Hi All! My first PR card is about to expire (became PR in Oct 2018) and I am filling out the renewal application. I have a lot of travel history between USA and Canada and have barely met the residency obligation (about 700 days since Oct 2018 with the rest before Oct this year). I am a little worried since one of the required documentation is proof of residency obligation. I have had 2 jobs in Canada and multiple addresses but no lease since I have been living with friends and relatives for the entire time in Canada. I was in USA to complete school. I thought that CBSA would keep track of my entries and exits to Canada and it will be automatically evaluated at the time of renewal but apparently they don't really keep track of movement. I do not have any stamps on my passport from CBSA to show my exits and entries. I have had about 30 exits and entries between USA and Canada (almost always through land border). I am worried about what documentation to provide to prove that I met the residency obligation? I can provide the T4s and offer letters that my 2 jobs gave me though the period of employment that they show is about 600 days. I can also provide the I-94 from USA which shows my entries and exits into USA. Would really appreciate some guidance on this.
PR Renewal - Unsure about proof of Residence Obligation
- Thread starter hmanso02
- Start date
You can also request your CBSA records (entries) via an AITP request through CBSA. However, keep in mind that a single entry record into Canada does nothing to proved residency. It's merely a date in time when you entered Canada. Logic, for some of us, was that it was much more than that in the eyes of IRCC, but...I suspect it is helpful if there are questions/concerns that the travel history can resolve.
You can check the consent box at the bottom of the application, to allow IRCC to get records from CBSA, but that doesn't help you when completing the application. You need to show all travel history for the 5 year period preceding the day that you sign the application. This includes a day trip across the border to get gas, or do some shopping. It's a pain, yes, but it's how it works for all of us. Yay!
In terms of documents to prove residency, Appendix A (in the instruction guide for the application, as well as the Document Checklist) will help you. You do NOT need a pile of documents....only 2 are required. Suggest you include documents over the 5 year period, versus 2 concurrent bank statements, for example.
You can check the consent box at the bottom of the application, to allow IRCC to get records from CBSA, but that doesn't help you when completing the application. You need to show all travel history for the 5 year period preceding the day that you sign the application. This includes a day trip across the border to get gas, or do some shopping. It's a pain, yes, but it's how it works for all of us. Yay!
In terms of documents to prove residency, Appendix A (in the instruction guide for the application, as well as the Document Checklist) will help you. You do NOT need a pile of documents....only 2 are required. Suggest you include documents over the 5 year period, versus 2 concurrent bank statements, for example.
Let's break this down into steps:
1) Chill. First you need to get organized and collect stuff. Figure out what you have and don't have, then compare to what you need.
2) Are you done with school? Meaning, are you now remaining in Canada for the time being, with minimal or no travel? That will help because you want to build up the number of days in Canada to above 730 - let's say target 760 so you have some buffer. Also helps if you know you will not need to travel after your card expires (in case the card comes later).
3) You have your I-94 reports from USA. Use that to start building up all of your entries and exits to USA. For the time being, do this by assuming any day you entered USA is a day you left Canada, and an exit is a day you entered Canada. This is a bit tedious but you do it in Excel and it'll take you a couple of hours for the first crack, maximum. Build in basic functionality to add up the days in Canada. Important: any day you were in Canada for any length of time at all is a day in Canada. So any day you enter/exit Canada is a day in Canada (for these purposes). But don't leave ANY exits/entries out, even if you just went over to buy beer and came back in an hour.
4) Go back and check there's nothing missing, trips to other countries, etc. Order your CBSA records. For both of them, you should ideally not assume the records are complete - they make mistakes etc - and this especially applies to exits from Canada not to USA (they closed some gaps in the system a couple years ago). Check again. Get your running balance. Check your other records. If all of your exits/entries (or basically all) are to USA, and you think the I-094 caught them all, you may not need the CBSA or other records.
5) If it is all looking logical and it looks like you can get to 760 days by the end of the summer, you should actually be in decent condition. Find a couple pieces of information from their list and include them - something from a few years ago and something from more recent (esp if you are now residing full-time in Canada). If you want, you could include a short letter of explanation that you were doing studies in USA but have now completed and residing full-time in Canada (only if true of course) - not strictly needed but may close the gap for why you have some absences etc and increase chances they'll say oh that makes sense and process normally (and not extra scrutiny).
Your biggest risk, really, is applying with days below 730 OR leaving out some chucnk of time outside Canada. That's going to hurt your credibility with them and make them check everything carefully. (There's at least some chance a single small error or typo or calculation error would be looked at as just that, if it doesn't throw the numbers off too much - but better not to make any).
Good luck. I expect you'll be back as you prepare with some other questions.
start tracking your exit and entry now.
We went through that painfully. (back then we didn't even need the proof and my husband had WAY more days than the RO when he applied for the renewal.)
We had to go through emails and google map tracking (hotel reservation, flights, email on events, gas station receipts...etc) to get the in and out history.
We went through that painfully. (back then we didn't even need the proof and my husband had WAY more days than the RO when he applied for the renewal.)
We had to go through emails and google map tracking (hotel reservation, flights, email on events, gas station receipts...etc) to get the in and out history.