RP will expire beginning June

[GEHAN123]

Hello Leon,

I have a couple of questions and hope you can help me out.

Our situation is as follows:

We are a family of 4 (child 10 years, child 14 years, my wife and myself). We landed in Canada May 2008. Our RP will expire beginning June 2013. We have not been able to spend the required minimum number of days in Canada. We live in Europe and are visa exempted. Because of the economic situation in Europe, we want to move to Canada.

We are thinking about doing the following:
1. My wife and the 10 year-old child go to Canada in May and stay there.
2. I stay with the other child (14 years old) in Europe for two years to be able to finance the stay of my wife and the young child in Canada.
3. After my wife spends the minimum of two years in Canada and then she can sponsor the two of us (myself and the 14 year old child) to get a RP in Canada. By that time the older child will also have learned enough English to be able to follow high school in Canada with less difficulty.

I have the following questions

1. When my wife goes to Canada in May, what is wise to do? Should she only show her European passport to the officer at the airport without showing her RP? please keep in mind, her RP will still be valid but will expire within two weeks. We are afraid that showing the RP can trigger the officer to ask questions where she was the last period. Or is it better to show her European passport and RP together? And what kind of questions can be asked?
2. Will the child be able to register at a school in Canada even though his RP is expired?
3. Will the child be able to renew his health insurance card with an expired RP?
4. If my wife managed to enter and stay in Canada. What will the best time for us to join her.
5. Is it better to cancel my RP together with the 14 year-old child now or is it better to do nothing and let our RP expire? and are there any possibilities that the four of us can meat up the next 2 years.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

 

[Leon]

Nobody knows if your wife will get reported on entry or not. If she tries to just show her passport and enter as a tourist without disclosing she is a PR, she risks that immigration will see that she is a PR in their computer and they will get suspicious as to why she is not disclosing it. She may have an easier time if she flies to the US, rents a car and drives to Canada. They do not check as much at the land border.

If they ask her if she meets the residency requirements, she would probably be better off to admit that she doesn't but say that she had good reasons why she couldn't, taking care of her ill mother/father/your mother or father or whoever is the most ill of them and that she will clear that with immigration when she applies to renew her PR card. This will probably cause them, if they were thinking of reporting her in the first place, to let her in without reporting. However, she will not apply to renew her PR card right away. She will just stay for 2 years and gain her status back into good standing. She can register for health insurance while the PR cards are still valid. She shouldn't have a problem enrolling the child in school as long as she has the landing papers.

When you are ready to go or in case you want to visit them, you can see if you get in by just showing the passport and see if they realize that you are a PR and if they report you. If they do report you on some of your visits, you will likely lose your PR but like you said, your wife can sponsor you again once she has spent 2 years. Until then, you could continue to live in Europe and use your visa exempt passport to visit your wife and child in Canada.

Your wife should not leave Canada for 2 years if she gets in and she should keep proof of when she arrived, for example the boarding card from her flight, receipt from rental car, rental agreement when she gets to Canada, proof of having applied for a health card after she arrived, bank records, school records for the kids, pay slips for herself etc. When she applies to renew her PR card after 2 years, she wants to be able to prove that she really stayed for 2 years so immigration can not doubt her story.

You should not give up your PR right now but if you don't lose it by the time your wife wants to sponsor you, you have to give it up before you can be sponsored again.

 

[Calgary2012]

Hi Leon and Vip members,
Please help me with my question.
Last year when my sister got in Canada at Vancouver airport.
She just got her passport scan on a machine and there was no customer office there and no one asked her any question about her PR status.
I just wonder does it happen all the time and people just have their passport scanned to get in.
thank you,
Steve

 

[aasma]

HI LEON U R REALLY A BIG HELP FOR NEW PEOPLE.THANKS IN ADVANCE.

AS U MENTIONED: they dont check as much on land border.
i am planning to do the same going thru us by land. the question i have in my mind is if they ask the residency obligation should i say yes i meet(which i dont meet) n i think i shldnt say that.or should i say no the reason is i was waiting to get the citizenship of another country. i just got the citizenship from uk n i am planning to settle in canada.is it a good reason for not meeting the residency obligation that u were about to get the citizenship of another country. by the way i still have 1year n 6 months left on my pr card.returning after 2 years to canada thanks

 

[Msafiri]

HI LEON U R REALLY A BIG HELP FOR NEW PEOPLE.THANKS IN ADVANCE.

AS U MENTIONED: they dont check as much on land border.
i am planning to do the same going thru us by land. the question i have in my mind is if they ask the residency obligation should i say yes i meet(which i dont meet) n i think i shldnt say that.or should i say no the reason is i was waiting to get the citizenship of another country. i just got the citizenship from uk n i am planning to settle in canada.is it a good reason for not meeting the residency obligation that u were about to get the citizenship of another country. by the way i still have 1year n 6 months left on my pr card.returning after 2 years to canada thanks

Sorry but 'I was away due to applying for country A citizenship' is not a valid reason for a breach of the Residency Obligation. You are required to answer truthfuly all questions by CIC/CBSA to avoid misrepresentation which is a breach of the IRPA and regulations. Its your call.

 

[Dalim]

Hi Leon Immigration GURU,

i am in the same board, just thinking, let i am trying in get IN as tourist with VISA exempt, if CBSA doubts and i disclose my PR and then CBSA will ask me why i was hiding my PR card, then what should be possible answers?

is it like that
- i thought as it has expired, it is no longer valid?
Dalim

 

[Leon]

Hi Leon Immigration GURU,

i am in the same board, just thinking, let i am trying in get IN as tourist with VISA exempt, if CBSA doubts and i disclose my PR and then CBSA will ask me why i was hiding my PR card, then what should be possible answers?

is it like that
- i thought as it has expired, it is no longer valid?
Dalim

You could say that but if you say that, they could ask you if you want to renounce your PR and hand over your PR card to them and then you will say...?

 

[Dalim]

Hi Leon GURU,
aha!

can anyone share his experience who faces this situation! i could not find the logical sequence how i should dealt with it if arises!

Dalim

 

[Leon]

It's like a lottery. You can get lucky and not get asked any questions and you can get a difficult immigration officer that questions whatever you say. The immigration officers usually do not request people to renounce their PR. I actually can't remember one like that, but there are cases where they report people for not meeting the requirements and there are cases where they don't report people but confiscate their PR cards. If you want to stick with the story that you just came to visit and didn't show your PR card because you thought it was expired = invalid, you could say if they ask that you didn't even bring it with you. They will mostly likely let you enter but maybe they will say that you should officially renounce your PR. I guess they could report you too.

You could also enter stating that you are a PR, show your expired card and say you forgot to renew it before you left and that of course you meet the residency requirements. You could also say that you don't meet the requirements but you don't for a good reason because you were taking care of your sick mother back in old country and you will prove it when you apply to renew your card. In both cases, they will most likely let you in without reporting you. In the latter case, they will probably appreciate your "honesty" and you will get extra points for that. In the former, if they believe you are lying, they could still report you.

The risk of being reported and losing your PR is the risk you take when you don't meet the residency obligation. If you are lucky, you can get back in without anybody noticing, stay your 2 years and renew your PR card. If you are unlucky, you lose your PR.

 

[Dalim]

Thanks Leon for your suggestions. Really it is like a lottery.
Sorry to trouble you again, I am thinking as I will go with my wife and two kids (15 yrs and 7 yrs), of course we did not meet residency requirement!

Let consider the worst case, they let us in and report and ask for appeal or whatever the next step!.

Do have you any idea for the following scenerio:
1) I believe up to appeal dismissal, we should enjoy PR Status as we are now in their list.
2) Do you know how long it look to complete the process
3) If we lose appeal, we will be asked to remove. Does it mean that for next time we including kids will face difficulty to enter in Canada
4) During the appeal period, will we be able to leave the country and follow up while staying outside, because we don't want uncertainty of kids education.

Thanks
Dalim

 

[Leon]

Thanks Leon for your suggestions. Really it is like a lottery.
Sorry to trouble you again, I am thinking as I will go with my wife and two kids (15 yrs and 7 yrs), of course we did not meet residency requirement!

Let consider the worst case, they let us in and report and ask for appeal or whatever the next step!.

Do have you any idea for the following scenerio:
1) I believe up to appeal dismissal, we should enjoy PR Status as we are now in their list.
2) Do you know how long it look to complete the process
3) If we lose appeal, we will be asked to remove. Does it mean that for next time we including kids will face difficulty to enter in Canada
4) During the appeal period, will we be able to leave the country and follow up while staying outside, because we don't want uncertainty of kids education.

Thanks
Dalim

You have 30 days to make your appeal. I do not know how long they take to process it.

If you lose the appeal, you are asked to leave. If you leave during your appeal, I believe it would look very bad for your appeal because you are trying to say that you did not meet the residency requirements but you are ready to move to Canada at this point but if you have already left as your appeal is in process, I believe immigration would see it as a statement that you are not ready to stay in Canada yet and you would be more likely to lose.