Tee76 said:
I've never had a PR card at all. The only thing i do have is my old "Landing Papers" from the 1980's. Can i add up all my visits in the last 5 years to go towards the RO? I'm only asking because for the last year & a half up until recent, I've been in a relationship with a Canadian woman..I've spent weeks, sometimes a month in Ontario at a time with her, coming back home for 2 weeks then going back up there.
I see what y'all saying about "flying under the radar" for the next 2 years if i choose to stay in Canada..but that would be almost impossible due to the fact i have to work and provide for myself.
I remember on my last trip to Ontario back in March, a Immigration officer i was speaking to at the POE in Windsor Ontario mentioned to me to "just keep track.of all my visits and the time I've spent in Canada, because that will help if i ever decide to move back" i didn't get in depth with her just to avoid any "red flags" but not once have i been hassled coming into Canada nor has Immigration said anything about my PR status..i even openly told them i use to live there, graduated high school etc in Canada. They've always been pleasant with me and sent me on my way to my destination in Canada no issues whatsoever.
How these things go is very individual specific.
It is a very good sign that the POE officer appears to have recognized that you are a PR and did not report you for being in breach of the PR Residency Obligation. On the other hand, you cannot rely on other POE officers to be so friendly.
That said, the extent of your trips back and forth also make a big difference, particularly in so far as how things go at the border. Just that there is no guarantee you will not, one of these times, run into a cranky sort rather than the usual friendly Canadian sort (I always found it far more pleasant dealing with the Canadian side officers than the U.S., even though I was a U.S. citizen fully entitled to enter the U.S. at will, but I was pushing the envelope for how much time I was spending in Canada at that time, before I became a PR, long before I became a Canadian citizen, and yeah there was a woman to blame, an Ontario one at that).
Having your landing papers still is important, and good. Hang on to those. A copy will need to be sent with your application for the PR card.
Never having had a PR card is no surprise . . . these are more recent than when you were last living in Canada as a PR . . . and this has no effect.
Again, you can work since you have a SIN. What I do not know practically speaking is whether or not you will be required to display the SIN card in order to be hired, so if you do not have the SIN card that might be a practical issue. You can always stop in to a Service Canada office and ask what you can do to get a replacement card. Your U.S. passport as ID plus your landing papers may suffice for this.
If you can positively document at least 730 days spent in Canada in the last five years, you are in compliance with the PR residency obligation. Gather your proof, check it over, and if you are confident about it and can legitimately use your partner's home as a place of residence (even if its a secondary residence, so long as you actually use it as a residence regularly) for the PR card application, make the application. Note however, given the lack of working in Canada, not having filed tax returns in Canada, will most likely trigger a residency determination, so it will not be a routine application, will probably involve a residency determination/examination, you will be required to document your presence in Canada with some proof, and it could take a lot, lot longer than the routine PR card renewal application.
That's what it sounds like the POE officer was referring to. And of course you can count past days even if you have to stay in Canada awhile longer to meet the 730 day threshold . . . for example, even if you are short now (either actually or in terms of lacking proof) but if by December, say, you could look back to December 2010 and in the five years between December 2010 and December 2015 you can prove being in Canada for 730+ days, you can make your application for the PR card and after, probably, going through the residency determination process be delivered a PR card.
Overall, as well, the extent of your ties in Canada help considerably.
Push comes to shove, depending on where in Ontario your partner is located, and depending on your job skills, you could work in New York or Michigan or even Ohio, somewhere fairly close to the border, and commute regularly from Ontario until you met the PR RO.
Or you may find an employer in Ontario who will trust you about the SIN, and you settle in until you accumulate enough days to meet the PR RO.
Could be a bit risky, insurance and registration wise, to continue to drive in Canada using a U.S. drivers license, but like the health care issue, exercising elevated caution can reduce the risks to within manageable levels . . . depending of course on the individual and the circumstances and such.
