ARCHIVED – Notice – Permanent Resident (PR) Card direct mail-out pilot project

April 30, 2012 — Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is launching a pilot project as part of its overall modernization agenda to streamline procedures and improve services to newcomers.

Effective April 30, 2012, the vast majority of permanent residents who apply for Permanent Resident (PR) cards will no longer need to visit a CIC office and will instead receive the card by mail.

On average, CIC issues about 150,000 PR cards of this type. Newly landed permanent residents do not need to apply for a PR card since it is directly mailed to them. The card must be renewed every 5 years.

Mailing PR cards directly to applicants is expected to decrease wait times by up to four weeks. Direct mail-out of PR cards will also reduce the burden on permanent residents who, otherwise, might have to travel some distance to their local CIC office to pick up their card.

While the majority of PR cards will be mailed directly to applicants after April 30, 2012, a select number of PR cards will still need to be picked up by applicants at local CIC offices. This will allow the Department to gather information for analysis and continuous improvement. CIC will also continue to refer PR card applications to local offices to assess compliance with program requirements where warranted.

Under this pilot project, PR card applications that meet the urgent criteria will still be streamlined and processed on a priority basis.

Upon issuance of a new PR card, CIC will invalidate the previous PR card to ensure that old cards cannot be used. Permanent residents must destroy their old card upon receiving their new PR card as it will not be valid and can no longer be used for travel or proof of status.

This direct mail-out project is being proposed as a pilot and will be evaluated after one year.

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