Unemployed, carrying tens of thousands of Canadian dollars in debt, and those who may be unable to return to Canada for half a year...

Losing a Canadian maple leaf card—i.e. a permanent resident card or PR card—the consequences may be much more than you would expect.

Recently, a report by CBC has resonated widely:

Helen Bobat, a permanent resident living in Ottawa, Canada, originally planned to visit relatives and friends in the UK for five days, but encountered delays due to the loss of the maple leaf card. It has been delayed for several weeks and is unable to return to Canada.

In a foreign land, unfortunately lost the maple leaf card, and the only way to return to China was to apply for a widely known "permanent resident travel document". If you hold this certificate, you can enter the country first and then apply for a maple leaf card.

On the official website of Immigration Canada, Helen tried more than twenty times, filling out forms, uploading documents, and submitting them – however, it was frustrating that the Submit button was always gray and could not be clicked.

She even asked her children to try to submit an application in Canada, but the result was also failed!

It's really infuriating. At which point, there was a problem that needed to be corrected. However, the Immigration Bureau's system did not even provide an error message!

Not only that, she tried to contact the Canadian Immigration Bureau, but no one answered the phone and there was no message at all.

In despair, Helen asked the Canadian Embassy in London for help, but the other party left her speechless with just one direct sentence: "I'm sorry, you are a permanent resident, not a citizen, and we cannot provide assistance."

Helen's story touched the heartstrings of many netizens, and many netizens shared their travel nightmares on the Internet.

After leaving our country, Canada, those permanent residents no longer enjoy the treatment of Canadian citizens. Some people express this view.

Immigration lawyers pointed out that the procedures for applying for a permanent resident are complicated, expensive, and the waiting period is even more unpredictable - some people even have to wait for five or six months!

From vacation to forced stay, they are in debt of $40,000 in Canadian dollars

Last December, my partner and I had planned to go to Mexico for a leisure vacation, however, we were unable to return to our homeland smoothly due to the loss of the maple leaf card.

Although she held a British passport, she was denied boarding.

We are extremely angry! She sighed so much that I, who hold a British passport, and we members of the Commonwealth countries, seemed to be rejected by our motherland.

Originally planned to return to the resort where they had spent a good time together, enjoy a warm winter vacation, and use the offer to book luxury accommodation in advance, but was unexpectedly stranded there.

She sighed, "This is simply crazy." We have been stranded there for five weeks, waiting continuously, and the trip has been delayed again and again.

At the same time, cash is flowing out continuously. Not only do they have to pay for the extra four-week accommodation, but they also have a considerable amount of extra expenses due to work delays caused by leave, additional pet custody and phone bills, and late fees incurred by not being paid in time.

In the end, this "trapped" trip left her family with more than 40,000 Canadian dollars in debt.

Chinese maple leaf card stolen, missed the naturalization exam

Wei Yue in Montreal, transliterated as Wei Yue, unfortunately encountered stolen in Mexico. Not only was his personal property stolen, but his maple leaf card was also lost.

He originally planned to stay for only one week, but unexpectedly stayed for four weeks, and he didn't return to Canada until last month.

Compared with Helen, Wei Yue was slightly lucky, so he successfully submitted the documents and applications needed for emergency travel.

However, the real problem is that I have to contact VFS companies that have a partnership with the Canadian government, he said.

VFS assumed the responsibility of delivering Wei Yue's passport to the Canadian Embassy in Mexico, and then returned the travel documents to him.

“I call every day and ask, but no one knows where my papers are,” he said.

After nearly three weeks of hard work and hundreds of emails, Wei Yue finally made up his mind to try a new method, and he tried to contact the senior management of VFS.

Within 24 hours, my passport was accidentally processed and was sent to me the next day, he said.

VFS also said it would conduct an "internal investigation" in his case.

Although Wei Yue finally arrived in Canada, due to the delay in the trip, he unfortunately missed the naturalization examination for Canadian citizenship.

Fortunately, the Immigration Bureau has reset the oath date for him, and he looks forward to being able to formally take the oath in the near future and becoming a Canadian citizen.

On the Xiaohongshu platform, many netizens shared similar experiences to Helen, and all of them were very moved: some of them were that the maple leaf card had expired, some had not yet obtained a new card, and some even unfortunately lost the card...

In any case, almost all of them encountered obstacles from the "official website of the Immigration Bureau" in the process of applying for travel documents.

Some netizens complained that they have submitted for two consecutive months, tried to change their browser, computer, time, and even went to the visa center in person, but still couldn't solve the problem.

Leaving a message to the Canadian immigration department is like a rock. In the end, he had to rely on his own efforts to find a programmer. The programmer successfully discovered a loophole in the official website of the Immigration Bureau, which was able to solve the problem.

Does it sound like a joke? But really! of! have! use

I encountered the dilemma of returning the materials, but I didn't know why: I didn't tell the error or pointed out the omissions. The netizen originally planned to reorganize the materials and was preparing to try again, but he never thought that suddenly... was rejected again!

This situation really makes people want to cry and laugh! I don't know why it is because of failure; as for success, I don't know what to achieve. I could only comfort myself and said: Just pass smoothly, why bother with the Canadian Immigration Agency...

Some netizens have also summarized various "metaphysical experiences":

Change computer, change mobile phone, change browser, and unify file names - successful;

Change the application reason from "emergency" to "not urgent" - it was successful;

Some netizens actually received an official response, they clearly pointed out that this was a "system failure", but they were helpless about it...

Some netizens can't help but question, it's already 2025, why does the submission platform of the Canadian government's official website still lack clear technical standards and user guidance? Which browser, operating system and file format do you need to use? Can these issues be clearly explained?

If there are defects in the materials, can we clearly point out the specific errors, rather than return the application form just on the grounds that "the materials are incomplete"?

Lawyer's advice: Return to Canada by land

The lawyer emphasized that under the premise of lack of a maple leaf card, all individuals who plan to return to Canada by plane must apply for permanent resident travel documents.

This process may be difficult to control in terms of cost and time, and some people even have to wait for half a year to have to give up their jobs.

Many immigration legal experts say that even if the maple leaf card is lost, there are still the following ways to do it: first go to the United States, and then enter Canada via land.

"This may be the truth that the Canadian government is reluctant to let the public know," CBC reported.

Wong said the fundamental reason why this land border access has always been open is that as long as there are permanent residents on Canadian territory, they are obliged to allow you to enter.

He stressed that the Canadian immigration department stipulates that applicants need to submit information, and the purpose is to review the detailed information of permanent residents and there is a possibility of canceling their identity.