I meet the PR card renewal requirements, still got called for an interview.

[Karen786]

Hi there,

I need real help with this issue of mine, I got PR card in 2005...which expired in March 2010..........Ot of these 5 years I have lived for more then three years in Canada. Esp straight from 2008 july to this date.

Still the visa officer refused to give me the PR Card, instead asked for my SIN, proof of employment and Tax returns. I went back with my Tax returns, and a copy of SIN card and pay stubs. But after 2008, I have not worked. Anyway, another visa officer sitting there told me, he will keep my file and hand it over to the officer dealing with my case, either they will give  me the PR card or will call me for an intnerview and sent me back home. It is getting frustrated now, since I have not seen my parents in longtime, and I stayed here only not to mess with the residency requirement. I want to know if anyone has gone through such thing, even after meeting the PR requirement an interview? and if my employment has to do anything with it ?  Do they have any solid ground to refuse the renewal?

Please advise.....thanks

[Alabaman]

Your story is scary... I sympatize with you. It seems like you met a mean visa officer. Did he not check your passport for travel history?? The story about the other visa officer is not clear. Who will keep your file? the first one or the second officer? when will you know?

[Karen786]

Your story is scary. It seems like you met a mean visa officer. Did he not check your passport for travel history??

I have alot of stamps, since in that year and a half of absence, I travelled alot. She just went through the passport briefly and said, " You have alot of stamps, I can not give you the PR card, come back with the following documents and I will have a visa officer look through them."....I was like, what the hell.........?  If this is normal? and do I have to have an emplpyment, since everything is fine other than that I dont have pay stubs.

PLEASE Help!!!

[Karen786]

The other visa officer did not do anything, just took the documents....made a call and came back and said....the first visa officer who asked me for the docs will check my documents. He asked for my phone number and said, she will call you.

[Alabaman]

So the primary reason for holding your card was because you didn't have pay stubs? Did she say when she'll call you? Did you go with credit card statements, phone and utility bills etc? If not you should take them with you when you return. Which city did this happen?

[Karen786]

No Ablaman,

It was not the primary reason. Primary reason I think was alot of stamps on my passport, and she did not bother to figure out that how long is my absence shown in the passport, instead gave me a paper, which states....that to make sure about my physical presence in Canada they need all the passports I have, SIN, proof of employment and Tax returns. Which I dropped off today and took my phone number. This happened in Windsor.

I hold pakistani passport and I travelled to countries like Malasyia, Egypt, Iran, Dubai etc...becuase these are all the neighbouring countries and we have friends and families living over there. Regardless, she should have taken some time out and made sure that I meet the requirement. It was not busy either in the office, I was the only person. It is a small town.

[Karen786]

I did  not go with the credit card statments, phone bills etc, coz they did not ask for them. But I can, since I have all the bank stamtments and cellphone bills, showing clearly that I have been living here for a longtime and I do meet the requirements.

[Leon]

They can not refuse to renew your PR card if you can prove to them that you have not been outside Canada for 3 years or more in your first 5 years as a PR.  Make a detailed travel history for yourself corresponding with your passport stamps and add the cell phone bills, bank statements and other data you have to help prove when you have been in Canada and when you haven't.

[Karen786]

Thanks alot Leon.

[Karen786]

 
 Hi Leon ( or anyone who can help ),

 So, I just got a call from the same woman from CIC windsor. She told me she has forward my file to another visa officer and I will be called for an interview. Even though I have lived in Canada for more then three years in last 5 years. I have no clue what is she upto? I did ask her though and she said, I have alot of stamps on my passport and that is why she can not make a decission. Is there any such thing, like having too much travelling can raise the red flag even if you meet the residency requirement? I have worked out side of Canada in the past....but that was only for 6 months. And I did mention in my application.

She said it will take another 2 months or more. I have not been to my country for almost a year and half and this is extreemly frustrating. Should I get a Lawyer? I have read about ppl approaching their MP.  Would it help?


I have not hidden any information from them. I have provided her all my documents. I have no clue why is this happening? Anyone gone through the same situation? Please can you share what happened, what will they ask and what are their concerns?

[Alabaman]

I think it is worth trying to get your MP involved. You can hire a lawyer too if you can afford it. I feel your pain.

[Leon]

Write down a detailed travel history along with the copies of pages from your passport explaining each and every stamp.  Make an appointment with your MP and bring that with you.  MP can sometimes help but can not hurt.  You can also try a lawyer.

[Jim1979]

Karen786.

I wonder what happened to your case. As I'm going through the same situation.

Thanks

[mach90]

Jim/Karen - what happened to your cases?

Thanks

[toby]

Let's start with the assumption that these VOs have very little time to review a file, Karen, so if you throw a lot of documents on the table, without organizing them to make it easy for the VO to see time spent in Canada, the VO (in charge of reviewing your documents) will feel overwhelmed and will probably refuse to go out on a limb and approve.  Instead, the documents VO will probably take the safer route and call for an interview. Since the interview VO is a different person (at least that was our experience), the documents-VO effectively delegates the risky decision to another officer.  That is the bureaucratic way; it doesn't mean you're in a risky situation.  As Leon says, if you can prove time spent in Canada, they cannot deny your renewal. You just need to make the VO feel safe making that decision.

In all these posts from you, I have not read that you presented documents in an organized manner.  If you have, great.  If not,  a travel log (on EXCEL or whatever) would help the VO wade through and quickly understand the stamps in your passport.  Have you ever tried to make sense of passport stamps a few months after a trip? Very confusing – unless you have a guide.


I suggest that you organize by trip. 

Example:  Trip #1 to India (dates)
Exit Canada (see stamp on page x)
Transit through the USA (see stamps page y)
Arrival India (see stamp page z)

And so on.

By documenting your trips out of Canada, you make it easy to calculate time spent in Canada, and corroborated by your tax return and employment records, etc.