Residency requirements not fulfilled

[hisforharry]

Hi,
I did my soft landing in Jan 2019 after getting my PR through Express Entry route and stayed in Canada for three months before i returned to India again. My PR card expiry date is in Feb 2024 and due to personal reasons i am unable to travel back to Canada and i am afraid i will not be able to meet my residency requirements. While in India my status also changed as i got married and now I don’t know how to sponsor my wife’s PR as one needs to be inland to apply for sponsorship. Because of this pandemic and also during my time in India my wife had to undergo a surgery and so did my mother in law and i have myself been facing certain health issues, I have been unable to travel back. My wife is the only child to her parents and due to all this we have not been able to decide. Is there any way that we can fulfil the residency obligations either by applying for my wife’s PR through Express Entry as she can travel to Canada prior to me and in the meanwhile i can manage the situation here or I somehow travel to Canada for 2-3 months and apply for sponsor visa from there. Pls guide as we are clueless about the whole problem. Thanking in advance!

 

[armoured]

Hi,
I did my soft landing in Jan 2019 after getting my PR through Express Entry route and stayed in Canada for three months before i returned to India again. My PR card expiry date is in Feb 2024 and due to personal reasons i am unable to travel back to Canada and i am afraid i will not be able to meet my residency requirements. While in India my status also changed as i got married and now I don’t know how to sponsor my wife’s PR as one needs to be inland to apply for sponsorship. Because of this pandemic and also during my time in India my wife had to undergo a surgery and so did my mother in law and i have myself been facing certain health issues, I have been unable to travel back. My wife is the only child to her parents and due to all this we have not been able to decide. Is there any way that we can fulfil the residency obligations either by applying for my wife’s PR through Express Entry as she can travel to Canada prior to me and in the meanwhile i can manage the situation here or I somehow travel to Canada for 2-3 months and apply for sponsor visa from there. Pls guide as we are clueless about the whole problem. Thanking in advance!

You are not out of compliance yet.

At minimum you will be in compliance until January 2022, plus the three months you were in Canada (I'm not going into specific dates, but roughly april). Or in more simple terms, you will be in compliance as long as you are out of Canada less than 1095 days (from your date of first landing).

You should try to return before then. There is no way to get 'prospective' or advance permission to be out of compliance; you'll have to deal with that later.

You can only sponsor your spouse when you are physically in Canada and in compliance. When you do sponsor her, you should plan on remaining in Canada (short trips abroad only); not residing in Canada while the spousal sponsorship is in process risks having it cancelled.

So in all respects: return before you are out of compliance with the residency obligation. If you cannot return before that, it gets more complicated, so best to focus your efforts now on returning while still in compliance.

If your wife can qualify on her own under whatever program, that's fine. But note it's also likely to take many months.

 

[kingofpsg]

Hi
My pr soft landing date was jan 2019 too... I looked at a lot of threads in this forum, did my research outside as well. Trust me, the best option for us, at this point of time, is to travel to Canada before Jan'22 so that we can continue staying there for 2 years for pr extension and 3 years for a citizenship accordingly.

Thanks

 

[canuck78]

Hi,
I did my soft landing in Jan 2019 after getting my PR through Express Entry route and stayed in Canada for three months before i returned to India again. My PR card expiry date is in Feb 2024 and due to personal reasons i am unable to travel back to Canada and i am afraid i will not be able to meet my residency requirements. While in India my status also changed as i got married and now I don’t know how to sponsor my wife’s PR as one needs to be inland to apply for sponsorship. Because of this pandemic and also during my time in India my wife had to undergo a surgery and so did my mother in law and i have myself been facing certain health issues, I have been unable to travel back. My wife is the only child to her parents and due to all this we have not been able to decide. Is there any way that we can fulfil the residency obligations either by applying for my wife’s PR through Express Entry as she can travel to Canada prior to me and in the meanwhile i can manage the situation here or I somehow travel to Canada for 2-3 months and apply for sponsor visa from there. Pls guide as we are clueless about the whole problem. Thanking in advance!

Would add that you mention that your wife is an only child. If you need to be close to care for them maybe moving to Canada isn’t a good option for your family.

 

[YVR123]

Hi,
I did my soft landing in Jan 2019 after getting my PR through Express Entry route and stayed in Canada for three months before i returned to India again. My PR card expiry date is in Feb 2024 and due to personal reasons i am unable to travel back to Canada and i am afraid i will not be able to meet my residency requirements. While in India my status also changed as i got married and now I don’t know how to sponsor my wife’s PR as one needs to be inland to apply for sponsorship. Because of this pandemic and also during my time in India my wife had to undergo a surgery and so did my mother in law and i have myself been facing certain health issues, I have been unable to travel back. My wife is the only child to her parents and due to all this we have not been able to decide. Is there any way that we can fulfil the residency obligations either by applying for my wife’s PR through Express Entry as she can travel to Canada prior to me and in the meanwhile i can manage the situation here or I somehow travel to Canada for 2-3 months and apply for sponsor visa from there. Pls guide as we are clueless about the whole problem. Thanking in advance!

Sounds like there is a lot of health issue. So you will need to decide. If your wife appy through EE, she needs to pass medical and she needs to be sure that she wants to move to Canada (without her mother).

And if you have any medical issue, it may be harder to apply for PR if you planned to give up your PR (since you won't meet RO if you continue to live in India past 2024) and apply again through other route.

I think it's important to know if your plan has changed since now you have a family (your wife) and she may not want to leave India.

 

[steaky]

Would add that you mention that your wife is an only child. If you need to be close to care for them maybe moving to Canada isn’t a good option for your family.

Perhaps OP should just move and live alone in Canada, wait until he became Canadian citizen and then return to live his wife and family in home country.

 

[scylla]

Hi,
I did my soft landing in Jan 2019 after getting my PR through Express Entry route and stayed in Canada for three months before i returned to India again. My PR card expiry date is in Feb 2024 and due to personal reasons i am unable to travel back to Canada and i am afraid i will not be able to meet my residency requirements. While in India my status also changed as i got married and now I don’t know how to sponsor my wife’s PR as one needs to be inland to apply for sponsorship. Because of this pandemic and also during my time in India my wife had to undergo a surgery and so did my mother in law and i have myself been facing certain health issues, I have been unable to travel back. My wife is the only child to her parents and due to all this we have not been able to decide. Is there any way that we can fulfil the residency obligations either by applying for my wife’s PR through Express Entry as she can travel to Canada prior to me and in the meanwhile i can manage the situation here or I somehow travel to Canada for 2-3 months and apply for sponsor visa from there. Pls guide as we are clueless about the whole problem. Thanking in advance!

Your wife can certainly apply through Express Entry. That's one option.

In order for you to qualify to sponsor her, you need to be prepared to move to Canada and live here for around a year. 2-3 months won't do it unfortunately.

 

[hisforharry]

You are not out of compliance yet.

At minimum you will be in compliance until January 2022, plus the three months you were in Canada (I'm not going into specific dates, but roughly april). Or in more simple terms, you will be in compliance as long as you are out of Canada less than 1095 days (from your date of first landing).

You should try to return before then. There is no way to get 'prospective' or advance permission to be out of compliance; you'll have to deal with that later.

You can only sponsor your spouse when you are physically in Canada and in compliance. When you do sponsor her, you should plan on remaining in Canada (short trips abroad only); not residing in Canada while the spousal sponsorship is in process risks having it cancelled.

So in all respects: return before you are out of compliance with the residency obligation. If you cannot return before that, it gets more complicated, so best to focus your efforts now on returning while still in compliance.

If your wife can qualify on her own under whatever program, that's fine. But note it's also likely to take many months.

Thank you so much for your reply.

My difficulty is that it is not feasible for me at the moment to travel to Canada to be able to sponsor her, so I was bit inclined towards applying for her PR through Express Entry as her CRS is well above the cut-off of the last few draws. My primary concern is that in case she applies through EE, will my not being in Canada be an issue for the Immigration Officer while processing her case and will it raise any eyebrows? Express Entry is a viable option for me because if she is working for a Canadian employer then her time spent in working for a Canadian company counts toward my residency obligations as well.

My next question is that my PR card expiry is Feb 2024, and in case I travel 6 months before that and willing to settle there post PR card expiration date, will i still be able to sponsor her as I will be non-compliant? And if i do travel 6 months prior to PR card expiry, will i be reported at the airport for not being within compliance? And if reported will there be a removal order following that?

Thanks in advance!

 

[hisforharry]

Your wife can certainly apply through Express Entry. That's one option.

In order for you to qualify to sponsor her, you need to be prepared to move to Canada and live here for around a year. 2-3 months won't do it unfortunately.

Thank you so much for your reply. Indeed she is willing to apply through EE, but i was bit apprehensive that by the time she actually receives her PR, I will be out of compliance and in case her application for PR is refused, then we will be out of both the options i.e. for me to be able to sponsor her from Canada and also meeting my own residency obligations. Would appreciate if you have any further insights to my concern. Thanks!

 

[scylla]

Thank you so much for your reply. Indeed she is willing to apply through EE, but i was bit apprehensive that by the time she actually receives her PR, I will be out of compliance and in case her application for PR is refused, then we will be out of both the options i.e. for me to be able to sponsor her from Canada and also meeting my own residency obligations. Would appreciate if you have any further insights to my concern. Thanks!

Yes, there are several risks. She may not have enough points to be selected through EE. EE draws may continue to be put on hold for the rest of the year or IRCC may make significant changes to the program (as has been indicated in the budget) and she may no longer qualify. Yes, if she is selected, processing may take a long time and then you may be out of compliance with RO which will create further complexity.

I don't think there are further insights to provide. You have to make a decision on next steps knowing there's no clear path. The safest path is to make sure you move back to Canada before you have been outside of Canada for more than three years to ensure you are in compliance with RO. Your wife can try applying for a TRV so that you can sponsor her inland. There's also a possibility that you may have to sponsor her outland if the TRV is not approved and be separated for a period of time.

 

[armoured]

I don't have much to add to @scylla's comments - it's primarily your choice about what you can do in circumstances. There are risks and costs. Relying on your wife's ability to qualify is at least one additional option, but it's far from a certain one.

If you read the other threads, you can see - there will be some leniency due to covid, and you can ask for humanitarian and compassionate consideration for issues that may have 'caused' (or contributed) to your non-compliance with the residency obligation. Less non-compliance is better than more non-compliance (ie the sooner you return the better - one day out of compliance is substantively, arguably enormously, and practically different than ~two years or more of non-compliance).

None of those options will give you certainty in advance and a risk will remain. Still, return sooner for less risk (and as close to no-risk as it gets if you return while still compliant).

 

[YVR123]

Thank you so much for your reply.

My difficulty is that it is not feasible for me at the moment to travel to Canada to be able to sponsor her, so I was bit inclined towards applying for her PR through Express Entry as her CRS is well above the cut-off of the last few draws. My primary concern is that in case she applies through EE, will my not being in Canada be an issue for the Immigration Officer while processing her case and will it raise any eyebrows? Express Entry is a viable option for me because if she is working for a Canadian employer then her time spent in working for a Canadian company counts toward my residency obligations as well.

My next question is that my PR card expiry is Feb 2024, and in case I travel 6 months before that and willing to settle there post PR card expiration date, will i still be able to sponsor her as I will be non-compliant? And if i do travel 6 months prior to PR card expiry, will i be reported at the airport for not being within compliance? And if reported will there be a removal order following that?

Thanks in advance!

Just want to add that even if your wife is working for a Canadian employer, her time spent OUTSIDE of Canada DO NOT counts toward your residency obligations.

Only after she worked in Canada for a while and if her employer assigned her to work temporary outside of Canada for a period of time, then that count as her RO. It's not very typical to prove it. And that's HER RO. It won't affect or contribute to yours.

 

[canuck78]

Would add that if you manage to enter Canada without being reported you will have to remain in Canada for 2 straight years to get compliant with your RO. That is quite difficult for people especially if your job requires travel or if you have elderly family members abroad.

 

[candadream]

You are not out of compliance yet.

At minimum you will be in compliance until January 2022, plus the three months you were in Canada (I'm not going into specific dates, but roughly april). Or in more simple terms, you will be in compliance as long as you are out of Canada less than 1095 days (from your date of first landing).

You should try to return before then. There is no way to get 'prospective' or advance permission to be out of compliance; you'll have to deal with that later.

You can only sponsor your spouse when you are physically in Canada and in compliance. When you do sponsor her, you should plan on remaining in Canada (short trips abroad only); not residing in Canada while the spousal sponsorship is in process risks having it cancelled.

So in all respects: return before you are out of compliance with the residency obligation. If you cannot return before that, it gets more complicated, so best to focus your efforts now on returning while still in compliance.

If your wife can qualify on her own under whatever program, that's fine. But note it's also likely to take many months.

Are you sure about that "you will be in compliance as long as you are out of Canada less than 1095 days (from your date of first landing)."?
He clearly said that he left after receiving the PR. He will be questioned about the reasons to go out once he come back to Canada right? Or he will only be questioned about his RO after 5 years to check his Residence Obligations?

 

[candadream]

Hi
My pr soft landing date was jan 2019 too... I looked at a lot of threads in this forum, did my research outside as well. Trust me, the best option for us, at this point of time, is to travel to Canada before Jan'22 so that we can continue staying there for 2 years for pr extension and 3 years for a citizenship accordingly.

Thanks

Do you mind if I contact you directly on the chat? I am very interested in knowing more about this since I might fall under the same circumstance