Entering Canada with expired PR

[zakraz]

hello, would really appreciate some insight on this... thanks

My sis in law came to Canada as a permanent resident in 2005 (15 years old) with her family.... after two months they returned back to Pakistan... in 2010 her PR expired... she's a med student from Pakistan who's been doing a lot of back and forth between the US and Pakistan... she now wants to come to Canada for good.. her brothers are Canadian citizens... will she be able enter Canada through a land border with the expired pr or will they send her back.

 

[Rob_TO]

hello, would really appreciate some insight on this... thanks

My sis in law came to Canada as a permanent resident in 2005 (15 years old) with her family.... after two months they returned back to Pakistan... in 2010 her PR expired... she's a med student from Pakistan who's been doing a lot of back and forth between the US and Pakistan... she now wants to come to Canada for good.. her brothers are Canadian citizens... will she be able enter Canada through a land border with the expired pr or will they send her back.

Yes she can enter Canada at land border with expired PR card. HOWEVER there is a very good chance that CIC will report her for not meeting the RO (Residency Obligation) and report her. This will start the process to officially revoke her PR status. She will still be allowed to enter Canada, but would need to file an appeal within a set time (I think within 30 days) or her PR status will be gone for good. If she files the appeal on time, she can keep her PR status and get temporary 1-year PR cards at least while waiting for her appeal date (can take over a year).

In order to have any chance of success at an appeal, she will need to integrate herself into Canadian society as much as possible, and show other strong ties to Canada (like lots of family here). Even with this, in the absence of real H&C reasons for not meeting the RO there's a good chance her appeal will be denied and PR status officially terminated. If this happens, she would then need to leave Canada but could re-apply for PR if she qualifies under an economic immigration stream.

 

[zakraz]

Yes she can enter Canada at land border with expired PR card. HOWEVER there is a very good chance that CIC will report her for not meeting the RO (Residency Obligation) and report her. This will start the process to officially revoke her PR status. She will still be allowed to enter Canada, but would need to file an appeal within a set time (I think within 30 days) or her PR status will be gone for good. If she files the appeal on time, she can keep her PR status and get temporary 1-year PR cards at least while waiting for her appeal date (can take over a year).

In order to have any chance of success at an appeal, she will need to integrate herself into Canadian society as much as possible, and show other strong ties to Canada (like lots of family here). Even with this, in the absence of real H&C reasons for not meeting the RO there's a good chance her appeal will be denied and PR status officially terminated. If this happens, she would then need to leave Canada but could re-apply for PR if she qualifies under an economic immigration stream.

Are there any chances of the cic not allowing her to enter Canada and if so under what circumstances or do they have to let her in but will report her

Thanks

 

[Rob_TO]

Are there any chances of the cic not allowing her to enter Canada and if so under what circumstances or do they have to let her in but will report her

Thanks

Since she is still a PR (just with a long expired PR card), she has a right to enter Canada. So the worst they can do is report her but must still allow her entry into Canada for her to exercise her appeal rights.

Best case scenario is if CBSA officer decides to just give her a warning about the RO and lets her in without reporting her, then she would need to commit to staying inside Canada 2 straight years without leaving the country for any reason whatsoever (else she could just be reported upon next re-entry), and only after 2 years would come back into compliance with the RO and could then apply to renew PR card.

If this happens, then hopefully she already got a SIN number back in 2005 that she would just need to re-activate, since getting a new one now is physically impossible without a valid PR card.

 

[rish888]

Are there any chances of the cic not allowing her to enter Canada and if so under what circumstances or do they have to let her in but will report her

Thanks

Canadian immigration legislation makes no differentiation between the entry rights of Canadian citizens and Canadian Permanent Residents. Both enter Canada by right. The IRPA has specific provisions that give Permanent Residents the right (notice this is a right) to enter Canada regardless of compliance with Residency obligation.

The only recourse avaailible to an immigration officer who wants to take away her PR status is as @Rob_TO said, to issue a report.

Assuming she wants to stay in Canada, she will need to take action on the report by filing an appeal. (The appeal document itself is just a simple 2 page doc that she needs to mail to the Appeal division address.)

Because she has no conventionally accepted H&C arguments that would tip the scale in her favor, whether she is reported or not depends on the nature and good will of the Immigration officer. It is pure luck.

If she is reported, she needs to get a full-time job, establish strong permanent ties to Canada, show that they are people here who depend on her (family is a positive factor) show she has minimal continuing ties to Pakistan, and overall show she is integrated into Canada.

Some things to improve odds:

Avoid entering via Quebec.

Avoid entering late night/early morning or when the border is not busy. Enter when it is at its busiest.