.Due to the Pandemic situation I was unable to travel even I had Canada PR card. PR card start date June2018 Its been outside of canada around 3 years 3 months and my PR card will expire in Aug2023. Now I have a Job offer in hand and would like to travel to Canada , Am I still eligible to enter Canada or will i face any trouble while entering Canada
Thanks for Clarification - only point I have to support is due to Covid situation / travel ban / flights ...where unable to travel with family due to pandemic situation, not sure if they accept or not while entering canada...and I have valid PR till Aug 2023.
Note: Neither IRCC nor CBSA have authority to "
waive" the PR Residency Obligation. They do have authority to allow a PR to retain PR status despite failing to comply with the RO if there are sufficient H&C reasons justifying that. In making that assessment the examining officers MUST consider any and all reasons the PR presents to explain why they did not return to Canada sooner (thus, the impact of the pandemic on the PR's capacity to return to Canada sooner must be considered) and consider any hardship the loss of PR status will impose (loss of future opportunity will not carry much weight). While your reasons for not getting here sooner are important, the biggest factor in most cases is how much in breach of the RO the PR is . . . so the sooner you actually get here, the better.
No guarantees, but you appear to still be in a window of time during which there should be good odds you will not be issued a 44(1) Report (for inadmissibility) and Removal Order upon arrival, which would be a decision terminating your PR status (unless you successfully appeal). But that window is shrinking. And there is a risk of being Reported anyway. Again, odds now are probably good but no one can guarantee how it will go.
In addition to being prepared to explain your situation including the impact of the pandemic (stick to basic facts, no need to elaborate), having in your hands some document to show you have a job offer, or at least being able to explain specific details about the job offer, including employer information, could help. After all, it makes sense that during the last year and a half, plus some, it would have been very risky to make the move to Canada without some concrete assurances of employment.
Some further clarifications:
"I have valid PR till Aug 2023."
You apparently have a PR card valid until August 2023. The actual validity of your status is a separate matter. The reason for making this clear is to emphasize that the dates on the PR card are not relevant in calculating RO compliance. The expiration date on the PR card is mostly important in regards to getting permission to board a flight coming to Canada: PRs need a valid PR card or a PR Travel Document to board a flight to Canada.
Leading to . . .
I have read as well as heard from numerous sources that a PR Cardholder is entitled to enter the country until the last day of the validity of the Card. The only thing is that he will need to stay for 2 years to complete the residency thereafter and then he/she can apply for renewal. Is it so ??
Reminder: there is a difference between authorization to board a flight to Canada, for which a PR needs (which some exceptions) either a valid PR card or a PR Travel Document, and what is needed to be granted permission to enter Canada at a Port-of-Entry.
A person with PR status is statutorily entitled to enter Canada, so no particular document is necessary once a PR arrives at a PoE. The traveler must, however, present sufficient evidence of their identity and Canadian status to establish they are in fact a PR. For many, probably most, a passport is sufficient to establish their identity and the border officials can and will verify the traveler's status in GCMS; but it goes a lot easier, and faster, if the traveler has additional documentation of status, such as an expired PR card or at least a copy of the CoPR. Obviously, a valid PR card is sufficient, but not necessary.
Which leads to the observation by
@scylla
They are entitled to enter the country. However if they don't meet the residency obligation, then may be reported by CBSA when they enter Canada. If they are reported, they must appear at a hearing to argue why they should be allowed to keep their PR status. If they are not successful at this hearing, their PR status is revoked.
If they are not reported at the border by CBSA, then yes, they can remain in Canada for 2 years without leaving and then renew the PR card.
That applies to any PR arriving at a PoE. Even a PR who has been recently issued a new PR card. If the PR has not complied with the RO as of the day they arrive at the PoE, they are subject to being reported. If a 44(1) Report is prepared, the PR is still entitled to enter Canada BUT days in Canada after that do not count, so staying two years or longer will not fix the breach of the RO, unless the Report is either set aside or there is a successful appeal.
The "
hearing" referred to by
@scylla is actually no more than another interview by a second officer. Thus, typically this is actually a third officer the traveler deals with. The first being the PIL officer who makes the referral to Secondary, the second being an immigration officer in Secondary conducting the examination, and the third officer reviews the Report prepared by the second. In most cases this is all done there at the PoE, sometimes by telephone (with the reviewing officer at another location, while the PR is still at the PoE), but occasionally (less commonly) through a later contact. The reviewing officer decides whether (1) the Report is valid, and (2) whether the PR has presented sufficient H&C reasons to be allowed to keep PR status. If the Report is valid and the reviewing officer (technically designated the Minister's delegate) does not find sufficient H&C reasons to allow the PR to keep status, a Departure Order is issued. This terminates the PR's status unless there is a successful appeal.
That leads to the observation by
@armoured which is worth repeating:
As for whether COVID is sufficient for them to be lenient in your particular case - no one knows.
But they were often relatively lenient for minor breaches (a few months) before COVID.
Again, no guarantee, but likely they will have to be more lenient as COVID is a real issue.
So: return soonest and be prepared to make the best case you can. There is some chance they won't even do detailed look but wave you through if only out of compliance by a few months.
The longer you delay returning, the higher the chances of problems.
Final Note Re Chances of PIL Waiving PR Into Canada:
A PR presenting a valid PR card at the PIL (Primary Inspection Line), which ordinarily includes any PR arriving by air (with exceptions), may be waived into Canada without being referred to Secondary. Even a PR who has failed to comply with the RO. If this happens, there is no RO examination, no need to explain reasons for not coming sooner, no risk of a 44(1) Report.
If a PR is in breach of the RO, and is waived through without being examined further, the PR can then indeed STAY in Canada and wait to apply for a new PR card when the PR is in compliance with the RO. If the PR was absent for three or more years, since the last time in Canada, that will indeed mean waiting TWO years. But the arithmetic can vary depending on the particular individual's history.
PRs are almost always waived into Canada by the PIL officer. But PRs arriving at the border applying for entry into Canada are almost all PRs not only presenting a valid PR card, but PRs who are well-settled in Canada and regarding whom the border officials have no reason to screen further.
In contrast, when a PR was last in Canada a long while ago, a year or more, and especially multiple years, that dramatically increases the odds of a referral to Secondary. PR's with PR card applications in process appear to often have a flag, an "alert" on their GCMS file which triggers a referral to Secondary. Among other circumstances which trigger the referral to Secondary. For the PR who is in breach of the RO, and asked RO related questions in Secondary, that is when the H&C related explanations are important.
The latter is a long way around to the observation that whether a PR in breach is waived through by the PIL officer, or is referred to Secondary, makes the biggest difference in how it goes at the border. And, my strong impression is that the anecdotal evidence of leniency for PRs still in their first five years, and arriving at the PoE only a few months in breach, is mostly about those waived through at the PIL. Some referred to Secondary will be waived through by Secondary officers, especially those minimally in breach and who otherwise have a decent H&C story (and the pandemic currently helps many make that case), but as soon as there is a referral to Secondary the risks go up considerably.
By the way, there is NO guarantee of this:
Go every thing will be ok as long as you have a valid PR card
