How many days has she spent in Canada since becoming a PR (NOT how many days since her current card was issued)?Hi folks, hopefully someone can give me some pointers here - my wife is a permanent resident whose card is expiring early next year. She's currently in another country on a work assignment, but we would obviously prefer to renew her PR card before it expires. What's the best way to get this done? I guess we could do the renewal application online, but the website says you must be present in Canada to apply to renew... So one way is she comes back for a few weeks to Canada to apply for the card renewal. Will it be mailed after it's processed or will she have to go pick it up? Anyone have similar situation and how was it handled?
Will this be her first renewal since becoming a PR?
As long as she has met the Residency Obligation of 730 days or more for each rolling 5 year period, she would be eligible to renew her card. She will need to provide accurate travel history of any and all absences from Canada since becoming a PR...even a short drive across the border and back to get gas, needs to be listed in the renewal application. This is where many PRs start to panic, because they may not have kept accurate records. If she is one of those, don't panic but be prepared to add a bunch of time and effort (on her part) to sort this out.
As you have mentioned, she can only apply to renew if she is in Canada. The card will be mailed to her Canadian address, but could then be couriered abroad, so long as the courier company is aware that it is a card with a RFID chip inside, sinc esome countries may not allow those to be imported. Most people don't seem to have any problems, but the courier can tell her if it's a problem.