Renewal decision mailed but not received

[bobbyma54]

I applied for renewal in August 2020. When I check the status it says processing started on October 28, 2020, and a decision has been made and mailed to me. But to date, I have not received it. I live abroad and the mailing address is my sister in laws address in Canada. I am planning to travel to Canada on April 9, 2021, my current PR card expires on May 1, 2021

Questions

• How do I follow up to find out why I haven’t received the mail informing me about the decision?- If the decision was made, say in October confirmation for which I haven’t yet received yet , will the 180 days to pick up the card start from October - What will be the start date for the new PR card if already approved .

[SettlementOrgMod]

@bobbyma54

I applied for renewal in August 2020. When I check the status it says processing started on October 28, 2020, and a decision has been made and mailed to me. But to date, I have not received it. I live abroad and the mailing address is my sister in laws address in Canada. I am planning to travel to Canada on April 9, 2021, my current PR card expires on May 1, 2021

Questions

• How do I follow up to find out why I haven’t received the mail informing me about the decision?- If the decision was made, say in October confirmation for which I haven’t yet received yet , will the 180 days to pick up the card start from October - What will be the start date for the new PR card if already approved .

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing your question and situation with us.

COVID-19 has put a strain on wait times, you can check estimates for processing times on the IRCC website. For information specific to your application, it is best that you contact IRCC using their web form.

If you receive confirmation for permanent residency, are abroad, and do not have a valid PR card, you will have to apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document. Generally, permanent residents can only use a valid PR Card or PRTD to return to Canada. Usually, a Travel Document can only be used once. You may want to read more about travelling without a PR card in this Settlement.Org article, I need to leave Canada but do not have my PR card yet. What should I do?

Here is an excerpt:

The only official documents that permanent residents of Canada can use to travel back to Canada on a commercial carrier (by air, land or sea) are the PR card or a Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD), also known as a Travel Document (Permanent Resident Abroad) issued by a Canadian visa office abroad.

If you are entering Canada in a private vehicle, such as your own car, and you do not present your PR card, you may be able to show other immigration documents.

While your new card will have a new expiration date, PR status is assessed on a rolling basis. This means that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will look back at your time in Canada over the previous 5 years.

According to IRCC, officers use the date that an application is officially received in the office in the examination of residency status. Using this date does not disadvantage the applicant in any way if the formal assessment of an application is delayed for any period of time following receipt of the application. This means that the officers use the date that an application is officially received to assess the 5-year period to meet your residency requirement. You can find some additional information regarding meeting your residency requirements in our Settlement.Org What are the residency requirements for permanent residents (PRs)? article.

IRCC also has a travel journal resource to help you keep track and record your trips outside of Canada. In this travel journal, the date of departure from Canada as “from” and date of return to Canada as “to”.

You may want to contact IRCC using their web form to make a case-specific inquiry, or consult a reputable and registered immigration consultant or an immigration lawyer for advice regarding your situation and help with your application.

We hope this information is helpful. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to post them here.

Sincerely,

Your Settlement.Org Team