Long absence from Canada- PR status lost?

[Niette]

Hi.
My brother landed in Canada and lived there for 2 years and then left back home to take care for elderly parents.
After 5 years since his landing ,he has applied for PR renewal and got it renewed.
Now the new renewed card is about to expire and he can't apply for renewal again since he has not lived in Canada for about 7 years already. Meanwhile our dad has passed away and now my bro is willing to return to Canada.
We are from visa exempt country.
As discussed here in other topics , he still can enter Canada with expired PR card and theoretically continue living and working in Canada for 2 years and then apply for new PR card again . The concern is the declaration report that he'll receive on plane to fill. There is a request to mention the date he has left Canada. This clause is probably for customs , but we suspect that it could be used also by CIC.
The question is , when he'll pass border , can the border officer seeing that he has left Canada long time ago to order him to renounce his PR status ? Is there any way to overcome it?

Thank you in advance.

 

[CanV]

There is no such thing as customs and CIC at airports or ports of entry. CIC has no official presence in ports of entries. Customs and border clearances are both handled by CBSA. The date that your brother will write down will be seen by CBSA and they are the ones that could report him for failing residency requirements, at which point he will still be allowed in and will be given instructions on how to proceed with the appeal.

 

[Niette]

thank you for your reply. Is there any statistics how often CBSA really reports to CIC for failing residency requirement by PRs?

 

[Alurra71]

Not any actual statistics, but I'm willing to bet they aren't going to turn a 'blind eye' to him being out of the country for 7 years .... It's one thing to be 'cutting it close' and another entirely to thumb your nose at the rules thinking they don't apply to you.

Also keep in mind that with an expired PR card if he does manage to make it past CBSA by some miraculous intervention, he will likely find it near impossible to get health care, drivers license, perhaps even a job without a valid PR card. Even though the card is only supposed to be a travel document used to get back into Canada, function creep has allowed it to become a needed document to prove residency status.

 

[Leon]

As others said, if he gets into Canada without getting reported, he can bring his PR status back into good standing if he stays for 2 years straight without trying to renew his PR card or having other dealings with immigration such as trying to sponsor someone. However, he may have problems getting a drivers license in most provinces. Health care could also be a problem. Some employers may ask as well. Colleges/universities regularly ask for a valid PR card these days.

If he gets reported on entry, he can appeal based on his family situation. If he can prove that he was taking care of his dying father all those years, he might win his appeal. During the appeal processing, he can renew his PR card for a year at a time. He should however not use the opportunity to leave again as this would reflect very badly on his appeal and show immigration that he is not yet ready to settle. He will in any case be allowed to stay in Canada during his appeal processing which can take up to 1-2 years. If he wins his appeal, he keeps his PR. If he loses, he will be asked to leave.

 

[emamabd]

Even though the card is only supposed to be a travel document used to get back into Canada, function creep has allowed it to become a needed document to prove residency status.

agree, my employer asked for the pr card as a proof of eligibility to work in Canada.

 

[Lammawitch]

agree, my employer asked for the pr card as a proof of eligibility to work in Canada.

Not that it matters now, & you are not the only person that this has happened to, but your employer was wrong: a SIN # is all that is required legally.

 

[Niette]

Thank you again for all your responses. While my brother has left , I have continued living and working in Canada all these years and changed several work places. I remember that never I was requested to present PR card , only the SIN number.
SIN number never expires according to my understanding , and in addition now-days you can cross border by automatically scanning your passport without need to pass through human boarder officer (or CBSA) , so theoretically nobody can report on you or force you to renounce your PR status. Is this correct or I may miss some points?

 

[Lammawitch]

Thank you again for all your responses. While my brother has left , I have continued living and working in Canada all these years and changed several work places. I remember that never I was requested to present PR card , only the SIN number.
SIN number never expires according to my understanding , and in addition now-days you can cross border by automatically scanning your passport without need to pass through human boarder officer (or CBSA) , so theoretically nobody can report on you or force you to renounce your PR status. Is this correct or I may miss some points?

Re bold: depends how and where you cross the border (land/sea/air). IME (long-term PR), the automatic scanners don't "like" my passport, & "send" me to see a human being anyway .

Re SIN #: temporary #s exist, they start with '9'. Other than that, no, they don't expire.

 

[scylla]

now-days you can cross border by automatically scanning your passport without need to pass through human boarder officer (or CBSA) , so theoretically nobody can report on you or force you to renounce your PR status. Is this correct or I may miss some points?

Using the automatic machines doesn't mean you don't still speak with a human border officer. So that would be one flaw in your logic...

 

[zardoz]

Re bold: depends how and where you cross the border (land/sea/air). IME (long-term PR), the automatic scanners don't "like" my passport, & "send" me to see a human being anyway .

Re SIN #: temporary #s exist, they start with '9'. Other than that, no, they don't expire.

They do however become dormant and you have to reapply to reactivate them at Service Canada.

 

[Lammawitch]

They do however become dormant and you have to reapply to reactivate them at Service Canada.

True. I was trying not to complicate the issue .

 

[MiriamT]

Not that it matters now, & you are not the only person that this has happened to, but your employer was wrong: a SIN # is all that is required legally.

I wouldn't say that the employer was wrong, just cautious. The employer, in my opinion, would be wrong if they made claims as to necessary documentation for employment (say, allege that without a valid PR Card handy they couldn't employ a certain individual), but in this case they didn't — or at least is not on the story.

 

[MiriamT]

However, he may have problems getting a drivers license in most provinces. Health care could also be a problem. Some employers may ask as well. Colleges/universities regularly ask for a valid PR card these days.

This is only an anedoctal evidence, but: I've had no problems using my COPR for that (except for the university; when I studied in one which required the PR Card to be presented every semester I always had a valid PR Card in hand), even many years after landing.

But yes, it could be a major inconvenience if one runs into problems in getting their COPR alone to be accepted. The only times I was not allowed to use the COPR was for BCeID, and CELPIP-G LS.

 

[emamabd]

Not that it matters now, & you are not the only person that this has happened to, but your employer was wrong: a SIN # is all that is required legally.

they asked for both the sin and pr card.

It doesn't matter if you think they are wrong or not as they are the ones with hiring authority.