Hello,
Is it true that truck drivers with PRs do NOT get their physical presence recognized by CIC?
Question 9 of this page specifies that truckers must disclose the days they were outside of Canada.
Thanks,
The response offered by
@PMM is correct and is probably an answer to the intended question.
That said, the correct response to the literal question asked is simply "no."
That is, the question asked is: "
Is it true that truck drivers with PRs do NOT get their physical presence recognized by CIC?"
And NO, this is NOT true. Any PR applying for citizenship will have their "PHYSICAL PRESENCE" in Canada recognized. This includes, in addition to all days the PR spent the entire day in Canada, that is days the PR was physically present in Canada, all those days the PR was in Canada and exited Canada that day, and all those days the PR returned to Canada BEFORE midnight.
That is, just like all other PRs, a day in which the PR spent any part of the day physically present in Canada, counts as a day IN Canada. (There are exceptions totally unrelated to this query; for example, days incarcerated or on probation do not count even though they were physically days present in Canada.)
I suspect the intended question is about days the PR is a "RESIDENT" of Canada but spends the day outside Canada driving truck in the U.S. pursuant to the PR's employment. No, days outside Canada (driving truck or otherwise, again with some unrelated exceptions) are NOT recognized as days physically present in Canada.
Thus, long haul truck drivers who spend a considerable amount of time driving in the U.S. will typically need to wait a lot longer to meet the minimum physical presence requirement. And depending on just how many days the PR is abroad driving truck and the number of days abroad otherwise, some truck drivers may not be able to meet the physical presence requirement UNLESS and until they deliberately take off some additional time to stay in Canada.
For example, a five-day schedule, during which the first and last days are the days the PR exits Canada and the date the PR returns to Canada, only results in three days absence per week. Even with such a schedule, given holidays and vacations and other days remaining in Canada, MOST truckers should still be able to meet the 3/5 rule even though it may take all of five years to do it. BUT if the PR has this schedule for 49 or more weeks of the year, the PR will never reach the 1095 days in five year requirement UNLESS the PR is able to arrange to remain in Canada some additional days. Either by taking time off from driving truck (and staying in Canada) or arranging to reduce the number or length of trips into the U.S.
