After PR renewal ?

[Cruiser81]

Hi Guys ,

My PR expires in Nov 2020 . I'm currently in Canada . My inquiry is if i spent 730 days in Canada and renewed my PR successfully , would it be till 2025 and the renewal requires another 730 days of residency in Canada in the period from 2020 till 2025 ?

Thanks in advance
Mahmoud

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi

PR cards are generally valid for 5 years.

You are misunderstanding the PR Residency Obligation. In order to meet the RO, you must always be able to look back 5 years and have at least 2 of those years in Canada. If you spend 3 years or more outside of Canada, you will not meet the RO, regardless of how long your PR card is valid for.

 

[dpenabill]

Observations by canuck_in_uk are correct.

Further explanation:

Hi Guys ,

My PR expires in Nov 2020 . I'm currently in Canada . My inquiry is if i spent 730 days in Canada and renewed my PR successfully , would it be till 2025 and the renewal requires another 730 days of residency in Canada in the period from 2020 till 2025 ?

Thanks in advance
Mahmoud

No. Not how it works.

As of the fifth year anniversary of the day a PR lands (expiration date on PR card is largely irrelevant), the PR Residency Obligation is based on the preceding five years, within which the obligation is be in Canada at least 730 days. Day to day, an ongoing obligation (some describe it as a "rolling" obligation).

Reminder: PR never expires. PR never needs renewing. PR cards expire. The expiration date on a PR card is not relevant to calculation of compliance with PR's Residency Obligation.


Alternative explanation:

Between the date a new PR lands and becomes a Permanent Resident, and the fifth year anniversary of that date, the PR is in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation so long as the PR has not been outside Canada for 1095 days or more.

As of the fifth year anniversary, compliance with the PR RO is always based on the five years preceding the day compliance is calculated.


Example:

Thus, for example, consider a PR who landed and became a PR on August 21, 2015:

-- as of August 21, 2020 compliance with the PR RO will be calculated by looking back five years

-- if this PR is going through a Canadian PoE, returning to Canada, September 19, 2020, the period during which the PR needs to have been in Canada for at least 730 days is the five years between September 19, 2015 and September 18, 2020

-- if this PR applies for a new PR card October 3, 2020, the PR RO will be based on days in Canada between October 3, 2015 and October 2, 2020 (expiration date of PR is NOT relevant)

-- if this PR is traveling back to Canada April 8, 2021, and compliance with the PR RO is examined at the PoE, compliance will be based on days in Canada between April 8, 2016 and April 7, 2021 . . . even if the PR has a brand new PR card valid until 2025.

 

[Cruiser81]

Thanks for the clarification , What I understood is that to keep my PR valid I have to spent 730 days in Canada each 5 years or wait till I get the citizenship so that I could be free to travel from and to Canada anytime . Am I right ?

 

[Buletruck]

You have to remember its a rolling 5 years....as an example (simplified):

Landed November 2015 and stayed till November 2017: 730 Days
Returned November 2020, applied for renewal November 2020.
That would be the minimum you would need for renewal. So if you got your card, as an example in December 2020, good till 2025 and you left again, planning to return in November 2023 to get your 730 days in. So you plan to come back November 2023, but your dog eats your PR card just before the flight and you have to apply for a PRTD, thinking your card is valid to 2025. To your horror, after you apply, you find out that your PRTD is denied because you have not met RQ for the past 5 years from the date you apply for your PRTD. You'll have spent 30 days (November 2020-December 2020) in the past 5 years and you are screwed.

It's incredibly risky to think you can spend extended periods of time away from Canada and maintain your RO. The 730 days is an absolute minimum and IRCC seem to be inclined (or tasked) to make sure that PR's are in fact making a serious effort to settle in Canada these days. It's called Permanent Residence for a reason. It's not called "Hang Out for a Bit in Canada and see how far you can push the Envelope Residence"!

 

[Cruiser81]

Thanks

 

[dpenabill]

It is correct to say that a PR must meet the PR RO each five year period. But I get the impression there is some confusion about what "each five year period" means.

As of the fifth year anniversary of the date the PR became a Permanent Resident, "each five year period" is determined daily, each and every day, and that period is the five years preceding that day.

That is, there is in effect a new five year period each and every day, and to be in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation the PR must have been in Canada at least 730 days for each and every day during the five year period preceding that day.

Returning to the example of the PR who landed and became a PR on August 21, 2015, to be in compliance with the PR RO that PR must:

-- be in Canada 730 days between September 1, 2015 and September 1, 2020
-- be in Canada 730 days between November 17, 2015 and November 17, 2020
-- be in Canada 730 days between January 21, 2016 and January 21, 2021
-- be in Canada 730 days between July 23, 2016 and July 23, 2021
-- be in Canada 730 days between July 24, 2016 and July 24, 2021
-- be in Canada 730 days between December 1, 2017 and December 1, 2022

And so on . . . That is, pick a date after August 21, 2020, any date, and as of that date if the PR has not been in Canada 730+ days within the five years immediately preceding that date, the PR is in breach of the PR RO and subject to being deemed inadmissible, subject to losing PR status.

Moreover, I concur in Buletruck's observation about it being risky to be abroad for such extended periods of time that the PR is cutting-it-close relative to compliance with the PR RO, that PR status is about settling permanently in Canada with generous allowances for the contingencies in life compelling PRs to sometimes spend longer periods of time abroad (up to a maximum of 1094 days over the course of any five year period of time).

In an effort to make this as clear as possible: it appears that you have an impression the clock starts over after the first five years. As noted above, that is NOT how it works. Again, the expiration date on the PR card is NOT relevant . . . the only thing the expiration date on a PR card is relevant for is that the expiration date is the last day that card can be used to board a flight coming to Canada from abroad. Has nothing at all to do with determining if the PR is admissible, if the PR is in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation.