PR Obligation

[amskmt]

On Feb 2007, We applied for residence status in Canada under Skilled Worker Program my husband, my 10 year-old son and myself. We got the confirmation letter of residence approval on Dec. 2010.

We landed on Jul 28, 2010, but we all return to our country on Sept 05, 2010 due to personal reason. Later, my son and I came back to Canada on April 12, 2011 until present, but my husband did not came back due to his job and business. My husband found that is really hard to find job due to the slow down economy in Canada so he better stick with his job in Venezuela to maintain our expenses.

Our concern is that in order to maintain my husband's residence status in Canada, he must be physically present for 2 years ( 730 days ). By July 2013 he must come here definitely because his period end at July 2015, but I dont think he can do it by that time. So my questions are:

-Is there any options for my husband to extend the time period because we dont think he can make it on July 2013?
-What happen if he lose his residence ?
-Can I re-apply for him under the status of family reunion ?
-It is easier if I become Canadian Citizen and reapply his status?
-If Canadian Inmigration refuses to give him again residence status, under what status will he be here when come to stay with us for the future? Super Visa status?

 

[scylla]

- No, he can't extend the time period.
- You can sponsor him for PR as his spouse.
- Yes.
- Doesn't make a difference.
- I don't think he would be refused if you sponsor him. Super visa only works if he has an adult child who makes sufficient income to meet the low income cut off and can therefore sponsor him.

 

[amskmt]

I really appreciate your reply Scylla; However, I am still a little bit concern about my husband losing his residence. If I reapply and sponsor him again, the inmigration officer would think that he has no intention to live in Canada because he has not comply with the residence obligation when they gave it to him for the first time. Economic reason is not a strong excuse for the inmigration to reapproved his residence once again. What strong reasons can I give to the inmigration officers so they can review and reconsider his status ? Does my husband has to go thru the point system as skill worker or just sponsoring him as a spouse. What are the requisites to sponsor a spouse ? Do they look back to his old file and then would it be harder to be approved or they just treat as a new case?

Hope you can advise me once again since this matter seems to be so delicate and complex as well.

Thank you

Welcome everyone's advises !

 

[Leon]

If you sponsor a spouse while you yourself are living in Canada, it is not a criteria that the spouse must move to Canada when he gets his PR so I do not think he can be denied based on that he is not likely to be moving to Canada. It is your right to sponsor your spouse. They look at if your relationship is genuine, if you are likely to end up on welfare and that he can pass his medicals and background checks. Having had PR and lost it because he did not meet the residency obligation would not stop him from getting PR again. However, he must have officially lost or renounced it before you can sponsor him.

Another way is if he decides he is ready to move to Canada at some point before his PR card expires, he could enter Canada and as long as he is allowed to enter without getting reported for not meeting the residency obligation, he can stay in Canada, let his PR card expire and continue to stay for a full 2 years. At this point he will meet the residency requirements again and can renew his PR card without a problem.

 

[bkd1969]

If you sponsor a spouse while you yourself are living in Canada, it is not a criteria that the spouse must move to Canada when he gets his PR so I do not think he can be denied based on that he is not likely to be moving to Canada. It is your right to sponsor your spouse. They look at if your relationship is genuine, if you are likely to end up on welfare and that he can pass his medicals and background checks. Having had PR and lost it because he did not meet the residency obligation would not stop him from getting PR again. However, he must have officially lost or renounced it before you can sponsor him.

Another way is if he decides he is ready to move to Canada at some point before his PR card expires, he could enter Canada and as long as he is allowed to enter without getting reported for not meeting the residency obligation, he can stay in Canada, let his PR card expire and continue to stay for a full 2 years. At this point he will meet the residency requirements again and can renew his PR card without a problem.

I may be wrong, Leon. My reading regarding PR obligation is that CIC looks for any, let me repeat "any" five year period to see if 720 days residence requirement met, not the most recent 5 years. So, if you did not live in Canada for 4 years after you got PR, then, no matter how many years you live in Canada after that, you still do not met the PR requirement.

 

[PMM]

Hi

I may be wrong, Leon. My reading regarding PR obligation is that CIC looks for any, let me repeat "any" five year period to see if 720 days residence requirement met, not the most recent 5 years. So, if you did not live in Canada for 4 years after you got PR, then, no matter how many years you live in Canada after that, you still do not met the PR requirement.

Nope, CIC looks at the 5 years immediately proceeding, not any 5 year period. If the PR has been "landed" less than 5 years, they then count from the date of "landing" and look forward to determine if they can meet the residency requirement within the 5 years from date of "landing"

 

[Leon]

I may be wrong, Leon. My reading regarding PR obligation is that CIC looks for any, let me repeat "any" five year period to see if 720 days residence requirement met, not the most recent 5 years. So, if you did not live in Canada for 4 years after you got PR, then, no matter how many years you live in Canada after that, you still do not met the PR requirement.

Yes, you are wrong. CIC will not go back in time and say that between year X and year Y, you did not spend 730 days in Canada and will therefore lose your PR. If they do not catch you at the time that you did not meet the residency requirements, they can only look at the past 5 year period. Their own rules forbid them from looking at any other period than the past 5 years. You can read about this here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op10-eng.pdf on page 7 where it says:

For persons who have been permanent residents of Canada for more than five years, the only
five-year period that can be considered in calculating whether an applicant has met the residency
obligation is the one immediately before the application is received in the visa office. A28(2)(b)(ii)
precludes a visa officer from examining any period other than the most recent five-year period
immediately before the date of receipt of the application.

Even if a person had resided away from Canada for many years, but returned to Canada and
resided there for a minimum of 730 days during the last five years, that person would comply with
the residency obligation and remain a permanent resident. An officer is not permitted to consider
just any five-year period in the applicant’s past, but must always assess the most recent five-year
period preceding the receipt of the application.

 

[amskmt]

Thank you so much Leon clarifying our situation !! Even though my husband cannot meet the residence obligation at this time, but he can still have options later on when he is ready to move in by sponsoring him again.

I have a little quick question Leon or Scylla, Once I comply with my residence obligation and I submit for my citizenship, do I need to stay in Canada while waiting for the inmigration interview and exams?

If I have further questions later on, I will be asking you again and again....hoping you dont mine !

Once again thank you very much for your advices !

 

[Leon]

There are no rules saying that you must stay after applying for citizenship but it could be a red flag for immigration to pull your application out for a residency questionnaire. Such a thing is when they pull out your file and send it to local office and request you to come in for an interview and prove that you really spent 1095 days in Canada like you said. It can really delay your application if that happens and they take long enough already but whatever happens, you'll just have to deal with it when and if.

Keep in mind that you still must continue to meet the PR residency obligation even after applying for citizenship so the maximum time you can be outside Canada in a 5 year period is 3 years (1095 days). If you are getting close to that and your citizenship application is delayed, you would have to come back to make sure your PR remains in good standing.

 

[amskmt]

Thank you so much sharing your valuable experiences ! really appreciate your advices.

Later on, if I have further questions, I would be pleased to hear from you again !

 

[amskmt]

Hi Leon, Scylla and Everyone:

I am here again arising with so many doubts and I appreciate all your time spent and valuable advice given for us !.. I went thru the CIC website looking for sponsoring my spouse in case he lose his PR status. Under the categories of Family Class: sponsoring spouse I read this statement below:


Effective October 25, 2012, sponsored spouses or partners must now live together in a legitimate relationship with their sponsor for two years from the day they receive permanent residence status in Canada.

If you are a spouse or partner being sponsored to come to Canada, this applies to you if:
• You are being sponsored by a permanent resident or Canadian citizen
•You have been in a relationship for two years or less with your sponsor
•You have no children in common
•Your application was received on or after October 25, 2012

Learn more about the new conditional permanent residence measure for spouses and partners.


My questions are:
1.- What happens if we have a children in common ( Our child is 11 year old and he is with me in Canada )?
2.- Our relationship have been more than 12 years?
3.- Do I have to have a stable job and huge income to be able to sponsor my spouse?
4.- What are the requisites they ask for other than having good health, no criminal records, willing to stay for good?
5.- A year after we landed, he has been declaring taxes yearly (outside income). If he cannot meet the residence obligation,and he lost
his PR status, then, Do you think that it is better keep declaring for the following years? Can this give him advantages when we
decide to re-apply and sponsor him again?
6.- Once I get my citizenship, I go back home to reunite with him for couple years until he is ready to live for good in Canada, Can I
apply to sponsor him again in my country ?
7.-Can I leave the country a month after I get my citizenship and wait for the interview, citizenship test and ceremonies outside
Canada?

Really appreciate your opinions and again thank you so much to spent so much time helping us with such a complex inmigration issues

 

[Shokria]

Hi Leon, I have a big prb, I need ur advice pls. My husband got approved as skilled worker, and we r a family of 3 members: a husband, me the wife, and a daughter. The 3 of us got our immigration visas on our passports, and while we are getting ready to book our tickets for our first landing step, I discovered I'm pregnant. My dead line to enter the country is 15th of July, 2013, while my delivery due date is 26 sept 2013. My question is: if I give birth in my home country, after taking our PRs cards, what are my chances to have my baby in Canada and enter him for residency?

 

[Leon]

The new rules you found about staying together for 2 years have been put in place to fight marriage fraud. It says that if a couple has no children and has not been together for more than 2 years, and the sponsored spouse leaves their sponsor less than 2 years after getting their PR, they may lose it. This is completely irrelevant to your situation.

My questions are:
1.- What happens if we have a children in common ( Our child is 11 year old and he is with me in Canada )?
Nothing happens. You can still sponsor your spouse even though you have a child.
2.- Our relationship have been more than 12 years?
That would help show that you have a genuine relationship
3.- Do I have to have a stable job and huge income to be able to sponsor my spouse?
No, there is no specific income requirement to sponsor a spouse. However, you could be denied if immigration thinks you will end up on welfare
4.- What are the requisites they ask for other than having good health, no criminal records, willing to stay for good?
The relationship being genuine is important and no criminal record but the good health is lifted if you are sponsoring your spouse as well as there is no requirement to be willing to stay for good.
5.- A year after we landed, he has been declaring taxes yearly (outside income). If he cannot meet the residence obligation,and he lost his PR status, then, Do you think that it is better keep declaring for the following years? Can this give him advantages when we decide to re-apply and sponsor him again?
If he is keeping and supporting his family in Canada, he may actually be required to declare his outside income but you should ask a tax advisor about this.
6.- Once I get my citizenship, I go back home to reunite with him for couple years until he is ready to live for good in Canada, Can I apply to sponsor him again in my country ?
If he has not officially lost his PR at the point you get citizenship and you get your citizenship and go and stay with him, he will meet the residency requirements again. When PR is not lost, immigration only looks at the past 5 years when you apply for something. If he had not officially lost his PR and he would apply for a PR travel document for example stating that for 2 out of the past 5 years, he was living with his Canadian citizen spouse outside Canada and proving this, he would meet the residency requirements and get his travel document. If he had lost his PR before you getting your citizenship and moving back, you could sponsor him for PR again while being outside Canada but in that case, you'd have to prove that you will be moving to Canada when he gets his PR.
7.-Can I leave the country a month after I get my citizenship and wait for the interview, citizenship test and ceremonies outside Canada?
You mean a month after you apply for citizenship because you do not get citizenship until after the oath ceremony and yes, you can. However, immigration is trying to crack down on citizenship fraud as many people have managed to get citizenship by lying about their time in Canada. In case they decided to pull out your case and make you prove your stay in Canada, it will really delay your application. One thing they might see as a red flag and might contribute to them deciding to pull out your case could be if you had moved out of Canada after applying. You are also not exempt from continuing to meet the PR residency requirements after having applied for citizenship so if your application drags on long enough, you would have to return to Canada for that reason.

 

[Leon]

Hi Leon, I have a big prb, I need ur advice pls. My husband got approved as skilled worker, and we r a family of 3 members: a husband, me the wife, and a daughter. The 3 of us got our immigration visas on our passports, and while we are getting ready to book our tickets for our first landing step, I discovered I'm pregnant. My dead line to enter the country is 15th of July, 2013, while my delivery due date is 26 sept 2013. My question is: if I give birth in my home country, after taking our PRs cards, what are my chances to have my baby in Canada and enter him for residency?

It would probably best for you to move to Canada before the birth and have your baby in Canada. Just make sure you settle in a province with first day health care. Then you will be covered. I recommend Alberta.

If you do decide to go back to your home country to have your baby, you would have to sponsor it for PR. This can be tricky, in particular if you are not visa exempt. You can not sponsor the baby while you are outside Canada but a visit visa for the baby will probably be denied as your intentions are not for the baby to just visit Canada but to stay permanently. There is another temporary visa called a TRP that you could then apply for. If that were to be denied as well, you would have no choice but for one of you parents to go to Canada alone to sponsor the baby while the other waits with the baby in your home country. Depending on where you are from, it can take months up to a year or more to sponsor. The parent who goes to Canada to sponsor must continue to reside in Canada during the processing time. If they return to your home country to stay with the family, immigration can cancel the sponsorship application.

 

[Shokria]

Thx Leon for ur great tips. U r a great help dear. One more question: sponsoring a baby is conditioned by finding a job and a proof of income or not? I mean the sponsoring parent should have a job?