PR staying 2 yrs on US passport

[delray]

Hi, I'm a landed immigrant since 1974 with landing paper, applying for my permanent resident card for the first time. I've been using my US passport to enter Canada without problem on visitors visas, and have entered 2 yrs ago using my us passport and have stayed 2 yrs without leaving as suggested by posts to this site. However, by doing this, I have overstayed the 6 month maximum stay. I am ready to apply for PR card for first time as I have satisfied the # of days required (last 2 yrs consecutively plus total of 6 months in the 3yrs before)
1. Will the overstay present a problem to applying?.Or to returning again?
2. I have filed income tax every yr. I am 63, will being retired be a disadvantage or is it better to show some employment? Thinking of filing for self employed earnings if that would be to my advantage.
3. How exact do travel dates have to be for first 3 yrs as no stamps in my passport for all of these
4. Any tips on getting on the fast track instead of being called in for an appointment would be appreciated

 

[Leon]

1. If you are a PR, you can't really have overstayed

2. You have to prove that you really were in Canada for 2 years so if you were not working, you have to think of something else you could use as proof like bank records, telephone bills etc.

3. Get the CBSA info on you, see http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/pia-efvp/atip-aiprp/req-dem-priv-eng.html and make sure that your travel log matches theirs. If you are not sure about some dates, just include a letter and state which dates you are not sure about.

4. Send the CBSA info and a list of your trips. Send proof that you were in Canada for the past 2 years.

 

[delray]

Thanks for your reply.
1Should bank statements be sent with the initial application. That's 30 pages!!
2 If self employed, what employer should be listed under job history on application?
3 Do side trips have to be listed under travel history or merely destination in US if no stamps for other countries from US in US passport have been stamped.

 

[steaky]

1) Don't need to send it all. You might need to pick up the card and explain things anyways.
2) If you are working for your own limited company. Write that company name.
3) I'm not sure. Probably all absence from Canada.

 

[delray]

I have just faxed a request to cbsa for my record of travel history to be sent to my address as suggested. Now I am worried that I have called attention to myself, having entered on my US passport rather than on my landing paper and stayed for 2 yrs in order to apply for my PR card. Do I have cause for concern. Before this I have been under the radar.

 

[Leon]

I have just faxed a request to cbsa for my record of travel history to be sent to my address as suggested. Now I am worried that I have called attention to myself, having entered on my US passport rather than on my landing paper and stayed for 2 yrs in order to apply for my PR card. Do I have cause for concern. Before this I have been under the radar.

You don't have anything to worry about because your PR is in good standing now because you spent the past 2 years in Canada.

 

[delray]

As I have applied for my travel history will the Cbsa attempt to look for me because of my overstay? I do not intend to apply for my PR card til this July. Perhaps they do not realize I am a PR as my landing paper was in my married name and my us passport which I overstayed on is in my maiden name as I was divorced in 1984.

 

[Leon]

If they want to ask you about your overstay, you can tell them that you are a PR.

 

[Msafiri]

I have just faxed a request to cbsa for my record of travel history to be sent to my address as suggested. Now I am worried that I have called attention to myself, having entered on my US passport rather than on my landing paper and stayed for 2 yrs in order to apply for my PR card. Do I have cause for concern. Before this I have been under the radar.

CBSA records only show entries into Canada. You may want to get CBP records for US entries/ exits - go to their website for how to access your travel records. On the premise that your US entries are defacto your Canada exits then this info will be proof of you time 'in' Canada. In any case this will also be helfpul if you later apply for Canadian Citizenship which you should seriously consider given the time you've lived in Canada.

 

[delray]

Thanks for all this valuable info and reassurance.
Applying for US border entry/exit info. They now have a new email request available!
1.Once I receive CBSA and CBP travel History records should they be sent in with Application for PRcard, or merely used to properly fill out travel history on application and held onto if called in.
2.How much extra proof of residency or travel should be sent in with the application aside from copies of documents they request.

 

[delray]

After satisfying 2 yr requirement in Canada and applying for my pr card for the first time with landed immigrant papers from 1974, can I leave Canada for a visit to US to visit my 91 yr old mother for a month or two while I wait for my card approval? I have been in Canada without leaving 2 yrs straight and don't want to wait too much longer before I visit my Mom. I will have copies of all the documents with me prooving I've met the 2 yr residency. Upon return at Canada border shall I enter with my US passport again or with my landing paper.

 

[farzadcheema]

Hi Leon,

Just for my information ,does this mean a PR can be valid for as long as CIC doesn't find out. As the OP got PR 39 years ago but never stayed in Canada long enough to get the PR renewed, would his PR still be valid ?

Regards,
Farzad

 

[Leon]

If he never officially lost his PR and if he would manage to get into Canada without attracting attention of immigration or getting reported, he could live in Canada for 2 years straight and then apply for a PR card. It is in immigration regulations that they can only look at the past 5 years when you apply. They would have to admit that he meets the residency requirements and approve him.

For persons who have been permanent residents of Canada for more than five years, the only five-year period that can be considered in calculating whether an applicant has met the residency obligation is the one immediately before the application is received in the visa office. A28(2)(b)(ii) precludes a visa officer from examining any period other than the most recent five-year period immediately before the date of receipt of the application.

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.

 

[delray]

If he never officially lost his PR and if he would manage to get into Canada without attracting attention of immigration or getting reported, he could live in Canada for 2 years straight and then apply for a PR card. It is in immigration regulations that they can only look at the past 5 years when you apply. They would have to admit that he meets the residency requirements and approve him.

Thanks Leon, Iwill copy that regulation quote . An update, I am applying for my first Pr card since landing in 1974, living in Canada for the first 20 yrs, then after an extended absence I have accumulated 1030 days pr residency obligation in the past 5 yrs but they are not consecutive. I s this a problem? A couple days after sending in my application i will be returning to US to visit my 91 yr old mother for 2months, then returning to Canada to await decision. I've been travelling in the past in and out with my us passport without any problem and when I return without PR card I am at a dilemma if I should come in as a visitor or as a Pr showing my record of landing and copy of my application and supperting docs. i don't want to run the risk of being reported.

 

[Leon]

As long as you have more than 730 days in the past 5 years that you can prove, you will be fine.