Permanent Resident Travel Document

All permanent residents of Canada need to own a valid permanent resident (PR) card in order to enter Canada.

However, if you don’t have a valid PR card in your possession, you may be eligible for a permanent resident travel document (PRTD) to allow for travel to Canada instead.

A PRTD is a document placed in your passport that usually allows for single entry into Canada. It shows travel carriers that you are a permanent resident of Canada with a right to travel.

Permanent residents can only use valid PR cards or PRTDs to travel into Canada by plane, boat, train or bus.

Page Contents

• Overview of Permanent Resident Travel Documents
• Who Can Apply for a PRTD?
• How Can I Meet the Residency Obligations for a PRTD?
• Accompanying a Canadian Citizen Outside Canada as Part of Your Residency Obligation
• Employment Outside Canada as Part of Your Residency Obligation
• Accompanying a Permanent Resident Outside Canada as Part of Your Residency Obligation
• Keeping Your Permanent Resident Status on Humanitarian or Compassionate Grounds
• How to Apply for a PRTD
• What Documents Do I Need to Include With My PRTD Application?
• What Are the Fees and Processing Times for PRTDs?
• What Happens After I Apply?
• How Can Total Law Help?

You should only apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document if you:

• Have permanent resident status in Canada
• Don’t have a valid PR card
• Are outside Canada
• Will travel to Canada by plane, boat, train or bus

In addition, in order to be eligible for a PRTD, you must:

• Prove your identity
• Confirm your permanent resident status
• Meet the residency obligation of a permanent resident

You must demonstrate that you have fulfilled the residency obligations of a permanent resident in Canada when you apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document.

If you’ve been a permanent resident for five years or more, you must have been physically present in Canada for a minimum of 730 days within the five years immediately before you apply for a PRTD.

If you’ve been a permanent resident for less than five years, you must show that you will be able to meet the minimum of 730 days of physical presence in Canada within five years of the date you became a permanent resident.

You may also be allowed to count time spent outside of Canada towards your residency obligation if one of the following scenarios applied to you:

• You accompanied a Canadian citizen outside of Canada
• You carried out employment for a Canadian company outside of Canada
• You accompanied a permanent resident outside of Canada

To help meet the residency obligation criteria for a Permanent Resident Travel Document, you may count each day that you accompanied a Canadian citizen outside Canada as long as this person is your spouse, common-law partner, or parent (if you are a child under 19 years of age).

In order to do this, you must provide supporting documents to prove both of the following:

• The person you are accompanying is a Canadian citizen
• You are the spouse, common-law partner or child of that person

Necessary supporting documents you will need to present in your application include:

• All passports or other travel documents that the person you are accompanying used in the five years before the application
• Documents showing the citizenship of the person you are accompanying, including the date the person became a Canadian citizen
• Proof of the residential addresses of the person you are accompanying for the five years before the application
• Marriage licence or proof of common-law partnership (if you are accompanying a spouse or common-law partner)
• Child’s birth certificate, baptismal document, or adoption or legal guardianship document (if you are accompanying a parent)

You may also include:

• Canadian Income Tax Notice of Assessment (NOA) for the past two years
• School or employment records
• Association or club memberships;
• Any other documents you wish to submit to be considered

To help meet the residency obligation criteria for a Permanent Resident Travel Document, you may count each day you worked outside Canada if your employment meets the following requirements:

• You are an employee of, or under contract to:
  • A Canadian business
  • The public service of Canada
  • A province or territory

And:

• As a term of your employment or contract, you are assigned on a full-time basis to:
  • A position outside Canada
  • An affiliated enterprise outside Canada, or
  • A client of the Canadian business or the public service outside Canada

Necessary supporting documents you will need to present in your application include:

• A letter signed by an official of the business that confirms:
  • The position and title of the signing official
  • The nature of the business and how it fits the description of a Canadian business
  • Details of your assignment or contract outside Canada such as:
    • The length of the assignment
    • Confirmation that you are a full-time employee of the Canadian business working abroad on a full-time basis as a term of your employment, or that you are on contract working abroad on a full-time basis as a term of your contract
    • A description or copy of the position profile regarding the assignment or contract abroad
  • That you will continue working for the employer in Canada after your assignment ends
  • That the business was not created mainly for the purpose of meeting your residency obligation

To help meet the residency obligation criteria for a Permanent Resident Travel Document, you may count each day that you accompanied a Canadian permanent resident outside Canada as long as this person meets both of the following criteria:

• They are your spouse, common-law partner, or parent (if you are a child under 19 years of age)
• They were employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a province or territory during the time you accompanied them.

Necessary supporting documents you will need to present in your application include:

• Documents showing the person you are accompanying meets the residency obligation
• All passports or other travel documents the person you are accompanying used in the five years before the application
• Marriage licence or proof of common-law partnership (if you are accompanying a permanent resident spouse or common-law partner)
• Child’s birth certificate, baptismal document, or adoption or legal guardianship document (if you are accompanying a permanent resident parent)

You may also include:

• School or employment records
• Canadian Income Tax Notice of Assessment
• Association or club memberships
• Any other documents you wish to submit to be considered

If you’re unable to meet the residency obligations of permanent residency when applying for a Permanent Resident Travel Document, you may still be able to keep your permanent resident status on humanitarian or compassionate grounds.

To do this, you must show that there were exceptional circumstances or factors beyond your control that have kept you living outside Canada.

Factors that might be acceptable include unusual, undeserved, or disproportionate hardships you would face if you lost your Canadian permanent resident status.

In order for your PRTD application to be considered on these grounds, you must:

• Fill in the ‘Humanitarian and compassionate grounds’ section of the ‘Application for a Permanent Resident Card (PR card) or Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD) [IMM 5444]’ form
• Provide proof that there are compelling humanitarian and compassionate factors in your personal circumstances that justify keeping your permanent resident status
• Describe why you were not able to meet the residency obligation
• Describe the extent of any hardship the loss of residency status would cause to:
  • Yourself
  • Family members who would be directly affected by this decision
  • The best interests of any child directly affected by this decision, if this applies to you

There are no specific guidelines regarding the supporting documents you need to submit. However, you should provide documents and information on any aspect of your exceptional circumstances that would justify keeping your permanent resident status.

An officer will consider the factors of your case and will make a decision based on the information and documents you provide with your application.