Adult PR to stay and younger children leave Canada. Do they still qualifiy?

[cheerup]

I have heard that once landing process is completed for all family members, children under 18 years old can leave Canada and still qualify if one of their parents complete PR residency requirements. Please confirm. Are there any concerns or questions raised later on. Any personal experiences?.

Best regards.

 

[Msafiri]

Sorry there is no 'collective residency requirements' policy under the current immigration legislation nor is there ever likely to be any. Every PR must meet the RO on their own. What the law currently does under a Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) approach is to give PRs who were removed from Canada as minors a pass on the RO breach when they apply for a TD to return to Canada upon reaching the age of majority. An additional caveat to this is that the parents themselves have breached their PR as opposed to you hanging out in Canada while your kids are somewhere else.

So your kids when they want to return to Canada may get this pass. As per case law it seems the pass is when you apply at the 18/19ish year old mark not say when you are in your 30s established in life and suddenly decide to return. Depending on the legislation and case law at the relevant point in time when this happens then your mileage may vary as it may very well be a different set of laws in operation. You may find it easier to re-sponsor them if you all meet the eligibility rules.

The best approach is to live in Canada and obtain Citizenship then you never have to deal with the RO.

 

[Leon]

Agreed. The only way someone can meet the RO by staying overseas is by 1) PR accompanying a Canadian spouse (or parent for a child) outside Canada, 2) PR is working for a Canadian employer who transferred him to a full time position outside Canada, 3) PR accompanying a PR spouse (parent for a child) who falls under 2).

A child whose parent(s) meets the RO by staying in Canada must stay in Canada 2/5 years to meet the RO themselves. If a child loses their PR, the parents can sponsor it again as long as it is under 19/22 years of age (currently 22 but proposed changes to change it to 19, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=821&t=14 ).

If a parent applies for citizenship after staying for 3 years, they can include minor children on their application. Minor children do not have to meet the citizenship residency requirements in order to be on a parents application. Any person getting citizenship must have a free and clear PR but it is possible that the child manages to get citizenship without immigration realizing that the child doesn't meet the RO for their PR.

However, if you plan to settle in Canada, you would be best advised to bring your children to Canada as well. Maybe you do not want to take them out of school but keep in mind that the earlier they change over to the Canadian school system, the better their chances will be that they will adjust well to Canada and have better chances in Canada.

 

[memo123]

Leon...are you sure that parenting a Canadian child abroad, would count in the 2 year period required for meeting the RO?...or is it just accompanying a spouse?

 

[Leon]

Leon...are you sure that parenting a Canadian child abroad, would count in the 2 year period required for meeting the RO?...or is it just accompanying a spouse?

I am sure that parenting a Canadian child abroad would NOT count in the 2 year period required for meeting the RO. Accompanying a parent will however work for a child as I wrote.

 

[cheerup]

Thank you all for your comments. This clarified the issue. Regards.

 

[scylla]

I am sure that parenting a Canadian child abroad would NOT count in the 2 year period required for meeting the RO. Accompanying a parent will however work for a child as I wrote.

Leon is correct. The time does not count.