How Can You Keep Your Permanent Resident Status???

[SadGirl:(]

On the CIC website it says that:

"Your permanent resident status allows you to live in Canada, but there is also a time limit on how long you can live outside the country. To keep your status as a permanent resident, you must live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period."

Can someone please explain in more detail how this would work? For example, let's say that you came to Canada and stayed for 6 months and then you travel out of the country, what is the maximum number of months you can stay out of the country without losing your permanent residency?

Also for example, it says you must live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period, let's say you came to Canada and stayed for 6 months and then you travel out of the country and remain out of the country until 18 months before you reach 5 years of being a permanent resident. You come back and stay for 18 months to make it a total of two years out of five that you stayed in Canada, can you then travel out of the country again after you stayed two years out of the five? And if you can, how long can you remain out of Canada?

Thanks

 

[AllisonVSC]

Hi Sadgirl,

There is an awesome folder for this topic in the settlement issues section of the forum. See here...

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/permanent-residency-obligations-b11.0

There is lots of good reading there, but the folder is not nearly as active as family class. Allison

 

[matthewc]

Can someone please explain in more detail how this would work? For example, let's say that you came to Canada and stayed for 6 months and then you travel out of the country, what is the maximum number of months you can stay out of the country without losing your permanent residency?

3 years, but then you wouldn't be able to leave Canada again, even for a single day, in the next 1.5 years.

Also for example, it says you must live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period, let's say you came to Canada and stayed for 6 months and then you travel out of the country and remain out of the country until 18 months before you reach 5 years of being a permanent resident. You come back and stay for 18 months to make it a total of two years out of five that you stayed in Canada, can you then travel out of the country again after you stayed two years out of the five? And if you can, how long can you remain out of Canada?

Thanks

If you cut it that fine, you'd have to remain in Canada for at least 6 months before leaving again. That's because (after the first 5 years) the last 5 year period that's looked at is rolling, so for every day you accumulate in Canada after you return, you'd be losing one day at the start. After 6 months, you'd start to build up more than 2 years in the last 5. When you got to 2.5 years in the last 5, you'd be good to leave for up to 6 months again. Make sense?

 

[abedelia]

I was under the impression that as long as you remain with your sponsor, the two of you can live together anywhere in the world you you retain your PR status. Is this incorrect? I don't know where I heard this....

 

[RobsLuv]

I was under the impression that as long as you remain with your sponsor, the two of you can live together anywhere in the world you you retain your PR status. Is this incorrect? I don't know where I heard this....

You're not wrong . . . it's in Section 6.1 of the OP10 Processing Manual:

Accompanying outside of Canada
A28(2)(a)(ii) and (iv) provide that each day a permanent resident is outside of Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse, common-law partner or, in the case of a child, a parent with whom they ordinarily reside, it is deemed a day of physical presence in Canada.

Each day a permanent resident is outside Canada, accompanying a spouse, common-law partner or, in the case of a child, a parent who is also a permanent resident and with whom they ordinarily reside, is also deemed a day of physical presence in Canada provided the spouse, common-law partner or parent of the other permanent resident is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or
of a province.

 

[matthewc]

...the sponsor does have to be a Canadian citizen though. If the sponsor is a PR, that doesn't apply.

 

[abedelia]

thanks for the info you two....very nice!