Stuck in Egypt? Do I have chance?

[eggroup]

I am a permanent resident of Canada since 24-06-2010, Business category.

On 1st of July 2010, I went back to Egypt, my home country, to sell a real estate property I own and transfer the money to Canada to start my new life there.

As a result of the global recession, I faced a declined demand for real estate in Egypt and thus the operation took longer than I expected until January 2011 when the Egyptian Revolution started.

The Revolution hurt me in three ways:

1.   There is a deep recession now in Egypt with almost no selling at all.
2.   If I can sell in local currency – in spite of the recession – I can't buy Dollars from the bank as Central Bank of Egypt tries to decrease the pressure on local currency.
3.   If it happened – theoretically – and I could get the Dollars, I can't transfer it outside of Egypt!!

Now, I am stuck in Egypt and I can't come back to Canada because of money.

My Questions to you are:

1.   What are my chances if the situation remains as it is for years to come?
2.   Is there anything I can do to save my immigration project from being ruined?

Thank you for your time.

By the way, on 2nd of Sept. 2011, I sent a letter with this text to the following canadian authority:

Citizenship and Immigration (IIP)
Centralized Intake Office
PO Box 8888
Sydney, Nova Scotia
B1P 0C9
Canada  

No reply till now.

I got in contact with some canadian friends and they told me that a written reply will never happen so as not to be taken against them, is this true?

[Leon]

As a PR, you can spend up to 3 years outside Canada in your first 5 years as a PR or any rolling 5 year period after that.  As a business applicant, you might have some other conditions about running a business which I am not aware of though.

Immigration will never give you a permission to overstay your allowed days.  If your PR card is still valid when you want to go back, you can go back and take your chances with the immigration officer.  If your PR card expires, you would have to apply for a travel document at the Canadian embassy and then you can appeal to them to keep your PR.  No guarantees.

[eggroup]

THANK YOU LEON FOR YOUR (SUPER) PROMPT REPLY.

When I went through the regulations of renewing the PR card, there was a phrase at the end of the instructions that says:

Humanitarian and compassionate grounds

If you are unable to meet the residency obligation, CIC will consider any compelling humanitarian and compassionate factors in your individual circumstances that may justify the retention of permanent resident status.

CIC will notify you if this additional assessment is required.

do this apply to my case?

[Leon]

do this apply to my case?

That is what you will find out if you have to apply for it.  If you end up coming to Canada before your PR card expires but without meeting the residency requirements and discuss this with an immigration officer, they will probably let you in and tell you that you will have to tell your story when you apply to renew your PR card.  You can however avoid that by letting your PR card expire after you are in Canada.  This will not affect your status when you are already in and after staying in Canada for 2 years straight, you can apply to renew with no ill effects as you will then meet the residency requirements again.

If you end up with an expired PR card outside Canada and have to apply for a travel document, you will have to tell your story then and hope for the best.

This is of course without taking into account any possible conditions on your PR because you are business class which might be running a business successfully in Canada and so on and so forth.  I do not know the exact program you applied under or the conditions of that but I am sure you know what they were as you applied for it.

[eggroup]

God Bless You Leon.

Thanks alot.