What to do when your PR Card is expired and you are outside Canada
Thinking of how to renew your expired PR card when you’re outside Canada? Issued PR cards can’t be renewed when you are out of Canada but did you know that your Permanent Resident Travel Documents can?
With the use of your PR card, all permanent residents may leave Canada and travel for some time, and present their PR card upon returning to the country. A PR card’s validity is mostly 5 years, however, some of them are less than that. If it expires, it does not necessarily mean that a person has also lost their PR status. They can renew their card if they are in Canada, however, in the case of them being outside of the country, they won’t be able to use their PR card to re-enter Canada nor renew their PR card outside of Canada. They can be exempted only if they are traveling by car.
Given that an expired PR cardholder cannot apply for a new one when they’re outside Canada does not mean they can’t do anything. An option for them is to apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD) which can be done even outside of Canada. PRTD application costs $50 CAD and one must have permanent residency status for them to be able to apply for PRTD. Also, an applicant must be outside of Canada. An approved PRTD can be used to re-enter Canada and is normally valid for six months after being issued. Note that a PRTD can only be used once, and upon returning to Canada, an expired PR must be applied for renewal.
Usually, a person’s PRTD application is done by mail through their nearest Canadian Visa Application Centre (VAC). However, due to the global pandemic, some VAC may be closed, but the Canadian government offers a list of VAC that provides their services. But in the case that a person is not able to send their application to the VAC, they can opt to apply online. Also, due to COVID-19 and each case is different, there is no certain length of time on how long the processing of PRTD will take.
