Permanent Resident Abroad-Residency Obligation

[Muaz]

Hello!

My lawyer said i can apply for travel document only if i have spent 730 days in canada and after that i was staying out of canada then i meet residency obligation.

Can you please clarify this point because i think if i am staying out of canada for less than three years but did not spent 730days in canada still i can get travel document because two years are still remain out of five years which i can complete once travel document will be issued.

Thanks

 

[Leon]

Yes, if it is still possible for you to meet the 730 days requirement in your first 5 years as a PR, you can get a travel document.

 

[Muaz]

Thanks Leon,

My lawyer make me afraid and advice not to travel outside without PR card because i am landed on 13th May 2011 and plan to leave 12th july 2011, he said if i want to come after 2 years i do not meet residency obligation because i spent in canada only 60 days.

Can I ask your expertise status because i have seen most of inquiries replied by you?

 

[Leon]

I am not a lawyer but I know where to find the operational manuals on the CIC website. They are here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/index.asp

In OP 10 at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op10-eng.pdf you will see this (page 7):

In determining whether a permanent resident meets the residency test of physical presence for at
least 730 days in a five-year period, A28(2)(b)(i) and (ii) state that:

28.(2)(b) it is sufficient for a permanent resident to demonstrate at examination
(i) if they have been a permanent resident for less than five years, that they will be able to
meet the residency obligation in respect of the five-year period immediately after they became
a permanent resident;

and:

Persons who became permanent residents of Canada less than five years prior to the date of
receipt of the application are governed by A28(2)(b)(i). This subsection of the Act allows new
permanent residents to qualify under the residency obligation provided that they can potentially
meet the 730-day criteria during the first five-year period immediately after their arrival in Canada.
Even if a person resides away from Canada for up to three years following the date of first arrival
in Canada, that person will retain permanent resident status as long as they still have the
possibility of complying with the 730-days-in-Canada rule.

 

[Muaz]

Thanks Leon,

You have skill of lawyer. I will forward this document to my Lawyer to comments on it because he was not convinced that i can travel after 60days stay in canada. He make me afraid that i cannot get travel document because i stayed only 60days and left.

I will be back with his comments.

 

[Muaz]

Hello Leon,

I have one more confusion that if i am staying out of canada for two years i must have canadian ties or work contract with canadian business to satisfy residency obligation.

 

[Leon]

No you don't. You can stay outside Canada for up to 3 years free and clear. If you want to stay outside Canada longer, some of your time abroad can be counted as within Canada, that is if you have been transferred to another country by a Canadian employer or are living with a Canadian citizen spouse.

 

[Muaz]

Thanks Leon,

Your info is very satisfactory.

 

[rayan123]

Hello Leon,

Once again need help for my RP status.

I first landed in Canada on 25 Sep 2008 and left canada on 16 Oct 2008. should I calculate 730 days obligation from 16-Oct 2011 onwards or from the landing date i.e. 25-Sept 2008.

Pls. advise.

Thanks, yusuf

 

[Leon]

From the day you landed and any rolling 5 year period after that, i.e. you must meet the 730 days requirement between Sept 25 2008 and Sept 25 2013 but also between Sept 26 2008 and Sept 26 2013 and also between Sept 27 2008 and 2013 etc.

 

[dado]

Hi Leon - I want to get your thoughts on this if you dont mind. I just received a letter from CIC asking me to pick up my renewal PR card from a local CIC office (they gave me 30 days to pick it up). My current PR is still valid (expires Nov. 2011). My problem is that in the PR renewal application, my absences (I mostly travelled to US) were not accurate because I didn't have the old passport (lost). Note that when I applied for the PR renewal I had a new passport. But I can say, out of the past five years, I spent 4.5 years either in Canada or in the US with my husband (Canadian citizen working in the US) and daughter (also canadian). I can prove I lived with my husband and daughter in the US and I have a photocopy of part of the old passport with few departure/entrance stamps. Do you think they will give me hard time because I don't have the old passport? If it turns out that they need to question anything or do a RQ, will they hold my old (valid) PR for any reason? Please advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[Leon]

If it turns out that they need to question anything or do a RQ, will they hold my old (valid) PR for any reason? Please advice. Thanks in advance.

I do not think so. If they have questions, they might hold your new one but I have never heard of anybody having to give up the old still valid card.

 

[dado]

Thanks Leon. From what youve seen so far, do you think I should be OK for the new PR? I will present my case to them the way I explained it above given that my husband tried so much to find a job in Canada and couldn't find one. Now that he gained some experience, he's trying again to find a job in Canada and hopefully we can permanently settle in Canada.

 

[Leon]

I can't say if they will give you problems but with a Canadian citizen husband, I think you have a better chance because even if you had been outside Canada too much, as long as you are with the husband, it is ok.