Freaking out that I have lost my PR

[Shoeb]

Hi guys,

When I was in Toronto, I received my PR. After that, I had to leave Canada because of oppurtunities in the Philippines so I planned to return within 6 months and was to only visit the Philippines twice a year. However, a lot of things transpired and I lost everything and so I stayed in the Philippines to bounce back. I had no money for ticket, or to renew visas, etc. I am now in the Philippines and I need to know if my PR has expired or not. I badly need some help as I am emailing my lawyers who helped me with the immigration and they're giving me pointers to rules instead of flat out telling me what's up.


Here's my timelines:

• October 14, 2008 is the landing date (when I got my card).
  I left Canada in September 2009.
  Returned to Canada for a week around September 29, 2010
  Then have been in the Philippines ever since.

I am planning to head back to Toronto now that I feel I am alright a little financially and can afford a ticket back.
Please help!!

 

[scylla]

Here's what's up.

To maintain PR status you must live in Canada for 2 out of every 5 rolling years. You are not meeting the residency requirement which is a problem.

If you want to save your PR status, you should return to Canada as soon as you possibly can.

If you are allowed into Canada without any issues, you must remain in Canada (without leaving for even a day) until you have met the residency requirement (i.e. until you have lived in Canada for 2 years out of the previous 5). You can then apply to renew your PR status.

There is also a chance that you will run into problems at immigration when you enter Canada. Immigration won't stop you from entering the country. However they can report you for failing to meet the residency requirement. If you are report, you will have to appear in front of a judge to argue why you should be allowed to keep your PR status. If this appeal fails, you will lose your PR status and will be told to leave Canada. If this appeal succeeds, you will retain your PR status.

You must return to Canada before your PR card expires (I assume you have your PR card with you). Your PR card should expire approximately 5 years after you landed. If you fail to return before your PR card expires, you can pretty much kiss your PR status goodbye.

Long story short, get back to Canada as soon as you can and stay there.

 

[Shoeb]

Thanks so much for your help and swift answer! So you're saying I've pretty much stayed out of the country for longer than I can and now have to rely on mercy and PR card date (Expiration October 31, 2013)...

 

[scylla]

Yes - you have stayed out longer than allowed to meet the residency requirement and keep your PR status.

Right now you have around 13 months of residency. You need 24. Even if you returned now, you can't make up the missing 11 months before your PR card expires.

Returning as soon as possible gives you the highest chances of keeping your status.

 

[Shoeb]

Sheesh I hate this!
One more question, I was planning to return there with my girlfriend (from the Philippines), was going to get her a tourist visa to make her come in and then sponsor her in to PR. What is a good way of doing this?

 

[scylla]

Sheesh I hate this!
One more question, I was planning to return there with my girlfriend (from the Philippines), was going to get her a tourist visa to make her come in and then sponsor her in to PR. What is a good way of doing this?

To sponsor her you must either be married or common law. Common law means you have lived together for a minimum of one full year.

It's unlikely she will be approved for a tourist visa. By all means try. But don't be surprised if she's refused. The odds are unfortunately against her.

Even if she is approved, you won't be able to sponsor her immediately. You need to wait until you meet the residency requirement before you sponsor her. If you sponsor her before you meet the residency requirement, CIC may decide to do something about the fact that you have failed to live in Canada for the required number of days. More specifically, CIC might start proceedings to revoke your PR for failing to meet the residency requirement. Long story short, you need to wait until you meet the residency requirement before you sponsor her if you want to avoid any issues.

 

[Shoeb]

I can prove that we've lived together in the Philippines for more than a year..
So what's a good way to bring her with me while I return to Canada asap? I don't want to leave her here...

 

[scylla]

You may have no choice but to leave her behind if you want to save your PR status. You have limited options since you have been outside of Canada for so long.

If you want her to come with you, one option is the tourist visa. To have any chance of being approved, she will have to demonstrate that she has strong ties to her home country (job, assets, property) and has no plans to remain in Canada long term.

If she can get a job offer in Canada then she can apply for a work permit. However this is much much easier said than done (most employers aren't interested in hiring foreign workers). If she's successful in finding an employer, there will still likely be a wait of a number of months before she will be approved to come to Canada.

Coming on a student visa is another option. However it's an expensive option (she'll need to have $25K to $30K in the bank to qualify). To the best of my knowledge, it's also too late to apply for the September intake. So the earliest she would be able to start would be January. Once again, she will have to prove that she has strong ties to her home country and has no plans on remaining in Canada long term.

Your girlfriend comes from a country with a high refusal rate for visas. So you need to consider what you will do if she is unable to come to Canada with you. This is a very real possibility.

 

[Shoeb]

This is making me tear
Ok, if I leave for Canada asap and if everything is going well (wherein the customs officer doesn't say anything but stamp me in), how long do I have to stay there without my gf?

 

[scylla]

Let's say you need to stay 12 months to meet the residency obligation. The processing time for spousal sponsorship applications through Manila is listed as 14 months (although many get through in less time). So you're probably looking at somewhere between 18 and 22 months before your girlfriend can join you in Canada. Once you renewed your PR card and have filed the application to sponsor your girlfriend, you can certainly go and visit her for 2-3 weeks. However since you are a PR, you must be living in Canada to qualify to sponsor. So you should really keep your trips to no more than 3 weeks and don't make this trips too frequent.

You're paying the price for failing to follow the rules. Consider yourself lucky that Canada has relatively generous rules when it comes to the residency requirement. If we were talking about a US green card, your green card status would be long gone by now.

 

[Shoeb]

Wow.. so I'd be without her for that long :/
Why do normally Philippines get rejected for Tourist visas?

 

[Leon]

Wow.. so I'd be without her for that long :/
Why do normally Philippines get rejected for Tourist visas?

Being visa exempt vs. not visa exempt vs. who gets a visa easily is mostly about risk of overstay. Your girlfriend would have to prove that she has strong ties in the Philippines, a job to go back to, strong family ties etc. and enough cash to survive without working illegally. Even if she got a visit visa, it would only be for 6 months and if she wanted to stay longer, she would have to apply to extend based on still being able to support herself, having emergency medical insurance etc. She would not be allowed to work in Canada or study while she is on a visit visa except for volunteer work and short courses, something that can be completed within 6 months.

Scylla gave you good advice. If you want to save your PR, return now while your PR card is still valid and be prepared to stay for a full two years without leaving and without having any contact with immigration, no applying for anything, no sponsorship, no PR card.

After 2 years in Canada, you can apply to renew your PR card based on that you meet the residency requirements at that point for the past 5 year period. After renewing your PR card, you can go back, marry your girl and sponsor her for PR. However, in order to sponsor, you would have to return to Canada again because a PR must be residing in Canada in order to sponsor their spouse.

 

[Shoeb]

Guys,

I can't thank you enough for all this help you've given me. Getting on the phone with the lawyers soon to see what they can "offer". Maybe they're trying to sell me something and want to see how I can fill their pockets more. Would they have any tricks up their sleeves?

Thanks!

 

[scylla]

Would they have any tricks up their sleeves?

There is nothing a lawyer can do that you can't do without one. Plus doing it yourself is a heck of a lot cheaper. We have told you the real situation and given you your options. If a lawyer tells you something different than we have told you, I would run in the opposite direction.

 

[Shoeb]

Haha run in the other direction!!

Thank you once again.
I just remembered something else that I must have mentioned previously. I got my PR via marriage. I married my girlfriend at the time. A few months before I left for the Philippines in 2009, we broke up and agreed to separate. She then got into another relationship and me as well (in the Philippines).

However, she is kind and isn't looking to contest the divorce (and no kids or properties to divide) but we haven't yet done the divorce (again, due to lack of monies and her time). Despite the fact that we've both been separated and lead different lives, would she be able to help me back in or will the fact that I'm still technically married to her be able to help me?