Travel and Permanent Resident Cards

The Canadian Permanent Resident Card is a necessary document for immigrants who wish to travel abroad from Canada.

Canadian residents are of course allowed to travel abroad. However, it is important to follow certain rules in order to make the process of returning to Canada easier.

Permanent Resident Card

Immigrants are encouraged to maintain their Permanent Resident Cards at all times and to renew or replace them when it is appropriate to ensure that they can get all of the benefits they need from Canada.

All Permanent Resident Cards must be renewed after ten years. They must be replaced if they are lost, stolen or damaged.

It is much easier to schedule a renewal or replacement for a Permanent Resident Card before one leaves the country, so be sure to check the expiration date of one’s PR Card before one leaves the country.

Immigrants who are trying to replace a PR Card before leaving Canada can file for urgent processing with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Emergency Processing

If, for some reason, a Canadian Permanent Resident is without their PR Card when abroad, but must return to the country there are alternate ways to re-enter Canada.

Immigrants who are using commercial transportation to return to Canada will have to apply for a travel document at one of Canada’s many visa offices abroad.

Canadian Permanent Residents who are returning to Canada in a private vehicle, such as a car over the U.S./Canada border, can use another document in place of the Permanent Resident Card.

They can present Form IMM 1000, Record of Landing, or Form IMM5292 (IMM 5688), Confirmation of Permanent Residence to the immigration officer at the border. After a few questions to confirm the immigrant’s status, they will be allowed back into Canada.