I became a Canadian PR in 1994. Left Canada after 2 months and went to the US, became US citizen. Lost my PR record(paper- no card was issued back then ).I did not meet the residency requirements and I never cancelled my PR. 26 years later got married to a Canadian citizen in 2022 in Canada and my spouse did not want to move to the states. Moved to Canada on May 2022.Got into Canada with my US passport. Applied for spousal sponsorship immediately and application was closed Nov 2022 as IRCC recognized me as a PR from 1994 ( (figured my PR would be invalid- but apparently not.) So Ircc told me I didn't need spousal sponsorship. Requested a verification of status and got my PR number from 1994. I then applied for a PR card since I never had one. IRCC then requested in Jan 2024 that I give a detailed explanation for why it should issue me a PR card based on humanitarian reasons. Submitted my detailed 26 yr absence from Canada and why I moved here after marriage. I have been in Canada for over 730 days now since my entry 5/1/2022. It's been 9 months now since my PR application with my explanation was submitted. IRCC tells my MP my application is still in progress. Any advice on what I should do? Is this a waiting game ? I can't get a Canadian photo ID without the PR card and hence a permanent drivers license but most importantly am reluctant to travel abroad or to the US till I get the PR. Should I get a lawyer and get writ mandibus? Any suggestions would be really appreciated.
PR Card Application- complication
- Thread starter pdli
- Start date
Yes I have not left Canada since arriving May 1sr 2022. So I have been here continuosly.I applied for PR card Nov 2022 right after my spousal sponsorship application was closed on the grounds that I am already a PR from 1994.
No correspondence from IRCC other than the generic " application in process". My MP gets the same response when they call IRCC.
I am caught in a trap.I applied for an extended stay visa since I am a US citizen back in July 2022 and only allowed to be in Canada for 6 months just to keep my stay in Canada legal. No response was received to that application probably because the system shows me as a PR. So technically I might be in violation of my stay in Canada.
At this point I am just looking to IRCC to give me a yes or no for my physical PR.
Thanks for responding...getting a tad bit frustrated with this black hole that is IRCC and not being able to talk to an IRCC processing officer.
I do not know exactly what to do here. You could speak to a lawyer, but I doubt they will be able to give satisfaction, and I doubt this is a scenario where a mandamus writ would work.
But some small thoughts:
-I don't think there is a trap, you are not here illegally. You are a PR and here legally (until and only if your PR status is revoked and you're ordered to leave [which I state colloquially as I know little about being ordered to leave etc]).
-I would go and look carefully at the language in the request for information IRCC sent you. I do not know for certain but I think if you're not notified using quite specific language, you continue to accrue days in Canada and hence have nothing to worry about - save the hassle of not having up to date photo ID etc. This is something you could ask a lawyer about!
-I don't think that there is any risk of you travelling to the USA, as long as trips not terribly long. Just identify yourself as a PR on return. (Note, if you get clearance on the point above).
-As for other options: while i think overall this is a waiting game, there are things you could try (after getting clearance on the point above). For example, you could apply again for a PR card renewal - which technically is not 'allowed' but may have the effect of forcing them to make a decision on the current app.
-Obviously continue to bug your MP etc.
But again: the question you want to clarify right away is if there is any risk that you have had the number of days in Canada 'frozen', which requires specific administrative steps, and which I think you would have to be notified about.
I welcome clarificaiton on this from others who likely know better than me.
Thank you for input and suggestions. I really appreciate it.Like you said I should consider myself a PR until told otherwise. I am working and paying taxes since my VOS allowed me to get a SIN # so I just got to ride this out. You are right a lawyer will run me at least $4K and not sure it will impact the decision. This mandibus goes through Ottawa apparently and God only knows how long a process that is.
-You can get a consultation with a lawyer for less than that (an hour or two).
-I repeat, I think the key thing is if you can get some certainty that they have not 'frozen' your day count. The correspondence received from them may provide indication.* That's the primary risk right now - if they haven't done that, you are ok.
-Mandamus may or may not speed things up; hard to say. I'd pursue other approaches first.
-There is a 'soft' version of Mandamus where the lawyer writes a letter of notification (demand letter?) advising that the govt should fulfill its obligations on file in question, now (this is the demand part), OR we will file a mandamus writ with the courts (after some number of days or wahtever). (The idea is that government will take it seriously and try to complete the thing in question to avoid dealing with the courts. This approach still requires a lawyer but a lawyer might agree to undertake this step (for a lesser sum) on understanding that you may not want to proceed with the whole process.
*The freezing aspect: under some circumstances, IRCC freezes/disallows any days in country [as of some specific part of their examination process] as counting towards the residency obligation. This is one reason why applying for PR card in advance is often discouraged here - it's safer to wait.
I'm not sufficiently informed on the formal requirements for this. This is the part you want to clarify. If you post the 'business' part of your letter from them (remove personal info), it may allow some here to indicate whether they think this is what's going on.
