Requirement for maintenance of residency

[coolbreeze]

*I landed in Canada in nov 2011 as a skilled worker immigrant and left Canada shortly after.
* Got my PR card in May 2012 and My PR card expires in April 2017.
* So far I have spent only 6 months in Canada, all of that in 2014.
*I am currently in India.
*I plan to enter Canada on January 1st 2016 and live there permanently.

From the above situation, I won't be able to complete 730 days in Nov. 2016 ( which will be 5 years from the day I landed).
My questions;
1. Will I still be able to continue to live in Canada till June 2017 when I will complete 730 days in 5 years .
2. If yes , will I able to apply for a renewal of my PR card after June 2017?

thanks.

 

[Msafiri]

1. Sure but if you get reported at entry for being in breach of the RO you have to appeal and provide with documentary evidence acceptable H&C reasons/or exemption grounds else you lose PR status.

2. Sure unless you were reported in which case any time spent in Canada doesn't count towards the RO unless you appeal and win.

3. For 2 - there is a noticeable trend of those PRs applying at the 730 days mark who front loaded their absences as you have getting their PR Card renewal applications being taken through Secondary Review (van be up to 1 year). CIC see a pattern of PRs staying 730 days at the end of the 5 year cycle, getting PR Cards and exiting Canada immediately a PR Card is issued to play roulette with another 5 year cycle. This since the PR Card guarantees their travel back to Canada but not entry without report.

 

[coolbreeze]

thanks Msafiri,
Can you please elaborateon what you mean by being reported at entry. Does that mean I cannot enter Canada now even if my
PR card is valid till April 2017?

 

[Msafiri]

thanks Msafiri,
Can you please elaborateon what you mean by being reported at entry. Does that mean I cannot enter Canada now even if my
PR card is valid till April 2017?

1. A PR must meet the RO every time they are examined under the IRPA. Being 'examined' is/ should be carried out at = entry at the border, sponsorship, PR Card renewal, PRTD application. To meet the RO you need 730 days of physical presence in Canada over a 5 year rolling period referenced to your landing date (unless absent on exempted grounds eg accompanying a Canadian Citizen spouse abroad which doesn't apply to most PRs). If a PR for more than 5 years then RO window is from date of examination to 5 years prior. If PR less than 5 years then RO window is 5 years from landing date to 5th year anniversary of landing date. Your 5 year RO window is Nov 2011 to Nov 2016. You have 183 days to hand (6 months). Between today August 21, 2015 and Nov 2016 you need another 547 days to get to the 730 days you need for the RO. I'll let you do the math and figure out if you can get those days by Nov 2016.

2. When you show up in Canada on Jan 2016 the border agent will do the same math as you have and figure out you are in breach of the RO or maybe he/she won't...they may be bored, tired, can't be bothered, decide to give you a break or alternatively they can decide to do their job and report you. What you are doing is playing RO roulette (taking a risk that you won't be reported). Read the threads on this forum and see why this is a problem because it depends on who you find at the border. You may also as we see on the forum run into bad luck and lose your PR Card - if you apply for a PRTD the visa post has all the time to examine your situation, deny the PRTD and report you for breach of the RO.

3. If you get reported you can appeal and go before the court to explain why you haven't maintained the RO. If you were in accident and were badly injured or you were taking care of a terminally ill close relative then that's a reasonable excuse. If you were away for a lifestyle reason including a better job, schooling etc then its not acceptable because you applied and were granted PR on the basis that you are to work, live, study etc in Canada not some other place or to use Canadian PR as a glorified visitor visa.

 

[coolbreeze]

Thanks. Now I am thinking I will take the risk and enter next month. Even then I will fall short by 4 months.
I am single and I was recuperating from an illness so I spent an extended period with relatives in India.


Can you please comment on all the possible events I can face at entry:

1. If they will cancel my PR card at entry will they deport me right away?
2.If they will only report me, will they let me enter?
3. If they will let me enter without reporting, will I face the same issues again if I have to travel to say US
for a few days?

What do you think, in reality are my chances of being admitted? I have read posts from people being admitted
4-5 months before the end of their 5 year period.

 

[Msafiri]

Thanks. Now I am thinking I will take the risk and enter next month. Even then I will fall short by 4 months.
I am single and I was recuperating from an illness so I spent an extended period with relatives in India.


Can you please comment on all the possible events I can face at entry:

1. If they will cancel my PR card at entry will they deport me right away?
2.If they will only report me, will they let me enter?
3. If they will let me enter without reporting, will I face the same issues again if I have to travel to say US
for a few days?

What do you think, in reality are my chances of being admitted? I have read posts from people being admitted
4-5 months before the end of their 5 year period.

1. No you are guaranteed entry. But you need to appeal within 30 days. You keep your PR Card they don't take it.

2. Yes

3. Yes each time you show up at the border without meeting the RO you are taking a risk.

4. No one knows the statistics on getting admitted but historically CBSA used to give you a stern warning and tell you to watch your RO when you showed up at the border with an RO shortfall. If you go with Canada admitting >200K PRs every year versus those who get reported then its a low percentage but a low percentage of a very high number can by default be also high.

5. Some PRs if honest with their absence got warned if they tried to play games got reported. Some lie (very bad idea and misrepresentation) and get away with it or the agent doesn't sweat it or can't prove the lie. Enforcement appears to be more strict nowadays CIC/CBSA are adopting a more aggressive approach in line with a tough on immigration government policy) but it all depends on your luck. There is also a trend for those who are still in their first RO window to have an easier time since doing a forward looking calculation can be more problematic than a historic looking one. Also the border agents have say 90 secs to 2 minutes to get you past the Primary Line so they may decide its too much hassle to do the math. There is sentiment too that the closer to expiry your PR Card is is at entry the closer the scrutiny but again its not always the case. There are PRs who slip by using the airport automated gates but there is an agent at the end of the line so this is not a certainty. Again all depends who you find at the border which you have no control over...you have control over your RO.

6. Your illness if documented will smooth any queries but you need to decide if you want to live in Canada in the long term. Only citizens don't have the RO burden. At some point in time you may end up stuck in Canada when your PR Card has expired and you can't renew it so something to consider too.

 

[coolbreeze]

Thank you very much for your answers.

If I will enter next month , I will complete two years in Feb 2017 . which is before the expiry of my card in April 2017.
Can I still face problems in renewing my PR card? Will they take my application for secondary review and take one year processing?

 

[david1697]

Thank you very much for your answers.

If I will enter next month , I will complete two years in Feb 2017 . which is before the expiry of my card in April 2017.
Can I still face problems in renewing my PR card? Will they take my application for secondary review and take one year processing?

coolbreeze, if you have not lived in Canada 730 days out of the past 5 years you were a PR, then you have failed RO.

The way the Law written is that you are still remaining a Canadian PR unless your breach of RO is noted by CIC and reported.

As Canadian PR (and you remain so until stripped of PR status) you are entitled to be admitted to Canada.

But you can't travel to Canada without valid documents, and Canadian PR Card (while not expired) allows you to do just that: travel to Canada and present yourself for inspection at the POE.

The moment you encounter the CIC officer (when entering Canada) is crucial: by law the inspecting Officer has a RIGHT to question you about your residency, to determine if you fulfilled the RO or not. Some officers choose to be more lenient than others, but some officers may grill you extensively and they have a right to do so, as long as questions they ask are relevant to your admissibility.

If you encounter an officer who is customarily strict, or if you are randomly selected for greater scrutiny, your breach of RO will come up and reported. You will still be allowed to enter Canada, remember, you are entitled admission as Canadian PR. However, you will eventually be stripped of your PR status if you can't successfully appeal and explain to the satisfaction of CIC what H&C grounds you had to remain outside of Canada.

If by any chance you encounter an officer you doesn't scrutinize your RO , or one who just verbally warns you and lets you in, then consider yourself lucky.

If you enter Canada and stay there for the next 730 days, you could then again be eligible to apply for renewal of your PR card.
At thAt point I would't worry about anything, just send your application with evidence of 730 days present in Canada and you should be good.

 

[MIRACLES]

Hi The Canada Immigration Forum Team,

I am trying to login to Canada Immigration Forum and I am having the below message,

I logged into Canada Immigration Forum and tried to post a new topic and it came with the below error message;

Canada Immigration Forum
> Settlement Topics > Permanent Residency Obligations > Start new topic

Start new topic
The following error or errors occurred while posting this message:
Sorry, you are not allowed to post links.

I have previously posted new topic in the forum and it went through. I don't know why this time around it does not permit me.

Please advise,

Miracles

 

[MiriamT]

Hi The Canada Immigration Forum Team,

I am trying to login to Canada Immigration Forum and I am having the below message,

I logged into Canada Immigration Forum and tried to post a new topic and it came with the below error message;

Canada Immigration Forum
> Settlement Topics > Permanent Residency Obligations > Start new topic

Start new topic
The following error or errors occurred while posting this message:
Sorry, you are not allowed to post links.

I have previously posted new topic in the forum and it went through. I don't know why this time around it does not permit me.

Please advise,

Miracles

You posted the reason why the system is not permiting you post it: "Sorry, you are not allowed to post links."

 

[MIRACLES]

Thanks. Do you know why the system does not allow me to post whereas it did previously?
Miracles

 

[zardoz]

Thanks. Do you know why the system does not allow me to post whereas it did previously?
Miracles

New anti-spam protection.

 

[MiriamT]

Thanks. Do you know why the system does not allow me to post whereas it did previously?
Miracles

I checked your previous posts and you never posted a link - you're still able to post just like before. And from what I remember, the system doesn't allow a member to post links until they reach a certain number of posts (after 10 posts, I think), which is why you're not being allowed to post links for now.

 

[zardoz]

I checked your previous posts and you never posted a link - you're still able to post just like before. And from what I remember, the system doesn't allow a member to post links until they reach a certain number of posts (after 10 posts, I think), which is why you're not being allowed to post links for now.

I suspect that this relates to the ability to create a NEW topic rather than links etc.

 

[MiriamT]

I suspect that this relates to the ability to create a NEW topic rather than links etc.

No. Many new users have their first interaction in the forum by creating their own (new) topics, but the restriction does apply in posting links (to avoid spam), giving ratings...

Addendum: and those aren't new features. They were already in place when I first used this forum, back in 2008.