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Entering to Canada as visitor

Printed From: Canada Immigration and Visa Discussion Forum
Category: Canada Immigration Topics
Forum Name: Preserving Permanent Residence Status
Forum Description: How long can a permanent resident remain outside of Canada? Commentaries on preserving permanent residence.
URL: https://secure.immigration.ca/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3078
Printed Date: 24 Apr 2024 at 5:06am


Topic: Entering to Canada as visitor
Posted By: vk28
Subject: Entering to Canada as visitor
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2010 at 2:51am
Hi
I'm not sure if this is the right topic to ask for, but my situation is as following:
I'm planning to land within month with my family ( I'm primary applicant), but I should come to Canada for the short visit before the landing date. If I perform the landing process, there will be no time to wait for PR card and therefore I'll have isssues to re-enter Canada again.
The question is: Am I able to enter Canada as visitor, although I have Canada Immigrant Visa in my passport (There is no visitor visa requirement from my country)? If Yes, would it cause any problems with landing process at later date?
 
Thank you for the help....


Replies:
Posted By: Intel
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2010 at 6:16am
Once you become a PR, you cannot enter Canada as a visitor unless you lose the PR status first.
 
If you have some friends in Canada, have the PR cards sent to their address at the time of landing. Your friend, once (s)he receives the cards, can mail them to you by courier.

Since your passport does not require visa to enter Canada, there should be no issue entering Canada without PR card provided that you carry the COPR at the time of re-entry. However, I recommend to get a confirmation from CIC/CHC about this possibility. You may require to apply for a travel document before re-entering Canada: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/travel.asp - http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/travel.asp

 

Posted By: vk28
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2010 at 7:03am
Thank you for the response. But my question was if there is any issue to enter as visitor before becoming PR (although I have Canada Immigrant Visa in my passport) and then perform the landing process at later date (leave Canada and re-enter as landing immigrant).

Posted By: Intel
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2010 at 7:12am
You may check edmontona post regarding his case. He was allowed to enter using his work permit instead of his PR visa.
 
http://www.immigration.ca/discussion2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=38564 - http://www.immigration.ca/discussion2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=38564
 

Posted By: dpenabill
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2010 at 3:00pm
The real need for a PR card to travel, to return to Canada, is primarily for boarding commercial transportation destined for Canada. If you are carrying travel documents otherwise authorizing you to enter Canada (such as a passport from a visa-exempt country), that suffices. Being a PR does NOT change that.

A PR must be allowed to enter Canada at a POE upon adequate proof of identity. Here again, one's passport should ordinarily suffice for this purpose (and their system would also confirm the PR status). It is, of course, better to produce a valid PR card, but it is not absolutely necessary.

It is very, very common for people who are given PR visas to land and then promptly return to their home country or previous residence to settle affairs, sometimes taking years not just weeks or months to accomplish this. Very, very common, and well recognized by Canadian CBSA personnel. Not a problem usually unless there is something in one's circumstances that suggest a misrepresentation was involved in obtaining the PR status, or, again, the problem of being allowed to board commercial transportation (airplane usually) destined to Canada if you were not from a visa-exempt country and did not otherwise have a TD authorizing travel to Canada (PRs abroad who do not have their PR card may apply at the nearest embassy for a special travel document to specifically authorize travel to Canada . . . and of course this is what someone from a country that is not visa exempt must do if there is no one to forward the PR card to them).

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Bureaucracy is what bureaucracy does, or When in doubt, follow the instructions. Otherwise, follow the instructions.



BTW: Not an expert, not a Can. lawyer, never worked in immigration

Posted By: vk28
Date Posted: 29 Jun 2010 at 3:40pm
Thank you very much...
Very comprehensive answer...


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