Advised to apply for renewal without meeting residency obligation

[bg2392]

Hello,

I was recently advised by two immigration consultants that I can apply for PR renewal without meeting Residency Obligation in January 2025 with 100 days left towards meeting Residency Obligation. The immigration consultants were part of ICCRC (The regulatory body of immigrant consultants).
Opinions if this true or a valid advice?

Context follows -

I landed in Calgary as a PR in July 2019. Soon after that, August 2019, I got into a Master's program in the US and I moved to the US. Since then, I was frequently travelling between US and Canada from Aug 2019 - March 2020 (until Covid hit).

After completing my degree in April 2021, I secured a job in the US and stayed back and started making trips to Canada once the restrictions were relaxed. I finally relocated to Canada in July 2023 through a job transfer with the same company.

I have a full-time job in Calgary, have recently purchased a property in Calgary, submitted for my spousal sponsorship, have been living here since Aug 2023.

My PR card expired in September 2024. As per the CIC presence calculator, I will complete the 730 days on May 10, 2025. I do not plan to travel outside Canada between now till then.

 

[dpenabill]

. . . OK to apply for PR renewal without meeting Residency Obligation, say a 100 days short???

For a PR well settled but short of being in RO compliance, a 100 days short say, for this PR making a PR card application while still short is quite likely to be OK. Main risk, probably, is non-routine processing and a significantly longer processing time. Of course the more serious risk, even if not a big risk, is being determined to be inadmissible for breaching the RO and losing PR status.

Which leads to the conventional wisdom, the SAFEST approach:

The conventional wisdom is a PR should NOT make an application that involves screening PR status UNLESS they are in compliance with the Residency Obligation; that is, to STAY and WAIT long enough to be in compliance BEFORE leaving Canada or making any application based on PR status. Including a PR card application, or sponsoring family visa application.

There are lots of good reasons for following the conventional wisdom. Main one is that it is SAFE. No risk the application triggers preparation of a 44(1) Report of Inadmissibility for failure to comply with the RO. No risk that saving status will require an appeal and winning the appeal.

That may not work for someone who for this or that reason very much needs a valid PR card. They may need to take the chance. And if the need is much, when the odds are good some will indeed proceed to take the risk. And for someone now settled here and just a 100 days short, odds are probably good it will be OK.

For those who have no pressing need for a PR card, however, there is no need to rush it, no need to take even a slight risk. Just wait. Apply after complying with the RO.

As for the advice from consultants, sure you will be able to apply even if short. If you are in Canada now, you can apply now. The longer you wait to apply, the closer you are to meeting the RO, and the longer you remain settled here in Canada, the lower the risk.

So yes, waiting until January when you are 100 days short (1195 days outside Canada during the previous five years) has better odds of going OK than now, assuming that as of now you have been outside Canada approximately 1255 or so days during the past five years (remember, those days here more than five years ago no longer count . . . so, for example, the days you were in Canada in 2019 prior to October 20, 2024 will NOT count toward meeting the RO . . . and as of January 2025, no days here in 2019 will count.)

So whether it is worth taking what might only be a small chance of triggering a problem is pesonal and for you it likely depends on how much you need a PR card. If you already have a SIN, drivers' license (or provincial ID if you do not drive), and health care coverage, there should be no reason to rush the application at all.

But the question otherwise does not have a one size fits all answer.

I was recently advised by two immigration consultants that I can apply for PR renewal without meeting Residency Obligation in January 2025 with 100 days left towards meeting Residency Obligation. The immigration consultants were part of ICCRC (The regulatory body of immigrant consultants).
Opinions if this true or a valid advice?

Context follows -

I landed in Calgary as a PR in July 2019. Soon after that, August 2019, I got into a Master's program in the US and I moved to the US. Since then, I was frequently travelling between US and Canada from Aug 2019 - March 2020 (until Covid hit).

After completing my degree in April 2021, I secured a job in the US and stayed back and started making trips to Canada once the restrictions were relaxed. I finally relocated to Canada in July 2023 through a job transfer with the same company.

I have a full-time job in Calgary, have recently purchased a property in Calgary, submitted for my spousal sponsorship, have been living here since Aug 2023.

My PR card expired in September 2024. As per the CIC presence calculator, I will complete the 730 days on May 10, 2025. I do not plan to travel outside Canada between now till then.