PR Card Renewal

[fus]

Hello,

I hope you can help with my question. My PR card has expired long time ago, in last many years I have lived in and outside Canada.

I moved back to Canada in June 2016 permanently and have been working here since then. I have never left the country in last 2 years and 4 months and have lived her continuously.

I may need to travel out in next few months and would require valid PR card to enter back.

First question,

I wanted to know if I meet the residency obligation and can now apply for renewal of my PR card?

Second question,

Next year June 2019, I will also be eligible for citizenship, can I apply for citizenship on expired PR card?

Thank you,

fus

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.

We can appreciate that you would be interested in this type of information.

Regarding your first question,

First question,

I wanted to know if I meet the residency obligation and can now apply for renewal of my PR card?

You can find details about this in the Applying for a Permanent Resident Card (PR Card) - First application, replacement, renewal or to change sex designation (IMM 5445) Guide - Appendix A: Residency obligation.

Here is an excerpt,

Minimum residency obligations

You must meet the residency obligation to get a PR Card.

If you have been a permanent resident for five (5) years or more

you must have been physically present in Canada for a minimum of 730 days within the past five (5) years.

If you have been a permanent resident for less than five (5) years

you must show that you will be able to meet the minimum of 730 days of physical presence in Canada within five (5) years of the date you became a permanent resident.

Regarding your second question,

Second question,

Next year June 2019, I will also be eligible for citizenship, can I apply for citizenship on expired PR card?

The same Applying for a Permanent Resident Card (PR Card) - First application, replacement, renewal or to change sex designation (IMM 5445) Guide states,

You may be eligible for Canadian citizenship

You may be eligible for Canadian citizenship if:

-you are a permanent resident of Canada; and
-regardless of your age, you have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days during the five years right before the date you sign your application and meet all other conditions.

You may be able to use some of your time spent in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person towards your physical presence calculation. Each day spent physically in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident within the last five years will count as one half day, with a maximum of 365 days, towards your physical presence.

Sometimes people may think that if they do not have a PR card, they have not fulfilled their residency requirements.

This is not the case.

Whether or not you have a PR card or the expiry date on a PR Card has no correlation to whether or not you have maintained their residency requirements as a permanent resident. The onus is on you to maintain your residency requirements.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

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Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org