Dear Expert,
Our PR Residency Cards got extended till Feb 2029 after submitting Citizenship application in August 2023. Can we travel abroad for 3-4 months?
What would be our new cycle of PR Residency obligation, if the new PR card states March 2024 to March 2029, to keep our PR we need to stay 2 years during this period?
It is to confirm we stayed for 3.8 years during the first PR cycle Oct 2021-Oct 2025. (First PR expires in Oct 2025)
Any risks please?
Replying even though your query was addressed to an expert and I am no expert.
I am NOT an expert, not close. Anyone purporting to be an expert in this forum is NOT reliable and should NOT be trusted.
While I have read many of your posts and queries, I do not recall much about you or your situation. So the observations I offer are based on general information.
"Our PR Residency Cards got extended till Feb 2029 after submitting Citizenship application in August 2023. Can we travel abroad for 3-4 months?"
There is NO process for extending PR cards and, in particular, PR cards are NOT extended. (PR cards are issued for either 1 year or 5 years.)
It is likely you are referring to being issued new PR cards, what many refer to a getting their PR card renewed. However, that would have ZERO to do with having submitted an application for citizenship. But, rather, you made a separate application for a new PR card, which apparently was approved resulting in being issued a new card valid for five years.
In regards to whether you can travel outside Canada, a new PR card is not relevant; a new PR card has ZERO relevance in calculating whether a PR is complying with the Residency Obligation.
Meanwhile (with rare exceptions) the Canadian government does not restrict travel outside Canada by Canadians (including PRs as well as citizens), so as far as the Canadian government is concerned there is no reason why you cannot travel outside Canada.
If your question about whether you can travel is about how travel outside Canada could affect your citizenship application, again there is no restriction on a citizenship applicant's travel outside Canada. There are some risks, mostly logistical risks like difficulty getting back to Canada to attend an event (such as an in-person interview or taking the oath) for which IRCC has given fairly short notice. This subject is discussed in more depth in numerous topics here.
For applicants who have been outside Canada for lengthy periods of time within the last five years, there might also be risks arising from a breach of the PR Residency Obligation if they remain outside Canada so long that they fail to comply with the RO. This would be unusual for anyone who has recently qualified for citizenship, that is anyone who has been present in Canada long enough to recently meet the citizenship actual physical presence requirement.
Continuing Compliance with PR Residency Obligation:
"What would be our new cycle of PR Residency obligation, if the new PR card states March 2024 to March 2029, to keep our PR we need to stay 2 years during this period?"
Getting a new PR card has ZERO effect on the PR Residency Obligation. Dates on a PR card are totally irrelevant for purposes of complying with the RO.
This was clearly explained in the responses by
@scylla and
@armoured in the Permanent Residency Obligations part of the forum, where they very clearly answered your questions about this.
Not sure why, but given your further questions there it appears you do not understand their responses.
our PRs were stolen and we had to replace them.... what do you mean by rolling five year period, the new PRs date validity March 2024 to March 2029 ? please
Again, new PR card validity dates are NOT relevant.
Rolling five year period just means the PR's compliance with the RO is based on a new five year period depending on the day the compliance calculation is made.
Some examples:
If you arrive at a Port-of-Entry today, for example, the RO compliance calculation will be based on how many days you were IN Canada between June 17, 2019 and June 17, 2024.
If you arrive at a Port-of-Entry tomorrow, for example, the RO compliance calculation will be based on how many days you were IN Canada between June 18, 2019 and June 18, 2024.
If you arrive at a Port-of-Entry a month from now, for example, the RO compliance calculation will be based on how many days you were IN Canada between July 17, 2019 and July 17, 2024.
If you arrive at a Port-of-Entry September 24, 2024, for example, the RO compliance calculation will be based on how many days you were IN Canada between September 24, 2019 and September 24, 2024.
If you arrive at a Port-of-Entry January 11, 2025, for example, the RO compliance calculation will be based on how many days you were IN Canada between January 11, 2020 and January 11, 2025.
***Note: if the date of landing and becoming a PR was less than five years ago, the calculation is based on days in Canada within the five years beginning the date of landing. For a PR still within the first five years since landing (since the first day they became a PR), it is easier to count the number of days outside Canada, and as long as the PR has not been outside Canada more than 1095 days since the date of landing they are in RO compliance.
Residency will only come in picture if you don't get citizenship within Mar 2029 which in highly unlikely.
I am not sure what you mean. To be clear, however, to avoid inadmissibility (which could lead to a prohibition and denial of a citizenship application) a PR must continue to be in compliance with the PR RO while the application is pending. That is, residency remains in the picture right up to the day the oath is taken.
This is only an issue for citizenship applicants who are outside Canada for very long periods of time after applying. This affected more applicants who moved outside Canada after applying for citizenship back when the processing timeline for many was very long, such as it was during Covid. It can also affect some applicants who are bogged down with lengthy background screening investigations.
