20 year old PR.What to do if I want to start Express eEntry

[mYusuf]

Hi,
I ot my PR 20 years ago. Stayed in Canada for 6 months but had to rush back to my country as parent's health deteriorated and needed care. Both died after a few years. I had to take care of my sister.
Now that all family matters had settled I want to reapply for Express entry as quite a long time has passed.

I am married now (PR was when I was single). Since I always had the intention to settle in Canada, I had kept my life's savings in Canada that I initially took.

What is the right, legal way to move forward?

Thank you for your time.
Regards

 

[scylla]

Hi,
I ot my PR 20 years ago. Stayed in Canada for 6 months but had to rush back to my country as parent's health deteriorated and needed care. Both died after a few years. I had to take care of my sister.
Now that all family matters had settled I want to reapply for Express entry as quite a long time has passed.

I am married now (PR was when I was single). Since I always had the intention to settle in Canada, I had kept my life's savings in Canada that I initially took.

What is the right, legal way to move forward?

Thank you for your time.
Regards

You likely have to start by renouncing your PR status as a first step. Most likely you are still a PR on paper.

How old are you? Getting PR status again now may be a bit more difficult depending on your age.

Suggest you start by determining how many points you have under the Express Entry program. You want to have around 470+ points to be selected:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/works.html

 

[Mike@2019]

You likely have to start by renouncing your PR status as a first step. Most likely you are still a PR on paper.

How old are you? Getting PR status again now may be a bit more difficult depending on your age.

Suggest you start by determining how many points you have under the Express Entry program. You want to have around 470+ points to be selected:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/works.html

Interesting.
What if he's still a PR, at least on paper, and doesn't want to renounce his PR. Is there a way he could renew it or something?

I think I recently read a case almost like that in this forum. The person had applied for EE and his application was taking very long. He ordered for his notes and realized his application was pending (not sure what that means) because he was apparently still a PR.

In his case, he got his PR with his parents when he was young but the family all returned to their home county. When he's applying to return as an adult his own family I think.

 

[scylla]

Interesting.
What if he's still a PR, at least on paper, and doesn't want to renounce his PR. Is there a way he could renew it or something?

I think I recently read a case almost like that in this forum. The person had applied for EE and his application was taking very long. He ordered for his notes and realized his application was pending (not sure what that means) because he was apparently still a PR.

In his case, he got his PR with his parents when he was young but the family all returned to their home county. When he's applying to return as an adult his own family I think.

It would be extremely difficult for the OP to qualify to renew PR.

He cannot fly to Canada directly. He would need to fly to the U.S. (which may require a U.S. visa depending on his country of origin) and try to re-enter Canada through a land border without being reported for failing to meet the residency obligation. If he's been outside of Canada for 20 years, the chance of being reported are very high. If he is reported, he will have to appear at a hearing and will eventually lose his PR status and will have to leave. If by some luck he is able to enter Canada without being reported, then he can live in Canada for 2 years straight and would then qualify to renew his PR card and will be able to keep his PR status. However he cannot sponsor his family for PR until these two years have passed. And they are unlikely to be approved for visitor visas. So he would most likely be looking at a 2+ year separation from his family if he wants to try.

Doing what your friend did can work - but you need to apply for a PRTD to return when you are still relatively young (19 years old at most). In the OP's case, he's too old for this to work. His only chance would be to fly to the U.S. and try to re-enter Canada. But again, he would have to be prepared to be separated from his family for several years.

 

[navinball]

try to restore your PR on compassionate grounds explaining your situation. EE will be difficult with your age.

 

[Mike@2019]

It would be extremely difficult for the OP to qualify to renew PR.

He cannot fly to Canada directly. He would need to fly to the U.S. (which may require a U.S. visa depending on his country of origin) and try to re-enter Canada through a land border without being reported for failing to meet the residency obligation. If he's been outside of Canada for 20 years, the chance of being reported are very high. If he is reported, he will have to appear at a hearing and will eventually lose his PR status and will have to leave. If by some luck he is able to enter Canada without being reported, then he can live in Canada for 2 years straight and would then qualify to renew his PR card and will be able to keep his PR status. However he cannot sponsor his family for PR until these two years have passed. And they are unlikely to be approved for visitor visas. So he would most likely be looking at a 2+ year separation from his family if he wants to try.

Doing what your friend did can work - but you need to apply for a PRTD to return when you are still relatively young (19 years old at most). In the OP's case, he's too old for this to work. His only chance would be to fly to the U.S. and try to re-enter Canada. But again, he would have to be prepared to be separated from his family for several years.

Interesting. Thanks for the explanation.

It's unfortunate for those in this situation especially if they had to leave the country with their parents as children. But I guess the court will decide their fate like you've said.

Oh! and the way, the person I referred to isn't my friend. Haha. Just some random guy/lady on this forum.

 

[mYusuf]

You likely have to start by renouncing your PR status as a first step. Most likely you are still a PR on paper.

How old are you? Getting PR status again now may be a bit more difficult depending on your age.

Suggest you start by determining how many points you have under the Express Entry program. You want to have around 470+ points to be selected:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/works.html

Thank you indeed Scylla for all the information. Grateful for your time and opinion.
Regards

 

[mYusuf]

Thank you all for clarifying this further and for asking questions that I would have asked

@scylla enquired about my age. I am 55 years old. The PR i got 20 years ago was not through my parents but had applied myself.

Even if i might enter via the land border and allowed to stay, I still will not be able to bring my family on PR earlier than 2 years since my original PR was applied for when I was single. Cant leave my family alone for a day because of the law and order situation in my country.(I am in Pakistan). I guess if I fail to immigrate, I made a mistake to retain my life savings in Canadain until now in the hope of returning back. I will then have to bring all back.

You suggested trying on compassionate grounds, which I will try. Do I write up a detailed letter and send it to IRCC? Will be grateful if you may guide me on this.

Thank you so much for taking time out to reply.

Regards

 

[canuck78]

Thank you all for clarifying this further and for asking questions that I would have asked

@scylla enquired about my age. I am 55 years old. The PR i got 20 years ago was not through my parents but had applied myself.

Even if i might enter via the land border and allowed to stay, I still will not be able to bring my family on PR earlier than 2 years since my original PR was applied for when I was single. Cant leave my family alone for a day because of the law and order situation in my country.(I am in Pakistan). I guess if I fail to immigrate, I made a mistake to retain my life savings in Canadain until now in the hope of returning back. I will then have to bring all back.

You suggested trying on compassionate grounds, which I will try. Do I write up a detailed letter and send it to IRCC? Will be grateful if you may guide me on this.

Thank you so much for taking time out to reply.

Regards

Yes you can certainly apply for a PRTD based on H&C grounds but you have little chance of being approved. You spent very little time in Canada and that was 20 years ago. If you wanted to attempt to return to Canada you should have done it right after your parents passed away and it wasn't guaranteed at that point because your sister was in Pakistan so she could have cared for your parents. There is no harm in trying for the PRTD if you want to try.

 

[scylla]

Thank you all for clarifying this further and for asking questions that I would have asked

@scylla enquired about my age. I am 55 years old. The PR i got 20 years ago was not through my parents but had applied myself.

Even if i might enter via the land border and allowed to stay, I still will not be able to bring my family on PR earlier than 2 years since my original PR was applied for when I was single. Cant leave my family alone for a day because of the law and order situation in my country.(I am in Pakistan). I guess if I fail to immigrate, I made a mistake to retain my life savings in Canadain until now in the hope of returning back. I will then have to bring all back.

You suggested trying on compassionate grounds, which I will try. Do I write up a detailed letter and send it to IRCC? Will be grateful if you may guide me on this.

Thank you so much for taking time out to reply.

Regards

Compassionate grounds have almost zero chance of succeeding after 20 years. However you can certainly try. You will need to apply for a PR Travel Document and in this application, state the H&C (humatinarian and compassionate) reasons why you should be granted the PRTD even though you don't meet the residency obligation. Reasons like working outside of Canada and having a family outside of Canada are not accepted as H&C reasons. Generally speaking, the only reason that would be accepted in your case is if you can prove you had to be outside of Canada for the entire 20 years period to care for a sick family member (e.g. parent). If this is the argument you use, you'll want to back this up with evidence (e.g. medical records, hospitalization records). Additionally, this argument really only works if you are an only cihld or the only child of your parents who is living in their country. You can find the PRTD application here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5529-applying-permanent-resident-travel-document.html

At 55 years old it's going to be extremely difficult to qualify for PR again. So you might as well try the H&C route to try to save your current PR status even thought the chances are pretty much zero that the PRTD will be approved.

 

[smash1984]

Thank you all for clarifying this further and for asking questions that I would have asked

@scylla enquired about my age. I am 55 years old. The PR i got 20 years ago was not through my parents but had applied myself.

Even if i might enter via the land border and allowed to stay, I still will not be able to bring my family on PR earlier than 2 years since my original PR was applied for when I was single. Cant leave my family alone for a day because of the law and order situation in my country.(I am in Pakistan). I guess if I fail to immigrate, I made a mistake to retain my life savings in Canadain until now in the hope of returning back. I will then have to bring all back.

You suggested trying on compassionate grounds, which I will try. Do I write up a detailed letter and send it to IRCC? Will be grateful if you may guide me on this.

Thank you so much for taking time out to reply.

Regards

I agree with the other members. It has become extremely difficult now to immigrate to Canada now on EE unless one is very young, highly educated with work experience, and excellent language skills. Age has become a big barrier even for a lot of otherwise competitive candidates. Your best bet would be to try through H&C to have your status restored. You may also look into investor route if you have that kind of money.

But I would say that chances of application being accepted on H&C grounds is very low because of the 20 year gap. It will be hard to explain the 20 year gap.

What part of Pakistan are you based out of? Has law and order gotten that bad in the last few years?

 

[canuck78]

I agree with the other members. It has become extremely difficult now to immigrate to Canada now on EE unless one is very young, highly educated with work experience, and excellent language skills. Age has become a big barrier even for a lot of otherwise competitive candidates. Your best bet would be to try through H&C to have your status restored. You may also look into investor route if you have that kind of money.

But I would say that chances of application being accepted on H&C grounds is very low because of the 20 year gap. It will be hard to explain the 20 year gap.

What part of Pakistan are you based out of? Has law and order gotten that bad in the last few years?

Instabilityin the region should have pushed OP to try and return to Canada earlier so not a great argument.