Permanent Resident has 630 days out of 730 married to Canadian citizen

[canuck68]

My husband is a Belgian national. We married in 2007 and he became a permanent resident in Dec. of 2008 with his son. Both of their PR cards will expire in Dec 2013. My stepson has barely left Canada since his PR entry and has in fact applied for Canadian citizenship. My husband has not found work in Canada; he visits regularly as I visit Belgium regularly. I understand that the days I spend in Europe with him count. As of this September, he will have about 630 days out of 730, not enough to meet the requirement. Also, he was also very ill in 2011, and since he did not have an Ontario Health Card, he had to be treated in Belgium.
We are planning on trying to renew the card, since we are still married and close to the number of days. However, after reading the posts on this forum, I am wondering if that is a mistake. Should we try and explain our circumstances in the application or should he relinquish the PR? He plans to retire in 18 months and thus will be in Canada and better able to meet the requirements.
If he relinquishes the PR, I assume he can still come to Canada for his visits -- being from a non-visa country. But he travels by plane. What kind of "hassle" will CBSA give him?
Also, I do not want to have to sponsor him all over again (cost and medical visits) if we can avoid it.
I would really appreciate any advice on how to proceed.

 

[farid-]

Are you canadian citizen as you mentioned u were with him n tht's how its 630 days ? If yes perfect but don't even think about applying for renewal before 730 days I was only missing 2 moths approx. But rq was issued. So tell him to come in canada for few months complete 100 more days. Complete 730 days requirement n then apply for renewal instead of going through rq interview n then you have to prove for humainatarian ground. So don't even think about it

 

[Leon]

If you apply for a PR card without meeting the requirements, you take the chance that he will lose his PR although you could sponsor him again.

He still has time to meet the requirements, either by you staying with him for longer or him staying with you for longer. If he became a PR in December 2008, they will look at the period until December 2013. Otherwise, he can wait to apply until he has 730 days but be aware that they will then only look at the past 5 years before he applies so days stayed right after his landing will move outside the 5 year window and will not be counted.

 

[Msafiri]

....I understand that the days I spend in Europe with him count. As of this September, he will have about 630 days out of 730, not enough to meet the requirement......

1. Does this 630 days include the days you were in Belgium with him?

2. A PR who is accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada can count such days for meeting the Residency Obligation. Your case is complicated by the fact that you appear to be visiting him in Belgium where he appears to be 'residing'. In effect your spouse is using the PR status as a visit visa which is an oddity in a sense since he is visa exempt.

3. If he can make up the 100 days by staying in Canada then don't apply for renewal till he has this. If its going to be difficult for him to get the 100 days as it appears it will be based on your current living arrangements then apply with the accompanying days included. You will need to somehow work on the 'accompany' aspect by way of solid documentation e.g lease agreements, tax assessments, baording passes etc ...it seems tricky unless you did relocate to Belgium fo this 100 days.

4. Has he ever held an OHIP card? Check their site for qualifying criteria I recall they had an option for those who were outside Canada for more than 180 days in a year.

 

[canuck68]

Thank you very, very much Leon, Farid and Msafiri for your prompt replies. I have learned so much from reading your advice to others on this site!
I now understand that the PR card does not prove legal PR status and that this status can only be removed by a judge. CBSA has the power to lecture, advise and report -- but not to take away anything. Am I right?

We are going to try to meet the requirements in 2013, but knowing our schedules, we are both professors, we are probably still going to be short 30 days or so – and yes, the 641 days include my time in Europe.
So, I guess the best thing to do is let the card expire and try and renew it once we have the 730 days.

My questions now are:

1)What kind of “hassle” will he face travelling with an expired card? Should he not travel with it (leave it here with me)? Example: He will probably go back to Belgium end of Dec 2013 and come back in March 2014. He always travels with a return ticket from Brussels clearing immigration in French (this is important) in Montreal. Can they legally refuse him entry? I think not, but I want to be sure. Should he say his is "visiting" me? I guess honesty is always the best policy with CBSA.

And yes, our case is odd, but I sponsored him with his son who HAS satisfied his requirements. He is now 25 and has asked for Canadian citizenship. My husband and I assumed we would be able to spend more time together, and that he would be here more often. But things happen, in his case, severe illness. I just assumed that we could explain that when we reapply, but now I am not sure we should even try.


2)As for the periods we have spent together, either here or there, we have stamps in our passports, isn’t that enough to prove he was in Canada and I was in Europe? I might have some boarding passes, not all, but we have records of our tickets on expedia -- not great, I know. I just assumed that CBSA has our travel records if they want to access them. He has never crossed in from the States, always at the airport (Montreal/Toronto).

I did not know that Tax Assessments were important for PR card renewal. Yikes! Since he works in Belgium and me here, I do not declare him as a dependent on my tax return as that would be fraud. So he has no tax assessments since he works in Belgium. For proof of residency we have: dental receipts, physical therapy receipts, doctor’s bills (that he paid for, he has never had an OHIP card), photos of our travels; we have a joint bank account, joint credit cards. I guess we are in trouble. No lease. His name is not on my mortgage.

His son being in Canada -- will that not be a factor in our favour?

Thanks so much!

 

[steaky]

I did not know that Tax Assessments were important for PR card renewal. Yikes! Since he works in Belgium and me here, I do not declare him as a dependent on my tax return as that would be fraud. So he has no tax assessments since he works in Belgium. For proof of residency we have: dental receipts, physical therapy receipts, doctor's bills (that he paid for, he has never had an OHIP card), photos of our travels; we have a joint bank account, joint credit cards. I guess we are in trouble. No lease. His name is not on my mortgage.

His son being in Canada -- will that not be a factor in our favour?

Thanks so much!

You really should read the guideline for renewal PR card carefully.

 

[Leon]

If he enters and they scan his passport and see in their records that he is a PR, they will probably ask for his PR card. He can give it to them and tell them that he knows it is expired but he hasn't had time to renew it yet. They can hassle him but as a PR, they must let him enter. The worst they can do is if they know he doesn't meet the residency requirements, they can report him for it and this would start the proceedings to revoke his PR status. If this even happens, they would still let him in and give him 30 days to appeal for his status. If he doesn't appeal or loses the appeal, he loses the PR but then you can sponsor him again. If he doesn't lose his PR by the time he is able to have 730 days in the past 5 year period at some point, he can apply to renew his PR card. They can not look at any 5 year period of his PR, they must look at the past 5 years at the time he applies to renew.

 

[Msafiri]

canuck68,

1. Its best to apply with 730 days. If you have a shortfall as you do then you can include H&C reasons in the renewal application - illness is a factor considered so this will make your case stronger. However expect if it goes to an appeal the CIC lawyer angling for 'you did not return to Canada as soon as you recovered'.

2. Leon has explained what happens at the port of entry. The use of a return ticket facilitates check in because the airline knows they are not liable for transporting him back to Belgium if he is denied entry. If he continues with his travel routine I'd suggest not showing the expired PR card at check in it will just add to confusion...note the airline may ask for the PR Card if the ticket validity is more than 6 months (standard visitor admission period).

3. You need to keep your own records of entries and exits into Canada...CBSA don't always have a record of this e.g if you use the Nexus lanes they sometimes miss this entry. Also he doesn't have to enter via Montreal as the procedures are the same at any airport.

4. Stamps on their own are not conclusive evidence that you were 'together ' in Belgium The country is part of the Schengen maybe you travelled into Belgium then hang out in Germany (no visa stamp as per Schengen Treaty so no evidence of entry) with friends while your DH was back in Germany till you returned home. I'm just playing devil's advocate. Credibility is key in H&C so they may let this fly if they believe you are a truthful applicant.

5. Check the Revenue Site it explains the tax system pertaining to residents, deemed residents and non-residents.

6. Your son is an independent/ self sustaining adult and has done ok despite his father being in Belgium so the judge would likely disregard or pay little attention to this at appeal.

Ultimatley your husband needs to decide if he wants to live in Canada long enough to qualify and apply for citizenship. Otherwise you will be going through this PR card renewal issue every 5 years at best or loss of PR status at worst.

 

[farid-]

Msafiri is absolutely giving u the best advice in actually thinking in terms immigration officers normally thinks. If your story is not consistent which is important and if don't make sense to them. Then they can issue rq. But instead of thinking about humainatarian grounds first think and try to avoid them. N trust speaking from my own personal experience the way they take interview and question you itself is a nerve raking experience. I am not scaring you ofcourse it's immigration's job. Yo truthfully evaluate any humainatarian and compassionate grounds in the case. n then wait for the result of that interview is also stressful it can take from two to three months as officer will sent the decision in writting.
So first of all as senior member said. Think that will he be able to keep his status in future or is it better for him to loose it? N second of all in my opinion this time you are only short 100 days. Which can easily (well not that easily as both of you are working) can be achieved by either you going there or him coming,to canada. Renew the pr first n then you will have time to think about your future course of action. Best of luck.