Originally Posted by
airzim
As far as I'm aware, there is no provision in the RES system of any airline to validate residency status. You are required to present your PR or PRTD to the airline in order to board a flight to Canada. You don't state this, but do you show your PR card to the UA reps? That should clear it up immediately.
Plus I would give the UA agents a little leeway here. There is no way they can know all the rules and regs for entry into every foreign country. Therefore they rely on the RES system to enforce the entry requirements. The agents and the airline can get into serious trouble by allowing a passenger to board without the proper documents in place. If all they know is you are a Turkish citizen traveling to Canada, you need a visa. Unless you show proof of residency, how are they supposed know?
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/about-pr.asp
There absolutely is a way that UA agents can know every possible situation. It is the same for every IATA carrier in the world and it is available online to the general public. The UA website is one of the portals through which you may access that database: TIMATIC:
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/app...aspx?i=TIMATIC
That said and as noted above, it is extremely unclear on OP's point and thus he would be well-advised to have all documentation with him.
As a result, a complaint to DOT is a waste of time.