For a Permanent Resident, is the five-year window time flexible? What happens if 2 years' requirement (of staying in Canada) is not met?

[Buletruck]

This is an absurd comparison. A marriage of convenience is absolutely and unquestionably a fraudulent act; planning to move and not being able to (for whatever reasons) is not. Again, the actual rules that apply are no different than for all other PRs.

Speaking from personal experience, when we applied for the wife’s PR we had every intention of settling in Canada. 2 weeks after arrival I got an offer in Thailand for 2 years......life happens and things change despite your best intentions.

 

[ggottawa]

There is a separate forum here on the residency obligation as it's a somewhat complex topic.

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/forums/permanent-residency-obligations.11/

Quick key points:
-PR status does not expire; the date of PR card has nothing to do with it.
-note the 2-in-5 requirement is on a rolling five year basis (at any point in time).
-there is no general 'loosening' or flexibility due to the pandemic (and in my view not likely to be).
-there is already a framework in place that requires examining officers to consider humanitarian and compassionate considerations (or exigent circumstances if you prefer).
-'examination' occurs primarily at a port of entry - i.e. a PR who enters who is not in compliance will have a chance to present/explain their circumstances (which must be considered). (If the examining officer agrees, can wave through; if not, start the process of saying not-in-compliance and potentially revoking - but will be admitted to Canada and allowed to appeal). It's at this stage that "covid made returning hard/impossible/scary" would be considered. (Not guaranteed will be accepted - perfectly understandable perhaps to be out of compliance by a month, but less so to claim return to Canada was delayed by a year because of covid.) Details of individual cases matter.
-Not to over-generalize, but PRs who are only slightly out of compliance are often given the benefit of the doubt and waved through; those grossly out of compliance - less so.
-When IN Canada, if not travelling abroad, a PR who is out of compliance can remain in Canada, is in Canada legally, and few negative consequences to being out-of-compliance and can stay until back in compliance.
-BUT: PR card, when expired, cannot be renewed until back in compliance. And PR card would be needed to return to Canada.
-Travel in and out of Canada when out of compliance runs the risk - at every border examination - of the non-compliance being an issue and the process started of revoking the PR status (subject to appeal, etc); previous leniency for non-compliance does not apply to future examinations. This may be a serious constraint for those who wish/need to travel frequently.

So all told: it's still in your interests and that of your spouse to return early enough to be and remain in compliance. That includes leaving enough 'buffer' for compliance taking into account planned and unexpected travel.

For many PRs, the issue of being able to travel on an ongoing basis - keeping in mind the need for valid PR card, RO compliance, etc - means having a buffer of physical-presence days to account for planned and unexpected travel.

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation.
For further questions, I will post in the forum you introduced above.

 

[ggottawa]

I don't see any issues with the OP's situation. His PR spouse can remain in RO compliant as long as she living with a Canadian husband outside Canada. Any days together with a Canadian spouse counts outside Canada towards PR RO. The PR spouse of the Canadian only need show documentation that she lived with the Canadian during the time in Korea. If the spouse does not have a PR card or expired PR card, she can apply for PRTD at nearest Canadian embassy with proof of living together with Canadian husband.

It is a great news for me.
Thank you for your advice.

 

[ggottawa]

That’s incorrect. Cases exactly like this is where the issue of who accompanied whom often becomes an issue. Time together accompanying a Canadian citizen abroad does count towards RO for a PR but given that the wife never moved to Canada there is a good chance that time would not count. The system is set up to allow the Canadian citizen to pursue opportunities abroad and not be penalized by the RO requirement of a spouse. They were never living in Canada together and had never established a life in Canada so their situation is very different.

Thank you for your advice.
I will keep it in my mind.

 

[ggottawa]

If they never lived a life in Canada, sounds like the sponsor committed fraud on the "intent" on moving to Canada. Provided all the proof to move and settle to Canada only to do a soft landing and return to Korea. That is where the problem lies. not the PR's RO rules. The PR RO rules is not the problem. It's the original intent to move to Canada that the spouse obtained PR through fraud or misrepresentation on intent to settle,

Well, not sure if it can be called a fraud.
If we did not intend to move back to Canada, we would not have bothered to apply for the PR status by providing all the documents and paying the application fee.
By the way, I agree that there is nothing wrong with the PR RO rule.
I appreciate your detailed explanation.
Thank you.

 

[ggottawa]

I suggest leaving this discussion to the forum on residency obligation. This subject can be beaten to death again there much better than here.

I see.
I will post further questions in the forum you introduced.
Thank you.

 

[ggottawa]

Please, let's take it down a notch - accusations of fraud or misrepresentation are a bit much - unless you know some specific pieces of information that were not true (and intentionally not true). Both charges require an intent to deceive.

Plans can change and things can come up that make it hard to do things when originally expected. The RO obligation is rather flexible in part to address such situations.

Thank you so much for your kind words.
I also thought that calling it "fraud" is too much as we had no intention to deceive.
Great to know that RO obligation is rather flexible.
Have a great day.

 

[armoured]

Thank you so much for your kind words.
I also thought that calling it "fraud" is too much as we had no intention to deceive.
Great to know that RO obligation is rather flexible.
Have a great day.

It is not a form of fraud unless there was specific misrepresentation/deception - and almost certainly no presumption of such without some smoking-gun evidence like forged documents. It's a red herring.

Even if you'd signed some legally binding promise (with specified consequences - and of course you didn't), non-performance is not the same as 'fraud'; If you miss a mortgage payment, that doesn't make it fraud - unless there's some other evidence. Plans (or ability to perform one's obligations, in this analogy) can change.

The bottom line is that the rules that apply to the PR-spouse are the same as for other PRs: comply with the residency obligation. Consequences are simply those that apply to all PRs under legislation and IRCC regs.

Somebody wishing the rules should be more strict doesn't make it so.

[Now one could come up with some hypothetical circumstances where it might matter - like if the PR status were revoked years down the road and the citizen-sponsor never returned to Canada and then wanted to sponsor again, IRCC might be much more demanding about the 'return to Canada' part. But that's obviously not the case at hand, and still not a claim of 'fraud'.]

 

[canuck78]

Well, not sure if it can be called a fraud.
If we did not intend to move back to Canada, we would not have bothered to apply for the PR status by providing all the documents and paying the application fee.
By the way, I agree that there is nothing wrong with the PR RO rule.
I appreciate your detailed explanation.
Thank you.

Canada has now become more strict when it comes to proof you intend to relocate once a spouse gets approved for PR since many never relocated to Canada. Things like proof you have given notice at your job and home, you are in the process of selling your home, you have found a job in Canada or are applying, you have secured a place to live in Canada, etc. are some of the things that can be given as proof.