Landing and leaving inquiry - visa exempt

[Graihn]

Hi. I have encountered a dilemma.
I sent my application in January, and my VO is London. I am the principal applicant.
I expect to get a CoPR between July-September 2014 if everything goes smoothly.
My passport expires late 2015 and my medical on December 12th 2014.

Dilemma: I landed a hell of a job in Sweden which is extremely good for my business consulting career (top 4 consulting company in the world) starting in March. I do not want to leave that job before a year has gone by.

Am I ok to land, and apply for my PR card, and have it sent to the Canadian address, leave for Sweden, go back to canada to pick it up after 2 months, and return to Sweden since I am visa exempt? I intend to return to canada to pick it up, and then after having worked until March 2015 I will return to Canada.

Will I have issues returnig to canada as a visitor to pick up my PR card?
Option two is I just transfer to this consulting company in Toronto or Mississauga

 

[Rob_TO]

Am I ok to land, and apply for my PR card, and have it sent to the Canadian address, pick it up after 2 months, and return to Sweden since I am visa exempt? I intend to return to canada to pick it up, and then after having worked until March 2015 I will return to Canada.

Will I have issues returnig to canada as a visitor to pick up my PR card?

Who will be receiving the PR card at your Canadian address? They could simply courier the PR card to you in Sweden, so there would be no need for you to actually return to Canada simply to pick it up.

Else you could just return to Canada as a visa-exempt traveler when boarding the plane in Sweden. When you get to Canada, the immigration officer will be able to determine your PR status on their computer, even if you don't have the actual PR card.

I assume you are being sponsored as a spouse? Will you have conditional PR status? If this is the case then you will need to cohabit with your sponsor after getting PR status, so hopefully they would be living with your in Sweden while you work there.

 

[canvis2006]

Who will be receiving the PR card at your Canadian address? They could simply courier the PR card to you in Sweden, so there would be no need for you to actually return to Canada simply to pick it up.

Else you could just return to Canada as a visa-exempt traveler when boarding the plane in Sweden. When you get to Canada, the immigration officer will be able to determine your PR status on their computer, even if you don't have the actual PR card.

I assume you are being sponsored as a spouse? Will you have conditional PR status? If this is the case then you will need to cohabit with your sponsor after getting PR status, so hopefully they would be living with your in Sweden while you work there.

If he's coming without PR Card, airline may require a return-ticket rather than a 1-way.
Do you know if this is true?

 

[Rob_TO]

If he's coming without PR Card, airline may require a return-ticket rather than a 1-way.
Do you know if this is true?

Vast majority of times airlines won't care about this if you have a visa-exempt passport.
In the very rare situation this happens, you could just buy a fully refundable ticket on the spot, and cancel it immediately after.

 

[little_apple]

Just copy your COPR and bring it with you. That's enough proof for the airline and you won't need a return ticket

 

[Rob_TO]

Just copy your COPR and bring it with you. That's enough proof for the airline and you won't need a return ticket

Lots of airlines have no clue what a COPR is, and stamped right on the COPR it says "not suitable for travel" or something like that in big bold letters. Many airline employees are trained to only accept the physical PR card as proof of PR status.

If a visa-exempt traveler is a PR but doesn't have their PR card, it will be a lot easier to travel by just stating you're a tourist/visitor traveling under visa-exempt passport. Once you claim you're a PR but don't have an actual PR card to show, it could lead to lots of trouble and denied boarding.

 

[Graihn]

Who will be receiving the PR card at your Canadian address? They could simply courier the PR card to you in Sweden, so there would be no need for you to actually return to Canada simply to pick it up.

Else you could just return to Canada as a visa-exempt traveler when boarding the plane in Sweden. When you get to Canada, the immigration officer will be able to determine your PR status on their computer, even if you don't have the actual PR card.

I assume you are being sponsored as a spouse? Will you have conditional PR status? If this is the case then you will need to cohabit with your sponsor after getting PR status, so hopefully they would be living with your in Sweden while you work there.

thanks rob

Common-law, so there will be a condition of 2 years to it. Completely forgot. Just assumed I couldn't live elsewhere in Canada. The card will go to my sponsors address in Canada

 

[Graihn]

It actually makes me a bit curious. Do I actually have to count day 1 as the start of 730 days living together, OR, can I count the first day of my first continuous 2 year period of cohabitation in Canada?

I mean, why can't I wait, and whenever I have accrued 730 days in a row, that is when the condition is met?

PS. If anyone comes along on this thread and don't think I really want to be a PR and think I believe I am above everything, I am not. Move along please.

 

[Rob_TO]

It actually makes me a bit curious. Do I actually have to count day 1 as the start of 730 days living together, OR, can I count the first day of my first continuous 2 year period of cohabitation in Canada?

I mean, why can't I wait, and whenever I have accrued 730 days in a row, that is when the condition is met?

Once you "land" you are then officially a PR, and are then bound by the conditional obligation to cohabit with your spouse. So if you land as PR then immediately move to Sweden while your sponsor remains in Canada, you are not cohabiting and CIC would have grounds to revoke your PR status according to the conditional rules. The rules state cohabitation must be for 2 years from day 1 of becoming a PR.

Would they actually do this? Who knows... as we haven't seen these new conditional rules be enforced yet. But I sure wouldn't want to be a test case for it.

 

[Graihn]

Once you "land" you are then officially a PR, and are then bound by the conditional obligation to cohabit with your spouse. So if you land as PR then immediately move to Sweden while your sponsor remains in Canada, you are not cohabiting and CIC would have grounds to revoke your PR status according to the conditional rules. The rules state cohabitation must be for 2 years from day 1 of becoming a PR.

Would they actually do this? Who knows... as we haven't seen these new conditional rules be enforced yet. But I sure wouldn't want to be a test case for it.

You are so right. I don't want to be the "there's one case I saw in this forum where this dude's PR got revoked due to this thing"-guy. Lol.

 

[QuebecOkie]

I'm visa-exempt and traveled after landing but before I had my PR card (USA). I just traveled as a visitor on a round-trip ticket from Montreal, to Oklahoma, back to Montreal. I had no return ticket to the USA. No one ever asked about my status until I reached customs and immigration on the way back in Montreal. I went through the visitor line (since I didn't have my PR card) with my customs form filled out honestly (I listed my Canadian address and said the length of my visit was "permanent," haha). I told the officer that I was a PR who hadn't received my card yet. I showed her the copy of my COPR, and she sent me to the immigration office. The officer there quickly found me in the system, and less than five minutes later, I was out of there.

As for the cohabiting thing for conditional PR, I suspect CIC would never know if you weren't living with your partner unless he/she reported it, but if it were me (I'm extremely risk-adverse when it comes to my status!), I wouldn't want to take the chance. It also may be important to know that there are some changes being proposed right now that could affect residents. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/changes+proposed+Canadas+Citizenship/9477264/story.html There may soon be new residency requirements for maintaining permanent residency. What I've read is a bit confusing. I can't tell if one will have to reside 4 years out of every 6 in Canada (as opposed to, I believe, 2 years out of every five right now), or just "maintain a physical presence" in four years out of every 6, which I think means living in Canada for over half the year. Just something to be aware of and pay attention to as you consider your living situation.

 

[Avadava]

I'm visa-exempt and traveled after landing but before I had my PR card (USA). I just traveled as a visitor on a round-trip ticket from Montreal, to Oklahoma, back to Montreal. I had no return ticket to the USA. No one ever asked about my status until I reached customs and immigration on the way back in Montreal. I went through the visitor line (since I didn't have my PR card) with my customs form filled out honestly (I listed my Canadian address and said the length of my visit was "permanent," haha). I told the officer that I was a PR who hadn't received my card yet. I showed her the copy of my COPR, and she sent me to the immigration office. The officer there quickly found me in the system, and less than five minutes later, I was out of there.

As for the cohabiting thing for conditional PR, I suspect CIC would never know if you weren't living with your partner unless he/she reported it, but if it were me (I'm extremely risk-adverse when it comes to my status!), I wouldn't want to take the chance. It also may be important to know that there are some changes being proposed right now that could affect residents. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/changes+proposed+Canadas+Citizenship/9477264/story.html There may soon be new residency requirements for maintaining permanent residency. What I've read is a bit confusing. I can't tell if one will have to reside 4 years out of every 6 in Canada (as opposed to, I believe, 2 years out of every five right now), or just "maintain a physical presence" in four years out of every 6, which I think means living in Canada for over half the year. Just something to be aware of and pay attention to as you consider your living situation.

From my understanding, (I sometimes get bored and read the Citizenship forum), there is a new bill coming up, which some believe it would turn into a law by the end of this year. It doesn't affect residency requirements for PR, it affects residency requirements for citizenship. At the moment, in order to be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship, you must have physically resided in Canada 3 years out of the past 4 as PR, although years spent in Canada before PR (lets say student visa) are counted as half a day for a full day. With the new law, you will be eligible for citizenship only after you have physically resided for 4 years out of the past 6 in Canada, and the amount of time spent on another visa other than PR, will not be counted in.

To summarize, the residency requirements you have mentioned (4 years out of 6) are for grant of citizenship, not for PR card renewal. (at least that's how I understand it, because in all the articled I've read, only citizenship requirements were mentioned)

 

[keesio]

To summarize, the residency requirements you have mentioned (4 years out of 6) are for grant of citizenship, not for PR card renewal. (at least that's how I understand it, because in all the articled I've read, only citizenship requirements were mentioned)

Yes, this current bill only applies to citizenship requirements and not PR obligation.

 

[Rob_TO]

As for the cohabiting thing for conditional PR, I suspect CIC would never know if you weren't living with your partner unless he/she reported it,

It would be very simple for CIC to find out about a conditional PR not cohabiting with sponsor. i.e. when the PR returns to Canada from overseas after X months away, the immigration officer will easily be able to see they are a conditional PR. Just a few simple questions about the spouse/sponsor, and the officer will know they have not been cohabiting.

Now the question is, would the immigration officer report this to CIC? Or will immigration officers even be asking questions regarding the conditional PR rule? That is the chance you would need to take.

 

[SuperVisa]

Good morning.

I have a short question. How can we know if my son has a conditional PR? He just got his COPR and he will land next month. His application started on June 2011. Hi married in January 2011 and they were dating since 2006.


Thank you.