PR card & travel documents
Your status is secure. Prove it easily. PR card renewal & PR travel documents
A PR card is how you show status and how you board a flight home. Renewals are routine — until the 730-day obligation is tight, your card has expired, or you are stuck abroad without one.
- RCIC-led
- Urgent travel supported
- Brampton & London
Residency calculator · the 730-day test
- In Canada
- Abroad
- Before PR
- Day 730
When did you become a permanent resident?
The date on your confirmation of permanent residence, or the “PR since” date on your card.
Count the five years up to when?
Usually today, or the day you plan to apply for your card or a travel document.
Have you left Canada since then?
Every trip, even a day across the border. The day you leave and the day you return both count as days in Canada.
Any time abroad with or for Canada?
- With a spouse, partner or parent who is a Canadian citizen
- Working full time abroad for a Canadian employer or the public service
- With a PR spouse or parent who was doing that work
Your result
Some time abroad was with or for Canada: those days can count too. An RCIC needs the dates and the proof.
Card and status
An expired PR card does not mean you have lost PR status.
Status and the card are different things. An expired card is a travel and proof problem. What matters is whether you meet the residency obligation, and how that is presented.
Which application
PR card or travel document?
Two different applications for two different situations. Choosing wrongly wastes weeks you may not have.
PR Card renewal or replacement
- You are in Canada and your card is expiring, expired, lost or damaged.
- Proves your status and lets you board flights back to Canada.
- Urgent processing exists but must be justified and documented.
- Filed with your travel history and proof of presence.
- Government fee $50. IRCC processing time: about 38 days to renew or replace a card (about 33 days for a first card after landing).
PR Travel Document (PRTD)
- You are outside Canada without a valid PR card and need to return.
- Applied for from abroad; airlines will not board you without it.
- Your residency obligation is assessed as part of the application.
- Do not book non-refundable travel until it is in hand.
- Government fee $50.
Source: IRCC fee list (opens in a new tab) (fees) and IRCC processing times (opens in a new tab) (PR card processing time; figures dated October 7, 2026), verified October 9, 2026.
The obligation
The 730-day rule, plainly.
One number, two exceptions that count, and the mistakes that cause most of the trouble.
- Rule
730 days in five years
You must be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days within any rolling five-year period.
- Counts
Time with a Canadian spouse abroad
Days accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse or partner outside Canada may count toward the 730.
- Counts
Work abroad for a Canadian business
Full-time employment outside Canada for a qualifying Canadian business can also count.
- Accuracy
Accurate travel history
Absences must be listed correctly. Errors here are the single most common cause of problems.
- If short
If you are short
Being under 730 days is serious but not always fatal — humanitarian factors can be raised.
- Travel
Do not travel on hope
Boarding without a valid card or PRTD usually means being denied at check-in. Fix the document first.
How we work
How we handle PR card matters.
Four steps, each one signed off before the next.
-
Calculate your days precisely
We reconstruct your travel history and calculate presence exactly, before anything is submitted.
-
Evidence any exceptions
Where time abroad should count, we document the spouse or employment exception rather than assert it.
-
File the right application
Renewal, replacement or PRTD, with urgent processing where your travel genuinely requires it.
-
Protect status if you are short
If you are under the obligation we advise how to present the case and what outcomes are realistic.
Questions about PR cards and travel documents?
We keep every common question — eligibility, documents, timing, fees and processing — answered and updated in one place.
Good to know
Questions, answered.
The questions we hear most on this topic, answered by our consultants. The full list is in the Help Centre.
Does my PR status expire with my card?
What is the residency obligation?
I am abroad and my card expired. How do I get home?
What if I am short of 730 days?
Should I just apply for citizenship instead?
More questions on this topic are answered in the Help Centre.
Related services
Explore your other options.
General information only, not legal advice. Rules, fees and processing times change — confirm current requirements on canada.ca before filing. Contacting us does not create a client–consultant relationship until a written retainer is signed. IRCC makes all final decisions.
PR card help
Renewing, or stuck abroad?
Tell us your situation and travel dates and a licensed RCIC will confirm whether you meet the obligation and which application you actually need.
Next on your path
Keep your file moving.
The checklist, free tools and guides that usually come next.
PR card review
PR card, travel document or residency obligation?
Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.
- 01Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant
- 02A written shortlist of the programs you qualify for
- 03Fee-based; the fee and times come by reply
CHK Immigration Services, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions. Prefer to talk first? Call 647-948-7200 or book a paid consultation.