PR expired. Got married overseas

[Taqu]

Lived in Canada for a decade, never applied for citizenship. Moved back to home country. My PR expired about 5 years ago, since then Ive been taking care of my parents and studying. I will graduate next year of a BA on journalism and communications. While studying I met my now wife.

I want to go back to Canada with my wife for good.
What is the best way I can approach my return? I don't want to leave her.

Any help is truly appreciated.

 

[scylla]

Your first problem will be saving your own PR status. You're still several years away from being apply to sponsor your spouse for PR.

You don't say if you are from a visa exempt country or not. If you are from a visa exempt country - you can fly to Canada. Otherwise you'll most likely need to fly to the US and then try entering Canada through a land border.

Regardless whether you have a visa exempt passport or not - there is a chance you may be reported at the border for failing to meet the residency requirement. If you are reported, you will have to appear at a hearing to argue why you should be allowed to keep your PR status. Unless you have very strong H&C reasons for failing to meet the residency obligation (studying outside of Canada, working outside of Canada and having a spouse outside of Canada don't count) - you can expect to have your PR status revoked and be forced to leave Canada.

If you are able to enter Canada without being reported, you will then have to live in Canada for two years without leaving for a day to meet the residency obligation. Only then will you be able to apply for a new PR card.

You cannot sponsor your spouse for PR until you meet the residency requirement (i.e. until you have lived in Canada for at least two years). During those two years, your spouse can only visit Canada. Be aware that if your wife holds a non-visa exempt passport, it may be difficult to obtain a visitor visa to Canada.

The short answer to your question is that there is no guarantee you will be able to keep your own PR status and it's possible you may have to be separated from your spouse in order to do so. Since you failed to meet the residency requirement, there is no easy path for keeping PR.

 

[Taqu]

Oh yes. I am from a country that needs visa to enter Canada. How about giving up my reaidency and reapplying from scratch again, using the express entry method (or some other method)? Would that allow me to sponsor my wife?

 

[Leon]

If you renounce your PR, you are free to apply again for yourself and for your wife at the same time. You should however check that you still qualify as the rules have surely changed in the last few years.

 

[Taqu]

Thank you for your response!

I am trying to make my best desicion out of my situation. Let's say I get there and my wife gets there on a visitors visa. I understand she would have to wait 2 years before I could start a process of sponsorship, which would then would take close to another 2 years before she could be allowed to work.

Also, there's a chance she won't be allowed to have an extension on her visitors visa while she waits for my PR reestablishment.

Taking that into account, it would take almost 4 years before she could be allowed to live in Canada legally. And if that's the case, its probably better to apply again from scratch, because having her doing nothing for 4 years would seriously ruin her mind.

Now, applying again has the problem that I might not qualify due to the changes in the past years, right?

 

[Leon]

Thank you for your response!

I am trying to make my best desicion out of my situation. Let's say I get there and my wife gets there on a visitors visa. I understand she would have to wait 2 years before I could start a process of sponsorship, which would then would take close to another 2 years before she could be allowed to work.

Also, there's a chance she won't be allowed to have an extension on her visitors visa while she waits for my PR reestablishment.

Taking that into account, it would take almost 4 years before she could be allowed to live in Canada legally. And if that's the case, its probably better to apply again from scratch, because having her doing nothing for 4 years would seriously ruin her mind.

Now, applying again has the problem that I might not qualify due to the changes in the past years, right?

Right, if you try to revive your old PR, you are stuck in Canada for 2 years, keeping a low profile. If your wife is with you, she would be on a visit visa and not be allowed to work unless she can arrange a work permit. She would be allowed to take short courses, less than 6 months in length that do not provide any college credits or she could volunteer. She could also do online studies or she could work online, as long as it's not for a Canadian employer and she is not being paid in Canada, then nobody will ask where she is located while doing her work. She can apply to extend the visitor visa but it is possible that she will be refused. Another option would be to apply for a study permit and study. This would allow her a student work permit to work up to 20 hrs. a week during the semester and full time on holidays although if you are not a PR, university is not cheap.

After 2 years, your PR status is in good standing again and you can apply to sponsor her. Right now, if you sponsor inland, it takes a long time but it is possible to get an open work permit in 4 months. This may change by the time you are ready to apply so you will have to decide at the time whether outland or inland is better for you.

 

[dpenabill]

Lived in Canada for a decade, never applied for citizenship. Moved back to home country. My PR expired about 5 years ago, since then Ive been taking care of my parents and studying. I will graduate next year of a BA on journalism and communications. While studying I met my now wife.

I want to go back to Canada with my wife for good.
What is the best way I can approach my return? I don't want to leave her.

Any help is truly appreciated.

Overview: you can apply for a PR Travel Document, making your best case based on H&C grounds, and if denied look into the Express Entry process, but if you are given the PR TD you can come to Canada with PR intact, and sponsor your spouse (PRs can only do this from within Canada).


Longer explanation:

You cannot apply via the Express Entry process unless and until you are a Foreign National, so to do that you have to formally terminate your PR status first.

One way to do that is to apply for a PR Travel Document and when it is denied, your PR status is terminated.

The advantage of doing this is you could put together your best case based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds and apply for a PR Travel Document. See ENF 23 Loss of permanent resident status, section 7.7 beginning on page 26, for information about H&C grounds and determinations. It can be complicated. It can be particularly tricky to do this in making a PR Travel Document application. And, from what you posted, is not clear you have a good case . . . but given the time you have been in Canada, perhaps whatever ties you continue to have in Canada, and depending on what your reasons were for leaving and remaining outside Canada for the time you did, it is probably worth looking at the H&C grounds (again, see ENF 23 Loss of permanent resident status (this is a link), section 7.7) and considering taking a shot.

If this succeeds, that is if your H&C grounds persuade the Visa Office (that processes the PR TD application) you deserve to retain PR status and be issued a PR TD, your PR status remains intact, you can then come to Canada and sponsor your spouse, and so on. No need to wait two years. That said, you would still have to come to Canada and make the sponsorship application from within Canada. And there is no guarantee your spouse will be issued a visitor visa to join you, either for the trip or later while the sponsorship application is pending. Perhaps, depends on a lot of factors. It would have to be with dual intent.

If the PR TD application is denied, your PR status is terminated and then you would have to explore if there are other ways for you to qualify for PR status, such as under the express entry program. Technically you could appeal a rejection of the PR TD application, but whether that is a practical course to take is questionable.

You can do the PR TD application based on H&C grounds for minimal expense, no big gamble, and get a decision within a reasonable amount of time. In contrast, it is hard to see any real or practical advantage in trying to slip back into Canada under the radar, and then have to stay two years before you can leave again or sponsor your spouse.

 

[Taqu]

Hello, sorry for taking so long. Thank you for your responses!

My PR card expired on 2009. It's been about 7 years now. Does this affect in any way my H&C grounds application? It appears to me it's just been too long.

 

[dpenabill]

Hello, sorry for taking so long. Thank you for your responses!

My PR card expired on 2009. It's been about 7 years now. Does this affect in any way my H&C grounds application? It appears to me it's just been too long.

Yes, probably too long.

If you want to return to Canada to live your best bet is probably to get a definitive ruling your PR status is terminated, making you a Foreign National, and then if you qualify you could apply for PR status like any other Foreign National, such as applying for Express Entry.

You can get a formal determination your PR status is terminated by surrendering your PR status at a Canadian embassy/visa-office, or by applying for a PR Travel Document which, when denied, will constitute a formal adjudication of your status (after the time to file an appeal has passed).

Again, however, if you are willing to put in the effort, you could do the homework necessary for assessing whether you have a H&C case (on the surface it appears not likely), and if you do then make the PR Travel Document Application including documentation to support that. Again, if the PR TD application is denied, once the appeal period has passed you would no longer be a PR and you could then pursue an application for PR, such as the Express Entry program, if you qualify. If per chance you do have H&C reasons, and the PR TD is granted, you would have to come to Canada soon and stay in order to preserve your PR status. And you could sponsor your spouse once you were in Canada. An H&C case appears to be a long, long shot at best, but you know why you left Canada and why you have not returned sooner, and thus you are in a position to roughly assess whether it would be worth the effort to research this further, or simply forget about living in Canada, or to follow the process for terminating PR status so you can apply again for a new PR.

 

[Taqu]

I want to go back. I actually really would like to go back and because of that I would like to do my homework and do my best shot possible into H&C grounds.

You do say it's a long long shot thought which is discouraging. Either way, it appears I dont have a choice.
The other choice is to jump border and appear inside but I dont think that is wise. Do you think that is wise?