Is it possible for me to move back to Canada?

[ostermark]

This gets somewhat complicated... I am an American who was married to a Canadian for 20+ years. Before getting married I had a "special status" due to being an athlete and was able to work in Canada, which I did for 5-6 years, on a seasonal basis. After getting married I got the PR status and worked, lived and paid taxes for over 15 years. I even now still get a small pension from the BC Government (worked both for BC and Manitoba). We got divorced 10 years ago and I left to live in the US. I had PR status which expired some years ago and have only visited Canada in the past 10 years. I do not meet any resident obligations. Do I have any options to renew my PR status? I include a lot of information so as to explore any options that you may come up with. At first glance, based on my preliminary research--I am totally out of luck. Is there any hope for me?

Thanks for your time!

 

[foodie69]

This gets somewhat complicated... I am an American who was married to a Canadian for 20+ years. Before getting married I had a "special status" due to being an athlete and was able to work in Canada, which I did for 5-6 years, on a seasonal basis. After getting married I got the PR status and worked, lived and paid taxes for over 15 years. I even now still get a small pension from the BC Government (worked both for BC and Manitoba). We got divorced 10 years ago and I left to live in the US. I had PR status which expired some years ago and have only visited Canada in the past 10 years. I do not meet any resident obligations. Do I have any options to renew my PR status? I include a lot of information so as to explore any options that you may come up with. At first glance, based on my preliminary research--I am totally out of luck. Is there any hope for me?

Thanks for your time!

Well, if you became PR it is for life. It does not expire or anything. UNLESS it has been take from you or you yourself renounced it. So technically you can move back to Canada..but now it gets tricky.

At the border they will probably find out and report you for not observing the residency requirements as you pointed out. If you get into Canada unreported, that would help.

I am not a professional, so others may chime in.

 

[Rob_TO]

This gets somewhat complicated... I am an American who was married to a Canadian for 20+ years. Before getting married I had a "special status" due to being an athlete and was able to work in Canada, which I did for 5-6 years, on a seasonal basis. After getting married I got the PR status and worked, lived and paid taxes for over 15 years. I even now still get a small pension from the BC Government (worked both for BC and Manitoba). We got divorced 10 years ago and I left to live in the US. I had PR status which expired some years ago and have only visited Canada in the past 10 years. I do not meet any resident obligations. Do I have any options to renew my PR status? I include a lot of information so as to explore any options that you may come up with. At first glance, based on my preliminary research--I am totally out of luck. Is there any hope for me?

Thanks for your time!

You have been outside Canada for over 10 years so obviously do not meet the residency obligation. So any interaction with CIC or CBSA at this point could start to revoke PR status. There are basically only 2 options for you to consider to renew your PR status.

1. Apply for PR Travel Document on H&C basis. However I highly doubt this would work since you most likely don't have valid H&C reasons to stay outside Canada 10 years. So most likely this would end in refusal and revoking of your PR status.

2. You can try to "sneak" back into Canada, remain in Canada for 2 years after which you'll be back in compliance with the RO, and then can apply to renew your PR card. To "sneak" into Canada you will basically need to cross the border, and hope CBSA doesn't report you for not meeting the RO.

If reported you would still be allowed into Canada, but even if you appealed since you don't have H&C reasons this will most likely end in revoking of your PR status after some time.

If you aren't reported by CBSA, then you must stay in Canada for 2 straight years without leaving even once (if you left, your next entry might result in reporting and revoking of PR status). During these 2 years you will not have a valid PR card, so may find it difficult to prove your PR status to whoever wants it (though it is possible without it). Also your SIN is most likely in dormant status so you would need to go to Service Canada to re-activate it. I'm not sure how difficult/easy this is with no PR card.
Anyways if you can make it 2 years, you can then apply to renew your PR card and you will continue to be a PR as long as you meet the RO going forward after that.

 

[Aquakitty]

Your best bet is trying to drive across with your passport. If you don't look suspicious like you are moving to Canada they might overlook the issue. I don't know now though, they have a more strict system at the border (allegedly).

Don't lie about it but just play dumb if it comes up, assuming you are willing to go through what Rob_TO said to get your 2 years of residency.

 

[Rs85]

Well, if you became PR it is for life. It does not expire or anything. UNLESS it has been take from you or you yourself renounced it. So technically you can move back to Canada..but now it gets tricky.

At the border they will probably find out and report you for not observing the residency requirements as you pointed out. If you get into Canada unreported, that would help.

I am not a professional, so others may chime in.

PR is not for life. If you don't meet residency obligations, your PR does expire or becomes void.

 

[foodie69]

PR is not for life. If you don't meet residency obligations, your PR does expire or becomes void.

I beg to differ..it is. Only if you renounce or the government takes it away from you. The card expires, not your status.

 

[Rs85]

I beg to differ..it is. Only if you renounce or the government takes it away from you. The card expires, not your status.

Check the link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/about-pr.asp

Losing your permanent resident status
Losing your permanent resident status does not happen automatically. You cannot lose your permanent resident status simply by living outside of Canada long enough that you don’t meet the residency requirement. Unless you have gone through an official process, you have not lost or given up your permanent resident status, even though you may not be eligible to return to Canada as a permanent resident.

You may lose your permanent resident status if:

an adjudicator determines that you are no longer a permanent resident following an inquiry; or
a visa officer determines you do not meet the required residency when you apply for a permanent resident travel document or temporary resident travel document.
You may lose your permanent resident status in one of the ways described above if:

you do not live in Canada for two out of five years;
you are convicted of a serious crime and told to leave Canada; or
you become a Canadian citizen.
You do not lose your permanent resident status if your PR card expires.

 

[foodie69]

Check the link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/about-pr.asp

Losing your permanent resident status
Losing your permanent resident status does not happen automatically. You cannot lose your permanent resident status simply by living outside of Canada long enough that you don’t meet the residency requirement. Unless you have gone through an official process, you have not lost or given up your permanent resident status, even though you may not be eligible to return to Canada as a permanent resident.

You may lose your permanent resident status if:

an adjudicator determines that you are no longer a permanent resident following an inquiry; or
a visa officer determines you do not meet the required residency when you apply for a permanent resident travel document or temporary resident travel document.
You may lose your permanent resident status in one of the ways described above if:

you do not live in Canada for two out of five years;
you are convicted of a serious crime and told to leave Canada; or
you become a Canadian citizen.
You do not lose your permanent resident status if your PR card expires.

I give up, no point arguing..Where did I write anything different from what you just posted above? And it says "may lose". That means you are not losing it automatically if not meeting the requirements..

Thanks for your efforts

 

[Rob_TO]

PR is not for life. If you don't meet residency obligations, your PR does expire or becomes void.

Wrong.

You will only lose PR status if you voluntarily renounce it, or it's formally revoked. The Residency Obligation will not cause you to lose PR automatically, it must first be discovered by CBSA/CIC, and then they must go through formal process to take PR status away which can be appealed.

PR status is never automatically taken away or voided, nor does it automatically expire.

 

[foodie69]

Wrong.

You will only lose PR status if you voluntarily renounce it, or it's formally revoked. The Residency Obligation will not cause you to lose PR automatically, it must first be discovered by CBSA/CIC, and then they must go through formal process to take PR status away which can be appealed.

PR status is never automatically taken away or voided, nor does it automatically expire.

Thanks Rob..