Meet RO outside Canada, if the accompanied citizen left Canada with non-Canadian

[Innerharbor]

I live with my husband (Canadian citizen) outside Canada. My PR card is expired years ago. It seems I have to travel with PRTD back to Canada. My husband’s Canadian passport is expired and he entered China with Chinese passport. Therefore there is no record on his Canadian passport to show he entered China and live with me, but the Chinese passport has all the record. My questions are,
1. Can I provide both his Canadian passport and Chinese passport to support my PRTD application?
2. Accompanying a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, while the Canadian citizen didn’t travel with Canadian passport, fulfill the residency obligation?
3. Once I travel to Canada with PRTD, do I have to renew PR card right after arriving Canada? I will stay in Canada only for 10 days and leave. A sort of PR card renewal agency told me that if you travel back to Canada with PRTD and haven’t got PR card renewed at that time, it will cause trouble on future PR card renewal. Any potential problem?

Thanks.

 

[dpenabill]

I live with my husband (Canadian citizen) outside Canada. My PR card is expired years ago. It seems I have to travel with PRTD back to Canada. My husband’s Canadian passport is expired and he entered China with Chinese passport. Therefore there is no record on his Canadian passport to show he entered China and live with me, but the Chinese passport has all the record. My questions are,
1. Can I provide both his Canadian passport and Chinese passport to support my PRTD application?
2. Accompanying a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, while the Canadian citizen didn’t travel with Canadian passport, fulfill the residency obligation?
3. Once I travel to Canada with PRTD, do I have to renew PR card right after arriving Canada? I will stay in Canada only for 10 days and leave. A sort of PR card renewal agency told me that if you travel back to Canada with PRTD and haven’t got PR card renewed at that time, it will cause trouble on future PR card renewal. Any potential problem?

Thanks.

At the risk of posting too late in the night:

Question: 1. Can I provide both his Canadian passport and Chinese passport to support my PRTD application?

Read the instructions. Read the checklist. Not only can you provide both passports, you MUST.

For example, the checklist states (emphasis is added), in item 9:

"If you are accompanying a Canadian citizen [supporting documents may include] copies of all passports or other travel documents of the person you are accompanying used in the five years before the application (mandatory)"


Question: 2. Accompanying a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, while the Canadian citizen didn’t travel with Canadian passport, fulfill the residency obligation?

What matters is that your spouse is a Canadian citizen. Does not matter what passport was used.



Question: 3. Once I travel to Canada with PRTD, do I have to renew PR card right after arriving Canada? I will stay in Canada only for 10 days and leave. A sort of PR card renewal agency told me that if you travel back to Canada with PRTD and haven’t got PR card renewed at that time, it will cause trouble on future PR card renewal. Any potential problem?

The "PR card renewal agency" sounds suspect to me.

As long as a PR is living abroad with the PR's Canadian citizen spouse, that will satisfy the PR Residency Obligation. No need to renew the PR card.

IRCC is now issuing multiple-entry PR Travel Documents valid for years (subject to validity date of the PR's passport) to PR's who are living abroad with their Canadian citizen spouses. This is almost as good as getting a PR card.

Whatever you do, do not be tempted to make any misrepresentations in applying for either a PR TD or applying for a PR card . . . if you are only staying in Canada for ten days, probably best to not consider applying for a PR card.

Again, I suggest being wary of any "PR card renewal agency."


Some reminders:

Again, follow the instructions. Be sure to include proof of marriage relationship, proof of spouse's Canadian citizenship, and proof of cohabitation, including duration of living together.

 

[Innerharbor]

At the risk of posting too late in the night:

Question: 1. Can I provide both his Canadian passport and Chinese passport to support my PRTD application?

Read the instructions. Read the checklist. Not only can you provide both passports, you MUST.

For example, the checklist states (emphasis is added), in item 9:

"If you are accompanying a Canadian citizen [supporting documents may include] copies of all passports or other travel documents of the person you are accompanying used in the five years before the application (mandatory)"


Question: 2. Accompanying a Canadian citizen living outside Canada, while the Canadian citizen didn’t travel with Canadian passport, fulfill the residency obligation?

What matters is that your spouse is a Canadian citizen. Does not matter what passport was used.



Question: 3. Once I travel to Canada with PRTD, do I have to renew PR card right after arriving Canada? I will stay in Canada only for 10 days and leave. A sort of PR card renewal agency told me that if you travel back to Canada with PRTD and haven’t got PR card renewed at that time, it will cause trouble on future PR card renewal. Any potential problem?

The "PR card renewal agency" sounds suspect to me.

As long as a PR is living abroad with the PR's Canadian citizen spouse, that will satisfy the PR Residency Obligation. No need to renew the PR card.

IRCC is now issuing multiple-entry PR Travel Documents valid for years (subject to validity date of the PR's passport) to PR's who are living abroad with their Canadian citizen spouses. This is almost as good as getting a PR card.

Whatever you do, do not be tempted to make any misrepresentations in applying for either a PR TD or applying for a PR card . . . if you are only staying in Canada for ten days, probably best to not consider applying for a PR card.

Again, I suggest being wary of any "PR card renewal agency."


Some reminders:

Again, follow the instructions. Be sure to include proof of marriage relationship, proof of spouse's Canadian citizenship, and proof of cohabitation, including duration of living together.

Thank you so much!It is very helpful. Now I am confident to apply for PRTD by myself. As to " the evidence of residential addresses of the person you accompanying..." , what documents should I provide? What I could think of are,
1. the utility bills with his name and our address on it and my insurance bills with my name and our address on it. (but only for a few recent months, we haven't kept all bills for the past five years)
2. The property ownership certificate with both of our names on it and the same address shown on the bills above.

These could be the evidence? Anything else could be the evidence? Please enlighten me. Thanks a lot.

 

[dpenabill]

Thank you so much!It is very helpful. Now I am confident to apply for PRTD by myself. As to " the evidence of residential addresses of the person you accompanying..." , what documents should I provide? What I could think of are,
1. the utility bills with his name and our address on it and my insurance bills with my name and our address on it. (but only for a few recent months, we haven't kept all bills for the past five years)
2. The property ownership certificate with both of our names on it and the same address shown on the bills above.

These could be the evidence? Anything else could be the evidence? Please enlighten me. Thanks a lot.

Proof of joint ownership and some utility bills is good. Beyond that, anything showing name and same address. Some for one, and some for the other, should help. No need to go overboard, but you want to make a substantial showing of cohabitation.

Evidence of joint accounts should help.

Obviously, the information about time living together needs to be consistent with the travel history for each of you respectively.

In particular, the extent to which proof of cohabitation is needed can depend on many factors including those factors affecting appearance. If your respective passports and travel dates tend to show the two of you traveling together (same dates, same immigration interactions at the same locations, for example), that helps to paint a more complete picture of the couple being together. It is not necessary that the couple always or even usually traveled together, but in terms of appearance and making it an easy case, obviously indications of traveling together help.

A letter from the spouse can be included. IRCC tends to not want to give such things much weight (since they can be so obviously self-serving and easily forged), but a genuine letter can help fill in some gaps (like a gap in the proof of a common address for a period of time) and make the difference in a close case.

It is always hard to offer clear responses about these things since there can be so much variation in how things go. Generally, however, a genuine couple mostly living together, individuals who have otherwise been straight players with Canadian immigration, should not need to worry much at all. Still need to pay attention to what is required and what to submit with the PR TD application, to follow the instructions, but for the straight-forward case, that should easily suffice with little or no problem.

 

[Innerharbor]

Thank you, dpenabill!

 

[Innerharbor]

One more question. Please kindly help. It is about “List the periods when you were outside of Canada and accompanying the person above during the past 5 years”. We travel to the other countries together every year for family vacation. And we both take business trips separately to the other countries several times every year. All these trips are less than 2 weeks. Should I list all the trips in this section, count the exact days we stay together at home and on trip, and deduct the days that we travel separately? Thanks a lot.

 

[dpenabill]

One more question. Please kindly help. It is about “List the periods when you were outside of Canada and accompanying the person above during the past 5 years”. We travel to the other countries together every year for family vacation. And we both take business trips separately to the other countries several times every year. All these trips are less than 2 weeks. Should I list all the trips in this section, count the exact days we stay together at home and on trip, and deduct the days that we travel separately? Thanks a lot.

Remember, I am NO expert, and I am NOT qualified to give personal advice.

Even though more than a little personal advice is too often posted here, this really is not an appropriate venue for personal advice -- sure, this is an OK venue for general observations, comments, even general advice (like "follow the instructions" or "PRs do not need to have a valid PR card to maintain PR status"), information and references to sources of information, and sharing anecdotal experiences, great, but not detailed personal advice.

What detail to include when filling out the specific items in an application is a very personal judgment, to be determined by the applicant subject to the applicant's best understanding of what is requested, how to respond, and based on the applicant's personal circumstances. Additionally, if the applicant thinks the information needs clarification or an expanded response, the applicant can add a supplemental page referencing the particular item and including additional information.

Thus, for example, if you think the travel history does not provide sufficient detail (as I recall, without revisiting the application form, the travel history is to detail dates exiting Canada and dates returning to, entering Canada, not so much travel between countries while living abroad), you could add a supplemental page with details about traveling between countries other than Canada.

But again, the main thing is whether on the face of things it is well apparent you are a genuine married couple and generally living together. You need enough detail to show this but again those who are playing it straight with IRCC usually do not need to overthink or over-do these things.

As I alluded to before, it can be difficult suggesting how to best approach these things because the individual situations and histories and circumstances vary so much . . . so a PR wants to give enough detailed information and supporting documents to make the case, but it is also a good idea to not send in too much. Only you can make the judgment call about what to include. Most legitimate PRs do not need to worry much, if at all, as long as they follow the instructions and provide what is specifically requested.

 

[Innerharbor]

Remember, I am NO expert, and I am NOT qualified to give personal advice.

Even though more than a little personal advice is too often posted here, this really is not an appropriate venue for personal advice -- sure, this is an OK venue for general observations, comments, even general advice (like "follow the instructions" or "PRs do not need to have a valid PR card to maintain PR status"), information and references to sources of information, and sharing anecdotal experiences, great, but not detailed personal advice.

What detail to include when filling out the specific items in an application is a very personal judgment, to be determined by the applicant subject to the applicant's best understanding of what is requested, how to respond, and based on the applicant's personal circumstances. Additionally, if the applicant thinks the information needs clarification or an expanded response, the applicant can add a supplemental page referencing the particular item and including additional information.

Thus, for example, if you think the travel history does not provide sufficient detail (as I recall, without revisiting the application form, the travel history is to detail dates exiting Canada and dates returning to, entering Canada, not so much travel between countries while living abroad), you could add a supplemental page with details about traveling between countries other than Canada.

But again, the main thing is whether on the face of things it is well apparent you are a genuine married couple and generally living together. You need enough detail to show this but again those who are playing it straight with IRCC usually do not need to overthink or over-do these things.

As I alluded to before, it can be difficult suggesting how to best approach these things because the individual situations and histories and circumstances vary so much . . . so a PR wants to give enough detailed information and supporting documents to make the case, but it is also a good idea to not send in too much. Only you can make the judgment call about what to include. Most legitimate PRs do not need to worry much, if at all, as long as they follow the instructions and provide what is specifically requested.

Many thanks! It is very nice of you giving all these advice.Thanks again for your help.

 

[bigleo2009]

Hello Depenabill, can you also advise re this post about the "accompanying"

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/about-the-definition-of-accompanying-a-citizen-t475949.0.html

 

[canadianincanada]

Did you end up getting the travel document and how long did it take?