The Ministry of Immigration updated the guidelines for the issuance of "Permanent Resident Travel Documents" in mid-month. For those applicants who have lost their status but are still in the appeal process, but there is no result yet, the immigration officer must confirm that either they have entered the country at least once in the past period, otherwise they will be rejected.

People who are losing their status and in the appeal stage apply for travel documents. Such people who have entered the country in the past year may be approved. Those who do not meet the corresponding qualifications will give up the application. Last year, the pass rate reached an astonishing 89%.

Among Canadian permanent residents who are still living in China after their Maple Leaf Card has expired, they applied for a "Permanent Resident Travel Document" during 2014 ( ), as many as 1,995 people were rejected and lost their permanent resident status due to this situation. At that time, the pass rate was as low as 56%; but as of 2015, the pass rate increased to 89%, and the number of rejected people was reduced to 303; in January this year, the single-month pass rate was as high as 95%, with only 16 people rejected.

Nancy Caron, a spokesperson for the Department of Immigration, stated that the Department of Immigration has not recently made changes to the application regulations for "Permanent Resident Travel Documents", and the number of rejections has decreased. It is speculated that this is because more and more immigrants are aware of the relevant application requirements, and some people who feel that they are not qualified simply choose to give up submitting applications.

The Maple Leaf Card is valid for 5 years. According to regulations, permanent residents must have lived for 2 years in the past 5 years before they can continue to issue a new Maple Leaf Card. Many "astronauts" who do not live locally and have returned to China do not dare to apply for a new card because they are worried that the residence time is insufficient. When they need to return to Canada, they apply for a "travel document" for permanent residents from the visa office of the Ministry of Immigration in China.

However, many lawyers engaged in immigration-related legal matters have noticed that many clients' applications have been rejected, and have reminded those with permanent resident status to note that applying for a "permanent resident travel document" is very likely to be a risky path, which means that it is easy to lose the status of a permanent resident because of this.

In the middle of last month, the Ministry of Immigration updated the guidelines for the issuance of "Permanent Resident Travel Documents". These guidelines require immigration officers to confirm that applicants meet the requirement of living in Canada for 2 years within 5 years. For some applicants who have no status, are still appealing, and have no results yet, the guidelines also require immigration officers to confirm that they have entered Canada at least once in the past year, otherwise they will be rejected.

You must know that the Maple Leaf Card is the official document used to prove the status of permanent residents in Canada. For permanent residents, whenever there is a need to take commercial transportation such as airplanes, ships, trains or buses, the Maple Leaf Card must be presented.

The guidelines state that if the person is a permanent resident overseas and does not have a Maple Leaf Card, or the Maple Leaf Card has expired, but they want to take these commercial transportation vehicles, such as airplanes, then according to the regulations, they must apply for a "Permanent Resident Travel Document" to prove their permanent resident status.

According to the guidelines, once there is no valid Maple Leaf Card and there is no "Permanent Resident Travel Document", the Canada Border Services Agency, also known as CBSA, uses the "Interactive Advanced Passenger Information System" to supervise entry and exit, that is, (), which will prevent the passenger from boarding the plane to Canada.

There are guidelines that clearly point out that what is called a "permanent resident travel document" is just like a visa stamp in form. Under normal circumstances, its characteristic is that it can only be used once.

The guidelines indicate that there are some special cases, such as applicants who have not lived for the required period of time and have had their status revoked. However, they are still in the appeal process. If these people have entered Canada once in the past year and can also put forward humanitarian reasons, then their "permanent resident travel documents" may also be approved.

Fearing that the Maple Leaf Card will expire and lose resident status, Chinese astronauts’ application for travel documents is greatly reduced

In 2014, there were 22,581 applications for "Permanent Resident Travel Documents" around the world. This is information pointed out by statistics from the Canadian Immigration Department. At that time, the global pass rate was 69%, and 6,735 people were rejected. By 2015, the number of applicants worldwide dropped to 18,953, and the pass rate increased to 86%. As of January this year, 2,583 people applied worldwide, and the pass rate reached 93%. .

Canada's third largest source of immigrants in recent years has been China, but it is China that has the most applications for such "permanent resident travel documents" in the world. In 2014, there was such a situation: 4,720 people applied, but 1,995 people were rejected, and the pass rate was only 56%. However, by 2015, the pass rate had increased to 89%, and only 303 of the 2,888 applicants were rejected. In January 2016, the single-month pass rate was as high as 95%.

Like India, it is also a major immigrant country. In 2014, the pass rate for applying for a "Permanent Resident Travel Document" was 69%. By 2015, the pass rate increased to 84%. The number of applicants in the past two years was 3,194 and 2,669 respectively.

There is also the Philippines, which has been Canada's largest source country for many years. In 2014, 1,351 people applied for "Permanent Resident Travel Documents", with a pass rate of 89%; in 2015, 1,676 people applied, with a pass rate of 97%; in January this year, the pass rate was as high as 100%.

Statistics once again show that Taiwan has a relatively low approval rate for the "Permanent Resident Travel Document". In 2014, a total of 423 people applied for the application, and only 123 were approved, with a pass rate of only 30%. The pass rate in 2015 also increased to 79%.

In 2014, only 135 people applied for Hong Kong's "Permanent Resident Travel Document". However, 71 of them were rejected, resulting in an overall pass rate of only 45%, which is lower than China's 56% pass rate. In 2015, the number of applicants in this matter dropped to 89, but the pass rate increased to 78%.

Immigration Department spokesperson Karen explained that for people whose Maple Leaf Cards have expired, they still have permanent resident status and will not lose their status due to the expiration of their Maple Leaf Cards. She stated that according to Canada's "Immigration Law", there are two situations in which permanent residents lose their permanent resident status: one is name, and the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) adjudicator determines that the permanent resident has no status after a hearing; the other is immigration. . . No, the second situation is when the immigration officer finds that the permanent residents no longer have permanent resident status when they apply for the "Permanent Resident Travel Document". At this time, they will also lose their permanent resident status.

If a permanent resident living in Canada is deemed to have lost his status and is asked to leave Canada, there are two situations: one is because there is no conclusive evidence that he has lived in Canada for two years in the previous five years; the other is because he has committed a serious crime, which may lead to such a determination by the tribunal or immigration officer.

Immigration lawyer Wang Renduo reminds me that although status gives those who have been denied a "permanent resident travel document" the opportunity to return to Canada to attend a hearing, it is almost extremely rare for people who maintain their status and can go through the hearing.

He claimed that once the application for a "permanent resident travel document" is rejected, it generally means that the permanent resident status will be lost from then on. If it is necessary to travel to and from Canada, you can only apply for a visa, and those from certain visa-free countries or regions can enter the country with a visa-free passport.

Afraid of losing identity after applying for travel documents, Chinese astronaut flies to the United States and returns to Canada via land

Mr. Zhu is from Xi’an. He is the one who withdrew his application for a “Permanent Resident Travel Document.” At the beginning of this year, Mr. Zhu had originally submitted his application, but was later notified that he had to submit a supplementary residence record. This made him worried that he would be rejected, so he simply withdrew his application in order to avoid losing his status immediately.

Mr. Zhu said that in the past five years, he had to go back frequently due to business reasons in China. Later, his wife and children lived long enough to be able to apply for naturalization. But as for him, he did not dare to apply when the Maple Leaf Card expired. Until the beginning of the year, he wanted to go back to Vancouver to spend the New Year with his wife and children. At this time, he learned from a friend that he could apply for a "Permanent Resident Travel Document", so he thought it might not be a bad idea to try his luck.

Not long after he submitted the application, the Immigration Department asked him to supplement his proof of residence in Canada for the past five years. At this time, he realized something was wrong, so he called a lawyer he knew in Vancouver. The lawyer told him that many Chinese immigrants had been rejected for "permanent resident travel documents" a while ago. If he provided incomplete documents, he would be rejected at any time. The consequences of being rejected would be serious, that is, he would no longer be eligible for permanent residence.

Mr. Zhu later discussed with his wife and decided not to apply for a "permanent resident travel document" for the time being. Instead, he used some other roundabout methods, first arriving in the United States by plane, then entering the country by land from Seattle, and being greeted by friends.

Mr. Zhu, who is currently in Vancouver, said that this time he has kept his permanent resident status, but he will have to return to China soon. As for whether he will be able to enter the country by land via Seattle in the future, he is not sure, so he can only muddle along.