PR Renewal

[rizmansoor]

I have a PR status since July 2007 which is expiring in July 2012. I have not been able to fulfil the 2 years residency requirements. Though i have been to Canada every year for vaccation (1 month a year).

My wife and both my kids have Canadian Passport and they are living with me outside Canada. I would like to get my PR renewed in July 2012 based on the following law:


As per the Immigration Act Pursuant to A28(2), a permanent resident complies with the residency obligation provisions with
respect to a five-year period if, for at least 730 days in that five-year period, the permanent resident is physically present in Canada, or:
• is outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen who is their spouse or common-law partner or is a child accompanying a parent;
• is outside Canada employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a province;
• is an accompanying spouse, common-law partner or child of a permanent resident who is outside Canada and is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a province.

My question is regarding the validity of the above section for renewal of the PR card and if someone has gone thourgh such situation.

 

[Leon]

It shouldn't be a problem proving that you are living with your wife and that your wife is a Canadian citizen, a bigger problem would be that you can not apply to renew your PR card unless you are in Canada and for the 2nd and later PR card, they are not mailed to you, you must go and pick it up in person. The processing time to renew is getting shorter now, is down to about 3 months now, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-card.asp but still a long time to take a vacation. What you could do is go to Canada to send in your application about 4 months before your PR card expires, give an address of relatives as your mailing address and then go back home. When you are notified to pick up your new card, your old card should still be valid to travel. If your old card is expired, you would need to apply for a travel document to travel to Canada.

 

[francois]

Hi Leon and everybody ,

I had landed in Canada for the first time in Oct. 2001 , I could make the 730 days the first 5 years and renewed my PR card on Nov. 2006 , the expiry date of my 2nd PR card will be on Dec 2011 . For personal reasons, I could be present the last five years in Canada for only 220 days, now I am moving to live there full time . By Dec. 2011 I will be making only around 400 days inside Canada , so my questions are :
1- Am i allowed to apply for another PR card ?
2- If yes, I submit my renewel application when I make the 730 days immediately preceding the examination, but will they not reject it as it's been around one year (720 days - 400 = 320 days ) my PR card was expired ? I understand the fact that I might not need for my PR card if I dont travel , but my concern is that at the time of renewel they will tell me that u should have applied before your PR card has expired ....
Many thanks

 

[Leon]

1. If you apply for another PR card without having 730 days in Canada, they will probably revoke your PR unless you have some very good reasons why you could not make 730 days.

2. There is no law that says you must apply before your card expires or soon after your card expires. They are also not allowed to look at any 5 year period, just the one immediately before you apply. Say you apply to renew in July of 2013, they can only look at the 5 year period between July 2008 and 2013. They are not allowed to look at any other period like from 2006 until 2011. This is explained here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op10-eng.pdf on page 7.

 

[francois]

Thanks for the reply ... so I am allowed to apply for a 3rd PR card after accomplishing the 730 days ? ....

There is no law saying that we have to renew before the expiry date but the day i apply , i.e. on July 2013 , they have the right to tell me you are not a Permenant Resident since Dec. 2011 and therefore you are allowed to stay in the country or at least not allowed to apply for a renewel .... what do u think ?

 

[francois]

SORRY , I wanted to say : they have the right to tell me you are not a Permenant Resident since Dec. 2011 and therefore you are NOT allowed to stay in the country or at least not allowed to apply for a renewel .... what do u think ?

 

[Leon]

You don't lose your PR status because your PR card expires so no, they can not say that. You can be a PR without a PR card. A person who became a PR before there were PR cards and has never applied for one is still PR.

The only way you can lose your PR is if it is officially taken away from you or you yourself give it up. Immigration does not have a crystal ball so they do not know exactly to the day or minute when you are in Canada and when you aren't. They have some information like probably your arrival dates but probably not all the dates you left. They work with some other border agencies like the US so they may see dates you have entered the US although I don't know if they have on-demand access or if that is information they would have to ask for specifically if they want to examine you.

It can happen that you are examined on entry to Canada even if you have a valid PR card. If it happens, the immigration officer would express doubts that you meet the residency requirements and decides if to report you for it or not. If they report you, they start proceedings to revoke your PR but you would have a chance to appeal, either proving that you do meet the requirements or giving a good reason why you couldn't. I do not know how common that is.

If nothing like that happens when you enter Canada, then you do not have to worry about being put under examination again until you either leave and enter Canada again or you apply to renew your PR card.

Read the link I gave earlier where it says:

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.

 

[francois]

That's interesting to know .... if so, then the most important is that the day i want to enter canada i should have my PR card valid even if i enter canada a just day before the expiry date . i stay in canada 2 years with no PR card , so i cant go out the country .... can i ,during this time , apply to sponsor my family who lives abroad , or since i dont have my PR card i cant do anything shows my status vis-a-vis the immigration officer ?

u said in ur previous reply that i should worry only when i enter or leave Canada with my valid PR card ? and when i apply for the renewel even if after i make the 730 days ?

 

[Leon]

That's interesting to know .... if so, then the most important is that the day i want to enter canada i should have my PR card valid even if i enter canada a just day before the expiry date . i stay in canada 2 years with no PR card , so i cant go out the country .... can i ,during this time , apply to sponsor my family who lives abroad , or since i dont have my PR card i cant do anything shows my status vis-a-vis the immigration officer ?

u said in ur previous reply that i should worry only when i enter or leave Canada with my valid PR card ? and when i apply for the renewel even if after i make the 730 days ?

I do not think they examine if you meet the residency requirements when you sponsor someone but can not guarantee that.

Leaving Canada is not a problem but entering is and if you are going to be in Canada, you would have to leave before you enter so that is why I said leave and enter. Of course if you don't have a valid PR card, you shouldn't leave at all because you might not get back in but even if you did have a valid PR card, knowing that you do not meet the residency requirements, you are taking a risk every time you enter Canada that they might catch you.

Once you meet your 730 day requirement, you are in good standing again. You can apply for your new PR card and get it and then you can travel again. You should just be careful that you continue to meet the 730 day requirement always looking back on the last 5 years. It is not enough to think about that only when you want to renew your PR card.

 

[francois]

Thank you Leon for the interesting info.

i could understand that since now i don't meet the 730 day requirement, there is a risk by entering Canada even i have a valid PR card. if i stay inside Canada, there will be no real risk even after my PR card is expired. ounce i meet the 730 day requirement in the 5 years prior to a date X , then i apply to renew my PR card in this date X .
During the time of living in Canada with an expired PR card, I can't apply to sponsor my family.
Is it advisable to keep on doing my taxes even if i am not living there ?

Thank you again .

 

[Leon]

During the time of living in Canada with an expired PR card, I can't apply to sponsor my family.
Is it advisable to keep on doing my taxes even if i am not living there ?

Like I told you, I do not know if it will be a problem for you to try to sponsor your family as you are living in Canada with an expired PR card and do not meet the residency requirements. I do not know if they check on your PR status concerning residency requirements when you apply to sponsor but if they do, you are right, you would have a problem there.

Filing taxes in Canada has nothing to do with your PR. CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) considers you a tax resident of Canada if you are living in Canada more than half of the year and possibly if you are not if other conditions are met. See http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts/cmmn/rsdncy-eng.html for more information on that. If you are considered a tax resident, you should file taxes in Canada. If you moved away and are no longer a tax resident, you need to contact CRA and tell them that.

 

[toby]

It shouldn't be a problem proving that you are living with your wife and that your wife is a Canadian citizen, a bigger problem would be that you can not apply to renew your PR card unless you are in Canada and for the 2nd and later PR card, they are not mailed to you, you must go and pick it up in person. The processing time to renew is getting shorter now, is down to about 3 months now, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-card.asp but still a long time to take a vacation. What you could do is go to Canada to send in your application about 4 months before your PR card expires, give an address of relatives as your mailing address and then go back home. When you are notified to pick up your new card, your old card should still be valid to travel. If your old card is expired, you would need to apply for a travel document to travel to Canada.

Leon:

Is the PR required to personally put the renewal application in the mail, in Canada? Is CIC seriously concerned about this? After all, CIC allows PRs to be with Canadian spouses abroad and still keep their PR visas.

Could the PR (from abroad) send the renewal application to a relative in Canada, who would then mail to CIC, and the PR could travel to Canada just to pick up the PR card in person a few months later?

 

[Leon]

Could the PR (from abroad) send the renewal application to a relative in Canada, who would then mail to CIC, and the PR could travel to Canada just to pick up the PR card in person a few months later?

This is from the application guide for a PR card:

Assessing your eligibility
To be eligible for a PR Card, you must:
 be a permanent resident of Canada
 be physically present in Canada
 not be under an effective removal order
 not be a Canadian citizen or a registered Indian under the Indian Act and
 not be convicted of an offense related to the misuse of a PR card

Permanent Residents outside of Canada
If you are currently outside Canada and do not have a valid PR Card to return to Canada, you will need to obtain a travel document from a Canadian visa office. An application is available on our website at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/travel.asp.
Once you have returned to Canada, you should apply for a PR Card.

The big question is, if you did mail the application to a relative who mails it for you to CIC, would immigration ever find out that you were not in Canada and did not mail it yourself? I am guessing they might not in which case it should work. Certainly worth a try anyway.