Travel Doc needed to get back to Canada - PR expired

[glani]

Hi im hoping Leon or someone with all the answers can help me here ?

We landed in Oct 2006 and left Dec 2009 as my little boy had brain surgery to remove a tumor and needed a lot of therapy, we had no family support to help with appointments so returned to the UK for the therapy.
PR cards expired Jan 2012 and we no longer meet the 730 residency - were currently at 483 days in the last 5 yrs.

Ive prepared all the docs to apply for the travel doc and provided the following to evidence our 3 yrs of residence
Utillity Bills
T4's
Employment records
Yearly Childcare receipts
Medical Records from the surgery in Canada and the subsequent therapy he received here in the UK
Proof of funds to show we are adequately able to return to canada and settle.
Letter to explain why we had to leave and that husband works for the same company here in the UK as he did in Canada - however this is not a Canadian company as they are both owned by Toyota (therefore both actually owned by Japanese).

Ive also asked in the letter if they would be prepared to issue a travel doc for us to return then would they be prepared to give us a 12mth expiry on it so my son can have his final MRI scan here and receive the all clear before returning to Canada.

Ive read posts about them only giving 90 days max on the travel docs .......... what do you think or chances are of a 12mth one ? that's if they dont just refuse us for not meeting residency anyway ! :'(

 

[steaky]

Why don't you just use your UK passports (by air or private car from US) to return to Canada and then explain the issue to the border officers?

Applying a travel document is sometimes risky. If your application should refused, you need to appeal or you might lose your PR status.

 

[glani]

Hi Steaky thanks very much for your reply, we have thought about that but im just scared that we sell up here and when we turn up at the Border with kids in tow and try the explanation thing ..... that they only let us in for the 30 days and then we've got to come back here to no jobs, house etc.

If we got a friend to drive down to Buffalo and pick us up and drive us back to Canada, when we get to the border if we just show our UK passports and say were visiting with her in Canada for a few days and just not leave Canada - Or even just fly in from the UK on holiday and again not leave Canada...... what would happen then ?

So you know if they decline our travel doc app will they keep the expired cards ? and then put us down on the system that we are no longer PR ?


Oh god this is a nightmare, thanks for your advise though.

 

[Leon]

If you apply for a travel document, they will decide if you get to keep your PR status or not. I doubt they will give you an extension for your travel document. I have heard they are usually valid for 6 months. If you get it, you should use it if you want to keep your PR. If you wait a year, you will not have 483 in Canada in the past 5 years, you will have a lot less so keep that in mind.

If you fly to Canada with your UK passport or fly to the US and enter at the land border, you have a pretty good chance that they will just let you enter without reporting you for not meeting the requirements. If they ask, you can explain that you don't meet the requirements but it's because of your sons illness and you are ready to explain that to immigration when you apply to renew your PR card. If they do report you, they will let you enter but you must appeal for your PR. If they don't report you, you should stay for 2 years straight before you apply to renew your PR cards because at that point, you meet the residency requirements again.

 

[glani]

Thanks for that Leon, you know if they report us but let us in and we have to appeal for our PR - if they decline that then I assume we then have to leave the country ? or can we stay for 2 yrs straight and then re apply ? (I know this question is a long shot but I just need to be sure) cant risk uprooting us from Jobs, kids from school and selling house on a hope they will let us in and let us stay. It was hard enough having to leave the first time but his health had to come first obviously.

If we went on holiday and don't present the expired PR cards and say were just staying 2 weeks to visit family, would they hunt us down for overstaying our holiday or would they leave us alone because technically we still have PR and at that point we would be resident again naughty I know, but desperate times bring desperate measures don't they !

thanks again for all your help.

 

[Leon]

Thanks for that Leon, you know if they report us but let us in and we have to appeal for our PR - if they decline that then I assume we then have to leave the country ? or can we stay for 2 yrs straight and then re apply ? (I know this question is a long shot but I just need to be sure) cant risk uprooting us from Jobs, kids from school and selling house on a hope they will let us in and let us stay. It was hard enough having to leave the first time but his health had to come first obviously.

If we went on holiday and don't present the expired PR cards and say were just staying 2 weeks to visit family, would they hunt us down for overstaying our holiday or would they leave us alone because technically we still have PR and at that point we would be resident again naughty I know, but desperate times bring desperate measures don't they !

If you get reported and lose the appeal, you lose your PR and you will be asked to leave.

If you enter and say that you are just visiting and they figure out that you are a PR and don't meet the residency requirements, they may ask you to renounce your PR or report you but if you don't renounce your PR and don't get reported, you can stay for 2 years and get your PR back in good standing.

It is actually not that common to get reported. The immigration officers mostly seem to want to leave that to immigration as they think you are going to try to renew your PR card right away so they will often give somebody a lecture, they may even tell them that they have lost their PR but they often still don't report them.