I agree with the gist of your post, which I understand to say that there is no need to have a valid PR card except for flying to Canada from outside Canada, and more particularly that a PR's status is not affected by the expiration of their PR card or otherwise affected by not having a valid PR card. While
@Pitaklan's posts do not clearly indicate the history, the references to the "
last time i renew my pr card" in other topics, in conjunction to inquiring about PRs with long expired PR cards, it appears
@Pitaklan likely understands this.
To be clear, however,
the PR card is NOT a travel document. The PR card is a
status card. The PR card merely documents the individual's status as a Canadian, a Canadian PR, in contrast to non-Canadians who are referred to as "
Foreign Nationals" in most formal immigration contexts. A PR nonetheless retains their PR status whether or not they have a valid status card (valid PR card) to show their status as a Canadian PR.
It is a necessary
status document to present
in addition to a valid travel document (typically home country passport) for most PRs (nearly all who are not U.S. citizens) traveling to Canada by commercial air from outside Canada.
For what? It appears your question is whether you should apply for a new PR card or apply for citizenship.
YOUR CHOICE. DEPENDS on what YOU WANT, and what you are qualified for. If you are qualified for citizenship, and you are IN Canada, you are undoubtedly qualified for BOTH. So, your choice can be:
-- apply for both a new PR card AND apply for citizenship (at the same time, or at different times)
-- apply only for a new PR card
-- apply only for citizenship, or
-- do not apply for either
Again, as long as they are qualified, a PR can choose to do both, neither, or one or the other. Which choice (both, neither, or one or the other) is right for you, for any particular individual, is largely a personal decision so long as the individual is eligible to be issued a new PR card and eligible for a grant of citizenship.
How long ago their most recently issued PR card expired is not relevant.
If you meet the qualifying requirements for a grant of citizenship, you can choose to apply for citizenship
IF that is what YOU want to do. This decision does NOT depend on whether you choose to apply for a new PR card or not.
As long as you are a person with Canadian PR status and you are IN Canada, and currently in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, and not otherwise inadmissible, you can choose to apply for a new PR card but you do not necessarily need to do that UNLESS you need the PR card for international travel, for flying back to Canada in particular.
Since there can be a long timeline for a citizenship application to be processed, approved, and the oath actually administered, many PRs will renew their PR card while their citizenship application is in process. This is so they can travel internationally and fly directly back to Canada while the citizenship application is still pending.
Regarding the query you posed to the OP here, asking whether they had "success on this renewing your pr cards 3 years expired?"
The fact that the PR card expired three years previous should NOT affect whether the application for a new PR card is successful.
The length of time that has passed since a PR's status card has expired might (only might) have some influence in the extent of scrutiny given to their application for a new PR card, but that would be about a circumstance triggering a closer look, NOT a factor to be considered in determining whether the person is a PR eligible to be issued a new PR card.
It might be worth noting that apparently
@Atheist9 decided they would apply for BOTH, and reporting
here (at least as to a decision made) their application for a PR card was approved in April 2019 (not sure when they actually made the application for a new PR card).
