My response, below, is based on the
current policies and practices, including the current law and current instructions for PR card applications.
These are always subject to change. PRs should generally attempt to stay informed of changes, but PRs abroad should especially make a concerted effort to stay informed. The instructions and application forms, in particular, change rather often.
prak11 said:
Hello,
I'm a Canadian Citizen and my wife is a Canadian PR. I might go out of Canada and live abroad for some time. My wife will be accompanying me. My wife's PR card will expire while she is outside Canada.
(a) Would it be fine if we apply to renew the PR card while outside the country and provide a friend's address where the PR Card needs to be sent to (Provide the current residential address as friend's address in the PR application) ? We can later collect the PR Card from our friend
(b) If option (a) is not possible is there any other way to renew a PR Card while outside Canada like using a representative or lawyer ?
(c) How can we prove the PR Status if PR Card is expired when outside Canada assuming the PR Card holder has accompanied a Canadian Citizen ?
While many may successfully do what is proposed in option (a), the prudent PR will
NOT attempt this (long explanation is below). Perhaps there are still some
representatives (typically calling themselves consultants) who will say they can do option (b), but that usually entails a version of option (a) facilitated by the consultant, which again is
NOT what a prudent PR will do. I am not familiar with how immigration lawyers are responding to requests of this sort; however, if a lawyer suggests a course of action that is essentially a version of option (a) (that is, if it entails declaring the applicant's residential address to be anywhere but where the applicant is actually living), that is, again,
NOT what a prudent PR will do.
To be clear, it appears that many have successfully done some version of option (a), and perhaps many will continue to successfully do so, including some who have been assisted by a representative.
However, to be frank, what you propose to do, in option (a), is to fudge the information about the applicant's current residential address. If and when caught, IRCC tends to refer to this as
misrepresentation, and even if IRCC does not impose the harsh consequences for making a material misrepresentation, at the least the PR's credibility is severely compromised. This is not good. Saying this is not good is an understatement.
Options X and Y:
For PRs who are living abroad with a Canadian citizen spouse, IRCC generally expects the PR to wait until returning to stay in Canada before making an application for a new PR card. Call this option X.
There is an option Y, which is essentially a version of option X, in which the PR
temporarily relocates to Canada, to in effect come to Canada to stay while making the PR card application, and then returns to accompany the PR's citizen spouse abroad after being issued a new PR card.
In the meantime, while the PR is abroad, there is no need for a valid PR card unless and until the PR intends to travel to Canada. IRCC simply expects the PR in this situation to obtain a PR Travel Document for travel to Canada.
To be eligible for a PR TD, yes the PR is required to prove compliance with the PR Residency Obligation. For a PR whose compliance is based on the
exception based on accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse, the proof required to specifically show the PR has been accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse abroad is:
-- documentation showing qualified relationship (marriage certificate best; sufficient proof of common law should work)
-- documentation showing the spouse is a Canadian citizen (passport should suffice, but better to include either certificate of citizenship or if born in Canada, the birth certificate)
-- information and documentation proving cohabitation for two plus years in the preceding five years
-- copies of all pages in passports, for
both spouses
Beyond that, it may be prudent to include a brief statement from the citizen spouse, a succinct narrative affirming relationship and cohabitation.
After the PR has relocated (returned to live in Canada), similar information and documentation will be needed when applying for the PR card.
Longer explanation; an Overview and some Context:
Overall, Canadian PRs who are abroad without a currently valid PR card, including those living abroad, are expected to obtain and use a PR Travel Document to make trips to Canada.
As far as IRCC is concerned:
-- the only purpose of the PR status document (PR card) is to allow the PR to travel to Canada
-- given the availability of a PR Travel Document to accomplish this, PRs living abroad do not need a PR card
This is reflected in the current IRCC policy which requires applications for a new PR card to be made
in Canada. Technically, however, under the current law (statutory and regulatory provisions, as interpreted and applied by the Federal Court), IRCC cannot deny a PR card application on the sole ground that the applicant is outside Canada. Nonetheless, if the applicant is outside Canada, it appears the practical reality is that one way or another IRCC either does not process the application, delays the process until the applicant is in Canada, or at the very least imposes difficult hurdles in the process.
In other words, IRCC expects PRs living abroad to wait until they are living in Canada before they make an application for a new PR card.
That is, under current policy anyway, IRCC's position is that your PR spouse should wait until you and your spouse have returned to live in Canada before making an application for a new PR card, and that in the meantime the PR spouse should obtain and use a PR TD to make trips to Canada.
I go into this detail regarding the context to illuminate the nature of what you propose to do, which, frankly, is
an attempt to circumvent IRCC policy. That is usually a bad idea.
Address history; current residential address, et al:
It is indeed common for people to use, for a variety of purposes, a
home address which is not necessarily where they sleep most nights, for things like bank accounts, business transactions, registration with various entities, and so on. Even for provincial health care insurance and drivers licenses, this is common even though technically the individual is supposed to keep the provincial health care system and drivers licensing agency informed as to the individual's actual current residential address. Violations as to the latter are relatively insignificant, although one occasionally will see someone ticketed and fined for not keeping their drivers license address current, but it is a small fine without other consequences.
But, let's be frank, making an application to IRCC which declares the applicant's residential address to be somewhere other than where the applicant is actually living, is
misrepresentation.
The thing is, when applying for a PR card, applicants have to declare not just their residential address, but also their address history
and the dates the applicant has been outside Canada. For the PR who has been living abroad, it is overtly apparent they have been living abroad unless the PR makes some very serious misrepresentations in this information.
Some who attempt to circumvent IRCC policy in this regard will return to Canada briefly, apply while in Canada, then return abroad while the application is in process. Problem with this is that IRCC applications of this sort almost always require the applicant to affirm the applicant will inform IRCC of any changes in the information in the application. If the applicant goes abroad and thus is no longer actually residing in the address given in the application for the residential address, that too amounts to making a misrepresentation by omission.
The latter is, perhaps, gotten away with on occasion, perhaps often, perhaps even usually.
But, since the only thing gained is the convenience of having a PR card, which the PR does not need to retain PR status, while the risk is being caught and incurring what can amount to severe consequences, the prudent PR will NOT attempt this.
IRCC approach to PRs generally:
Note: there is no indication that IRCC is particularly tough in its approach to PRs accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse. Probably the opposite. IRCC is probably, usually, rather accommodating if not outright generous toward such PRs. But that probably depends, at least to some extent, on how IRCC perceives the situation. In particular, if IRCC perceives someone is
gaming the system, its approach will probably get a lot tougher.
Examples:
-- a PR settles and stays in Canada just long enough to qualify for and obtain citizenship, somewhere along the way sponsoring a spouse for PR, and then the couple lives abroad for many, many years, reflecting minimal ties to Canada.
-- a version of this example is an individual applies for and obtains a FSW PR visa, and this individual has an accompanying spouse who also becomes a PR, but the primary applicant never really settles in Canada, while the accompanying spouse stays in Canada long enough to become a citizen, then the couple resides abroad.
-- a Canadian citizen living abroad sponsors a spouse for PR, including in the application the required plan to relocate to live in Canada, but the couple never really returns to Canada, at least not to settle and live in Canada.
In the above examples, there is no technical violation of the law. But that does not mean IRCC will fail to notice, or will ignore, the apparent intent to game the system, to use the Canadian system to obtain Canadian PR status without really intending to settle permanently in Canada. The difference is in whether IRCC and CBSA approach and deal with the PR in their usual friendly and accommodating manner, or in a more strict, less friendly, less accommodating, perhaps even far more skeptical manner.
Practical Inconvenience If PR Does Not Have a valid PR Card:
IRCC appears to overlook just how inconvenient it is for many PRs abroad if they are not issued a valid PR card. The scope of this is expanding dramatically now that the eTA program will preclude travel to Canada by PRs with a visa-exempt passport unless they present a valid PR card.
My observations above were offered recognizing the nature and scope of the inconvenience.
