old canadian green card

[sunnysouth]

i am a dual canadian/american citizen and married a japanese girl in canada in college. i sponsored her for a canadian green card and she got it. i ended up working in the USA and have been here 12 years. she has since gotten a US green card. we have decided to return to the toronto area but have no idea about what status she can have. she still has an old canadian green card that expired years ago. we have remained married and together all this time. i don't imagine we will drive across the border, no hard questions asked. would anyone know?

[AllisonVSC]

It sounds like you will have to sponsor her again, since she didn't meet the residency requirement for maintaining her PR. Check out the sticky post at the top of the family class folder for general instructions on how to file a family class PR application. You might also want to post in the Permanent Residency Obligations folder on the forum to see if anyone sees a problem with re-applying. It is a much less active folder and some very senior members post there and give advice.

[rjessome]

i am a dual canadian/american citizen and married a japanese girl in canada in college. i sponsored her for a canadian green card and she got it. i ended up working in the USA and have been here 12 years. she has since gotten a US green card. we have decided to return to the toronto area but have no idea about what status she can have. she still has an old canadian green card that expired years ago. we have remained married and together all this time. i don't imagine we will drive across the border, no hard questions asked. would anyone know?

Actually, since you are a Canadian citizen and she has been accompanying you for the whole time she left Canada since become a PR, according to IRPA, S. 28(2)(a)(ii), she has maintained her PR status.  Here's the link to the section of the Act:

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/page-13.html#h-16

I'm assuming she actually did "land" in Canada and become a permanent resident.  Because if she just received the PR visa and never physically landed in Canada, then you would have to sponsor her again.