Batman1 said:
Hello Leon and All,
I need your help on my expired PR card, and what will be the fastest route and way to renew my PR card
Following are the details and timeline:
-6/2005 I Became Canadian Permanent Resident
-11/2012 My Permanent Resident card expired
My visits to Canada
-10/2013 I visited Canada using my America Passport (7 days)
-8/2015 I visited Canada to attend my wife's Citizenship ceremony using my American Passport (3 days)
Married a Canadian Permanent resident
-5/2014 - When I got married my wife was a PR card holder
-8/2015 - My wife became a citizen
Note: Since then my wife have been living with me in the US, and I can visit Canada anytime using my American passport.
Please advise what are my options:
Option 1: What can be done to renew my PR card? as this will be the quickest way and approximately how long will it take me to get a new PR card ?
-should I go to Canada and renew my card?
-Can I say I have been married to a Canadian Permanent Resident or Canadian Citizen?
-I work in the US and my wife lives with me in the US will these days count towards PR?
-Should I travel to Canada using American passport, and file my taxes and start working using my landing document and SIN number ?
-Should I got to Canada using my American passport and come back to US via road ?
Option 2: Applying for PR card based on spouse family sponsorship?
-how long will it take if I applied in ON ?
-How soon can I get work permit?
Leon and All appreciate your help and feedback in advance...
Hi,
did you live in Canada for at least 730 days in the past 5 years? If not, you do not qualify to renew your PR card. It seems however that you have not lost your PR status officially. You would know if you had.
Your options:
1) You could go to Canada and start working using your SIN and landing papers. However, you will run into some problems not having a valid PR card, such as when getting a health card, getting a drivers license, even applying for jobs in some cases. After 2 years in Canada, you can apply to renew your PR card based on meeting the RO again.
2) You could stay outside Canada with your wife for 2 years. Days spent with a Canadian citizen outside Canada count towards PR. 2 years with your wife and you will qualify to renew your PR card.
3) You could renounce your PR and have your wife sponsor you. If you do this from inside Canada using the inland application, you would be eligible for an open work permit which would take 3-4 months to get. As an inland applicant, you should be residing in Canada so not too much back and forth.
Even with an American passport, going back and forth can get you in trouble if you are a PR who doesn't meet the RO. An immigration officer could at any point decide to report you for not meeting the RO and you could lose your PR, however, your wife could always sponsor you again. Sponsorship probably takes a couple of years now if you apply inland but you would have a work permit. If you apply outland, it will most likely be under a year.