PR card questions

[JS2015]

I would like some advice on an expired permanent residency card for Canada.

In February 2011, I received my PR card. However, I was unable to take up residency due to my mother having a severe stroke in April of that year. She is still alive and living in a nursing home. I am her only son in the UK.

I visited for one month in early 2016 and wanted to visit again later that year. As a result, I simultaneously applied for a travel document and renewal. I sent the travel document application to London and the renewal application to Canada. I included a covering letter explaining the reasons for not being able to fulfil the residency obligations.

In April 2016, I received a letter rejecting my travel document and giving me the right to appeal within three months. Soon after, I received an email saying the case had been reopened and that I should submit my application for a travel document. I assumed this was because of my application for renewal in Canada and that the application may be successful after all. As a result, I did not appeal.

In October 2016, I received an email from explaining that my application was rejected earlier that year and as I had not appealed then, I was no longer a permanent resident.

My question is this: is there any chance I could submit some kind of appeal to Canadian Immigration explaining that there was a misunderstanding in this process insofar as I assumed, incorrectly, that my application was continuing on the Canadian side after the travel document was initially rejected. It looks like they approved my travel document on the assumption that I was going to appeal.

I did consult an immigration lawyer a year ago who informed me that there may be a slim chance of success in appealing this because of the misunderstanding. However, as my mother is still in a nursing home, I have not pursued it but I would like to look at this again.

I hope all this makes sense! I would dearly love to live in Canada at some point but am aware that it might be too late. Are there any options open to me?

 

[scylla]

Unfortunately your PR status is long gone since you failed to appeal.

There's really no hope of appeal at this point. You'll need to apply for PR again from scratch if you are interested in returning to Canada permanently.

Perhaps there might have been some very faint hope of appealing back in October 2016 when you received the letter explaining your PR status was gone. The fact you have waited over a year to do anything about this means it's far far too late to change this decision.

 

[JS2015]

Thanks for replying. I understand what you are saying about it being too late. I am over 45 now so I guess that's too old. The process looks a lot tougher than when I did this over ten years ago. As I am over 45, are there any circumstances where I might become a PR again? What if I had an offer of a job?

Am I correct in saying that I could have flown to Seattle and crossed the border by train without having to show my PR card? If that is the case, I could have come and gone that way.

 

[scylla]

Thanks for replying. I understand what you are saying about it being too late. I am over 45 now so I guess that's too old. The process looks a lot tougher than when I did this over ten years ago. As I am over 45, are there any circumstances where I might become a PR again? What if I had an offer of a job?

Am I correct in saying that I could have flown to Seattle and crossed the border by train without having to show my PR card? If that is the case, I could have come and gone that way.

A job offer won't guarantee PR. Also, to be classified as a job offer the employer not only needs to give you the actual job offer but also obtain an approved LMIA. This is a long and expensive process with no guarantee of approval. Most employers aren't willing to do it. To understand what it takes to qualify, you'll need to spend time researching Canada's current immigration programs and rules since they have changed quite a bit over the next 10 years:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada.html

No - not quite right about crossing the border. Yes - the part about flying to the US is right. You would needed to have crossed the border using a private vehicle (so not by train or bus since these are public modes). Also, even if you had done this, there was still no guarantee of success. CBSA officer could have very well reported you for failing to meet the residency requirement when you entered. Anyway - water under the bridge since your PR status is long gone and this option is no longer available to you.