Renewing my PR card with few days in Canada

[supertramp]

Hello,

I received my PR card in August 2007 and it expires next month in September. I want to renew my PR card but I only stayed in Canada for 70-75 days because:

1. I was a college Sophmore in the US when I got my PR card, I was sponsored by my home country and when I applied to Canadian universities for Transfer (2007-2008 academic year) I was rejected.

2. I graduated from the US in May 2009 and got rejected from the Canadian universities I applied to for my Masters degree.

3. I got accepted to the UK for my Masters degree and graduated in January 2011.

4. I returned home (not Canada) as I was unemployed and couldn’t afford to live in Canada while actively applying to jobs primarily in Canada.

I want to maintain my status as a Canadian PR and work/live there. but as I outlined above things haven’t gone in the right direction for me to stay in Canada; I have all the documentation to prove the claims I made.

What are chances of successfully renewing my PR? What are my options? I’m really lost…

Thanks!

[Navsi]

Hi,

My family got their PR cards in 2011 and we have been able to spend only 25 days in Canada since then. We were not able to return to Canada due to certain family and health issues.
Now that all that is settled we want to move back to Canada but are not sure if we will be allowed to enter the country and stay there. Our PR cards expire in September 2016.

Please advice.

Thanks.

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your situation with us.

As you may know, in order to maintain your permanent residency, you must meet certain residency obligations to maintain your status as a permanent resident.

You mentioned you landed as a permanent resident in 2011 and stayed until 25 days.

To meet these residency obligations, you must be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days (2 years) in every 5-year period.

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

So, although it is possible to stay up to 3 years outside of Canada, if you leave Canada for an extended period of time, it is up to you to prove to Citizenship and Immigration Canada that you will be able to meet your residency requirements.

Basically what happens is that, each time you enter Canada, Citizenship and Immigration may calculate 5 years back from the date you have entered or re-entered Canada to see if you have fulfilled your residency obligation.

You can find information on the process that is followed when entering Canada in this Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) ENF 23 - Loss of Permanent Resident Status manual.

Here is an excerpt from the manual on what happens at the port of entry here:

"7.8 Examining Permanent Residents at a POE (Port of Entry)

When a permanent resident appears at a POE for examination, the officer must confirm that the person is a permanent resident. Officers must remain cognizant of the fact the Act gives permanent residents of Canada the right to enter Canada at a port of entry once it is established that a person is a Permanent Resident, regardless of non-compliance with the residency obligation in A28 or the presence of other grounds of inadmissability.

Port of entry officers (POE) can refuse entry to a Permanent Resident only when the person has already lost the status in accordance with the provisions of A46 (such as when a final determination has been made that they have failed to comply with the residency obligations or when a removal order comes into force).

In other words, once a permanent resident’s status is established, the person may enter Canada by right and the immigration examination under IRPA concludes.

If an officer has concerns that a permanent resident has not complied with the residency obligation of A28, the officer should advise the permanent resident when the examination is concluded that they are authorized to enter Canada; however, the permanent resident may wish to answer additional questions so the officer may determine whether their concerns are well founded or not.

In cases where:

• permanent resident status is established;
• the permanent resident refuses to provide any further information and enters Canada;
  and
• the officer believes, on a balance of probabilities that the person is in non-compliance with the residency obligation, officers may report the person, pursuant to A44(1). if there is sufficient evidence to support an inadmissibility allegation. In the absence of sufficient evidence to support the writing of an inadmissibility report, officers may enter any available information into FOSS (date of entry, last country of embarkation, current address in Canada etc.).

It is important to note that in terms of loss of permanent residency, a person does not lose it until a final determination has been made.

According to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) ENF 23 - Loss of Permanent Resident Status manual,

It is important to note that a permanent resident does not lose their status under A46(1)(b) until there is a final determination of the decision made outside Canada that they have failed to comply with the residency obligation under A28.

Permanent residents are not finally determined to have lost their permanent resident status until the right of appeal has been exhausted.

The onus is on each individual permanent resident to make sure they are meeting their Permanent Resident 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.

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

[Jayagoyal]

Hi
I am a pr but due to my Canadian job, I m living in India from last 2 years. Although I have filed my taxes and every required thing as per Canadian tax system. My physical presence in last 5 years is only 79 days till now.
Kindly let me know that my previous is expiring in Nov 2016. So will it get renewed as per my job consideration for Canadian company. And when should I apply for renewal.

Jaya kothari

[MelM]

It depends on how you were hired for the job in India. If you were first hired for a permanent job in Canada and then at a later date were transferred by that company to a permandent role outside of Canada - then you will be able to count your days working outside of Canada towards your PR residency requirement.

If, on the other hand, you were directly hired for the job outside of Canada or already had the job outside of Canada when you became a PR, this time can’t be counted towards your PR residency requirement and you won’t have enough residency days to renew your PR status in 2016.

Also, any business trips you may have taken outside of Canada before you were permanently moved to a job outside of Canada cannot be counted towards the residency requirement.