i need advice on my Complicated PR Situation

[hjula1985]

Hello,

I landed in Canada in sept 2002 with my parents and brothers. At the time i was 17. My dad had immigrated as an entrepreneur and was required to start his own business there. My dad did not fulfill his 2/5 years requirements and he had some problems proving that he started his own business there. I finished engineering and did my masters degree in Montreal. I applied for citizenship in the beginning of 2007 but never got a reply until i left in December 2008. My status kept showing that it was transferred to the Montreal office and is being reviewed. I guess my file was kept on hold due to the status of my dad, when I landed i was tied to his file. I had visited Lebanon in the summer of 2008 and met my wife who was still a university student. I wanted to live close to her and i couldn't find a job in Canada at the time due to the economic crisis so I left Canada in December 2008, at the time i had even fulfilled my citizenship requirements...

Once i got back to my home country i started work, waited for my wife to graduate, got engaged and married and now we have a 6 month old baby. I was told i had to go to Canada to sponsor my wife and that i might leave her for 2 years or more. She had a difficult pregnancy and I just couldn't leave her. Currently we have a very difficult situation in our country. Explosions and terrorist bombings every now and then, civil war is approaching and we just want to leave. My PR was expired in October 2012...

What can I do to go back to Canada with my family, i lived there for nearly 6 years, i studied and finished my Masters degree there. I want to move there permanently with my wife and baby. I speak perfect English and my wife speaks perfect French. We are in a very volatile area and I am worried for my family I have a baby girl and I just want her to live in peace...

Can I appeal that citizenship was my right that wasn't given to me and that I shouldn't have been tied to my father?

It is easier and cheaper to just cancel my file and reapply as a family?

Where is it easiest to apply based on my case?

Would I have some sort of priority over people who have never lived in Canada as I have lived and studied there and would the application take less time?

 

[Leon]

You can not claim that you should have been giving citizenship back when. Even if it was a mistake or your file was lost etc. you would never be given it now because you do not meet the PR residency obligation.

You need to give up your PR status before you can apply again. You can for example do this by applying for a PR travel document. Just write on it that you had no good reason to not meet the RO and that you want them to verify that you have lost your PR. Choosing to work outside Canada is not considered a good reason to not meet the RO so this is true.

After having lost your old PR, you can start looking into how to apply for a new one.

Since you have history in Montreal and your wife speaks French, I think you would be a good candidate for Quebec skilled worker. You can do the self assessment here: http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/immigrate-settle/permanent-workers/epi.html

 

[frege]

It's too bad you applied for citizenship as a family. You could have applied as an individual, and your file wouldn't have been held up.

I don't find the QSW tool particularly easy to use.

Here are the tables that will be most useful to evaluate your eligibility.

http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/publications/fr/divers/Grille-synthese.pdf
http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/publications/en/diverses/list-training.pdf

http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/informations/rules-procedures.html

With a degree in engineering, you'll likely receive priority processing.

However if your degree was obtained more than five years ago, and you don't have one year of work experience in a related field in the last five years, you won't get credit for your area of training. The five years is measured from the date you apply for the CSQ.

 

[hjula1985]

It's too bad you applied for citizenship as a family. You could have applied as an individual, and your file wouldn't have been held up.

With a degree in engineering, you'll likely receive priority processing.

However if your degree was obtained more than five years ago, and you don't have one year of work experience in a related field in the last five years, you won't get credit for your area of training. The five years is measured from the date you apply for the CSQ.

I actually applied alone, but the lawyer at the time told me that for families who apply as investors, the whole family is tied to the main applicant (my dad). If i stayed longer i could've probably proved that i am independent from my dad but it would've taken a long time i guess...

When you say priority processing, how fast would it be usually? I graduated May 2009 with a Masters degree in Engineering and I have been working in the field ever since...

Are the years or part of the years I lived previously in Canada considered towards my new residency requirements?
If i apply for a travel document to ask to cancel my PR how long would it take before they cancel it usually?
When I apply for the the QSW, is it better if I visit the embassy and talk to an agent there and explain my situation or should i just apply online?

Thank you for your help guys i appreciate it

 

[frege]

When you say priority processing, how fast would it be usually? I graduated May 2009 with a Masters degree in Engineering and I have been working in the field ever since...

How did you graduate from a Montreal university in May 2009 if you left in December 2008?

I'm not sure how fast it would be. They give priority based on the number of points for area of training and based on the country of residence. It may be that if you have points for your area of training, the fact you're in Lebanon won't make a difference - I'm not sure about this point.

http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/publications/en/diverses/list-training.pdf

You'll have higher priority if you have a job offer in Quebec. It will be even higher if you can move to Quebec with temporary status and apply after working in Quebec for a year, under the PEQ for temporary workers.

Unfortunately, you're no longer eligible to apply under the PEQ for graduates from Quebec universities because you had 36 months to apply from the time of graduation.

If i apply for a travel document to ask to cancel my PR how long would it take before they cancel it usually?
When I apply for the the QSW, is it better if I visit the embassy and talk to an agent there and explain my situation or should i just apply online?

I don't know the answers to these questions. The selection will be done by the Quebec government, and I doubt that it will be easy to walk into a Quebec immigration office and get this kind of information. The federal government will only be involved afterwards, to check medical, criminal and security issues.

You should post in the QSW section of this forum, or on a forum in French that would have people from Lebanon on it.

There are also two Quebec immigration lawyers listed in Lebanon who are members of AQAADI (in Beirut and Zalka-Metn):

http://www.aqaadi.com/en/home/

Edit: The Quebec immigration office in Damascus is now closed, so applications from Lebanon are processed in Montreal. Not that you would have wanted to travel to Damascus, anyway.

 

[hjula1985]

How did you graduate from a Montreal university in May 2009 if you left in December 2008?

I finished my degree requirements in December 2008 and got a letter saying that I'm done but I officially graduated ie. Got the diploma, in May 2009.

If i get an offer of employment, is it a requirement to work with this employer or can i change employers once i get there?

thank you

 

[frege]

I finished my degree requirements in December 2008 and got a letter saying that I'm done but I officially graduated ie. Got the diploma, in May 2009.

If i get an offer of employment, is it a requirement to work with this employer or can i change employers once i get there?

thank you

If it's for permanent residence, you can change employers once you get here.

If it's for temporary work authorization, your work permit will most likely be specific to one employer.

Maybe you should phone the Quebec immigration ministry. Tell them how many points you'll be receiving under the "area of training" criterion and ask how long you can expect a CSQ application to take in those circumstances. I'm not sure they'll answer you, but maybe you can determine if you will be treated the same as other people with the same number of points, or if you will receive lower priority because you're applying from Lebanon.

The federal process afterwards has been taking a long time lately - about 31 to 39 months at the Beirut office - so if you want to come to Quebec quickly, the best thing might be to come as a temporary worker if you can.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/skilled-que.asp

To apply as a QSW, things might go faster if you moved to a different country first!

Another option would be for your wife to go to school (cegep or university) in Quebec. It would have to look as though it was a normal thing for her to do. For example, it will look suspicious if she repeats a level of education she's already done. You could then get a work visa as an accompanying spouse. After a year of working in Quebec in a skilled position, you could apply for permanent status under the PEQ for temporary workers. Alternatively, she could apply as a graduate once she graduated.

 

[hjula1985]

If it's for permanent residence, you can change employers once you get here.

If it's for temporary work authorization, your work permit will most likely be specific to one employer.

Maybe you should phone the Quebec immigration ministry. Tell them how many points you'll be receiving under the "area of training" criterion and ask how long you can expect a CSQ application to take in those circumstances. I'm not sure they'll answer you, but maybe you can determine if you will be treated the same as other people with the same number of points, or if you will receive lower priority because you're applying from Lebanon.

The federal process afterwards has been taking a long time lately - about 31 to 39 months at the Beirut office - so if you want to come to Quebec quickly, the best thing might be to come as a temporary worker if you can.


To apply as a QSW, things might go faster if you moved to a different country first!

Could I just visit another country and apply at their office? or should i actually be living there?

 

[frege]

Could I just visit another country and apply at their office? or should i actually be living there?

You would have to be living there. You would need to be admitted for residence there for a period of a year or more.

Edit: This wouldn't be a guarantee, because CIC could choose to do the federal part of the processing in Beirut to evaluate security, etc.

 

[hjula1985]

In my case, where my French is very basic, but my wife's french is perfect, and i graduated from a quebec university with a masters degree, do i have more chances applying to the Quebec Skilled Worker or the Federal skilled Worker?

 

[frege]

In my case, where my French is very basic, but my wife's french is perfect, and i graduated from a quebec university with a masters degree, do i have more chances applying to the Quebec Skilled Worker or the Federal skilled Worker?

You'll have to look at the federal skilled worker program separately. With a year's experience as a full-time engineer, you will probably be exempt from the requirement to have a job offer.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-instructions.asp?expand=jobs

Look at the table of points for the Quebec program that I linked to above. If you and your wife meet the overall points threshold, you'll qualify, even if your French is basic. According to the new rules, however, your French has to be intermediate-advanced or you will receive zero points for French. There are other programs, such as the PEQ, that absolutely require French.

You could also consider having your wife be the principal applicant, depending on her education and training.

 

[frege]

Hello hjula,

I'd like to bring to your attention the official rules on the Quebec Skilled Worker and Quebec Experience programs.

http://www2.publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/dynamicSearch/telecharge.php?type=7&file=GPI-3-1.pdf

http://www2.publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/dynamicSearch/telecharge.php?type=7&file=GPI-3-4.pdf

Apparently, since you have points for area of training, the CSQ portion of your application is supposed to take only 60 working days. The federal portion could of course still be very long.

 

[Msafiri]

hijula,

Its always best to try and rescue your PR and if this is not viable look at re-applying from scratch. Under the current immigration law (IRPA) loss of PR occurs when you:

1. Become inadmissible - no appeal/ failed appeal.
2. Renounce PR.
3. Become a Citizen.

PRs usually become inadmissible by breaching the residence obligation (RO) which is to have 730 days of physical presence in Canada in each 5 year rolling period. CIC are not aware you have breached the RO unless you come into contact with them usually when you make an application for a document and/or an immigration benefit e.g. sponsoring a relative, applying for a PR Card/ Travel Document.

If you can enter Canada without being reported then if you get to 730 days you have put your PR back in good status and are 'safe' again. If you are from a visitor visa exempt nationality e.g US then you can easily show up at any port of entry (land/air) and take your chances with Immigration and explain your situation. Usually they let absences slide and give you a warning about the overstay - seems the paperwork is a pain and the burden of proof can be an issue. Assuming you are on a Lebanese passport this visa exempt route doesn't apply - you need a Travel Document (TD). If you apply for a TD you will get found out and will get reported. You won't succeed at appeal - your absences as compelling as they are for you are lifestyle/personal choice...you could have returned to Canada and sponsored your spouse.

If you can get a US visa then a loophole exists - you can show up at a land border port of entry and try your chances of not being reported. You just need some evidence of your PR status e.g expired PR Card/ COPR/ IMM1000 etc. You may not be reported.

Even if you are reported you will enter Canada as right pending your appeal (you get 30 days). You can use your time in Canada to get a job etc - its easier when you are here than in ME.

As a side issue all this may be moot if your dad failed to finalize his PR status at the end of the review period for his admission class. It maybe removal orders were prepared and mailed to him. As his dependents if he didn't make it then your situation tied to him. Where is he now?

If the above process seems to much for you then renounce PR by making a TD application in which you confirm you fail the RO and waive all appeal rights then apply for PR as advised.

Good luck