Urgent, going travel then rememberPR card is expir

david0916 wrote: im going on a vocation tomorrow, then I realize I haven't receive my PR card. I checked my PR card status before and its  Your request for a permanent resident card was approved on November 3, 2013. Your Permanent resident card will be mailed to you or if quality assurance is required, made available for you to pick up at a CIC office. I don't think I have received any mail asking me to pick it up. should I still go on the vocation since the card its approved, then ask someone to pick it up for me then mail it to me? Thanks for all your help

david0916 wrote: but in my case they have ALREADY approved my application, I just haven't received the card.

Thank you so much Greeny, its so disappointing but i guess I would have to cancel the trip 

david0916 wrote: im going on a vocation tomorrow, then I realize I haven't receive my PR card. I checked my PR card status before and its 1. Your request for a permanent resident card was approved on November 3, 2013. Your Permanent resident card will be mailed to you or if quality assurance is required, made available for you to pick up at a CIC office. I don't think I have received any mail asking me to pick it up. should I still go on the vocation since the card its approved, then ask someone to pick it up for me then mail it to me?

No one here can reliably say what a person in your situation should do, in large part because there are way too many variables in play, but also because in general this is not an appropriate venue for obtaining personal advice.



Approval indicated in eCas does not guarantee delivery
The eCas message does not really guarantee you have a final decision approving the issuance of the PR card. It probably means that final approval is a formality, and the card will be mailed, but it does not absolutely mean this. Some PRs are sent a letter informing them to go to the local CIC office to pick up the card, and at that time there is a more or less perfunctory examination, to confirm identity at the least, perhaps a few additional, as they say quality assurance questions, and usually the PR card is then issued/delivered to the PR. But if the clerk ascertains some issue the clerk can make what is called a "counter-referral," not issue/deliver the card, and there could be additional processing. There is a significant risk of the latter only if there is some reason to question the admissiblity of the PR, mostly meaning some reason to question whether or not there has been compliance with the residency obligation. For a PR who has simply been living and working in Canada for most of the last four or so years, this is not much of a risk at all. For a PR who has been outside Canada more than in Canada in the last five years, sure, the risk is much higher even if they have met the minimum requirement.



Factors to consider regarding travel without PR card
A PR from a visa-exempt country (PR carrying a passport with visa-exempt status) and who has clearly been in compliance with the PR residency obligation (not cutting it close in other words), can ordinarily travel abroad and not worry much about returning to Canada. Of course there are things to consider, how long the PR is planning or likely to be abroad, how clearly in compliance with the PR residency obligation the PR is, among others.

A PR who is carrying a passport which does not confer visa-exempt status and who is abroad without having a PR card which is currently valid, must ordinarily obtain a PR travel document in order to board commercial transportation destined for Canada. That is, without a valid PR card and no PR travel document (to be obtained abroad at a Canadian embassy), such a PR will not even be allowed to board a plane headed for Canada. Recent reports indicate some significant inconvenience involved in obtaining a PR Travel Document while abroad; in particular, given timelines, planning to return based on obtaining a PR TD abroad is not a good idea for short trips.

If the PR is traveling to Canada from the U.S., and will be returning to Canada in a non-commercial vehicle (meaning mostly a private automobile), the PR can simply drive to the border and will be allowed to enter Canada even though the PR does not have a currently valid PR card in possession (there are, of course, the usual exceptions, such as for persons posing known security concerns), so long as the PR can positively establish identity (a requisite for entry anyway). Does not matter what passport the PR is carrying (should of course be a currently valid passport, just does not matter if it is from a visa-exempt country or not). PR may be questioned about compliance with the residency obligation but that can happen even if the PR is carrying a currently valid PR card.

In any event, however, even though we take international travel for granted these days, there are always a variety of factors which anyone should consider whenever making decisions about traveling abroad, so the wisdom of any particular trip is always a very personal decision.