**Help** Renew PR for my wife outside of Canada

[siddebian]

Hello,

My wife and I have been living in Canada since our university. We got job here and got PR status here and we love living in this country and it's been several years.

This year, we have fertility issue that needs be treated, so my wife went back to our home country for treatment (where her parents are taking good care of her), but fertility treatment takes time. I often travel back and forth to look after her by plane. But my wife's PR card is expiring in half year and she is not able to come back by then. We both want to maintain the status and will definitely come back to live here forever after issues are resolved.

From what I have read on CIC website: we cannot renew PR card for people outside of Canada The only way is to apply for visa to enter Canada and apply for a new PR after that.

I'm looking for helps that if there are anything I can do inside Canada to help maintain the PR status for my wife. If it's not for fertility concerns, we really love living here forever. I'm wondering if there are any options for us to get this maintained in a better way. My wife has sacrificed lots for the treatment and I don't want her to lose anything more.

Thanks everyone and appreciate it.
Sid.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hello,

My wife and I have been living in Canada since our university. We got job here and got PR status here and we love living in this country and it's been several years.

This year, we have fertility issue that needs be treated, so my wife went back to our home country for treatment (where her parents are taking good care of her), but fertility treatment takes time. I often travel back and forth to look after her by plane. But my wife's PR card is expiring in half year and she is not able to come back by then. We both want to maintain the status and will definitely come back to live here forever after issues are resolved.

From what I have read on CIC website: we cannot renew PR card for people outside of Canada The only way is to apply for visa to enter Canada and apply for a new PR after that.

I'm looking for helps that if there are anything I can do inside Canada to help maintain the PR status for my wife. If it's not for fertility concerns, we really love living here forever. I'm wondering if there are any options for us to get this maintained in a better way. My wife has sacrificed lots for the treatment and I don't want her to lose anything more.

Thanks everyone and appreciate it.
Sid.

She can't renew the card outside Canada.

However, if she has only been outside Canada for around 1 year in total, then there should be no problem. When she is ready to return and her PR card is expired, she can apply for a PRTD (PR Travel Document) to return to Canada. This assumes that she holds a passport that is NOT visa-exempt. App is here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/travel.asp

Upon applying for the PRTD they will do a check on her Canadian residency, and as long as she doesn't violate the Residency Obligation (by staying outside for 3 years), they should grant her the PRTD to travel back to CAnada, where she can then renew PR card.

Keep in mind it would be better if she could have a baby in Canada, as if a baby is born outside he/she will need to be sponsored for PR, and apply for a TRV if they want to come to Canada in the meantime (which is not guaranteed to be approved).

 

[siddebian]

Thank you so much for the information, Rob!

We've been living in Canada for almost 9 years since we arrived and got PR in 2010 Oct. The estimated time for my wife to be outside Canada is almost 2.5 years (1 year before expiry and 1.5 year after it), does that mean she can return to Canada with the PRTD without much troubles?

We had a not very pleasant experience for medical treatment in Canada (didn't get a good professional doctor) which made the situation worse, that's why we pursued a different way outside of Canada. To be safe for her healthiness, it's more likely we'll have the baby born outside of Canada. Given the fact I'll be in Canada most of time these years and my wife had a long continuous residency before, would there be good possibility to bring my wife and kid back to Canada? Is there anything particularly I can do to help on this with great chances?

Thanks a lot for the advice,
Sid.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you so much for the information, Rob!

We've been living in Canada for almost 9 years since we arrived and got PR in 2010 Oct. The estimated time for my wife to be outside Canada is almost 2.5 years (1 year before expiry and 1.5 year after it), does that mean she can return to Canada with the PRTD without much troubles?

We had a not very pleasant experience for medical treatment in Canada (didn't get a good professional doctor) which made the situation worse, that's why we pursued a different way outside of Canada. To be safe for her healthiness, it's more likely we'll have the baby born outside of Canada. Given the fact I'll be in Canada most of time these years and my wife had a long continuous residency before, would there be good possibility to bring my wife and kid back to Canada? Is there anything particularly I can do to help on this with great chances?

Thanks a lot for the advice,
Sid.

Which country are you from? That would help confirm a few things.

As long as she does not exceed the RO (spending at least 2 out of the last 5 years in Canada) she should be ok to get a PRTD.

However as mentioned, there is no guarantee the baby would be approved for a TRV (again i'm assuming you are not from visa-exempt country). If baby is refused, then you will need to submit baby's PR application while at least one of you remains resident in Canada. Most likely that would be you, and your wife would need to stay in home country to care for baby. Problem is this will most likely cause her to exceed 3 years outside Canada, after which she would most likely be rejected for PRTD and possibly have PR card revoked. I'm not sure if hers would qualify for a H&C consideration to exceed the RO, as it was her personal choice to return for an elective medical process that could have been done also in Canada. But it's hard to say.

Good new there though is that even if a H&C claim failed, you could always just sponsor her again under spouse-family class. But it will get annoying to do all these PR apps!

Of course if baby is granted a TRV, you can all return to Canada together and submit baby's PR app while all residing in Canada.

There are a lot of possible ways this could happen, so need to plan accordingly.

 

[siddebian]

We are from China. My wife won't exceed 3 years outside of Canada as we estimated, she has lived here for 9 years (almost 4 years after got the PR). Should it be fine for her to get the PRTD?

After about 1 year recovery from giving birth to the baby, she'll be returning back to Canada, and her parents will take care of the baby meanwhile. I understand we need to sponsor the baby to come to Canada, and will plan for this for sure. The first priority is to get my wife's status to resume in Canada, so she can come back to work again. After that, both of us will sponsor the kid and family to Canada.

We understand that the medical process can also be done in Canada, but due to several factors such as the medical situation caused in Canada from a surgery, time consuming process of medical system in Canada, and the age concerns (we are not young anymore), it's more safe and efficient for us to get this done outside of Canada.

Thanks Rob for your suggestions, really appreciated!!

 

[Rob_TO]

We are from China. My wife won't exceed 3 years outside of Canada as we estimated, she has lived here for 9 years (almost 4 years after got the PR). Should it be fine for her to get the PRTD?

Yes as long as she doesn't exceed 3 out of the past 5 years outside Canada, she should be fine. Try not to cut it too close at the end, she may want a few months extra time in case she had to leave Canada again for any reason in the next few years.

After about 1 year recovery from giving birth to the baby, she'll be returning back to Canada, and her parents will take care of the baby meanwhile. I understand we need to sponsor the baby to come to Canada, and will plan for this for sure. The first priority is to get my wife's status to resume in Canada, so she can come back to work again. After that, both of us will sponsor the kid and family to Canada.

Just make sure that the one who is principal sponsor on the baby's PR application, can remain resident in Canada during the processing time. You are allowed short/temporary trips outside Canada, but if sponsor ever left Canada for an extended time CIC may cancel the PR application if they feel you are no longer residing here.

Also by all means you should try applying for a TRV for your baby when you're ready to move back. If it's rejected, it will have no impact on the baby's PR app. If it's granted, then your family can be together in Canada. You would just need to make sure you get your baby some emergency travel medical insurance as they most likely won't be covered by provincial healthcare as a visiting dependent. Same for your wife when she returns, depending on province she may need to wait 3 months before healthcare kicks in.

We understand that the medical process can also be done in Canada, but due to several factors such as the medical situation caused in Canada from a surgery, time consuming process of medical system in Canada, and the age concerns (we are not young anymore), it's more safe and efficient for us to get this done outside of Canada.

I only mentioned that in case there was a situation where you wife exceeded the RO, and faced a possible H&C decision on her PR status. If she doesn't exceed the RO, you don't have to worry about this.

 

[siddebian]

Yes as long as she doesn't exceed 3 out of the past 5 years outside Canada, she should be fine. Try not to cut it too close at the end, she may want a few months extra time in case she had to leave Canada again for any reason in the next few years.

Just make sure that the one who is principal sponsor on the baby's PR application, can remain resident in Canada during the processing time. You are allowed short/temporary trips outside Canada, but if sponsor ever left Canada for an extended time CIC may cancel the PR application if they feel you are no longer residing here.

Also by all means you should try applying for a TRV for your baby when you're ready to move back. If it's rejected, it will have no impact on the baby's PR app. If it's granted, then your family can be together in Canada. You would just need to make sure you get your baby some emergency travel medical insurance as they most likely won't be covered by provincial healthcare as a visiting dependent. Same for your wife when she returns, depending on province she may need to wait 3 months before healthcare kicks in.

I only mentioned that in case there was a situation where you wife exceeded the RO, and faced a possible H&C decision on her PR status. If she doesn't exceed the RO, you don't have to worry about this.

Thanks a lot, Rob!
Once all these passed, we won't leave Canada again in the future.

I have another question that I'm not sure about. Before the departure, she already lived in Canada for 3.5 years since we got the PR card. Could we renew the PR card at that moment and leave Canada after we got the renewed PR card? As it was 1.5 years away from the expiry, not sure if it's eligible to get it renewed, but the condition of RO is satisfied (2 out of 5 years). Thanks.

 

[siddebian]

I also got some information from other sources that the RO condition will be changed to 2 out of 4 years, which means we cannot stay outside of Canada for more than 2 years. Would that have impacts on our situation since it's probably my wife will be outside for ~2.5 years. It meets current condition (<3 out of 5 years outside Canada) but not for the updated one.

 

[david1697]

I also got some information from other sources that the RO condition will be changed to 2 out of 4 years, which means we cannot stay outside of Canada for more than 2 years. Would that have impacts on our situation since it's probably my wife will be outside for ~2.5 years. It meets current condition (<3 out of 5 years outside Canada) but not for the updated one.

There is no such regulation (2 of 4) in existence.
If some day such change occurs, then immigrants would be subject to it.

 

[Rob_TO]

I have another question that I'm not sure about. Before the departure, she already lived in Canada for 3.5 years since we got the PR card. Could we renew the PR card at that moment and leave Canada after we got the renewed PR card? As it was 1.5 years away from the expiry, not sure if it's eligible to get it renewed, but the condition of RO is satisfied (2 out of 5 years). Thanks.

Policy from CIC is that PR cards should be renewed 6 months before they expire: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=057&t=10
A renewal attempt done 1.5 yrs before, would most likely result in a letter telling you to wait until 6 months.

Also just having a valid PR card, does not remove the need to follow residency obligation. So even if your wife had renewed her PR card immediately before leaving, but then stayed 3 years outside Canada, upon return to Canada with the valid PR card she could still be reported by CBSA for not meeting RO. The only thing a valid PR card helps with here, is not having to get the PRTD.

I also got some information from other sources that the RO condition will be changed to 2 out of 4 years, which means we cannot stay outside of Canada for more than 2 years. Would that have impacts on our situation since it's probably my wife will be outside for ~2.5 years. It meets current condition (<3 out of 5 years outside Canada) but not for the updated one.

As mentioned, no such rule exists. Also they will not suddenly implement a new rule without fair warning to everyone, similar to how they are rolling out the new Citizenship rules later this year but everyone has been aware of it already for quite some time now.

I've never heard of a possible new 2-of-4 year rule (something like this would be discussed much more on this site if it were coming into force). Don't worry about about rumors, only start worrying if you see an official announcement from CIC or even something from a major news source.

 

[siddebian]

Policy from CIC is that PR cards should be renewed 6 months before they expire
A renewal attempt done 1.5 yrs before, would most likely result in a letter telling you to wait until 6 months.

Also just having a valid PR card, does not remove the need to follow residency obligation. So even if your wife had renewed her PR card immediately before leaving, but then stayed 3 years outside Canada, upon return to Canada with the valid PR card she could still be reported by CBSA for not meeting RO. The only thing a valid PR card helps with here, is not having to get the PRTD.

As mentioned, no such rule exists. Also they will not suddenly implement a new rule without fair warning to everyone, similar to how they are rolling out the new Citizenship rules later this year but everyone has been aware of it already for quite some time now.

I've never heard of a possible new 2-of-4 year rule (something like this would be discussed much more on this site if it were coming into force). Don't worry about about rumors, only start worrying if you see an official announcement from CIC or even something from a major news source.

Thank you, Rob!
I may have got some misunderstanding from other discussions in this board that we can start renewing the PR card once we met the RO (730 days residency in Canada), and thought if we should have done that earlier if that was true.
Not having to get the PRTD is indeed the option I was thinking about, you know, to save some troubles collecting more documents and explanations. It would be much easier and simpler when people are already settled down in Canada after coming back.

Glad to know the rumor is not true, then focus on current rules is the priority concern.