Entering Canada with an Expired PR Card - Q&A's.note¶

Source: /Volumes/X9 Pro/ObsNotes/YoudaoYunNotes/CAN/Entering Canada with an Expired PR Card - Q&A's.note.pdf Converted: 2025-12-10 12:17:06

Entering Canada with an expired PR card

I have an expired PR card (2009). Last time I left Canada was end of 2008 as I was not able to get a

job there. Currently I work and live in USA. In 2006 - 2008 I always traveled by a car back forward

from Canada to USA and they never stamp my passport. I don't meet the residency obligation but I

am planning to move back to Canada very soon as I got a job offer there. Once I enter Canada, I am

planning to wait for awhile till I meet the residency obligation and renew my PR.

I am not sure what my options here are. Should apply travel document or enter Canadian border by

a car (a rented car with Canadian registered)?

Btw, I just renewed my passport in Oct 2010, and my passport is pretty much black, clear, no records

for any travels, and no sign of any Canadian connection to it. I still have a valid driver's license, SIN

card, Healthcare Card and bank account.

I would like to know – if any – my options to enter Canada without getting my PR to be revoked. Any

ideas or advices will be highly appreciated.

Questions:

Will they let me in if I enter Canadian border by a rented car and show them an expired PR card?

-- Maybe. No guarantees.

If they are not satisfied with my answers regarding my residency obligation, what will happen? Is

there any possibility they will deport me from Canada right away? I still have all valid cards (driver's

license, SIN card, Healthcare card, Bank Account). The address on the driver's licenses is still valid

as I use my friend address in Canada.

-- They could report you for not meeting the requirements and you would then be allowed into

Canada for the time being but you would have to appeal for your PR and you could lose. They might

not report you. From what other people have said, it seems common to get a stern talking to, they

might even tell you that your PR is gone. They might even take your PR card away but if they do not

report you, you do not lose your PR. You could stay 730 days without leaving and then apply to

renew your card and they would have to do it. Some say less chance of getting reported if you cross

from the US but getting reported with a valid PR card is still not that common.

Being reported means the immigration officers figure out when you enter that you do not meet the

residency obligation and decide to report you as being in breach of it. This means that they start the

process of revoking your PR. You would be allowed to enter Canada and appeal their decision,

proving that you had mitigating circumstances. If you lose your appeal, you would lose your PR.

Being reported is not that common. If you say that you were taking care of a sick relative and that

you are ready to prove it if necessary, even if you don't have any documents with you when you

enter, you will probably not get reported. If you are not reported, you can enter Canada and stay for

2 years and then apply to renew your PR cards without needing any proof of medical reports.

What kind of documents or information that I need to provide to show them that I still tie with

Canada?

-- If you want to win an appeal, you would need some humane and compassionate reasons for why

you could not meet the residency requirements. Not being able to find a good job is not a good

reason. Taking care of a dying relative would be a good reason but if you have to appeal, they would

ask you to prove that.

If I apply TD, how much chance will I get that approved? -- If you apply for a TD without meeting

the requirements and without having a good H&C reason, you will not get it.

If you are visa exempt, you would never need a travel document. You can always get on a plane on

the strength of your passport and try your luck with immigration with your landing documents and

expired PR card.

If you are not visa exempt and your PR card is expired, you need a travel document to be allowed to

board the plane but if you have a US visa, are visa exempt to the US or can get a US visa, you would

have the option of going to the US and entering on the land border with a private car, rented car or by

foot.

If you don't meet the residency requirements, you probably have a better chance taking your chance

at the border than applying for a travel document. If you apply for a travel document, they will decide

then and there if you meet the requirements or have you mitigating circumstances etc. At the border,

the immigration officer could report you if you don't meet the requirements but they often just seem to

give people a talking to and then let them in anyway. If that happens, you have the option of staying

for a full 2 years without leaving at which time you meet the requirements again.

Will a rental car be accepted as a non-commercial carrier/means of transport? Or do I let my wife

drive across the border to pick me up.

-- A rental car should be accepted but you might want to get a rental on Canadian plates because

some IO's have a bug up their nose about PR's driving US plated cars in Canada. You should be

able to get a rental on Canadian plates in any bigger town close to the border but you can call around

and ask.

Some guys mentioned at this forum that if one is travelling on private vehicle from USA to Canada

then record of landing is sufficient to enter Canada and PR card is not required then.

I have a friend that kept going in and out of Canada by road into the US after his PR card expired. In

most cases he intentionally left his expired PR card at home. He gets challenged at the border each

time but he always argues with them that he didn't need his PR card because he was in a private

vehicle (and not a commercial transport). Each time, he got let back in Canada. I wouldn't take that

risk though if I am already in Canada but if I am outside of Canada, it's worth trying.

Quote from: - page 7

For persons who have been permanent residents of Canada for more than five years, the only five-

year period that can be considered in calculating whether an applicant has met the residency

obligation is the one immediately before the application is received in the visa office. A28(2)(b)(ii)

precludes a visa officer from examining any period other than the most recent five-year period

immediately before the date of receipt of the application.

Even if a person had resided away from Canada for many years, but returned to Canada and

resided there for a minimum of 730 days during the last five years, that person would comply with the

residency obligation and remain a permanent resident. An officer is not permitted to consider just any

five-year period in the applicant's past, but must always assess the most recent five-year period

preceding the receipt of the application.

voluntary relinquishment [ ] pages 23

and 24

If you do not respond, the most likely outcome is that they will issue you a removal order - a 30 day

departure order. If you ignore that order, it will convert into a deportation order. A deportation order

constitutes a lifetime ban on entering Canada. Of course, there's a process for lifting such a ban, but

it's an expensive and time-consuming process.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op10-eng.pdf

http://cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/enf/enf23-eng.pdf