PR Renewal - Living with Canadian citizen spouse outside

[Newbee76]

HI Leon/Toby,

My PR card is expiring August 2012. I have been living with my Canadian wife outside Canada. Two Kids are also canadian citizens.


I am working outside canada and planning to renew PR card based on Section 28 2 a ii IRPA which allows that days spent outside canada with canadian spouse are counted to towards residency obligation. We have lots of exit and rentry stamps in our Passport as we travel within middle east but its mostly (95%) along with the spouse. We have kept copies of tickets and boarding passes etc.


We visit Canada on regular basis (atleast once or twice a year) and am planning to apply for renewal of PR in July 2012 on urgent basis.


My questions are:


a) Do you think (based on current processing time for Urgent rquests) that PR will be renewal within a month's time on URGENT processing. OR should we apply from now on regular processing?

b) Do we need to give translated copies of our passports (stamps other than in English)

c) What type of documents we can provide as a proof for above. Do we also provide documents showing our intent to come back like RESP, tax returns etc

d) Is it better to hire immigration lawyer for the application?


Would really appreciate your response.

 

[Leon]

Some people say they have gotten it in a month with urgent processing but it might be cutting it close. You aren't actually supposed to apply for a PR card from outside Canada but if you have your application to renew mailed from within Canada, you might get away with it. I have seen in some manual or another a mention of a person being overseas not being grounds to refuse to process their application.

If you apply now with a still valid PR card, they will probably time your pick up at the time yours expires so if that is when you are in Canada, it should work out. You could also include a cover letter stating when you plan to be in Canada and ask them if they can time your pick up then but they are not always the most flexible.

If you miss getting the PR card, you don't actually have to worry about your PR status. You stay a PR even if your card expires. You could wait for decades, then apply for a travel document to go back based on living with your Canadian wife overseas, which will be approved, then go back to Canada, apply to renew your PR card and get it.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Some people say they have gotten it in a month with urgent processing but it might be cutting it close. You aren't actually supposed to apply for a PR card from outside Canada but if you have your application to renew mailed from within Canada, you might get away with it. I have seen in some manual or another a mention of a person being overseas not being grounds to refuse to process their application.

If you apply now with a still valid PR card, they will probably time your pick up at the time yours expires so if that is when you are in Canada, it should work out. You could also include a cover letter stating when you plan to be in Canada and ask them if they can time your pick up then but they are not always the most flexible.

If you miss getting the PR card, you don't actually have to worry about your PR status. You stay a PR even if your card expires. You could wait for decades, then apply for a travel document to go back based on living with your Canadian wife overseas, which will be approved, then go back to Canada, apply to renew your PR card and get it.

The OP might wish to read this appeal on Residency Status about accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse abroad. http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/irb/doc/2011/2011canlii87378/2011canlii87378.html

 

[Leon]

PMM, the appeal case is different than the OP's situation because in the appeal case, the wife is residing outside Canada but the husband is residing in Canada and visiting her + she seems to have been unable to prove that he visited her for long enough to meet the 730 day residency requirements

[18] The tribunal concludes that the appellant was not accompanying her Canadian citizen husband on the occasions when he visited her in Cuba. Consequently, the number of days which the appellant’s husband spent visiting her in Cuba cannot be counted towards the fulfilment of the appellant’s residency obligation. Although it is not relevant given the foregoing conclusion, the tribunal notes that the appellant has not succeeded in establishing the calculation of the number of days in question as no documentary evidence was submitted which allows for the calculation of the exact number of days the appellant’s husband spent in Cuba.

[19] In fact, with regards to the number of days the appellant’s husband was in Cuba with the appellant, the tribunal notes that there is contradictory evidence and testimony on this point. In the May 25, 2010 disclosure filed by appellant, page 12 indicates that the appellant’s husband spent 673 days with her in Cuba. No evidence to corroborate such claim has been submitted. An affidavit and some tickets were filed but the dates on the tickets do not match the dates indicated in disclosure. The appellant explained that the discrepancy in dates is due to the fact that her husband changed his return tickets from Cuba back to Montreal.

Also see ENF 23:

7.5.
Accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada
R61(4) provides that each day a permanent resident is outside Canada accompanying (that is,
ordinarily residing with) a Canadian citizen constitutes a day of physical presence in Canada,
provided that the Canadian citizen they are accompanying is a spouse or common-law partner or
parent.
In the case of a permanent resident outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen, it is not
necessary to determine who is accompanying whom, nor is it necessary to determine for what
purpose. In other words, under A28(2)(a)(ii) and R61(4), as long as a permanent resident is
accompanying a Canadian citizen, the intent and purpose of their absences are not relevant as
the residency obligation is met.