Anyway, I have proof of each an every trip outside Canada, not just entry, exit stamps on passport but also boarding passes, some not legible as photocopies but luckily the corresponding passport stamp is. Also tax return of 2021 & pay slips of 2022 & rent receipts & bank letters. So if this does go into Secondary review, I’m well prepared . . .
My query is, since the Secondary review seems imminent, would this be a request for more documents to be sent/ emailed or an In person ( or video) interview? And at a Consulate in India or at the IRCC office in Canada? And what time frame might I be looking at?
There is little or no reason to anticipate that Secondary Review is imminent. Odds are you keep or lose PR status depending on what decision is made on the PR TD application you have already made, based on what you have submitted (assuming you have submitted the "
proof of RO" requested). If there is a negative decision, denying the PR TD and thereby terminating your PR status, there is a right of appeal.
Current Status . . . . ??? . . . What's At Stake . . .
My understanding is you have made an application for a PR Travel Document. If so, that's not an application which goes to "
Secondary Review," at least not in the sense that a PR card application goes to Secondary Review. The visa office processing the application may, in some cases, request additional information and documents (and it appears that in your case they already have), but they can proceed to make a decision based on what was submitted with the application without extending any additional opportunity to provide more supporting information or evidence. This would be a decision to either issue a PR TD, or deny the application. If the application is denied that is a decision,
an official decision,
TERMINATING PR status. To save PR status the PR would need to appeal this and be successful in that appeal.
Actual procedures in particular cases, in practice, can vary. And I am not much informed about the procedural mechanics involved in processing particular PR TD applications, since, as I understand it, the logistics of the process can be different depending on where the PR is located abroad and which Visa Office handles the application. Anyway, it appears that you have already navigated this far.
Odds are, if you have submitted additional evidence already in response to a request, the visa office will proceed to make a decision based on what you have provided. Again, that will be an up or down decision, and if the application for a PR TD is denied that is a decision terminating PR status. Subject to appeal.
Hopefully the information and evidence you submitted was sufficiently well organized the decision-making officer will readily discern what is proof of residence in Canada, and what it proves, versus what is evidence of H&C reasons for allowing you to keep your PR status if it is determined you have failed to prove you complied with the RO. And, based on one or the other, grant the application and issue a PR TD.
If you are issued a PR TD . . .
If you are issued a PR TD, you are good to go, meaning good to come to Canada, and that also means your PR status is intact.
Whether it is a multiple-use TD, and how long it will be valid for, varies. I do not know how to predict which it will be. A single-use TD is typically valid for six months. Multiple-use TDs can be valid for six months, a year, or up to five years but only for as long as the PR's current passport is valid (that is, if this applies, the TD will expire the same date as the passport expires).
If the decision to issue a PR TD is based on H&C reasons, it will ordinarily be coded RC-1.
If your PR TD application is denied . . .
If your PR TD application is denied, again that constitutes an official decision terminating PR status. There is a right of appeal. To save your PR status you would need to appeal and be successful in the appeal.
This leads to some further observations in regards to the content of your query.
". . . even if I have to apply for another PRTD . . . "
The context for this is not clear to me. But one thing you should be clear about, however, is if your current PR TD application is denied, that's it, your status will have been adjudicated, concluding you failed to comply with the RO, and you lose PR status (again, subject to appeal). There is no opportunity to apply again (unless you appeal and win).
If you are referring to the possibility of being issued a PR TD but not being able to return to Canada within the time it will be valid, I don't follow the dates you reference. Any PR TD issued now will be valid for at least months beyond March 2023. So if you have 732 days credit, now, and will begin losing some credit as of March 2023, if you fail to timely use a PR TD issued now, for the application you have already made, you will obviously be relying H&C relief if and when you "
apply for another PRTD" later in the year or beyond.
Why I Am Responding: Some clarification regarding "proof of RO."
This is apart from navigating the logistics of submitting documents. This is about what is submitted. This is about what constitutes "
proof of RO."
Note 1: For what constitutes proof of "
residency" see the guide for the general PR TD application here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5529-applying-permanent-resident-travel-document.html#appendixa
Note 2: This is about evidence showing you were
resident IN Canada, not about dates of travel.
BUT first, importantly, proof of meeting the RO and making a H&C case for keeping PR status despite failing to meet the RO are DISTINCT. And in the organization of materials the PR submits, these should be clearly separate. Which brings up handling and presenting a "
mountain of evidence."
What many overlook is that submitting a "
mountain of evidence" is often a mistake. And it is definitely a mistake to submit a "
mountain of evidence" without carefully structuring the presentation and organizing the evidence in a fashion which highlights the best evidence clearly connected to the particular matters it documents, what it proves. The main problem is that a mountain of evidence is typically, to a large extent, overweight with a lot of irrelevant, barely relevant, or redundant evidence, and the sheer volume (unless very well organized and presented) risks overshadowing and obscuring the best evidence, the evidence which actually makes the case.
So, back to the guide (link is above) and what it instructs about proof of RO:
Well documented travel history MIGHT help. Will not hurt. But when a PR needs to provide "
supporting documents showing that you meet the residency obligation" the guide for the PR TD application states:
You must provide copies of 2 pieces of evidence that can show residency in Canada in the five (5) years immediately before the application, such as:
- employment records or pay stubs;
- bank statements;
- Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Notice of Assessment for the five (5) years immediately before the application
- evidence that you received benefits from Canadian government programs;
- rental agreements;
- club memberships;
- or any other documents that prove you met your residency obligation.
See any airline tickets or boarding passes listed here? It warrants remembering that travel history only directly proves two days of actual presence per trip. That's it. The day the PR enters Canada, that's one. The day the PR exits Canada, that's the second. Beyond that it is about whether all the available information supports an inference of presence other days . . . the big one, the inference almost everyone hangs their hat on, is an inference of presence in Canada the days after the day the PR arrives here.
That's not an automatic or guaranteed inference, and especially not when the PR is outside Canada without a valid PR card, in which event it is assumed the PR does NOT have valid PR status.
To get the benefit of the inference of presence in Canada for days following entry, that is the inference the PR was in Canada the days between a known date of entry and the next reported date of exit (no matter how well dates of entry and exit are documented), IRCC requires some evidence the PR was physically residing in Canada during those periods of time.
You say you have submitted such evidence. Pay slips and rent receipts and bank letters for example. And tax returns (noting that copies of the Notice of Assessment from CRA are better).
I sense you covered the more recent year and a half in Canada, which gets you close. Close enough? I cannot say, not anywhere near with confidence anyway. More evidence documenting your residence during this year and a half would not help much. It would be redundant (proof of what has already been proven).
