The same status " in process."- 4 months!
What should she do?
Where to go?
Just to sit and wait?
At this juncture, best to be pleased with waiting longer, the longer the better. Given the breach of RO, there is a real RISK of a decision terminating her PR status and being Deported. Would have been much better to just WAIT for another year plus some before applying for a new PR card. But what is done is done, so now there is not much to do but wait. And if keeping PR status is important, to STAY in Canada while waiting.
LONGER OBSERVATIONS:
When they apply for a new PR card, even PRs
cutting-it-close, let alone those having overt RO compliance issues, sometimes encounter processing timelines ranging from 8 to 10 months, some going longer than a YEAR.
The PR can travel abroad in the meantime. BUT there are big risks doing that. Canada will not prevent it. Canada does not prohibit the PR from going abroad. But like many decisions in life, there are potential consequences. Going abroad again can hurt the H&C case for overcoming the breach or can trigger being Reported and issued a Departure Order when she returns to Canada, and unless she can travel via the U.S., so as to come to the Canadian border by land, in order to fly back to Canada she would need to apply for a PR TD and in that make a strong H&C case, which is difficult and risky.
ALSO, BEWARE, PRs who apply for a new PR card who are well short of meeting the PR Residency Obligation (and thus relying on H&C reasons for keeping their PR status) often are referred to the local office for a RO compliance determination, and this can happen significantly sooner than the timeline for the referral to Secondary Review commonly experienced by those PRs
cutting-it-close. AND this procedure can lead to the LOSS of PR status.
Thus this was risky . . .
But she does not have 730 days of residence in Canada. Now she lives and works in Canada. 4 months ago she applied for a renewal of the card, with a letter in which she wrote very serious reasons, why she was absent in Canada for so long.
Again this was
RISKY. Actually, very risky. This could lead to a formal Residency Obligation determination resulting in a decision that she has failed to comply with the RO, is inadmissible, and the issuance of a Departure Order. The loss of PR status.
If her H&C reasons are sufficient, IRCC could determine those reasons justify her retention of PR status. H&C cases are almost always
TRICKY and most often rather difficult. For a PR who has managed to return to Canada despite the breach of the RO, it is almost always better to STAY put for as long as it takes to get into compliance BEFORE applying for a new PR card, and before traveling abroad.
Leading to . . .
She can’t even leave Canada for a few days. Becаuse she doesn’t have 730 days. And no one will give her PRTD to drive back to Canada.
She can leave. Her choice.
And if she can "drive back" to the border with Canada, Canada will allow her entry (assuming she does in fact have PR status). No PR TD needed (she would need a PR TD to board a plane flying to Canada). When she arrives at the border, coming back, she might be reported for a breach of the PR Residency Obligation.
So it is NOT a good idea to make such a trip. BUT CANADA is NOT prohibiting or preventing her from traveling abroad.
Even if she is given a brand new PR card, UNLESS there is an affirmative H&C decision waiving her breach of the PR RO, she would face the same issues traveling abroad anyway, since like every other PR she could be examined about PR RO compliance upon arrival at the Canadian PoE. And if she has not been in Canada at least 730 days within the previous five years, even with a brand new PR card she is in breach of the RO and could be reported and issued a Departure Order.
PRs who have not complied with the PR RO, with or without good reasons, face the risk of losing PR status. This is no crime. This does not involve any penalties, let alone incarceration in prison or anything like prison.
For PRs who have not complied with the PR RO, it is well known they can CURE the breach by simply staying in Canada. To what extent the individual PR feels compelled by this to stay in Canada, that is a matter of PERSONAL priorities. This bears ZERO resemblance to being in prison.
And it is NOT true that a PR TD is absolutely not available to a PR abroad who has not complied with the RO; if the PR has a legitimate H&C case, the visa office MUST consider that and make a fair decision as to whether the H&C reasons justify retention of PR status. Yes, it is
very difficult to make that case. It is
very, very RISKY to go abroad and rely on having H&C reasons sufficient to overcome the breach. And this is true for the PoE examination as well as for making a PR TD application. Indeed, again this is true for the PoE examination EVEN IF the PR is carrying a brand new PR card.