Permanent Residency status

[Ksanghvi]

My parents immigrated to Canada in 2018. Stayed for 9 months then returned back to wind up. They ended up staying longer and then COVID happened and my mother became immobile and bedridden. Now they cannot travel back to Canada to maintain residency status. My father doesn’t want to loose residency as after my mother there is no one to take care of him. But at present he cannot leave my mother in bedridden condition and travel to Canada to maintain status. Is there a way to communicate our case with immigration Canada so that they can offer us extension residency status.

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello There,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.

Based on information on the IRCC website, your parents will likely need to apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document to return to Canada.

According to the IRCC Help Centre article What happens if my permanent resident card expires while I am outside Canada?:
If you’re outside Canada and don’t have a valid PR card, you need a permanent resident travel document (PRTD) to return to Canada. You can only apply for a PRTD from outside Canada. If you try to return to Canada without a PR card or PRTD, you may not be able to take your flight, train, bus or boat to Canada.

You may find useful information in the article on Settlement.Org, What are the residency requirements for permanent residents (PRs)? Here is an excerpt:

To meet these residency obligations, you must be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days (2 years) in every 5-year period. The 5-year period is assessed on a rolling basis. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will look back at your time in Canada over the previous 5 years.

This means that you can spend a total of up to 3 years outside of Canada during a 5-year period.

IRCC may take humanitarian and compassionate reasons into consideration for your parents staying outside of Canada for the time that she has. This is up to IRCC and it would be best for your mother to contact the local visa office or IRCC via web form to get more details about her specific application and what kind of supporting documents she may require.

You may also wish to consult a reputable and registered immigration consultant or an immigration lawyer for advice and assistance with this situation. Steps to Justice also has a compiled list of free to low-cost programs and services in immigration law which may be helpful.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to post them here.

Sincerely,

Your Settlement.Org Team