This post will address ONLY the PR Residency Obligation issue, mostly in regards to making an application for a new (renewed) PR card, mostly for clarification.
The posts by
@scylla and
@igg cover the gist of things and effectively point you in the right direction. The most important point made, however, was by
@igg in regards to reading the instructions and applying them:
"I suggest you read those instructions through and carefully, as some things may apply to your consideration when to apply and how to fill out the forms, which documents, etc."
It is critical that PRs "
carefully" and thoroughly read the instructions, for themselves, and apply them to their own situation, and make appropriate decisions for themselves based on their best understanding of the rules, per the instructions, and how the rules and instructions apply to their own facts and circumstances.
This forum can help a PR identify the applicable rules, and help a PR understand them and their application generally (emphasis on "generally"). But it is still up to the individual PR to become familiar with the rules and instructions, and to apply them to her or his own case, to the PR's own situation, as best the PR can.
In regards to the applicable rules:
@igg also posted the technically correct rule about compliance with the PR RO, which it appears you already understood (considering your reference to 1044 days outside Canada since becoming a PR and being "good" with 51 days). Technically
@scylla's statement about needing to have at least 730 days in Canada to be eligible for a new PR card is either wrong or incomplete (emphasis on "
technically"). To be eligible for a new PR card the PR needs to be in compliance with the RO, and as
@igg correctly cited, until the fifth year anniversary of the date of landing days left on the calendar until that fifth year anniversary count toward RO compliance.
It appears you recognize that counting days outside Canada is a practical approach to assessing RO compliance during the first five years after landing, and as long as that total number is less than 1095, the PR is in RO compliance.
Thus, for example, as long as the PR has not been outside Canada for 1095 or more days since landing, the PR meets the PR RO. And is eligible for a new PR card.
In particular, to be eligible for a new PR card, the PR must be in compliance with the RO. An application for a new PR card can be made up to nine months prior to the expiration of the PR's current card (note: this could easily change anytime; it has been as short as three months at times, and probably has been six months most of the time). So, under the
current practice of allowing for and processing applications submitted up to nine months before the current PR card expires, you could apply for a new PR card later this fall, in 2022. And as long as you have not been outside Canada 1095 or more days since landing, you meet the RO compliance eligibility requirement . . . even though you have been IN Canada fewer than 730 days.
In particular, since you have been outside Canada for no more than 1044 days since landing in March 2018, it appears you have
approximately 781 days credit toward RO compliance. As long as you STAY IN Canada this will not change until AFTER the fifth year anniversary of your landing; and, note, if you were in Canada around seven weeks when you first landed, again as long as you STAY IN Canada your RO credit will continue to be 781 days until around seven weeks after the fifth year anniversary of your first landing (for those seven weeks you gain a day's credit for staying, but are losing a day's credit as each of those days is no longer within the five years that count).
CAUTION: Just because you CAN apply, because you are in compliance with the RO and meet the RO compliance eligibility requirement,
that does not necessarily mean it is a good idea to apply that soon.
@scylla is among a number of veteran forum participants who typically state something like this:
And, again, technically that is NOT correct for a PR during the first five years following the date of
landing, the date they became a PR. (Note: you also use the term "
land" in Canada for other dates of arrival here; helps avoid confusion if references to dates of "
landing" are limited to the one, specific date a PR actually becomes a PR.)
BUT in terms of when it is a good idea to apply for a new PR card,
what @scylla said is nonetheless a good practical rule, the best rule to follow. So, it is NOT the actual rule, but it is a rule that works,
and always works (assuming that in the meantime the PR does not leave Canada for so long as to be outside Canada a total of more than 1095 days within the preceding five years), and it is the more practical rule to follow by a big margin when the risks of non-routine processing and potentially lengthy delays in getting a new PR card are taken into consideration. That is, if the PR waits to apply for a new PR card only AFTER they meet the PR RO based on days actually in Canada, and they are staying in Canada, that
FOR SURE WORKS, no need to look at the fine print or wrestle with nuances.
Beyond that, there is the question:
WHY rush applying for a new PR card? For which the answer is mostly DON"T DO IT.
I do not mean to be giving advice. What
@igg suggested, about reading the instructions and applying them, making your own decisions, is still more important. And there are situations in which a particular PR might judiciously, prudently, elect to rush applying for a new PR card.
But generally, and again DESPITE the fact that the way
@scylla states it is not technically correct, at the very least it is usually, almost always, BETTER to wait to apply until, as
@scylla's version more or less cautions, the PR is in compliance with the RO based on at least 730 days IN Canada, days actually IN Canada.
In contrast, among reasons why a PR should NOT rush applying for a new PR card, is that rushing the application almost certainly increases the risk of non-routine processing, and probably considerably so for a PR who is
cutting-it-close. Reminder: subject to the extent it appears the PR has settled here and is living in Canada PERMANENTLY,
cutting-it-close can mean having up to around 900 days credit for days actually IN Canada (that is, having spent more days abroad than in Canada, while noting that the more readily apparent it is the PR is fully settled and living PERMANENTLY in Canada, the safer a smaller margin over the minimum is).
Current processing timeline, around four months, means nothing if the application is subject to non-routine processing. Secondary Review can take a full year for example. Not much point in applying for a PR card early if it means not actually getting a new card for 10 months or longer.
It is also worth remembering that
a new PR card does NOT restart the clock. Once you reach that fifth year anniversary of the date of landing, RO compliance as of that day and from then on will be based on days IN Canada within the previous five years.
