Need Help !! PR expired and RO not met.

[dspv1419]

Hi,

My PR card is already expired and I didn't meet the residency requirements as I and my wife should have taken care of my father-in-law in alzheimer's disease in home country.

I, wife and my younger son plan to see my older son studying in U.S. and cross Canada-U.S. land border by a rent car in next Feb. to live in Canada permanently.

My younger son wants to study in Canada and recently received an admission from a college in Toronto.


My questions is :
Which options below are better at the border not to be reported?

1)Should I honestly say to an immigration officer that my PR card expired and I didn’t meet residency requirement if I am asked questions like ‘when I lived before this entry..etc’?

2) Should I say to an immigration officer that I and my wife wants to enter Canada to help my son settle down for a few weeks (showing an admission letter) and then leave Canada ?

A certain person suggested to me that option 2) is better than option 1).

3) Should I say that I came to Canada for sightseeing and will leave Canada soon?

To make the option 2) and 3) believable, I will have return airline ticket from U.S.to my home country.

4) Should I say that I am currently living in Canada and returning to Canada after visiting my older son in U.S. ?

I am worried that an immigration will find out that options 4) is not true if he/she ask some questions so that they are upset.

Can you pls kindly advise what kinds of questions an immigration officer typically ask and how I should answer them under my situation.

Lastly, in the case that I am reported at the border unfortunately and don’t appeal,
Does it mean that my PR status is lost, so I don’t have to go through procedure for relinquishment of PR?

Your advice would be very helpful.

 

[zardoz]

I have no idea who has been giving you advice, but 2) and 3) make no sense whatsoever.

You ARE a PR until it's revoked or you give it up. Therefore, trying to make it seem that you are going to leave again soon is utterly pointless, and will just create more problems.

One of two things will happen to you at the Point of Entry.

a) You will enter without problems, except perhaps a stern lecture or
b) You will be reported for failing to meet the residency obligations.

If you lie to the CBSA agent on entry, and are caught, you are looking at making things much worse, so tell the truth. Definitely do not do 4).

If you are reported, you may be able to make a case, on appeal, that you had H&C reasons for your absence by looking after an ill relative, although this may be hard to prove.

 

[dspv1419]

Hi, Zardoz

thanks for your advice.

would be it better for me to say option 1) honestly before I am asked questions by an officer like 'when I lived or left Canada',

assuming that looking at an computer, an officer already know that I did not meet RO?

would it be helpful if I show an officer any documents(like packing list of all stuffs which will arrive in Canada by sea)

which shows my strong intention to live in Canada permantely?

thanks.

 

[zardoz]

There are some basic rules when dealing with Customs/Immigration all over the world. 1) Don't assume that they don't already know the answer to questions they ask you. 2) Don't lie to them, as they have been trained to watch body language as well as listen to what you say. 3) Don't try and smuggle anything through. It's not worth the grief.

Basically, tell them the answers to whatever questions they choose to ask you. You may get lucky and get a kind officer dealing with you. If you are totally honest, they are more likely to give you a break than if they catch you in a lie.

What you do with any B4 documents for goods to follow will depend on how you get on with the immigration related questions. If they report you, it may not be worth bringing all your stuff over until you win any appeal. I am not sure what the Customs rules are in this situation.

 

[Leon]

5) Tell the immigration officer, if they ask, that you did not meet the RO because you and your wife were taking care of her sick father and that you are willing and able to prove this if they report you. Then let them decide if they report you or not.

If they report you, you will have 30 days to appeal for your PR which would involve getting the father in law medical records together and translated in order to send them in along with the appeal. You might then have a year to 18 months that you are waiting for your appeal to get processed before you find out if they let you keep your PR or not. You should appeal for your son separately if he is reported as well based on that he accompanied his parents outside Canada taking care of his sick grandfather but also that he was a minor at the time (I assume he was) and so he could not make his own decision to return to Canada alone in order to meet the RO. He has a better chance to keep his PR than you do. If you are under an appeal, you may be able to renew your PR cards temporarily for a year at a time.

If you do not get reported, you can stay in Canada for 2 years in order to bring your PR status back in good standing. There are however some problems expected when you live in Canada as a PR without a valid PR card. No law says you have to have one but different establishments have started asking for them anyway as proof of your status. Therefore, you may have problems getting a health card, getting a drivers license as well as for your son to get financial aid/ study at college but you will just have to deal with those as they come along.