PR Card Renewal for expired PR Card (university student)

[miyesven]

Hi!
My situation is like this:
I am 19 and I successfully entered canada about one year before my PR Card expires next year June 2016. However, I need to stay for at least 9 months after my PR Card expired to meet the Permanent Resident Obligation (2/5 years). I will be attending university here and staying with my mum with the same PR Card situation as me.

I would like to know if I apply for renewal after I exceed the minimum 730 days by a month or so, around how long will it take for my PR Card renewal to be approved? Is there a big chance that it will be subject to secondary review or that the processing time will be VERY delayed? I heard from someone that someone else applied after meeting RO with an expired card and the renewal period was more than a year.

I'm afraid of that as I want to be able to travel out of Canada for student exchange or for work internships and I don't want to wait for too long in Canada. However I also do not want to risk losing my PR Status as it allows me to pay domestic school fees- otherwise I cant afford to study as an international student in Canada.

Finally, will it help if I buy a house/apt in Canada to prove sincerity of staying here? I'm staying with my mum (who is in the same PR Card situation as me) who likes Canada quite a fair bit. My main concern is the processing timings.

Will appreciate any replies or comments very much!

 

[steaky]

No one will be able to tell you the exact processing time and your chances for secondary review. It would not help if you buy a house/apt in Canada.

 

[Msafiri]

I concur with Steaky. Your PR Card renewal application may or may not be referred to Secondary Review. The best you can do is to apply with at least the minimum number of days and to submit the required documentary proof of presence. Typically if you have a passport covering the 5 year RO review window and tax records/ school records for at least 2 years indicating your physical presence is more likely to be genuine you shouldn't have an issue. As harsh as it may sound CIC don't care about your absence reasons if they are not H&C grounds - studying some place else has never been one. You have to place your exchange plans on hold until you are back in RO compliance or calculate the days and figure out if PRTD applications will work out (unlikely). A restricted/ stuck in Canada situation is unfortunately the self inflicted consequence of breaching the RO.

 

[miyesven]

No one will be able to tell you the exact processing time and your chances for secondary review. It would not help if you buy a house/apt in Canada.

Thank you for your reply! I know it's all up to chance, but I'm just wondering if anybody else had a similar occurence before and like what are the chances of a long processing period

 

[miyesven]

I concur with Steaky. Your PR Card renewal application may or may not be referred to Secondary Review. The best you can do is to apply with at least the minimum number of days and to submit the required documentary proof of presence. Typically if you have a passport covering the 5 year RO review window and tax records/ school records for at least 2 years indicating your physical presence is more likely to be genuine you shouldn't have an issue. As harsh as it may sound CIC don't care about your absence reasons if they are not H&C grounds - studying some place else has never been one. You have to place your exchange plans on hold until you are back in RO compliance or calculate the days and figure out if PRTD applications will work out (unlikely). A restricted/ stuck in Canada situation is unfortunately the self inflicted consequence of breaching the RO.

Thank you for your reply! Well, i thought buying a house/apt will indicate a stronger physical appearance and stronger links to Canada for the officers to believe that I have really lived here and that I have intention to stay in Canada. I probably wont apply for a travel document because I know that it probably will not have it approved.

Do you know if there is a different treatment for people with expired PRs but meeting the RO?

 

[Msafiri]

Thank you for your reply! Well, i thought buying a house/apt will indicate a stronger physical appearance and stronger links to Canada for the officers to believe that I have really lived here and that I have intention to stay in Canada. I probably wont apply for a travel document because I know that it probably will not have it approved.

Do you know if there is a different treatment for people with expired PRs but meeting the RO?

I'm not sure I understand you but are you referring to home ownership as equating to physical presence? Or being absolute definitive proof of physical presence? If so then sorry no dice since you can own a home without living in Canada. You the PR has to be physically present in Canada to meet the RO which is a paltry 2/5 years (40%). Ownership of property and other assets is a consideration at appeal for RO breach but in reality there are not 2 classes of PRs rich/home owners or poor before the courts its 'In RO Compliance' or 'In RO breach'.

Having a valid PR Card makes day to day life easier to get by for those situations typically bureaucratic where you need to prove your immigration status in Canada. It sucks but this is 'function creep' - PR Card is meant to be a travel card as per the IPRA but if I'm the guy/gal at a Service Ontario window then heck its easy if you stick a valid PR Card in front of me to accept you are a PR compared to a faded out, multi folded, badly creased, Form IMM1000 showing you landed in 1999. Most situations too rely on a DL as a Primary ID - again depends on what the Province will accept as proof of PR Status (BC is hard nosed and want a valid PR Card) for this process. Many PRs with RO issues try to at least get a DL, Provincial Health coverage, school, employment etc before their PR Card expires. There is always the option to complain or take the offending organization to court but fighting the government especially if in breach of the RO is a bad idea.

In regards to immigration related situations where CIC/CBSA are dealing with an application eg sponsorship then being in RO compliance is what matters even if you don't have a valid PR Card.

 

[miyesven]

I'm not sure I understand you but are you referring to home ownership as equating to physical presence? Or being absolute definitive proof of physical presence? If so then sorry no dice since you can own a home without living in Canada. You the PR has to be physically present in Canada to meet the RO which is a paltry 2/5 years (40%). Ownership of property and other assets is a consideration at appeal for RO breach but in reality there are not 2 classes of PRs rich/home owners or poor before the courts its 'In RO Compliance' or 'In RO breach'.

Having a PR Card makes day to day life easier to get by for those situations typically bureaucratic where you need to prove your immigration status in Canada. It sucks but this is 'function creep' - PR Card is meant to be a travel card as per the IPRA but if I'm the guy/gal at a Service Ontario window then heck its easy if you stick a valid PR Card in front of me to accept you are a PR compared to a faded out, multi folded, badly creased, Form IMM1000 showing you landed in 1999. Most situations too rely on a DL as a Primary ID - again depends on what the Province will accept as proof of PR Status (BC is hard nosed and want a valid PR Card) for this process. Many PRs with RO issues try to at least get a DL, Provincial Health coverage, school, employment etc before their PR Card expires. There is always the option to complain or take the offending organization to court but fighting the government especially if in breach of the RO is a bad idea.

In regards to immigration related situations where CIC/CBSA are dealing with an application eg sponsorship then being in RO compliance is what matters even if you don't have a valid PR Card.

Hi!Thank you for replying and clarifying the differences between owning a valid PR Card versus an expired one!!!Well I have a valid PR card now and I suppose I didnt make myself very clear. I meant will owning property (because anyways I need to rent a place when I'm going to university here) in Canada make it a more convincing case when I apply for PR Card renewal after the PR has expired?

Also, my last question was actually referring to the processing times- will the processing time for renewal of the expired PR Card (assuming I have all the proofs and have accumulated more then 730 days of physical presence in Canada), be different from renewal of a valid PR Card before the expiration date is over (assuming all the requirements have similarly been met)?

Thanks again!

 

[Msafiri]

......Well I have a valid PR card now and I suppose I didnt make myself very clear. I meant will owning property (because anyways I need to rent a place when I'm going to university here) in Canada make it a more convincing case when I apply for PR Card renewal after the PR has expired?.....

No your extension is based on a factual number being a provable minimum 730 days - your home ownership is irrelevant.

..Also, my last question was actually referring to the processing times- will the processing time for renewal of the expired PR Card (assuming I have all the proofs and have accumulated more then 730 days of physical presence in Canada), be different from renewal of a valid PR Card before the expiration date is over (assuming all the requirements have similarly been met)

No difference in processing times if you qualify - having a valid or invalid PR Card at renewal is irrelevant.

 

[miyesven]

No your extension is based on a factual number being a provable minimum 730 days - your home ownership is irrelevant.
No difference in processing times if you qualify - having a valid or invalid PR Card at renewal is irrelevant.

Hi! Thanks so much for all the explanations! I guess it sounds quite straightforward in a kinda round about away... May I ask if you or anyone else has met with the type of situation that I am in?
And so what was the outcome?

I would just like some anecdotes to know what I might be facing.

 

[Lammawitch]

Hi! Thanks so much for all the explanations! I guess it sounds quite straightforward in a kinda round about away... May I ask if you or anyone else has met with the type of situation that I am in?
And so what was the outcome?

I would just like some anecdotes to know what I might be facing.

Anecdotes:

Same family:
One family member (card expired, met RO with years to spare) got RO questionnaire & went to secondary review.

Another family member (card expired, met RO with years to spare) had card renewed in less than quoted processing time.

Moral of the story: you just can't tell what will happen. The vast majority of pr cards are renewed without "hassle". Sometimes there is no rhyme nor reason for delays/secondary review..., we tend to hear about the non-standard renewals here.

 

[miyesven]

Anecdotes:

Same family:
One family member (card expired, met RO with years to spare) got RO questionnaire & went to secondary review.

Another family member (card expired, met RO with years to spare) had card renewed in less than quoted processing time.

Moral of the story: you just can't tell what will happen. The vast majority of pr cards are renewed without "hassle". Sometimes there is no rhyme nor reason for delays/secondary review..., we tend to hear about the non-standard renewals here.

Hi! Thank you so much for your reply! I see... I guess it's all up to fate then, but may I ask if there was any disparity in how they arranged their files to prove their physical presence in Canada? Perhaps a much more organised file will be easier and faster to process?

 

[Lammawitch]

Hi! Thank you so much for your reply! I see... I guess it's all up to fate then, but may I ask if there was any disparity in how they arranged their files to prove their physical presence in Canada? Perhaps a much more organised file will be easier and faster to process?

Both applications/evidence arranged & presented in the same way (I can guarantee that: I prepared both ). The one with less physical presence (a couple of months) in Canada was processed the fastest.

NB: I'm only telling you this because you asked for anecdotes; this has no bearing whatsoever on *your* application/processing time.