Leaving after Landing? What constitutes 'days' towards Permanent Residency?

[Suin]

To apply for citizenship: Needs to have spent at least 1095 days in Canada in the previous 4 years before applying.

these days should be continuous without leaving or it's possible to leave Canada for a short time and return back?

 

[mitamata]

PR stands for permanent resident, not prisoner When he is a PR, he is free to travel outside of Canada whenever he wants. Considering the loose requirements for keeping PR (2 out of 5 years in Canada is not very 'permanent' to me) it's obvious plenty of PRs don't live in Canada permanently.
Lots of people land with a return ticket, usually their reason for it is "I'm landing now before the visa expires, but I have to go back home soon to arrange everything for the final move". Which is a perfectly valid reason I think and I don't see why it couldn't work for you. You're just in Canada for a short while to rent a place to stay and then you're going back home to finish everything up. Or whatever. I don't think they care really.

Anyway, that's for a typical case where the sponsor is already in Canada. I guess they could make an issue of it if it's revealed you (the sponsor) aren't moving either, but I've never heard of such a thing happening during the landing.

Btw, from what I remember of my landing, nobody asked me how long I intend to stay in Canada.

 

[mitamata]

To apply for citizenship: Needs to have spent at least 1095 days in Canada in the previous 4 years before applying.

these days should be continuous without leaving or it's possible to leave Canada for a short time and return back?

No, they don't have to be continuous, you're allowed to travel. However, every single day spent outside of Canada counts against you. Even if you spend only one night in the US for example, that's 1 day spent outside of Canada as far as the citizenship requirement goes.

 

[Suin]

Yes, I would agree. It's sort of cheating the system after the system cheated us. After my husband was refused a Tourist Visa twice, we were told I needed to sponsor him. So now we are reluctantly doing it, knowing full well that we don't really want to move there now. So supposing that everything is processed properly can my husband 'land' in Canada with a Return ticket in his pocket? If they interview him at the airport does he have to 'convince' the officer that we are moving permanently to Canada in order to be let in?

I don't think they will even ask you about your return ticket. Being PR you a free to travel all around the world.

 

[Leon]

So supposing that everything is processed properly can my husband 'land' in Canada with a Return ticket in his pocket? If they interview him at the airport does he have to 'convince' the officer that we are moving permanently to Canada in order to be let in?

I don't think he'll have any problems. They might ask him about an address to get his PR card mailed to and he can give your family's address, right? They might ask him if he'll be staying there and he can say yes, he wouldn't be lying because he will be staying there, at least for the short visit.

if a PR spouse goes for vacation with a Canadian spouse will it count too?

Yes

these days should be continuous without leaving or it's possible to leave Canada for a short time and return back?

It's ok to leave and come back. You just need at least 1095 days total (3 years) in the 4 year period before you apply.

 

[thaihubbie]

Considering the loose requirements for keeping PR (2 out of 5 years in Canada is not very 'permanent' to me)

Let's be clear now. It says that to keep PR

To keep PR: Needs to be in Canada at least 730 days in any 5 year period. Time spent outside Canada with a Canadian citizen spouse or parent also counts towards this as well as some other situations, PR working for a Canadian company overseas, spouse of such PR etc.

 

[mitamata]

Which is even looser! My point exactly.

 

[Suin]

No, they don't have to be continuous, you're allowed to travel. However, every single day spent outside of Canada counts against you. Even if you spend only one night in the US for example, that's 1 day spent outside of Canada as far as the citizenship requirement goes.

does it count towards citizenship if I spend time outside with my Canadian spouse?

 

[Suin]

It's ok to leave and come back. You just need at least 1095 days total (3 years) in the 4 year period before you apply.

how they know that PR left the country? do they keep any records of departure and arrival?

does it mean that if somebody stays in Canada continuously without leaving 3 years long, he can apply for citizenship right away?

 

[Karlshammar]

does it count towards citizenship if I spend time outside with my Canadian spouse?

No, it counts towards PR retention, but not towards citizenship.

does it mean that if somebody stays in Canada continuously without leaving 3 years long, he can apply for citizenship right away?

At least 2 years of this time has to be after becoming a PR, so the soonest anyone could apply would be 2 years after the date of landing, if they don't leave Canada at all after this date.

 

[Leon]

does it count towards citizenship if I spend time outside with my Canadian spouse?

No. Being outside Canada with your Canadian spouse will count towards PR residency requirements, that is it will protect your PR but it will not count towards citizenship requirements.

how they know that PR left the country? do they keep any records of departure and arrival?

They may scan your passport or PR card when you arrive. If you arrive by plane, you will have to fill out a customs form where you are also asked how long you were away. As for when you left, they work with the US border so they can get their data. Maybe they work with other countries as well. Bottom line, you don't know what they know so to avoid getting caught in a lie, keep good records of your travels for the next few years so when you apply, you will know all the dates.

does it mean that if somebody stays in Canada continuously without leaving 3 years long, he can apply for citizenship right away?

Yes, if they stay for 3 years without leaving, they can apply 3 years and a day after they landed. For some reason they want you to fulfill the 1095 days a day before you sign your citizenship application. Better give it a couple of days extra because if they find that you are applying too early, you will end up in bureaucracy limbo and your application will take way longer than if you waited the couple of extra days.

 

[Karlshammar]

Also remember that the instructions say you have to wait until one day AFTER you are eligible to apply. For example, if you are eligible to apply Jan 1, you must wait to Jan 2 to apply.

 

[Leon]

At least 2 years of this time has to be after becoming a PR, so the soonest anyone could apply would be 2 years after the date of landing, if they don't leave Canada at all after this date.

This is true. If the person was already in Canada before becoming PR, they can count each day as a half day towards the citizenship requirements of 3 years presence.

For example, somebody who was in Canada for 2 years as a student or temporary worker before getting PR could apply for citizenship after 2 years as a PR. He would then fill his 3 years of presence in the previous 4 year period with 2 years of PR and 2 years previously before he got PR would count as the 3rd year.

 

[Suin]

This is true. If the person was already in Canada before becoming PR, they can count each day as a half day towards the citizenship requirements of 3 years presence.

For example, somebody who was in Canada for 2 years as a student or temporary worker before getting PR could apply for citizenship after 2 years as a PR. He would then fill his 3 years of presence in the previous 4 year period with 2 years of PR and 2 years previously before he got PR would count as the 3rd year.

thank you for all your answers, Leon, appreciated a lot.

just one more question related to your last post - will they count a time spend on visitor's visa if someone changed his/her visitors status to PR after staying in Canada almost 4 months as a visitor?

 

[Karlshammar]

Yes, just like in Leon's post, they would get half credit for the days spent in Canada before becoming a PR. The status (visitor/worker/student) is irrelevant.