360 days over 4 years

[Wael77md]

Hi all,
My PR expired 20 months ago and presence in Canada is as follows:
- total of 20 month continues since Feb 2016
- A total of 360 days of presence over 3 years before 2016 but in 7-20 days parts, I was traveling overseas for work and coming to family in Canada every two months for short time. My passport is in a very bad condition with stamps allover each other and are not very clear ....I don’t have much documents to proof these back and forth flights.
Now The question I had asking for some time; should I apply now for renewal of my PR? Is it better to wait till I finish 2years here then apply for renewal of the PR? Dose it make any difference if applying now or after the whole 2years here in continuous?
I am planning to apply for citizenship including these intermittent days between 2012 and 2016, if the CIC reviewed my residency time for PR , they will review it again for citizenship?
Sorry it is too many questions but I really need some help and honest advice...thank you all

 

[dpenabill]

Hi all,
My PR expired 20 months ago and presence in Canada is as follows:
- total of 20 month continues since Feb 2016
- A total of 360 days of presence over 3 years before 2016 but in 7-20 days parts, I was traveling overseas for work and coming to family in Canada every two months for short time. My passport is in a very bad condition with stamps allover each other and are not very clear ....I don’t have much documents to proof these back and forth flights.
Now The question I had asking for some time; should I apply now for renewal of my PR? Is it better to wait till I finish 2years here then apply for renewal of the PR? Dose it make any difference if applying now or after the whole 2years here in continuous?
I am planning to apply for citizenship including these intermittent days between 2012 and 2016, if the CIC reviewed my residency time for PR , they will review it again for citizenship?
Sorry it is too many questions but I really need some help and honest advice...thank you all

At the moment it appears you are short of qualifying for citizenship by at least four months. (20 months means about 600 days present since Feb 2016 plus 360 in previous three years, adds up to 960, which is 135 days short of qualifying for citizenship.) It also appears that some days in that calculation are approaching the the five year anniversary, and when they do (when they are more than five years ago) they drop out of the calculation; you will need to stay additional days to make up for those you lose this way.

And with this history, it would be a good idea to have more than the typical margin over and above the minimum. At the very least a full month plus some. Three or four months or more might mean going through the citizenship application process significantly faster than if you rush the application. The condition of your passport is a factor here.

Thus, practically it will be next summer, at the soonest, before it is prudent to apply for citizenship.

Whether to apply for a PR card in the meantime depends on whether you need a PRC. You have managed to go without a valid PRC now for nearly two years. If you are staying in Canada and clearly meet the minimum qualifying time for citizenship by April or May of next year, and apply in July or August, you could be a citizen by early 2019.

If you anticipate the need for a PR card, there should not be any serious problems as long as you are sure about nearly all of the dates of travel, and your recent 20 months of presence is readily documented (especially by work history in Canada). You could obtain a copy of your CBSA travel history to help verify entry dates. Be diligent about reconstructing an accurate accounting of ALL dates of travel, as best you can. The more complete and accurate you are, the better your chances of routine processing (for both, that is for a PRC or citizenship).

If you apply for the PRC sooner, then later apply for citizenship, IRCC is likely to compare the information submitted in the respective applications and other submissions during the processing of either (if requested). There is some prospect that going through the PRC application process first will help facilitate routine processing of the citizenship application, but of course whether that is how it goes can vary considerably depending on many factors. On the other hand, if you apply for a new PRC and that application is referred for a Secondary Review, that would be a signal suggesting you build a bigger margin before applying for citizenship. Or, if the PRC application sails through routinely, that could be a signal it is OK to apply for citizenship with a smaller margin (but you probably want to have at least a 30 to 60 day margin, especially given the condition of your passport).

 

[Wael77md]

Thank you very much