HI! My father landed in Canada and became a permanent resident in 2019, but he returned to China in 2020 to visit my grandma who's over 90 years old. Due to the pandemic and lockdown and travel restrictions, repeated flight cancellations during 2020 to 2022, and undergoing two major surgeries(cancer related) and recovery in 2022, he was unable to return to Canada on time and is now nearing the time for residency renewal. My mother stayed in China during this period to take care of him, and she also had undergone an surgery herself in 2023, my father had to take care of my mother during that period of time, and they both lived in Canada before the pandemic and his illness, as of now, they both have fulfilled just 1 year of RO in the last 5 year rolling period. I am their only child and have two children living together in Canada, my parents provide significant help, such as driving and childcare, which greatly improves my work efficiency. I wonder if a humanitarian application might allow them to renew their residency despite not living in Canada for 2 out of the last 5 years. If the application is rejected, can they still stay to complete the required two years and then reapply? What options do we have?
PR card renewal not meeting 5 year RO
- Thread starter edsworld
- Start date
Best option is to wait until they meet the residency obligation and then apply. If they apply now and are refused, this will trigger a process to revoke their PR status which they will then have to appeal.
Thank you, that is definitely the most favourable option, I'm hoping that my grandma stays healthy and my father's health situation after the two surgeries doesn't deteriorate. I'm looking at H&C option to see if it's a possibility in prep for any unexpected situation that may occur and they have to leave before they fulfill the RO, which is likely to happen since my grandma is already not feeling well, and my dad is overdue for his cancer checkup.
If they have to leave, it will only make sense to apply under H&C once they return or once they are ready to return. It won't make sense to apply under H&C and then leave.
Just want to point out that if you have to apply PRTD for them to return (with H&C reason on why they cannot meet their RO), collect information about their own medical condition and the grandmother's.
Taking care of your children adn driving them around is NOT a reason for them to return. Child care is considered work.
If they apply PTRD (H&C), they can travel once that's approved or refused. And then if approved, they could apply for a PR card. But they may still need to wait for it to get medical coverage in Canada.
Also if they considred to apply renewal under H&C (inside Canada) by return via US land border with expired PR card and apply for H&C inside Canada, they may not have provincal health coverage as well until the full process.
So be prepare to pay for medical cost during the wait/processing time.
Thank you, really appreciate both of your kind replies!
Assuming I have all the necessary medical documents, would you recommend that I explain the full situation addressing both of my parents, or should I write a separate letter to explain each person's situation independently?
I wouldn't jump to that conclusion, nor say that it's 'just work.' Quite the contrary - the 'best interests of the child' are things that IRCC must take into account. (And as far as I'm aware, there's no requirement that it must be the applicants own children - i.e. why not grandchildren?)
I'd be sure to include this informaiton but NOT emphasize that it lets the parent work more efficiently - rather that the grandparents play a significant role in the child's life and upbringing and they are close to the child.
This is NOT a guarantee such an argument - when the time comes - will 'work' (no guarantee of approval), but it will get some consideration and likely will carry some weight (perhaps not much, but still).
I just want to point out the wording. It would be perfectly fine with your version. (vs driving them around and childcare)
Can only emphasises what others have said before: PR card or PRTD applications that rely on H&C have a high threshold for being approved. The success rate is not very high from anecdotal evidence in this forum, as well as a cursory review of cases on CanLii.
You should avoid making such an application unless you have to, and certainly not do this in advance before your parents have to leave Canada. Deal with it when the times comes, but not now.
To be clear: the best way for your parents to retain permanent residency is for them to remain in Canada until they meet the residency obligation. Then they can safely apply for a new PR card.
You should avoid making such an application unless you have to, and certainly not do this in advance before your parents have to leave Canada. Deal with it when the times comes, but not now.
To be clear: the best way for your parents to retain permanent residency is for them to remain in Canada until they meet the residency obligation. Then they can safely apply for a new PR card.
Your parents have been gone for a significant amount of time so the argument about being in the be in the best interest of the child tends to be when grandparents have been in grandchildren’s daily lives so if they had to leave Canada it would be a major loss. This doesn’t guarantee approval but if there had already been a longterm separation there wouldn’t be any change if their grandparents could not remain in Canada. PR card renewals based on H&C are fairly rare and can take 1+ years for a response so could also be without healthcare for a long time if they didn’t have a valid health card. Given that they haven’t met the residency requirement to qualify for healthcare in any province they need to reapply for a health card when they return to Canada which often requires proof of a valid PR card
Not entirely true. Although there were flight cancellations during 2020 to 2022,I've seen people exit China and take flight to Canada (example via Hong Kong and Shanghai). It's their fault of not meeting their residency obligations. They could have gone through the surgeries and recoveries in Canada instead. My advice to them is not to renew their PR cards until they meet their residency obligation.
Yes, this 'best interests of child' is relevant if the parents have been in Canada and spending significant time with the children for, say, the last year. I had thought the OP referred to entering more than a year ago but now see it's not at all clear when (if?) they returned to Canada. If it's been more than a few years, validity of this point falls quickly.
Thanks for pointing me to canlii I was able to find a very similar case https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/irb/doc/2023/2023canlii66394/2023canlii66394.html?resultIndex=4&resultId=95146f4dc89c4a8893b014d1dfbec713&searchId=b05f166bb9384096b95dca8fa5dd1e0a&searchUrlHash=AAAAAQA8aHVtYW5pdGFyaWFuIGZvciBwZXJtYW5lbnQgcmVzaWRlbmNlIGNoaW5hIGNvdmlkIGFuZCBzdXJnZXJ5AAAAAAE
My parents are here for about three months now, and the kids are very attached to them because my parents helped raising the kids since they were born. I will emphasize this point.
thanks so much again for everyone’s insights!
You seem to be missing the point. They CAN apply for it now but they really should not.
Concur with what was written above: "My advice to them is not to renew their PR cards until they meet their residency obligation."
If they MUST apply before that, then waiting is still better.
This three months of being with grandchildren is thin. Waiting until a year or more is much better.
Even better is waiting until they are in compliance.
I totally agree with you, H&C is certainly my last resort. I’m doing as much homework as I can to prepare for any unexpected events. Any information that helps will be greatly appreciated! Sorry if I make any confusions in my replies. This forum has been a tremendous help so far! Thanks so much!