Living with a canadian citizen abroad?
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There is the possibility that when renewing your PR card, IRCC may consider who accompanied whom (did the PR travel with the Canadian citizen or did the Citizen travel with the PR). There seems to be an increase in this becoming more prevalent, but I doubt there is adequate information yet to determine if this is becoming IRCC standard policy. Worst case scenario, if you loose you PR, your spouse/significant other (assuming that is what the Canadian you live with is) can sponsor you again.
If after your husband gets PR you don’t relocate to Canada and establish yourselves he will have a hard time counting the time with you abroad towards his RO. If you have no intention of settling in Canada there is no reason to sponsor and you should delay until you want to live in Canada.
For the purpose of counting days toward meeting the PR Residency Obligation, there is a provision which gives credit to days the PR is abroad "accompanying" a Canadian citizen spouse. This is known as the accompanying-citizen-spouse-abroad-credit.
IRCC practice has typically counted days during which the PR is living (cohabitating) with the Canadian citizen spouse abroad, BUT the statute and respective regulation specifically refer to "accompanying" the citizen spouse. And in some cases officials have considered who accompanied whom, and not allowed the credit where it was determined the PR was not the one accompanying the citizen abroad. We have seen this in both anecdotal reports (including the issue arising in a CBSA Port-of-Entry screening) and official accounts of actual cases in published IAD decisions. These appear to be cases where it is more or less readily apparent the PR did not "accompany" (as in did not "go with") the citizen spouse abroad, such as where the Canadian citizen spouse clearly moved abroad to where the PR was living, or where the PR never settled in Canada so could not actually accompany (go with) a spouse abroad, and in some other cases where the couple's history tends to clearly reveal the citizen is abroad to be with a PR living or working abroad.
But generally, if a PR is in a marital relationship with a Canadian citizen, and the PR is settled in Canada and then, for whatever reason, the couple move abroad, yes, the time living together abroad will ordinarily count toward RO compliance EVEN IF, for example, the reason for being abroad is, say, due to the PR taking work abroad.
This is an aspect of the how the system works very much subject to change. The basic RO is not likely to change any time soon, and if changes are proposed those would be well publicized well before the change is implemented. But how exceptions, like the accompanying-citizen-spouse-abroad-credit, are handled and applied, even how it is interpreted, can undergo changes more quickly and with less notice. PRs living abroad should be cautious and be sure to keep abreast of current policies and practices that could affect them. It warrants remembering that the interpretation and application of all the rules related to PR status is to a significant extent influenced by the purpose for granting PR status, which is so the individual can PERMENANTLY settle and live in Canada. So whenever a PR is not settled and living in Canada, that PR should be aware that can have an impact on the degree of scrutiny and level of rule enforcement the PR encounters.
The most standard case is that you both settled in Canada and then your citizen spouse get a new job outside. So you both move outside of Canada for your Canadian citizen spouse to work. You, the PR, will be accomodating the citizen. Those days will count towards PR RO (so you can apply for PRTD to return if your PR card expires).
I'm facing the same situation! My wife is from Canada and is not working and my kids are Canadian citizens aswell, I have a Pr and we are living abroad as I work there , my 3 years living outside Canada expires at the end of this year and I'm worried what to do ? Can I renew it after my PR expires ?? I would appreciate any feed back on what to do thank you.
In addition to posts above in this topic which address such situations, as best they can be in the abstract (remember, the particular facts in your specific case matter), you have previously been referred to the topic where similar situations are discussed at length and in-depth:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/who-accompanied-whom-can-matter-for-prs-living-with-citizen-spouse-abroad-update.579860/
And you posted similar queries around a year ago, which I also responded to. What we know about this kind of situation has not changed since then.
Reminders:
Since you never actually settled in Canada, it will be rather apparent if not obvious to Canadian CBSA and IRCC officials you did not "accompany" your citizen spouse abroad. Whether or not that triggers decision-making leading to denying you the accompanying-citizen-spouse-abroad Residency Obligation credit, leading to the loss of PR status for a breach of the Residency Obligation, is difficult to predict; it could go either way. But it for sure increases the RISK.
You have a back-up-option, going through the sponsored for PR by a Canadian spouse again. Probably best to not go that route UNTIL your spouse is actually back living in Canada. Yes, a Canadian citizen abroad can sponsor a spouse but that depends on a concrete plan to settle IN Canada after PR status is granted. Given your history, probably best to steer clear trying that the next time, if a next time is necessary. That is, if you do lose PR status, before applying for sponsored PR again it will probably be best to wait until you and your family are actually ready to come to Canada to stay, with your spouse actually living in Canada when making the application . . . of course this has risks, like an unforeseen sudden death of the spouse.
Here is my experience with accompanying a Canadian spouse abroad and then applying for PRTD to return. Hope this might be helpful to some.
2006: Moved to Canada with a Work Visa together with my Canadian Common Law Partner. We both moved to Canada from Switzerland.
2007: Became PR sponsored by Common Law Partner.
2009: Got married in Canada.
2010: Moved back to Switzerland together.
2012: Our child was born in Switzerland (Swiss and Canadian Citizenship).
2016: Both my wife and I got jobs offered in Canada and decided to move back. Since both my wife and my son had Canadian citizenship, I needed to hope that I maintained my RO and applied for a PRTD to return. I was able to claim every day from 2011-2016 (last 5 years, 1932 days) towards RO because I was accompanying my Canadian spouse in Switzerland. PRTD was issued and I applied for a new PR card form within Canada once we moved back in 2016.
As others mention, I think it really depends on your specific situation. To be honest, it never ocurred to me that the 'who accompanies who' question might be an issue. If I had know, I would have been much more concerned. If I would not have been issued an PRTD my spouse probably would have had to sponsor me again, which would have taken much longer. Hope this helps some of you judging your own situation.
2006: Moved to Canada with a Work Visa together with my Canadian Common Law Partner. We both moved to Canada from Switzerland.
2007: Became PR sponsored by Common Law Partner.
2009: Got married in Canada.
2010: Moved back to Switzerland together.
2012: Our child was born in Switzerland (Swiss and Canadian Citizenship).
2016: Both my wife and I got jobs offered in Canada and decided to move back. Since both my wife and my son had Canadian citizenship, I needed to hope that I maintained my RO and applied for a PRTD to return. I was able to claim every day from 2011-2016 (last 5 years, 1932 days) towards RO because I was accompanying my Canadian spouse in Switzerland. PRTD was issued and I applied for a new PR card form within Canada once we moved back in 2016.
As others mention, I think it really depends on your specific situation. To be honest, it never ocurred to me that the 'who accompanies who' question might be an issue. If I had know, I would have been much more concerned. If I would not have been issued an PRTD my spouse probably would have had to sponsor me again, which would have taken much longer. Hope this helps some of you judging your own situation.
The details in your history make and illustrate a big difference. So it is good you share those. And it is appreciated because it helps illustrate differences that matter.
PRs in circumstances similar to yours will generally have NO cause for concern.
In particular, as often noted, for purposes of getting credit for time abroad "accompanying" a citizen-spouse, generally there is NO question about who-accompanied-whom . . . and showing that the PR and Canadian citizen have been living together abroad generally suffices. In fact, as "exceptions" go, this tends to be among the most readily, easily allowed.
. . . UNLESS . . . . EXCEPT . . . except when there are circumstances which more or less make it obvious the PR and Canadian citizen did not go abroad together, typically involving a PR who never actually settled in Canada (with some rare exceptions to this, with what I suspect was discrimination influencing one of the more well-known examples).
Thus, for you there should NOT have been any reason for concern, little or none at all, since you and your citizen partner were together IN Canada well before you went abroad. So even if you knew about the potential for this issue, it should not have caused you to worry. Again, this is one of the most readily, easily allowed exceptions.
Nonetheless, yes, this is a subject regarding which generalizing risks confusion and misunderstanding, especially since there are occasional anomalies, but it warrants emphasizing that usually, generally, a couple who were settled and living together in Canada BEFORE they were living together abroad, are not likely to encounter any who-accompanied-whom issue. Moreover, it is not necessary that they move abroad together at precisely the same time, and it ordinarily does NOT matter who goes abroad first. No matter why it is they have been living abroad.