It is a bit complicated. You are a Canadian. But you are also inadmissible. But it would be easy to restore things to what you thought they were: renounce or surrender PR status.princessofdiamonds said:I'm very confused on what to do to be honest . I've obviously tried to do things the right way by submitting an application etc, but now I feel that it's all screwed up and I don't know what to do , not sure what the best route in is now. If I knew that I still held PR status in some way, I would have gone back a couple of years ago rather than to continue To work in the uk . I very much doubt that I have any grounds for h and c if I do get caught, so I don't know whether to renounce my residency and continue with oinp or risk it and enter in the summer as a visitor and stay.
what a mess
To be in the position you thought you were in, a Foreign National (FN):
Your situation could be made relatively simple, putting yourself back just where you thought you were, a Foreign National applying for Express Entry.
To do this you can apply to voluntarily renounce PR status and then follow through with the Express Entry. I am not sure if you need to withdraw and re-apply; my sense is that if you promptly renounce PR status and that takes effect before they open your Express Entry application, they are likely to proceed with the Express Entry application . . . so yeah, not quite so simple or certain as it would have been if you were not a PR, but close.
To renounce your PR status see:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/infORmation/applications/guides/5781ETOC.asp
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/voluntarily-renounce.asp
Alternatively you can apply for a PR Travel Document, which will be denied, and once the time for filing an appeal has elapsed you would again be a FN without PR status.
Renouncing PR status, or losing PR status for non-compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, will NOT detrimentally affect any other application for a visa, including an Express Entry application.
I do not know the time line if you apply to renounce your status, but I suspect that is the faster way to get that done so as to allow you to pursue Express Entry.
The fastest way would be to actually travel to Canada and surrender your status at the PoE. You would then, most likely, be allowed to enter Canada as a FN visitor.
(Obviously, actually available options depend some on one's financial resources. Not everyone, but some, can afford adding a casual trip to Canada on short notice.)
Attempting to retain PR status:
This is indeed more complicated. Some important aspects of your situation:
-- you are a Canadian PR
-- -- who is in breach of the PR Residency Obligation (thus "inadmissible")
-- -- who has submitted a visa application for which you are not eligible (since you are a PR, you are not a FN, and to be eligible for Express Entry a person must be a FN)
-- -- who recently applied for eTA, for which you were not eligible because, again, you are a Canadian not a FN
-- and there is no doubt about CBSA identifying you as an individual with PR status: that is why your eTA application was rejected
Thus, this is more complicated than simply packing a suitcase and coming to Canada to live.
That noted, in concurrence with what has been offered by others:
If you manage to travel to Canada and are allowed to enter Canada without being reported for being inadmissible, that is not reported for being in breach of the PR RO, as a PR you can live and work in Canada. And if you stay in Canada enough to come into compliance with the PR RO, the breach of the PR RO is cured, you would no longer be inadmissible, no longer at risk of losing PR status, and then you would be eligible for a new PR card (this may take a little longer to get, but at least your status itself would not be at risk).
The IF part of this is, however, a big IF. And there are some uncertain elements which are difficult to predict.
In particular, it is feasible, not just possible but feasible, you could make the trip, not be reported for inadmissibility at the PoE, and settle into a life in Canada. But whether or not this is how it goes is not at all a sure bet.
Observations from a more risk-averse perspective:
As mentioned by others, there is the matter of reactivating your SIN, and obtaining a drivers license. There is also the matter of obtaining health care coverage (which requires proof of status in Canada). While reactivating the SIN is probably not a problem, being able to get a drivers license or health care without a currently valid PR card could be difficult.
Some prospective employers might require proof of status. I wonder about schools hiring teachers for example. Maybe someone else knows if schools ordinarily require proof of status before hiring teachers.
Boarding a flight to Canada:
Contrary to what others may think and assert, just being able to board a plane to come to Canada is, at this juncture, NO guarantee, and while my view of this is contrary to that of some participants here, as discussed in multiple topics, at best being allowed to board a flight to Canada is a long way short of being a sure bet.
For example, see the admonition IRCC has posted at the top of its website about PR status: see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/about-pr.asp
(Compare the admonition for PRs, at top of page at url listed, with information for Canadian citizens with dual citizenship at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/dual-canadian-citizens.asp and note the latter specifically references a "transition period," thus non-enforcement until the fall, whereas there is not a similar qualification stated for PRs.)
Some here dismiss the PR admonition, for those who carry a visa-exempt passport, as essentially being in the nature of the-boy-who-cried-wolf, and more particularly that this is not being enforced during the "leniency period" for eTA enforcement (even though eTA has nothing to do with PRs). This may be accurate but we do not know that for sure.
There has been some assertion here of numerous reports of non-enforcement, but in this forum I have seen just TWO such reports since IRPA Regulation 7.1 came into force on March 15: one a U.S. citizen returning to Canada on a round-trip flight to the U.S. (and it is quite likely that U.S. citizens are not subject to the same enforcement practices as other PRs); the other a recently landed PR with a visa-exempt passport also returning to Canada after a short trip abroad (trip made prior to receiving the first PR card). Assuming these are credible reports, all both of them, there is no information as to why they were allowed to board the flight to Canada. There are several possible reasons, which again have been discussed at length in other topics, and to my view for any particular PR there is a substantial risk the PR rule could be enforced despite one or two anecdotal reports it was not enforced for someone else.
Of course you may elect to travel via the U.S. and from an airport in the U.S. (such as Buffalo, N.Y.) travel to the border by private vehicle.
Risk of PR RO examination:
Whatever means of travel you use to get to a Canadian PoE, there is a risk you will be examined at the PoE, upon arrival, as to compliance with the PR Residency Obligation. The outcome of any such examination, so long as you are honest in your responses, is predictable: an opportunity to surrender PR status and then being allowed to enter Canada as a visitor, or the issuance of a 44(1) inadmissibility report followed by a Removal Order. If the latter happens you will still be allowed to enter Canada, and you have 30 days (as I recall) to make an appeal.
It is difficult to assess the extent of risk of a PR RO compliance examination. While your past experience is promising, your recent application for eTA might have been enough to flag you in the CBSA database. Or, perhaps, arriving in Canada on a visa-exempt passport without eTA now triggers a status check. Or . . . here too the possible alternatives are many. The nature and scope of border screening has changed and continues to change.
And even if the PIL officer does not refer you to secondary because you have been identified as a PR without a currently valid PR card, there is the prospect of at least one question like:
-- how long will you be in Canada?
-- what is the purpose or nature of your trip?
-- where do you live?
And if the trip is a move to stay in Canada for longer than a visit, an honest answer will most likely trigger a referral to secondary and then the predictable PR RO compliance questions.
Temptation to fudge responses at the PoE, mostly: DO NOT DO IT.
Generally I try to limit giving advice. To my view, while this venue is good for sharing information, this is not an appropriate venue for obtaining or giving advice (for one thing, there is always the risk that unstated factors might have a huge impact inconsistent with what otherwise appears to be competent advice). But sometimes a bit of straight-forward advice is warranted.
Example of advice I will give: If in doubt, follow the instructions; otherwise, yep, follow the instructions.
Another example: Do not give false, misleading, or evasive answers to Canadian officials.
Sure, intention as to future actions can easily change, so expressing one's intentions the day of arrival at a PoE (intending to visit), and then changing one's mind the next week (decided to stay), that happens and that is not misrepresentation. But of course there are reasonable limits to this, and in particular there are potential inferences based on not just known facts but apparent circumstances as well.
Thus, saying you are "visiting" if you really intend to stay, is to my view risky. It would be a lot more risky (or downright stupid) if you have a huge amount of baggage, or even just baggage including the sort of items one carries when making a more or less long-term move.
Frequent visits in the past favour your odds.
I confess, I myself have fudged, probably more than my share. (But looking back I realize I was probably fooling no one but myself, just that in the particular situation it was of little or no import.)
But make no mistake: it is not OK to give false or misleading answers to the border officers at a PoE. Easy to get away with if minimal and careful, probably. No fun if caught, that's almost for sure.
