maintaining expired PR card

[samir.m]

Dear Leon and others,

This may have been posted previously and if so, I apologize. Below is the situation

1) Wife became PR in August 2007 and left country while accompanying me (Canadian citizen) on international work
2) Wife returned to Canada in November 2011 and has been in country since
3) Wife's PR card expired August 2012 (this month)
4) Wife has no intention to leave the country in the short-medium term

I'm in the process of renewing her PR card but have since browsed your forum and several threads have made me question if I need to do this.

Can the PR card be left in its current expired mode until she's eligible to apply for Citizenship after she resides for three years ? So if we apply for Citizenship around the November 2014 time frame (after which she would have resided in country for three years) would anyone question why her PR card was not renewed and left as expired ? Again she has no intention of leaving the country until then

Any guidance welcome and thanks for this very helpful forum

Best,
Sam

 

[Leon]

You don't have to renew it. If anybody asks you why you did not renew it, tell them that you were not planning on travelling. If they ask again, tell them to point out to you any law that says you must have a valid PR card if you are staying in Canada. There isn't one.