What if I am not able to meet the 730 days residency req for PR

[crazy123]

Folks,

I plan to move to Canada (from US) by this year end. I have gathered a lot of information about it, but still have following questions. I would really appreciate if you could answer these questions:
Since I don't want to disturb my kids' education, I may decide to enter CA later next year and my wife plans to move right now. So my wife will be able to meet the residency requirement but I may not. In this regard my questions were as follows:
1. Is it possible to enter CA late, not meet the residency req and then apply for forgiveness? Does it work? what is the procedure?
2. If I am not able to secure PR on my own, can my wife then sponsor my and my kids PR?
3. In general, what you all think? Which is better strategy - not to take chance and all move to Canada or take a chance and only one of us move to Canada. I am not going to get GC most probably for next 4 to 5 years and I work here on H1B on a contract job with client through a vendor.

Please give me your feedback. Really appreciate. Thanks.

 

[crazy123]

Can somebody reply please. Thanks.

 

[Bs65]

Maybe clarify when/if you actually landed given you said in your first post 7/2014 that was when you were granted PR but when di you and your family actually do first landing.

Feedback below should be taken as a personal view and not an expert view.

As you may have read the max you can stay out of the country is 3 years in 5 year period so some brief answers to get the conversation started as others will I am sure comment as well :

1)You can read on this forum in the perm residency section which may be a better place to post plenty of people asking the same question.

However once you have failed the RO the chances are next time you enter the country that you could be reported and the process initiated to revoke your PR. This gets more complicated as time goes on should your PR card eventually expire as well as that can only be renewed from inside of Canada.

There is no such thing as a 'forgiveness' program you either meet RO or you dont. Of course if they decide to initiate revoking you can appeal which can take some time but no guarantee of success and compassionate grounds are very difficult to prove even with family in the country given the rules are clear and simply using a job or even kids education as an excuse for not meeting RO unlikely to succeed in my view anyway given they are personal choices..

You could get lucky and not get reported in which case you would need to stay in the country for 2 years straight without leaving at all to reset your RO else each time you tried to come back you would run the same risk again.

2)sure if you and your kids lose their PR status then your wife could eventually sponsor you again but never any guarantee might be successful.

3)Depends how committed you were in the first place to emigrate to Canada given the challenge of going through the PR process.

There is no right or wrong answer, does your wife move without you and your kids whilst you hang around in the US for a GC that may or may not happen. In fact getting a GC almost says you might give people the impression you are not so committed to Canada anyway plus a 4-5 year timeline adds further complications to keeping PR..

Do you give up your US job, all move to Canada and start afresh, ultimately only you can decide, but is a decision everyone makes when moving to Canada accepting there can be huge risks..

Maybe just have to ask yourself why you originally applied for Canadian PR if that was not your first choice it seems over a GC if thats what read into your post putting aside the kids education given kids of any age are adaptable to new surroundings. .

 

[crazy123]

Thank you so much for your comments and advice, I really appreciate it. I landed in Canada in December 2014. I have one more question. My PR card expiry date is 1st February 2020 and I landed in Canada on December 20, 2014. Now for the residency calculation purpose, if I calculate it based on my landing date, the PR expiry date is December 19, 2019. But my PR card expires on February 1, 2020. So for the purpose of calculation which date I should consider the landin date or the date of expiry given on my PR. Let me know if you can. Thank you.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you so much for your comments and advice, I really appreciate it. I landed in Canada in December 2014. I have one more question. My PR card expiry date is 1st February 2020 and I landed in Canada on December 20, 2014. Now for the residency calculation purpose, if I calculate it based on my landing date, the PR expiry date is December 19, 2019. But my PR card expires on February 1, 2020. So for the purpose of calculation which date I should consider the landin date or the date of expiry given on my PR. Let me know if you can. Thank you.

It's based on date of landing. So if you landed Dec 2014 and moved out of Canada immediately, you'd be in violation of the RO and subject to having your PR status revoked, in Dec 2017. It doesn't matter if your PR card is still valid.

"Forgiveness" is known as Humanitarian and Compassionate reasons. This is usually reserved for unavoidable circumstances that caused you to not meet the RO i.e. being removed from Canada by parents as a minor, or having a serious medical condition of family members that required your care in home country. Reasons like staying outside Canada for employment or schooling, are typically NOT seen as valid H&C reasons as they are seen as your own personal choices.

As long as 1 spouse moves to Canada to meet the RO and continues to do so, then they can sponsor other spouse and kids if they lose PR status later on. Of course going through process of losing PR status and re-applying from scratch, can be a big hassle.

 

[crazy123]

It's based on date of landing. So if you landed Dec 2014 and moved out of Canada immediately, you'd be in violation of the RO and subject to having your PR status revoked, in Dec 2017. It doesn't matter if your PR card is still valid.

"Forgiveness" is known as Humanitarian and Compassionate reasons. This is usually reserved for unavoidable circumstances that caused you to not meet the RO i.e. being removed from Canada by parents as a minor, or having a serious medical condition of family members that required your care in home country. Reasons like staying outside Canada for employment or schooling, are typically NOT seen as valid H&C reasons as they are seen as your own personal choices.

As long as 1 spouse moves to Canada to meet the RO and continues to do so, then they can sponsor other spouse and kids if they lose PR status later on. Of course going through process of losing PR status and re-applying from scratch, can be a big hassle.

Hi Rob

I am a little confused and scared here. I landed for the first time in Canada in Dec 2014 and then moved out (soft landing). Based on the landing date I have to meet the RO of 730 days by Dec 2019. So that means I can still enter Canada before Nov/Dec 2017, continue to stay there till Dec 2019 and still maintain my PR, correct? Please let me know if there is something wrong in my calculation.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hi Rob

I am a little confused and scared here. I landed for the first time in Canada in Dec 2014 and then moved out (soft landing). Based on the landing date I have to meet the RO of 730 days by Dec 2019. So that means I can still enter Canada before Nov/Dec 2017, continue to stay there till Dec 2019 and still maintain my PR, correct? Please let me know if there is something wrong in my calculation.

Right, as I said you wont' be in violation of the RO until Dec 2017. So as long as you enter before then and stay 2 years, you'll be in compliance with the RO and can renew your PR card after that time.

I wouldn't cut it too close though. You never know what will happen over those 2 years in Canada. If an emergency back home and you need to leave again for a while, if you are too close to the min RO days you may not have enough days to stay in compliance with the RO. So I would aim to return back several months earlier than the Dec 2017 minimum.

 

[crazy123]

Right, as I said you wont' be in violation of the RO until Dec 2017. So as long as you enter before then and stay 2 years, you'll be in compliance with the RO and can renew your PR card after that time.

I wouldn't cut it too close though. You never know what will happen over those 2 years in Canada. If an emergency back home and you need to leave again for a while, if you are too close to the min RO days you may not have enough days to stay in compliance with the RO. So I would aim to return back several months earlier than the Dec 2017 minimum.

Hi Rob
Sorry for misreading your earlier comments. I get it now. Yes, I need to come at least 2 to 3 months in advance of the hard cutoff date in order for me to be safe from meeting RO terms. Thanks for the clarification. Really appreciate it. Regards.