Extending the period outside of Canada - How?

[planet2]

Dear all,

I will appreciate your advice on the following. I sponsored my parents to Canada and they have a permanent resident status and all officially required documentation. After landing they lived in Canada for about 2 months and then returned home to arrange their affairs and to prepare for moving here permanently. Unfortunately, my mom's father got seriously ill and since then she had to take care of him. He lived in the village, and every weekend my parents had to drive there and take care of him and his wife (my mom's stepmother). This was going on for almost 3 years - even if my grandfather felt better, he needed help, as his wife broke both her hips during this period, and had to be hospitalized and operated twice, which my parents also took care of, having to bring her to the city where they live, bed-sit, make sure that they helped them while she learned how to use crutches, etc. Finally my grandfather died this spring, but they still are looking for a caregiver to take care of his wife. They live in Ukraine, where places such as assisted living are non-existent, and old folks homes are dreaded of.

The period that they were officially allowed to stay outside Canada (3 years) is over, and they are almost 1 month overdue. I am insisting they immediately purchase tickets and come here. Would that be too late? Now, the Immigration website says that sometimes the period outside Canada could be extended due to compassionate reasons (which I think taking care of the ailing relatives qualifies for). I called Immigration Canada but the agent there could not explain what options my parents have. Please let us know how they can ensure they don't lose their permanent resident status. They would still like to find a caregiver for my granddad's wife before coming here. By the way, they have  paid Canadian taxes every year and consider themselves residents of Canada, with a permanent address, bank accounts, investments, credit cards, etc.

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

[CanImmigrate.blogspot.com]

they will have to get in touch with the immigration office where they are, but I know that it is possible in a situation like that.

[planet2]

Thank you very much for your reply. Actually they already called the Canadian embassy in Ukraine with the same question. They did not get any consistent answer. The person there said they should be ok as long as their documents are valid. The thing is that according to the info I found at the cic site, people who are outside Canada and are Canadian landed immigrants need to contact the embassy if their PR card is either expired or they did not receive it.

My parents PR cards won't expire until 2010. There is no indication what people should request from the embassy if they overstay their time outside Canada. Could you comment on that? I will very much appreciate it.

[bhushan1954]

I think when ur parent card is valid until 2010 so no problem of going back to canada but problem will arise only when this card will expire before that if they want to live in canada he can not live there, he will have to renew his PR card from the canadian immigration authorities please check the address on website and contact them regarding this

[PMM]

Hi

I think when ur parent card is valid until 2010 so no problem of going back to canada but problem will arise only when this card will expire before that if they want to live in canada he can not live there, he will have to renew his PR card from the canadian immigration authorities please check the address on website and contact them regarding this

The date on the PR Card means nothing, it is just date 5 years after the card was issued.  To meet residency obligations, the PR must remain in Canada for 2 years in every 5.  So the OP parents have probably lost their PR status.  When they return to Canada, they will be most likely reported on arrival, but admitted to Canada for 60 days to appeal the loss of status.  It is at the appeal that they would have to prove Humanitarian and Compassionate grounds were sufficient that they should be exempted from the residency requirement.  If they don't , they go home.  Suggest the OP read http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/enf/enf23e.pdf  starting page 19.

PMM

[planet2]

Thank you very much - the link is very helpful.