PR renewal will be short 10 days

[bortele]

Dear All,

I landed on August 30, 2010 but had to return to my home country as I did not want to move without a job. I moved back on June 26th 2013 just so that I have a bit of a cushion but i had a family emergency which required that i go back home for a few months. I would have my 730 exactly on august 30 this year but I have to go to the states on August 20, meaning that by august 30, I will be 10 days short for the 5 year period. If I go and come back, and then apply at the end of september would I have flouted the law. Cos techinically, it would still have made the 730 bythe end of september, it just wont be 730 days from when I landed.

Thanks

 

[keesio]

Re: PR renewal will be short 10 days as i have to attend a wedding in the US

You have to decide how important it is for you to attend this wedding. Is it worth risking your PR status over it?

 

[bortele]

But I guess my question is, am i risking my PR status? If it is only 10 days? I could enter, do the 10 days and apply later

 

[keesio]

As long as you come back before your PR card expires and you can show strong ties to Canada (which you should since you have been mostly living here since June 2013), the risk is fairly low. Really the risk is at the border when you try to re-enter Canada. CBSA may be nice and give you no hassles and let you in with no other action or they may be grumpy and decide to report you to CIC before they let you in. If you are let in without report, then you can just stay in Canada and make up the 10 lost days and apply when you have your 730+ days and you'll be good.

Again the risk is small so it is a matter of how risk adverse you are. Personally, I am very risk adverse and I would just send a congrats card and a promise to come visit when your get your new PR card. But that is me.

 

[dpenabill]

keesio explains it about as well as it can be.

To leave Canada and then return while in breach of the PR Residency Obligation is inherently, necessarily risky.

For some individuals, in some circumstances, the risk would be very low. Like shoplifting just one time perhaps, or driving after drinking and being just a little over the limit (situations where the risk for getting caught is largely in repeatedly engaging in the behavior).

For others, the risk is substantial.

The border has been changing toward being more strict for well over the last decade. In the last couple years in particular this government has introduced new technology and new rules about gathering and sharing information, and part of their focus in doing this has indeed been to get tougher about the PR RO.

Thus, how risky it is crossing the border being just a little in breach, none of us can say, even in general, let alone in your particular circumstances.

But crossing the border in breach of the PR RO puts your fate in the hands of others.

Note: PRs who are already abroad and in a situation where they cannot return to Canada without being in breach are often offered suggestions and comments in a different tone, many here in effect encouraging them that (depending on the circumstances) the odds are good they will be OK when they cross the border with a still valid PR card in hand. The reason for the difference is in the nature of what the relative risks mean. Choosing to return to Canada in those situations is not about risking PR status. That's already happened. Their status is already at risk. It is about risking the cost and time to make the trip and in the process hoping to salvage their PR status.

You are asking a very different question, which is about whether it is worth it to decide to put your PR status at risk.

 

[bortele]

thanks!

 

[Msafiri]

730 days is a fixed unambiguous number. Its the starting point for all residency obligation appeals. If you have 730+ days then you are good if not then you plead your case to the courts....a shortfall due to lifestyle choices including a wedding are no dice.