Help! Not fulfilling 730days but am actually residing in Canada for 2+ yrs

[Werckmeister]

Sorry all but my case is a slight bit complex... I became a landed immigrant in May of 2005, and now my PR card is about to expire. However, the weird thing about my case is as follows:

May 2005 - December 2005 - lived in Toronto and worked as a part-time/contract worker (with a trip or two outside for work)
December 2005 - August 2008 - went abroad due to a great job offer
August 2008 - June 2010 - moved back to Canada but instead of taking a full-time job, I have 2-3 part-time/contract jobs. However, these part-time jobs require me to go abroad a lot. I have letters from all my employees about the nature of my employment and why I need to travel, but still they don't fit the "full-time employment" category.

I filed tax for years 2005, 2008 and 2009. During the periods May - Dec 2005 and Aug 08 - today, I have an apartment here, pay water bills, phone bills, credit card bills, etc. In other words, I live here. *Technically* I should fulfill the 2 years requirement...except I don't, because if you count physical presence, I spent over 1100 days abroad.

What do I do??? It's very annoying because yes, my current jobs require me to be out of the country 3+ months out of the year, but because they are not full-time (why don't they recognize multiple part-time jobs???), I cannot count them. For those curious, I work in film as curator and producer. So my job nature tend to be on project-basis and never full-time.

Any advice would really be appreciated, since I have no idea how I can explain this to immigration. Thank you!

 

[toby]

Although I don't normally recommend hiring a lawyer, in this case why not sit down with one for an hour, pay his a few hundred dollars, and discuss how to present your case?

 

[mediajunkie]

I asked the question a few months ago and Leon told me a few months ago that when you apply for your PR card renewal, they will only look at whether you have 730 days in the last 5 years, and not 5 years since your landing.

Your PR card is only needed when you need to enter and leave the country. You can remain in Canada on an expired PR card as long as you do not travel anymore.

Make sure you accumulate 730 days and then submit your PR card renewal form and do not leave the country anymore on your until you have received your new PR card which could take 4-5 months to receive. That is pretty much your only option.

Perhaps Leon can confirm this.

 

[Werckmeister]

mediajunkie:

Sorry but this option does not work for me. As stated, my part-time jobs require me to travel a lot. For now I won't need to leave the country until October, but come Fall I'll be in and out like crazy until December due to a film shoot and festivals. But this is really annoying me now. I'm starting to wonder - if I cannot live here and do what I do, then why continue staying here?

 

[toby]

That's why I suggest consulting a good lawyer. He or she might sho you how to treat your part-time jobs as a permanent job.

And -- depending on the companies who send you abroad -- those companies might qualify as Canadian, hence you would be able to treat the time abroad as if you had been in Canada.

A good lawyer should be able to set you straight in an hour or two max.