a private vehicle either at the US airport or at the border on the US side? If her car is in Toronto then Buffalo is probably the best bet.

Does she have any other documents like Health Card, Canadian Bank cards or something else that indicates she might be from Canada? Obviously she will need to answer any questions truthfully and hopes she gets an understanding officer.

Lesson to others DO NOT travel without a valid PR card.

christmasoompa

Just checking, she is submitting a case specific email? Not just a general enquiry?? https://secure.cic.gc.ca/enquiries-r...e-cas-eng.aspx

For future reference, and for the sake of anybody else reading, it's possible she could have applied to expedite her renewal with proof of the upcoming travel and reasons for it.

And it might be worth your daughter considering applying for Canadian citizenship to avoid this happening again.

Good luck.

puggirl

we had this problem last year we had a holiday booked to iceland and our pr cards took 8 months we had to change our return tickets to fly to boston we took the bus to bangor and my daughter drove across the border to pick us up we used our record of landing papers and british passports at the border , we had lots of trouble with the online pr renewal documents not uploading their end but on our end it showed they were actually in the file anyway it was not fun i found the best time to call them was first thing in the morning took a few days but i finally got someone and she was very helpful i was very relieved when our citizenship came through hope you manage to get your daughter home soon

sharkus

Good point about getting citizenship as and when it's possible to do so. It'd also be a good idea to get a Canadian passport as well, as Canadian Citizens are required to enter Canada using their Canadian Passport.