PR card renewal shortage of days

[a_baig]

Hello,
    I am a landed immigrant since april 2005 and my PR card is due to expire by april 2010.
I understand that you have to accumalate 730 days for renewing the card.Uptill now i have completed about 450 days...now i have moved back to india for personal reasons and have plans to get back to canada by Feb 2010.

If i move back in Feb then i can accumalate another 89 days towards residency (feb + march + april) making the total days as 540...but still lagging behind the 730 mark.

My question is can i still apply for renewal with a shortage of total 190 days?
What if i wait until i complete the 730 day mark and then apply for renewal ?
Assume if i apply for renewal in july after completing the days then when will my 5 year period start.From April 2005-April 2010 or July 2005-July 2010 ?

Thanks for your time

[Leon]

Your 5 year period is always the previous 5 years counting from today except if you have been PR for less than 5 years in which case they count from the day you landed as a PR.

Since you are right now unable to meet the residency requirements anymore for your first 5 years as a PR, you have already lost your PR status.  However, Canada immigration probably doesn't know that yet so if you are able to come back in February 2010 without the IO's realizing it, you should stay for 2 years and then apply for your PR card renewal.  Their own rules state that if you are in Canada, they can only look at your absences from the past 5 years immediately before you apply for your PR.  They are not allowed to go further back.  If you on the other hand apply for your PR card before you have your 2 years, they can cancel your PR status.  You could apply under humane and compassionate if you feel that you had a valid reason for not being able to live in Canada but that is also open to interpretation.

If the IO's realize as you are coming back in Feb 2010 that you don't meet the residency requirements, they can also stop you right there and question your PR status.  They are then supposed to let you in for 30 days to make your appeal, that is you have to either prove that they are wrong and you have been in Canada more than they think or you have to appeal on H&C grounds.

Canada's PR residency requirements are not very strict compared to most other countries.  In many European countries, you can only leave for 6 months before you lose your PR and in the US they can actually take your green card as soon as they believe you have permanently moved somewhere else even if you have been gone for less time.  That's why Canada immigration doesn't think it's too much to ask that you live in Canada 2 out of every 5 years if you want to keep your PR.  After all, why do you want to have a PR of Canada if you don't want to live in Canada?