PR Renewal from Outside Canada - Time living with Canadian Abroad

[mami_79]

Hi,

I'm currently living with my Canadian husband outside Canada. My PR card is expiring soon and I would like to renew my PR card.

I have no issue with 730 residency obligation. However during the last 5 years, there were time that my husband travelled on short business trips or I travelled for a short trip to visit my family. When I fill in the application for the time I accompany Canadian spouse abroad, do I need to exclude those days we were apart sometime for short trips? If I need to breakdown every single trip, it will be quite hassle as my husband went on business trip almost every month.

Please advise. Thank you so much!

 

[dpenabill]

Hi,

I'm currently living with my Canadian husband outside Canada. My PR card is expiring soon and I would like to renew my PR card.

I have no issue with 730 residency obligation. However during the last 5 years, there were time that my husband travelled on short business trips or I travelled for a short trip to visit my family. When I fill in the application for the time I accompany Canadian spouse abroad, do I need to exclude those days we were apart sometime for short trips? If I need to breakdown every single trip, it will be quite hassle as my husband went on business trip almost every month.

Please advise. Thank you so much!

To be eligible for a new PR card you need to be IN CANADA.

You do not need a new PR card to keep your PR status. All you need to do is comply with the PR Residency Obligation, which you do by accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse abroad.

For purposes of both meeting the PR Residency Obligation and in reporting to CIC in the application to renew the PR card (which is something you would do when you are living in Canada again), generally what matters is actually living together, that is cohabitating. Short periods of separation do not interrupt cohabitation. But what is a short separation that does not interrupt cohabitation depends on the particular facts and circumstances. Thus, while overall CIC and CBSA tend to require address history to reflect every month, indicating that spending a month somewhere amounts to residing there and should be reported as such, that is not necessarily the applicable rule.

You can always report more detail than actually required. Reporting less risks indicating being evasive. But mostly it is best to try to answer all questions simply and directly without much elaboration, without excess detail, but without omitting relevant information.

For now, though, since you are living abroad, you should not apply for a new PR card.

Note: some will suggest you should, and among those there are some who would even suggest fudging a bit, ranging from using the address of a close family member or friend in Canada, or trying to do the renewal while visiting Canada . . . since PR status does not at all depend on having a current PR card, there is no reason to risk appearing to be game-playing in an effort to obtain a new card. Just be sure to submit proof of actually cohabiting with a citizen spouse if and when you apply for a Travel Document in order to travel to Canada, or to otherwise carry this with you (in your hands, not checked baggage) when coming to Canada.