I need to renew my PR card after i arrive back in canada next month. I am currently living with my Canadian spouse in Pakistan since more than 4 years. I understand my time with spouse will be counted as residence time. However, we have filed taxes in previous years as residential in Canada. I have following questions:
1- What proof i can attach while applying for renewal to show my cohabitation with my Candian spouse in Pakistan? She is housewife and doesn't do any job.
2- Will the taxes filed by both of us as residential in Canada in last years, have any effect on my applications?
3- How much time it could take me to get card when staying in canada after next month?
Waiting for any kind response please
Foremost, in response to your questions in particular, if you make a PR card application, or an application for a PR Travel Document, follow the instructions in the Guide, in Appendix A, in the section for Situation B. Accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada. Guide for PR card application is here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5445-applying-permanent-resident-card-card-first-application-replacement-renewal-change-gender-identifier.html#appendixA (guide for PR TD application is very similar). In addition to proof of spouse's Canadian citizenship and proof of marriage relationship, what is mostly needed is proof that both resided at the same address; that is, evidence showing you lived at the residential address where you have been living, and similarly evidence your spouse was living at that same address.
However,
@YVR123 points to a potential problem.
In particular, given that it appears (based on other posts) your spouse was living in Canada until obtaining Canadian citizenship and then she moved outside Canada to live with you, and that while she has been a citizen you and her never lived together in Canada before relocating abroad, there is some risk IRCC might conclude you have not been "
accompanying" your spouse abroad. That is, you might be in error in regards to "
I understand my time with spouse will be counted as residence time."
This is a complicated subject. Generally living together with a Canadian citizen spouse is enough (and I assume that is why you understand your time together "
will be counted as residence time"). However, in SOME cases (what percentage of cases we do not know) where it is blatantly obvious the PR was living abroad and was joined there, abroad, by their Canadian citizen spouse, IRCC can distinguish whether the PR and citizen went abroad together ("
accompanying" in the
GO with sense) rather than were just being with one another abroad.
This has typically been referred to as a
who-accompanied-whom issue, and there is a thread here where this is discussed at length and in-depth. See
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/who-accompanied-whom-can-matter-for-prs-living-with-citizen-spouse-abroad-update.579860/
In practice, PRs relying on credit toward meeting their obligation to reside IN Canada based on the exception allowed PRs who accompany their Canadian citizen spouse abroad, do not need to submit evidence showing who accompanied whom when applying for a PR card or PR TD, and there is little sign that IRCC questions who accompanied whom in most cases. EXCEPT this issue does arise in SOME cases (again we have no clue in what percentage of cases), most notably in situations where it is blatantly obvious the PR was not living in Canada with their citizen spouse and did not go abroad WITH their citizen spouse. In a sense, it is more a question about whether the couple was accompanying one another, in going abroad, not so much who was accompanying whom.
It is near impossible to forecast if this will be a problem for you. It MIGHT be.
@YVR123 also points to other potential issues. You refer to making the PR card application after you "
arrive back in canada next month." If you are not coming to stay, and particularly if you do not stay long after making the application, that increases the risk of non-routine processing, elevated scrutiny, and potentially things like requiring you to pick up the new PR card in person (assuming the application is approved and a new card is issued). Given the questions asked your spouse during the processing of her citizenship application, it appears likely your file could be flagged for elevated screening.
Whether your spouse is accompanying you in returning to Canada could be a significant factor . . . indeed, this could matter at the Port-of-Entry when you arrive. If traveling together that would reduce the risk that CBSA officials might ask questions about your compliance with the Residency Obligation.
If you are coming to stay, be sure to make the applications for things like provincial health care while your current PR card is still valid. And you may want to consider waiting a significant period, staying here for a good while, before making the PR card application.
2- Will the taxes filed by both of us as residential in Canada in last years, have any effect on my applications?
I suspect that
@YVR123 is correct, no, hardly any anyway, even though generally filing tax returns in Canada is evidence of Canadian ties and that can be a factor in determining facts relevant to a Residency Determination. It appears clear you have NOT been residing in Canada these past four years (and for you before that, based on other posts) so tax filings cannot show you were actually residing in Canada. (I do not know, but it seems possible a stranger bureaucrat may look at this and suspect someone is trying to manipulate the appearance of things.)
3- How much time it could take me to get card when staying in canada after next month?
Last I looked, most PR card applications are not even opened for two months. Most will be approved promptly when opened, and thus many can anticipate actually receiving a new card in around three to four months after they apply. As
@YVR123 notes, however, this scenario seems UNLIKELY for you.
It appears that some online applications are, perhaps, subject to automated decision-making which can result in an almost immediate approval followed by however long it takes to actually issue, print, and mail the new card (four or six week or so). This seems even LESS LIKELY for you . . . only applications which are triaged to be low complexity will be approved in this process, and since you are relying on an exception to the Residency Obligation there is probably little to no chance an online application by you will benefit from automated decision-making.
Overall, here too as
@YVR123 observed, there is a substantial risk your PR card application will encounter non-routine processing resulting in a significantly longer timeline. Whether that amounts to a few weeks, or several months, or many months, is almost impossible to predict.
