Expired PR !

[Roofster]

I can see that this case has been discussed several times before but i had few specific questions:

My PR expired January 2012. I was in Canada at the time. I did not meet the 730 days in the last 5 years, with around 180 days left. Unfortunately, I could not stay and had to travel to my country, Egypt. I left through the US on Feb 26, 2012.
Now, I really want to come back.
I also would like to add that my wife, non canadian and never applied for residency, is pregnant and got a visitor visa to canada and we want to go deliver there and continue our life there.

What I understood is that I have 2 options:

1) Apply for a Travel Document at the canadian embassy.
-If they grant me one, I can then travel to Canada, remain there till I pass the 730 days.
-If they don't, they will probably try to withdraw the PR from me, I have then to challenge this refusal and ask for H&C, especially with everything happening in my country.

2) Travel to the US, since I have the visa, and ask my canadian cousin to come and pick me up - cross the borders, pick me up then try to cross back. The officer will then ask me why I have an expired PR and I have to tell him a story that convinces him to let me in without an A44(1) report.
- Either he will let me in normally
- Either he will let me in with an A44(1) report, that I will have to challenge
- Either he will not let me in at all.

now the questions?

1) Are these scenarios right ? any other options ?
2) Which scenario has the highest rate of success ?
3) If my wife travels first to canada, will this make my case stronger ?
We really want to deliver there but also don't want to take the risk of her going there alone then me not being able to enter !

Thank you for your help !

 

[scylla]

I think scenario #1 has zero chance of success.

Scenario #2 has some chance of success. If you are allowed into Canada and not reported, you will have to live in Canada until you meet the 730 day residency obligation. Only then will you be able to renew your PR card. Note that until you renew your PR card, you will not be able to sponsor your wife for PR.

Last but not least, if your wife gives birth in Canada you will be responsible for paying all of the costs associated with her delivery. You should budget $5K to $10K for the deliver. Although the costs could be significantly higher if there are any complications.

Overall, I think you have a low chance of success since your PR card expired two years ago and you have failed to meet residency obligations. But you can certainly try and see what happens. And no - having your wife in Canada won't make your case stronger.

 

[Roofster]

Thanks for your reply.

My wife and I have medical insurance that will cover her delivery anywhere in the world except the US. So that is not a problem.

The PR expired in January 2012, not 2011, so a bit more than 1 year but not 2 years. Sorry, my mistake.
I also left Canada on Feb 2012, less than 1 year ago.

2 questions:

A) If they refuse to give me a Travel Document, can I try to re-appeal on H&C grounds ? Especially if my wife s already there?
B) why can't i sponsor my wife with an expired PR ?

 

[scylla]

1) You can try H&C. The fact your wife is in Canada will make no different and will not factor into the decision. For H&C to work, you need to demonstrate why you were unable to fulfill your residency obligations. Economic reasons won't be accepted.

2) It's not your expired PR that's a problem - it's the fact you don't meet residency requirements. If you apply to sponsor your spouse while you don't meet residency requirements, CIC will look at your status, realize you don't meet residency requirements and start the process of revoking your PR status permanently. You must wait until you meet residency requirements before you sponsor your wife - otherwise expect problems.

 

[bassem132]

Please help I am an immigrant and entered Canada as a permanent resident, but I came out of Canada after 3 days for compelling reasons and my mother was very sick, but I want to go back to Canada and now I'm me 15 days outside Canada Is there a way because I get to b t even Astaa return to Canada and whether there is a way, etc evenI go back to Canada please help

 

[Leon]

Please help I am an immigrant and entered Canada as a permanent resident, but I came out of Canada after 3 days for compelling reasons and my mother was very sick, but I want to go back to Canada and now I'm me 15 days outside Canada Is there a way because I get to b t even Astaa return to Canada and whether there is a way, etc evenI go back to Canada please help

I assume you are trying to say that you landed as a PR, left before you could get your PR card and now you want to return?

There are 3 ways.

1) When you landed you gave an address for your PR card? I assume, maybe it was the address of a friend or a relative. I could wait until they receive the PR card and have them send it to you via registered mail or courier.

2) You could get a US visa, go to the US and enter Canada from the US in a rental car or on foot. That way, you do not have to deal with an airline or bus company refusing you to board. You just have to deal with Canada immigration when you arrive and if you show your passport, landing papers and say that you had to leave before you got your PR card, you will be fine.

3) Apply for a PR travel document at the Canadian embassy nearest to you. It will take weeks, maybe a couple of months to get it but with it, you can return to Canada.

 

[Roofster]

Leon,


2) You could get a US visa, go to the US and enter Canada from the US in a rental car or on foot. That way, you do not have to deal with an airline or bus company refusing you to board. You just have to deal with Canada immigration when you arrive and if you show your passport, landing papers and say that you had to leave before you got your PR card, you will be fine.


In your opinion, which has a better % of success ?

Try to go with a rented car through the borders of the US with an expired PR, or try t get a Travel document ?

 

[Leon]

Leon,


2) You could get a US visa, go to the US and enter Canada from the US in a rental car or on foot. That way, you do not have to deal with an airline or bus company refusing you to board. You just have to deal with Canada immigration when you arrive and if you show your passport, landing papers and say that you had to leave before you got your PR card, you will be fine.


In your opinion, which has a better % of success ?

Try to go with a rented car through the borders of the US with an expired PR, or try t get a Travel document ?

You have a better chance at the border, worse with a travel document. If you apply for a travel document, immigration must make a determination of if your reasons for staying outside Canada fall under Humane and Compassionate grounds. If they don't, you simply lose your PR. If you try at the border from the US, it is possible that an immigration officer will let you through, maybe after giving you a lecture. If that happens, you just have to stay for 2 years and then your PR is in good standing again. If the immigration officer reports you for not meeting the requirements, you would be in the same situation as if you had applied for a travel document, that is, you would have to appeal for your PR and immigration will look into why you did not meet the residency requirements.

 

[Heidif]

EXPIRED PR

Hello,
My visa (PR) has expired today, am I elligible to travel nonetheless after its expiry in a few days from Egypt?
Thank you.

 

[Leon]

Re: EXPIRED PR

Hello,
My visa (PR) has expired today, am I elligible to travel nonetheless after its expiry in a few days from Egypt?
Thank you.

Hello Heidif,

you need to get your story straight. In your other post you ask if you can travel with an expired PR card, now it's an expired visa.

If your PR visa has expired and you did not land before it expired, it normally means you have to apply for PR again unless as has happened in a few cases where the visa office made a mistake and issued you a visa that was way too short, possibly even expired already before you got it.

If it is a PR card that is expired you still have PR status so you are allowed to enter Canada. However, an airline has the right to refuse you to board the plane because since your PR card is expired, they can not verify that you are a PR. The remedy to this is that if you meet the RO of having been in Canada at least 730 days in the past 5 years, you may apply for a PR travel document at the Canadian embassy in your country and this will allow you to fly to Canada.

If you do not meet the RO, you would probably be denied a travel document unless you have humanitarian grounds for why you couldn't. If a travel document is denied, you generally lose your PR so in that case, you should not try to apply for one, rather try to get a US visa so you can fly to the US and enter Canada by land.

Upon entering Canada, if you don't meet the RO, it is possible that you will be reported on entry and given the option to appeal for your PR.

 

[Heidif]

Thank you! I'm so worried! I have met the 370-day requirement. If I should renew my PR at the Canadian Embassy in Cairo and receive my new card by the new year, there wouldn't be any problem for me, then? 2016 would be a new year because I flew to Canada on the 7th of May 2010.

- Heidi

 

[Leon]

Thank you! I'm so worried! I have met the 370-day requirement. If I should renew my PR at the Canadian Embassy in Cairo and receive my new card by the new year, there wouldn't be any problem for me, then? 2016 would be a new year because I flew to Canada on the 7th of May 2010.

- Heidi

It is a 730 day requirement, not a 370 and it's not enough to meet it once, you have to meet it for any rolling 5 year period. Now you have been a PR for more than 5 years, they always look at the period of the past 5 years.

You can not apply to renew your PR card from outside Canada. You have to get a PR travel document. With the travel document, you return to Canada and then apply to renew your PR card.

If you apply for a travel document now, you must meet the 730 days in Canada requirement for the period 06.10.2010 until 06.10.2015. If you do not apply until 2016, for example on January 10th 2016, they would look at the 5 year period from January 10th 2011 until January 10th 2016. If you then arrive in Canada in March and apply to renew your PR card say on March 20th 2016, they would look at the 5 year period from March 20th 2011 until March 20th 2016.

The PR card period is always a rolling one. It's not enough to meet it once for your first 5 years and then meet it again for your next 5 years. You must always meet it. Every day, you must be able to look back at the past 5 years and say that you spent at least 730 days in Canada during that period.

 

[Heidif]

Thank you. I stayed intermittently in Canada. For example, given what's stamped on my passport, I arrived in Montreal the 7th of May 2010 and stayed continuously until the 9th of June 2012. I then came back on the 12th of November 2012 and stayed until the 13th of August 2013. I came back on 16 July 2014 then I stayed till 2nd September 2014. I went back on 21st April 2015 and came back on 14 July 2015.

 

[Leon]

Thank you. I stayed intermittently in Canada. For example, given what's stamped on my passport, I arrived in Montreal the 7th of May 2010 and stayed continuously until the 9th of June 2012. I then came back on the 12th of November 2012 and stayed until the 13th of August 2013. I came back on 16 July 2014 then I stayed till 2nd September 2014. I went back on 21st April 2015 and came back on 14 July 2015.

So your first stay was 765 days, your next stay 275 days and your 3rd stay 49 days. However, since your first stay started more than 5 years ago, each day you stay outside Canada, another day is moving outside the 5 year window. You have already lost the time from 7th of May 2010 'til 5th of October 2010 because that was all more than 5 years ago so right now, your first stay only counts as 613 days. This means you right now have 937 days in Canada in the past 5 years. Tomorrow it will be 936 etc.

Processing your travel document can easily take some time so I suggest you apply for it now and be ready to return to Canada when you get it. They are usually valid for 6 months. As soon as you get to Canada, apply to renew your PR card and then just make sure that at any time, you always have at last 730 days in Canada looking back at the past 5 years.

 

[Heidif]

Thank you. Your info is most valuable. I haven't found anybody who informed me this much.