Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary? and went around the flag pole, then returned to our old residence in France to pack up and sell up , having been assured that our permanent residents' cards would arrive in 90 days to my daughter's home in Toronto and she could then forward them to us. On this basis, we purchased our round trip tickets back to Canada since we have to return here, in any case, to finalize our affairs. The cards have not arrived and we are worried.

We are unable to find out the processing time for the Permanent Resident Travel Documents at the Canadian Embassy in Paris and are fearful that if we send the application (which requires our passports!), the PRTD may not be approved in time for our departure to Canada end of April. It was suggested on this forum in February that we will be able to board the plane since we have round trip tickets which means the airline is in no danger of having to pay any expenses of sending us back if that need should arise. However, Former Lancastrian stated that we would still need eTAs (if "posing" as tourists) after March 15th. (We know that this is purely to protect the airlines and that the Cdn border officials don't care as long as we have our COPR.)

Today I saw a paragraph on the CIC help centre site, to whit: "Canadian citizens, including dual citizens, and Canadian permanent residents are not eligible to apply for an eTA. However, from March 15, 2016 until fall 2016, travellers who do not have an eTA can board their flight, as long as they have appropriate travel documents, such as a valid passport." (Feb 5, 2016)

If we travel as tourists without eTAs, it seems our passports will be sufficient. Is that correct? Help!

Re: Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

Some years ago returning to Canada from the UK I discovered that I had picked up my wife's PR Card by mistake, the officer smiled/smirked and directed me to immigration, who asked me a couple of simple questions, looked me up on their computer, and let me in with no problems.

I have always found Canadian border officers to be be very pleasant and reasonable, i'm sure as long as you are pleasant and reasonable with them they will reciprocate.

Re: Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

1. You are not tourists you are PRs
2. You need a valid PR card or PRTD.
3. How you choose to travel back is on you and if you get back no problem without PR card, PRTD or with or without eTA.

Im sorry if I sound abrupt Im sick of answering this question because the boarding of the aircraft is the problem area and each airline does it differently.
Of course you could choose to fly into the USA with a valid ESTA and have friends pick you up or drive yourselves.
Many have done it without a PR card or PRTD when flying back to Canada so its your decision how you proceed.

Re: Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

I agree with FL: there are two things going on here: getting on the plane/entering Canada.

the question is: will you be allowed to board the flight to Canada without a PR card? No one can tell you the answer, even though it seems there will be flexibility with regard to the requirement for eTA for visitors for a few months. I would not assume that just because there will be flexibility with the eTA for a visitor, that means a PR can travel back without a PR card.

Once you arrive in Canada (at the airport or the land border) you should not try to enter as a tourist.

If you cross the land border with the US in a private vehicle, a PR card is not mandatory.

S

Re: Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

With respect what happened "some years ago" is not necessarily what is going to happen these days.

As others have pointed out, the biggest issue with a lack of PR card is boarding the plane. I passed through Heathrow a couple of weeks ago on the way to Vancouver and they had non-airline staff checking passports and status in Canada. I am sure that if I was a PR without a PR card, I would have been denied boarding.

Re: Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

I sympathize with your impatience, Former Lancastrian, and thank you for your reply and thanks to all those who took the time to respond.

Re: Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

I wish to add the recent sad developments to this thread. In an effort to track our PR cards, my daughter in Toronto contacted the CIC Helpline. The agent verified and advised that the cards had been mailed on 26 Feb....but to the wrong address. My daughter dashed to that address and the occupant advised her that the envelope had been returned to sender. The agent said it would take an additional 6 weeks for our cards to be 'redelivered'!! So our cards are out there, somewhere, but CIC seems unwilling to make any effort to correct their mistake by expediting the redelivery. Unconscionable, really. We immediately faxed a "Solemn Declaration" to the PR Centre in Nova Scotia stating that we had never gotten our cards and explaining the circumstances and the urgency but are unable to find out what the PR Centre will do now. Does anybody have information on this? Thanks in advance.

Re: Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

CIC only mail PR cards to addresses in Canada which you supply to them so Im wondering how they sent it to a wrong address unless you either moved and didn't update the address or the CIC officer didn't check the mailing address if you had moved and sent it to the previous address.
All you can do is wait and hope CIC resend to the correct address.

Re: Returning to Canada before receiving our PR cards - is the PRTD really necessary?
 

Right street, one wrong digit in the house number...that is all it took to drop us back into the bureaucratic labyrinth that we thought we had finally escaped. We will survive this, but we will never forget it! Thanks for the support, Former Lancastrian.