Renewing PR Card with COVID19/Quarantine Reqs

[Micbm]

Hi all, I hope you're all doing alright

I'm a Canadian Citizen and my wife is a PR, which we believe has met all the obligations.

- December 2015, we both became PR;
- June 2016, wife moved to the US(for work)but I remained in Canada(for work), we were visiting each other on a regular basis;
- March 2018, I moved to the US (we live together ever since);
- January 2019, I became Canadian Citizen;

I did all the math, counted all the time she spent abroad and with myself as a Canadian and thhe results: she was physically in Canada for 251 days + living with Canadian husband 607 days = 858 days. This is approx. 2.35 years in the past 5 years, which is more than the 2 years minimum requirement.

He PR card expires beginning of December, and it's been really problematic for her to go to Canada to renew her card due to work.

Questions:

• Can she apply to renew her PR card from the US? Our US visas show that she's the primary and I'm the accompanying spouse.
• Can we drive through the border US-Canada with an expired card BUT all the paperwork showing that she applied to renew her card?

Thanks for the support here

Cheers

 

[primaprime]

She can only apply to renew her card in Canada. At the border she needs some sort of acceptable proof that she's a PR. A PR outside Canada without a valid card is presumed to have lost PR status.

I will also caution you against assuming the credit for accompanying a Canadian spouse will automatically apply. She must be the one accompanying you, and not the other way around. Since it sounds like she moved abroad first and you joined her later, she may not be credited and could be entered into revocation proceedings for RO non-compliance.

 

[kabayan]

Hi all, I hope you're all doing alright

I'm a Canadian Citizen and my wife is a PR, which we believe has met all the obligations.

- December 2015, we both became PR;
- June 2016, wife moved to the US(for work)but I remained in Canada(for work), we were visiting each other on a regular basis;
- March 2018, I moved to the US (we live together ever since);
- January 2019, I became Canadian Citizen;

I did all the math, counted all the time she spent abroad and with myself as a Canadian and thhe results: she was physically in Canada for 251 days + living with Canadian husband 607 days = 858 days. This is approx. 2.35 years in the past 5 years, which is more than the 2 years minimum requirement.

He PR card expires beginning of December, and it's been really problematic for her to go to Canada to renew her card due to work.

Questions:

• Can she apply to renew her PR card from the US? Our US visas show that she's the primary and I'm the accompanying spouse.
• Can we drive through the border US-Canada with an expired card BUT all the paperwork showing that she applied to renew her card?

Thanks for the support here

Cheers

Hi, you wife needs to be in Canada to renew PR. To travel back to Canada, she can apply for a PRTD which is valid for 1 entry only.

 

[primaprime]

Hi, you wife needs to be in Canada to renew PR. To travel back to Canada, she can apply for a PRTD which is valid for 1 entry only.

To apply for a PRTD the person must already have an expired card and be returning by plane, train, bus, or boat. They can drive up in a private car with an expired card and hope not to be reported, but she's been out of Canada for over four years so that's unlikely.

 

[Micbm]

To apply for a PRTD the person must already have an expired card and be returning by plane, train, bus, or boat. They can drive up in a private car with an expired card and hope not to be reported, but she's been out of Canada for over four years so that's unlikely.

Hi primaprime, thanks for all the input. What do you mean be reported?


We were considering to go to Canada, do a quarantine, apply for the PR card before the existing one expires (and return to US to resume work). We're planning to permanently return to Canada first semester of next year.

So my understanding is that the PR card, if approved, would required to be picked up, so we would then travel back again to Canada, this time without a valid PR Card. What concerns to you see here?

 

[primaprime]

Hi primaprime, thanks for all the input. What do you mean be reported?


We were considering to go to Canada, do a quarantine, apply for the PR card before the existing one expires (and return to US to resume work). We're planning to permanently return to Canada first semester of next year.

So my understanding is that the PR card, if approved, would required to be picked up, so we would then travel back again to Canada, this time without a valid PR Card. What concerns to you see here?

Your wife can be reported at the border for non-compliance with her residency obligation (see the link in my signature). She would be issued a removal order and have 30 days to appeal against it with a lawyer, first on the basis that she is entitled to count days spent with you in the US, even if you were the one accompanying her and not the other way around as stipulated by the regulations, and failing that, that she should be allowed to keep PR anyways, despite non-compliance with her RO, on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Choosing to work in the US wouldn't really count as an H&C reason.

Or, if she makes it past the border without being reported (unlikely given the extended absence from Canada), she could remain in Canada until she is back in compliance before applying for a new card. If she applies straight away, RO compliance will be assessed and if they don't credit her for days spent with you, then she will (again) be entered into revocation proceedings.

Or, since you're already a citizen, she can simply renounce her PR status now, and you can then apply to sponsor her for PR again.