I am 20 years old and got my PR through my father in Jan 2014. We stayed for 15 days and returned back as I already started my engineering. My family moved to Canada in May 2016 so they are able to meet the RO requirements. I am going in July 2017 to permanently settle there. I even got a seat in Canadian university. Will there be a problem at the immigration in airport?
My PR card is valid till Jan 2019 and my program is from Sep 2017-Sep 2018 . I applied as a domestic student and provided all my PR details to them during the time of admission. Will there be a problem at the university?
Since you are in breach of the PR Residency Obligation, having been outside Canada for more than three years now since landing, there is of course a
risk you will be examined at the PoE regarding your time in Canada, your compliance or lack of compliance with the PR RO, and the reasons why you have been outside Canada so long.
Be prepared for such questions. Be prepared to answer them truthfully. Be prepared to simply honestly explain your situation, your family now being settled in Canada, your reasons (education) for your personal delay in coming to Canada, your plans in Canada, your enrollment in university in Canada. And perhaps have, in your hands (not in checked baggage), something to show where in Canada your family lives and to show your seat or enrollment in university in Canada.
It is difficult to guess whether or not you will be challenged about the PR RO, but you are obviously at
risk, and technically in breach of the PR RO, so you should be prepared for a referral to Secondary and there being questioned about PR RO compliance.
No need to panic.
There is a good chance you will not be reported for the breach. If you are reported, you will have an opportunity to explain your situation to another CBSA immigration officer, and there is a good chance that officer might find the report valid in law but also find that H&C reasons warrant allowing you to retain PR status. Even if you fail to persuade that officer you should be allowed to keep your PR status, you will still be entitled to enter Canada. Worst case scenario is that you are issued a Departure Order. Again, no need to panic about this. If that happens, the Departure Order is
NOT immediately enforceable, and you will be allowed into Canada. If that happens, yes you will need to appeal the Departure Order, and you should indeed do that.
No guarantee, and perhaps it would be a good idea to obtain the assistance of a lawyer, that is if you are issued a Departure Order and need to appeal that, but if you then stay in Canada, and your family is also settled in Canada, the odds should be good that ultimately you are allowed to keep PR status. Noting, however, that H&C cases can be very tricky and are usually difficult . . . but, from what you describe, it seems like you probably have a H&C case which will work at the PoE, and if not, then it should work a year or two later in the appeal, after staying in Canada in the meantime. Subject, of course, to whether or not there are other circumstances which could influence things otherwise.
While border officers should not push a PR to surrender PR status at the border, some reports suggest this sometimes happens when it is clear the PR is in breach of the PR RO. The suggestion might include a recommendation that you could then be eligible for a student visa or vistor visa. From what you have reported, most likely your best approach will be to press that you are returning to Canada as soon as you could, needing to finish your degree, as politely as possible, and assert that you think you deserve to keep PR status.
My guess, and it is just a
guess, is that you have good odds of being waived into Canada, or at least allowed to enter without being reported after an interview in Secondary. But again, you are in breach of the PR RO, so there is a risk it could be more difficult than that, but the worst case scenario is you keep your PR card, you get to come into Canada, and even though given a Departure Order all you will need to do then is be sure to make an appeal on time, and go from there.
In the meantime, it would be appreciated if you could return and report here about how things do go at the PoE.
