BCparadise

Hi guys!
Im a newbie here..or a greenhorn..call it whatever!
Simple question, altho it may have been asked before...its about PR card renewals and citizenship applications.

1 PR card--my PR card expires in Nov 2014 and I need a new one quicker than that date, as i travel quite a lot due to my work (thats travel outside of canada, for a few days at a time, no longer than 1 week)...looking at the cic website, it states that PR cards are taking upwards of 100 days to process and that you cannot send in your application for renewal early on...my problem is that if I wait till nearer Nov, given the time they are taking, I will be without a PR card when I need to travel, and I dont want the hassle of applying for a TRavel doc etc....my question is, can I send in my PR card application now and hopefully I will get my new PR card in 100+ days?

2 citizenship application--I have already been here for more than 7 years but never bothered to apply for citizenship, but to save further hassles, I am thinking of doing it now....again, my problem is because I need to travel often, if I send in my citizenship application off now, theyre saying it will take at least 2.5 years to process...my question here is, will they start asking questions as to why Ive sent in a PR card renewal AS WELL AS a citizenship application? Obviously, I need the PR card as anyway for my travels.

PS Im over 55 so no citizenship test is reqd.

Any comments please?

pinzo

Hi

It seems you might a bit early to apply for your renewal PR card. It says they are processing applications received in January so they are behind a couple of months. If I was you I would submit your application for renewal around May/June. That will give them plenty of time to get you your new card before it expires in November. Since you only travel for no more than 1 week at a time it shouldn't be a problem.

For Citizenship applications, no it wouldn't seem odd that you applied for a renewal PR card AND put in for Citizenship applcation. As you already know you can't let your PR card expire just because you have a citizenship application in process....it doesn't work like that. CIC will be happy that you're forking out for both fee's! They won't ask questions, they know you are following correct procedure.
Get your application in soon, they are changing the rules for citizenship appliations! Just make sure you satisfy the current criteria for number of days present in Canada. Since you travel a lot, you will have to show proof of when you were here! Good luck with that one!

BCparadise

hi and thanks a lot for your helpful advice, pinzo!

sounds all set to go in that case...tho the citizenship fee has now been increased to $400 per person now...i had a feeling it was less than that last year...i may be mistaken!

one other thing....the form for PR card renewal does say explicitly that if you send in a renewal application the 6 mth period before it is due to expire, your application will be returned!
now that could be a problem for me....does anyone have any info about that..like have any applications been returned if theyve been a bit early?

im thinking of sending my renewal in now, but the PR cards ae due t expire in Dec this year...

anything of help would be much appreciated!

adele

They won't process the renewal if you apply over 6 months before your current one expires, they will only send your application back to you - so wait until you meet that criteria. You don't send in your current PR card when renewing so you can continue travelling on it while you wait for your new one. I applied for a new PR card in August 2013, with the first card due to expire Feb 1, 2014. I received my new card in November 2013 (with a trip to Cuba using the first card while the renewal was being processed), so I always had a valid PR card to travel on. My citizenship application had also been in process since April 2012, again no problems.