how to keep her PR Status

[nope]

The thing about the Canadian PR is that it's very generous -- 2/5 years in the country, nothing more. It's the reason why my wife and I immigrated to Canada instead of having her apply for a green card in the United States (6 months out = green card gone). Your daughter has a lot of time to figure out what she wants to do.

I'd forgotten about the nuisance of Germany's citizenship policy, what you did makes sense.

The second thing about growing up is that we're always taught that it's good to finish things -- this is awful advice for adults, though. You should finish things you want to do, and quit things you don't want to do. Life is too short to do the opposite. If you daughter dreams of being an interior designer in BC, it's a little bit of a push to make her into a paralegal office assistant in Germany . . . It sounds as if your move back to Germany was a bit spur-of-the-moment; perhaps this is a good opportunity for your daughter to sit down and make a careful plan, which doesn't have to be executed immediately, for what she wants to do in her next few years and how that might involve Canada and Germany both. And it might be that her apprenticeship contains things she can apply later, even if unfinished.

I know how she feels (without the family issues) -- I went to college for four years in Canada as a young adult, and it was kind of strange and unpleasant, when that was over, to think that suddenly I had no status in Canada, no ability to work there, and I was finished with the place. All my friends were up there, as well as my very short adult life, and that was it.

 

[Tri-Cities]

Yeah true. I like the rules and obligations given to us. I really do.

She said she's thinking about it. And as I thought, you mentioned it too, she feels like being a loser if she doesn't finish her apprenticeship. When we came back to Germany she actually went to a kinda private school to become a 'Raumausstatter' which is not really a interior designer but the jobs have some things in common. She broke that off because we paid for it thinking it would be a really good investment but it wasn't.
After that she decided to learn something that has a future.

You might wonder whats the difference of paying College in BC and private school in Germany. It's cheaper and you get financial help, and you don't have to pay back a loan.

((The legal assistant / paralegal thing she is doing now is paid (monthly), 2 days of fulltime school and 3 days in the office. I think 22 days od vacation per year. After 3 years she's done.
If she would be what's called a straight A student she would be able to graduate earlier, but that's up to the school and her boss.))

While all these changes happened my feelings for my country and life changed as well. I realized that I don't like it here anymore, that too many things have changed in the past and that even I never felt that way Canada is where I'm supposed to be.

This is one sh...y situation.

T-C

 

[nope]

This is one sh...y situation.

T-C

Eh, your daughter and you will figure it out . . . I've been in ones like that in the past, and they made my life miserable while they were going on -- but later on I realized that things like that can be worked out, especially if parts of the system have some flexibility. You guys have time, make sure that however you move is planned out well.

It's too bad that Canada doesn't have any colonies around the world, where a Canadian can go to live abroad within Canada . . . :-X A Canadian Guam, or something like that . . .

 

[reikiprince]

Hello

If I came to Canada with Indian passport and got a PR card. After 10 years of living outside Canada (I stay in Dubai) I come to USA on a Portugal passport which I have acquired without knowledge of Canada immigration. Then I cross into Canada with a Portugal passport which has a visa free entry to Canada. My name and surname is same as in Indian passport. But my passport is totally different, Its European now.

1)Can Canada immigration find out if I am same person as the PR holder with Indian passport who entered 10 years back

2)If they do not find out and I stay in Canada for 730 days after that can I then renew my PR card?

please advise if you ever came across such a case?

regards
reikiprince

A better question might be "can agents know?". There is a limit to what they can show on the initial screen. If the agent cares to dig, yes, they can find out. With the information sharing agreement with the US, they can also now track land border crossings. With fewer holes in the system, they are more likely to trust the data they have.

To answer your question, yes and no.

They have a record of entries and exits, and these are associated with passports and cards.

If (for example) you fly to Germany on a German passport, there will likely be a record in a database with your name, birthday, and passport number. This is provided to the government of Canada by the airline. Your CoPR is also associated with a passport based on name, birthday, and passport number.

Given these two, it is possible for the agent to search and link the records. If the passport number matches, it's easy. If it doesn't (for example, you renewed a passport), then they have to do fuzzy searches (name + birthday + country) matches. This leads to false positives - there may be two German men named Hans Müller.

For criminal records, they tend to be cautious - if there is a terrorist with your name and a similar birthday, they will assume you are him and make you prove you are not.
For immigration records, they tend to be less so - if there is a permanent resident with your name and a similar birthday, they assume you are not a permanent resident until you prove you are. This is partially why the PR card is a big deal - without it, they have to look in the system for someone who is a P/R with your info and hope it's you.

The practical outcome of this is simple: The system may be able to show them your last date of entry or exit, if it was possible to link the two records. It may not. If it does not, the person can find out if they are willing to take the time to piece it together.

This matters little, though - if they want to know, they can ask you. Lying is misrepresentation, which is bad.

 

[Tri-Cities]

@reikiprince

I would appreciate if you would open up your own thread, especially since it looks like you're trying to keep your status by playing such games - using different passports and different names...really? That's as bad as it gets.

---> I would like to ask one of the admins to delete/displace this post - Please!!

Thanks, T-C

 

[nope]

Hello

If I came to Canada with Indian passport and got a PR card. After 10 years of living outside Canada (I stay in Dubai) I come to USA on a Portugal passport which I have acquired without knowledge of Canada immigration. Then I cross into Canada with a Portugal passport which has a visa free entry to Canada. My name and surname is same as in Indian passport. But my passport is totally different, Its European now.

1)Can Canada immigration find out if I am same person as the PR holder with Indian passport who entered 10 years back

2)If they do not find out and I stay in Canada for 730 days after that can I then renew my PR card?

please advise if you ever came across such a case?

regards
reikiprince

My understanding of this -- you should search the forum, it's discussed at length -- is that what you did is perfectly legal and permitted by CIC. I suppose possibly if you lied to a border agent there might be some minimal punishment associated with that, but CIC explicitly permits people, who are within Canada, to live legally until they are able to renew their PR cards. It's an odd technicality -- I guess it doesn't come up that much, and they figure that its cost to Canada is less than the cost of installing some mechanism for reviewing every PR card application.

It can be annoying, though, living without a PR card, which isn't supposed to be required ID for anything, but in practice is.

 

[Lammawitch]

@reikiprince

I would appreciate if you would open up your own thread, especially since it looks like you're trying to keep your status by playing such games - using different passports and different names...really? That's as bad as it gets.

---> I would like to ask one of the admins to delete/displace this post - Please!!

Thanks, T-C

Totally agreed. The question has nothing to do with yours.

Having said that, the answers to the op's questions are yes and yes, respectively.

 

[imran364]

if PR holder live outside Canada continuously more than 6 months ? He ll be questioned on arrival or not ?

 

[Tri-Cities]

Hard to say.

I've been out of country before, not for 6 month but 4 after my dad was diagnosed with cancer (we all went to Germany in 2011) and again after he passed away (in 2013). (Back then at the airport) I was asked the usual questions, like where I came from, if I had a good time and where I would go and stuff. But since I had nothing to hide I felt fine with every question.

I believe that the officers / agents can tell if someone is lying or telling the truth. So it might depend on how they feel about you and your story.

I have to say that I never met an officer / agent who'd been rude or acting in a way that would upset me. I appreciate them - I mean it!

T-C

 

[nope]

Hard to say.

I've been out of country before, not for 6 month but 4 after my dad was diagnosed with cancer (we all went to Germany in 2011) and again after he passed away (in 2013). (Back then at the airport) I was asked the usual questions, like where I came from, if I had a good time and where I would go and stuff. But since I had nothing to hide I felt fine with every question.

I believe that the officers / agents can tell if someone is lying or telling the truth. So it might depend on how they feel about you and your story.

I have to say that I never met an officer / agent who'd been rude or acting in a way that would upset me. I appreciate them - I mean it!

T-C

One time my wife was questioned fairly extensively when flying in alone from Asia -- at that time she had only been a PR for 1.5 years, so there was no way at all she could be in violation of the RO (and she'd been living in Canada for more than one year of that anyway). I've never understood what the border official thought they were accomplishing, since her PR status gave her the right to enter Canada.

He was perfectly polite, though.

 

[Tri-Cities]

Sorry to hear that!

I'm sure that there is a lot of fraud going on. I wouldn't take it too personal if I were you. The officers /agents have to do their job, it doesn't really matter if we like it or not.

Even if your wife didn't violate the RO the officer has (the right / obligation) to check. No big deal.

Reading a lot of threads on this forum one can see how people seem to just get their PR status and then leave - sometimes for years. Even though I left Canada, I didn't right after I got my PR and I think sometimes people aren't honest.
If it was up to me the rules could be way stricter.

I mean some PR's who leave the country for many years do appeal which costs a lot of money and time...and I don't get why getting a status and fight for it many years later if you actually don't (want to) live in that country.

One has to decide one way or another.

 

[Msafiri]

One time my wife was questioned fairly extensively when flying in alone from Asia -- at that time she had only been a PR for 1.5 years, so there was no way at all she could be in violation of the RO (and she'd been living in Canada for more than one year of that anyway). I've never understood what the border official thought they were accomplishing, since her PR status gave her the right to enter Canada.

He was perfectly polite, though.

CBSA has a dual immigration/customs aspect so once its clear the traveller is a PR and in RO compliance the 'immigration' part of the Inspection is over and further questioning may be /is typically linked to the customs side. Select passengers and/ or airlines from well known narcotic routings for example may get additional attention based on intelligence, random section or a gut feel from years of experience.

 

[kateg]

One time my wife was questioned fairly extensively when flying in alone from Asia -- at that time she had only been a PR for 1.5 years, so there was no way at all she could be in violation of the RO (and she'd been living in Canada for more than one year of that anyway). I've never understood what the border official thought they were accomplishing, since her PR status gave her the right to enter Canada.

He was perfectly polite, though.

Was she questioned more on the customs or immigration side?

They have different countries (and destinations) flagged for certain things, regardless of the person. US people headed to Alaska get searched for guns. People from drug source countries get searched for drugs. People coming from Asia have a tendency to bring back meat and agricultural goods, then not declare them. It's not done to be evil, rather, they often want the foods they enjoy at home here.

As someone from the states, I regularly get questioned about weapons when crossing the border. I'm a Permanent Resident. I've lived here for a while. They still ask, because other people from the United States keep bringing weapons across. It has nothing to do with me personally.

 

[antho065]

Hello

I don't wanna push her again and decide for her. Being 20 now she has to decide herself.

Just to clarify, is she 20 right now (in the year of 2015)?
Are you or your spouse a Canadian PR or citizen?

If both are yes, then she can probably keep her PR status, because if she was accompanying a Canadian PR or citizen who is her parent, that counts as residency, until the age of 19. So counting back from now to the last five years, from ages of 15-20 (five years), she spent 4 years accompanying a Canadian PR or citizen, which satisfies the residency obligation of two years out of five. This should work as long as (1) you are a Canadian PR or citizen, (2) if you are a PR, you haven't renounced it or received any notices from CIC that you are no longer a PR, because even when you haven't satisfied your residency obligation, your PR status remains valid and it isn't automatically lost.
But double check with a lawyer or another forum member here.

 

[Leon]

If both are yes, then she can probably keep her PR status, because if she was accompanying a Canadian PR or citizen who is her parent, that counts as residency, until the age of 19.

In this case that will not work. In the case of accompanying a spouse or a parent, the RO is only met when it is a Canadian citizen or it is a PR who is exempt from the RO himself while he is working for the Canadian govt., military or a Canadian employer and is posted to a full time position overseas.

I this case, they are PR's who chose to leave Canada and now want to return while they can still meet the RO.