For most: probably more than you want to know . . . skip or scroll on by.
Otherwise,
the Long Read:
Hello everyone. I am confused and need help. I have an unusual situation here. My mother just came back to Canada and got her new PR card on July 2022, since she stay for 2017 to 2019, she stayed long enough to renew her PR card, but she did not stay in Canada during 2020 to 2022. Now we worried that if she leaves Canada now, she can not come back, because once she re-enter Canada(like re-enter on 2023 or 2024), she does not stay more that 730 days during past five years( between 2020 and 2022 she did not stay here).
We are worried that she will be reported at the border once she re-enter, which brings troubles.
I checked the official website but did not get any useful information. I tried calling the office, writing emails, all end up with failure. All I found is that you have to stay more 730 days during past five years, no further explanation.
If anyone know how the immigration office deal this kind of situation, please tell me. Thank you.
I recognize that navigating IRCC online information can be a frustrating experience.
Nonetheless, the PR Residency Obligation is among the more often and most clearly stated. In particular, there are numerous web pages which state the RO, as straight forward and simple as the answer given for the FAQ (here:
https://ircc.canada.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=727&top=4 ):
FAQ: How long must I stay in Canada to keep my permanent resident status?
Answer: To keep your permanent resident status, you must have been in Canada for at least 730 days during the last five years.
This is similarly stated in numerous IRCC webpages, and just for one example, it is specifically stated in both the basic information for making a PR card application (under the "
who can apply" information), and explained in detail under the title "
Appendix A: Residency Obligation" in the instruction guide; since your mother recently went through the process of applying for and obtaining a new PR card, obviously she has had, at the very least, an opportunity to read this information.
So yes, if she leaves Canada and is outside Canada for a period of time resulting in her being outside Canada more than 1095 days within the preceding five years, that is a failure to comply with the PR RO. (Note the simple arithmetic: five years is 1825 days, so a person outside Canada for more than 1095 days cannot be IN Canada at least 730 days during that five year period of time.)
As discussed in previous posts, a breach of the RO means the PR is at risk for being determined to be "Inadmissible," and as such issued a Removal Order (or denied a PR Travel Document, if for example the PR is abroad and loses their PR card or it expires) which is a decision terminating PR status unless there is a successful appeal setting the Report and Removal Order aside.
Leading to this:
"I checked the official website but did not get any useful information. I tried calling the office, writing emails, all end up with failure. All I found is that you have to stay more 730 days during past five years, no further explanation."
NOTE: to be clear, the IRCC website is
NOT an "official" source, even though it is generally a trusted source, what might be referred to as an authoritative source (as in published by and based on recognized authority), and generally (but
not officially) is a source which can be relied on. What difference this makes is a complicated, weedy subject, an unnecessary tangent here since the RO is so straight forward, as you have discovered,
a PR has to stay more 730 days during preceding five years . . . no further explanation necessary.
What I apprehend you were really looking for is information about how, when, and to what extent the PR RO is in practice enforced. Kind of like calling the local police department and asking if and when will you get a ticket for speeding. You know the speed limit, but you also know that many speed and do so often without getting a speeding ticket. So, in effect you want to know in advance when you will be ticketed if you speed. Does not work that way. If you speed, there is a risk of being ticketed. That risk varies a great deal.
PR Residency Obligation Enforcement:
There is no official, authoritative source of information that will explain in advance whether a PR who breaches the RO will be deemed inadmissible, issued a Removal Order, and lose PR status (a procedure typically referred to as "Reported" by many in this forum). Again, that would be like finding an official or authoritative source stating in advance when driving over the speed limit will result in getting a ticket.
We know what requires an examination of RO compliance, and situations which do not necessarily require an examination of RO compliance but which might involve one. These include:
-- transactions with IRCC for which valid PR status is a specific requirement, including:
-- -- PR card applications
-- -- sponsorship applications
-- -- PR TD applications
-- applications to Port-of-Entry officials for permission to physically enter Canada
Any one of these can, as we may tend to say, "
trigger" an examination to determine if the PR has complied with the RO.
If and when a RO compliance examination is conducted, what constitutes a breach is, again, straightforward: a failure to be IN Canada for at least 730 days within the preceding five years is a breach of the RO..
SUMMARY: if and when a PR remains outside Canada for a period of time that exceeds 1095 days during the last five years (or since landing for new PRs), they are in breach of the RO. They are then at risk of being deemed inadmissible and losing PR status when, for example, they apply for a new PR card, or when they arrive at a PoE (that is, apply to actually enter Canada).
So, as noted, generally a PR needs to stay in Canada more 730 days during the preceding five years . . . and in terms of what that means, no further explanation necessary.
That said, somewhat like the enforcement of many traffic laws, like speed limits, actual enforcement of the RO tends to be broadly permissive. Even in the course of PoE examinations, for example, CBSA border officials may easily see that the returning PR is or likely is not in compliance with the RO but nonetheless waive them through without even conducting a RO compliance examination, let alone following through with "Reporting" the PR (this is about the 44(1) Report for Inadmissibility procedure).
This has been especially common the last couple years, probably due at least in part to recognizing that the worst global pandemic in over a century has had a dramatic impact on the practical ability of PRs to return to Canada sooner. This invites some
caution: going forward, PoE screening of returning PRs not meeting the RO may not be (and my sense is it is very likely it will not be) nearly so lenient as the anecdotal reporting of the last couple years reflects.
Apart from what is probably intended leniency in PoE screening (including from what has been Covid-related), generally PRs are NOT subjected to a RO compliance examination upon arrival at a PoE. Unless there is a customs matter, PRs will generally be waived through once the traveler's identity is sufficiently established and it is clear they are a Canadian (PRs are Canadians), and PRs presenting a valid PR card at the PoE, for example, will rarely be referred to Secondary for further immigration screening (such as to ask RO compliance related questions)
UNLESS there is something overtly indicating a RO compliance issue.
Thus, for example, if your mother travels outside Canada and is not in RO compliance when she returns, if she is presenting a valid PR card the odds are still fairly good she will not encounter RO compliance questions let alone be "Reported." I discussed some of the variables in this in the previous post. But there is a risk of being questioned, and if questioned then "Reported," and as discussed in the previous post there are various factors which influence how much risk there is, such as the length of the most recent absence, and in particular how much in breach of the RO the PR is.
OVERALL:
As
@bluffmaster88 put it, CBSA can report a PR for a breach of the RO even if the PR has a valid PR card.
As
@armoured further observed, if when examined, such as at the PoE when returning to Canada, a PR is in breach of the RO if they have not been IN Canada at least 730 days within the preceding five years, as of the day of their arrival here.
What will actually happen, that's a lot more complicated, variable, subject to contingencies, and very difficult to forecast . . . except to recognize that there are some factors we know increase the risk, like longer absences and bigger breaches of the RO.
