Travel Document – received

Well, that was okay!

Sat 20th – Posted
Mon 22nd – Delivered to VAC
Tues 23rd – VAC emails / phonecalls
Tues 30th – Email saying processed and dispatched
Weds 31st – Delivered to me

So a week and a half in total – seven working days from the VAC receiving my documents to them dispatching everything.

I’m really glad I applied for the Travel Document now – a bit of money and effort for peace of mind on our one-way journey. It also means that I’m now “in the system” with my married name, which hopefully means that getting a PR card with my new name should be okay too.

The Travel Document itself is a visa stuck into your passport, like the one used for activating my permanent residency back in 2011. The date of issue is 26th August (i.e. when the High Commission got it) and it expires in January 2014, so I’ve got five months to use it – more than enough, considering our flight is already booked for the end of August!

And I can relax now that we’ve got Tim’s passport and our marriage certificate back in one piece too.

Full text of the enclosed letter below:


Government of Canada
High Commission of Canada
Immigration Section
38 Grosvenor Street
London W1K 4AA
United Kingdom

Website: www.unitedkingdom.gc.ca

TRAVEL DOCUMENT (PERMANENT RESIDENT ABROAD)

Enclosed is your passport, which has been endorsed with a Canadian Travel Document (Permanent Resident Abroad).

Please confirm that the details endorsed on the Travel Document are accurate and appropriate in view of your travel plans. You must arrive in Canada on or before the expiry date shown on the Travel Document.

Travel Documents (Permanent Resident Abroad) are issued only to those Canadian permanent residents who do not have a Permanent Resident (PR) Card and are seeking to return to Canada. A Travel Document is issued only to permanent residents who comply with the residency obligation provisions with respect to a five-year period by being for at least 730 days within that five-year period:

i) physically present in Canada;
ii) outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen who is their spouse or common-law partner or is a child accompanying a parent;
iii) outside Canada employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a province;
iv) an accompanying spouse, common-law partner or child of a permanent resident who is outside Canada and is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a province.

Where a permanent resident has failed to comply with the residency obligations, a Travel Document may be issued if the permanent resident can demonstrate humanitarian and compassionate factors in his/her circumstances which would justify the retention of permanent resident status despite the breach of the residency obligation.

If you are returning to live in Canada, you should apply for your PR Card as soon as possible after your return. Information and forms pertaining to applying for a PR Card can be found at www.cic.gc.ca. If, for any reason in-•the future, you -find yourself outside Canada as a permanent resident without your PR Card, you will have to demonstrate your compliance with the above-mentioned residency obligations in order to receive a Travel Document (Permanent Resident Abroad) to facilitate
your return to Canada.

If you are eligible, you may also wish to consider applying for Canadian citizenship. Information and forms pertaining to applying for Canadian citizenship can be located at www.cic.gc.ca

(A203 02/07)