PR card Renewal??

[daniel12321]

To anyone who can help or give an answer...

Hello, I received my permanent resident card March of 2011, which means that at March of 2016 (in 8 months) by PR card will expire. I landed at Canada as a minor but my parents wanted me to finish high school at my home country so I stayed at my home country until September of 2013 (I did not have any part in this decision). I wanted to go college in Canada but I again was not allowed to go because my family is far from being well off and I received a 50k+ financial aid from a school in the states that is need-blind to international students (which I have the documents to prove). While im thankful for the financial aid I am receiving I am nowhere wealthy enough to go to any other college(in Canada) because my current financial aid almost fully covers my tuition and even my room and board at my current institution. I am a 21 year old computer science major (turned 21 in May) and wish to go back to Canada after graduating in 2017, get a job there and most likely work there and get my citizenship. I'm upset that I'm in a situation like this but there was really nothing myself or my parents could have done at this point. I especially feel like I did not have any choice as a minor or as a dependent young adult over my unfortunate situation. Do I have any chance of retaining my permanent residence status or getting my permanent resident card renewed?

any advise or help would be absolutely appreciated,
much thanks

 

[keesio]

I believe your argument works until the time you became an adult (18). After that, you cannot use the excuse that your parents prevented you from coming back. Your reasons for not coming back to Canada as an adult (cheaper to go to the US) will not matter to CIC.

 

[daniel12321]

Oh, this is very frustrating...If my mother is a PR in Canada and if I give up my pr status, how long would it usually take for her to sponsor me and get it to pass?

 

[keesio]

Oh, this is very frustrating...If my mother is a PR in Canada and if I give up my pr status, how long would it usually take for her to sponsor me and get it to pass?

Your mother can no longer sponsor you because you are no longer a dependent (over 18).

Your best hope is to try coming back to Canada before your PR card expires. Even though you won''t meet the 730 day requirement, there is a chance that CBSA will be nice and let you in without reporting you. Then you can stay in Canada for two years and then renew your PR card. No one knows what the chances are that CBSA will decide to report you, but it seems very likely that the chances are much better than if you try to re-enter canada AFTER your PR card expires.

I know that you are in the middle of your studies and would not want to quit that. So you can just finish your studies in the US and then try your luck when you try to come back to Canada. If you get reported and your PR revoked, you can try to immigrate to Canada again under professional class. A CS degree is a pretty in-demand degree so this is a viable option.

 

[daniel12321]

If I do happen to be able to enter Canada with my expired/near expired PR card, would that adversely affect me in any way in my effort to find a job? I have my SIN card and everything but will they ask for/ accept my expired PR card??

 

[keesio]

If I do happen to be able to enter Canada with my expired/near expired PR card, would that adversely affect me in any way in my effort to find a job? I have my SIN card and everything but will they ask for/ accept my expired PR card??

It's not supposed to but, as others have mentioned on this forum, the PR card has become the defacto government ID for a PR to prove residency and ability to work. It has been increasing harder to apply for things like heath insurance and driver's license without one. It shouldn't be mandatory to have one... but many have found it a big hassle to not have a valid PR card. As for your SIN number, note that if you have not been working and filing taxes for 5 years, I believe your SIN number will become deactivated. You'll need to reactivate it when you come back. I don't know what you need to do for that or if you need to show a PR card or what.

In short - it is not required but it is a hassle not to have one.

 

[daniel12321]

Thank you for your responses so far.

I'm not sure how well informed you are on matters of getting travel documents but if i were to plead my case for review to get travel documents, would pressing on the point that I was a minor when I was taken away from Canada, that being legally dependent(18+) and being economically and decision-wise dependent are different(being economically dependent before graduating college prohibited me from making my own decision), and arguing that at least for me this is my "real" first opportunity to make a decision to come back to Canada (which is how I genuinely feel) help my chances in any way??

this is a very important matter for me and anyone's input or advise would be greatly appreciated.
much thanks

 

[Leon]

There is a clause in immigration manuals stating that they should take into consideration that you were removed as a minor and are returning first chance after becoming an adult. In prior years, travel documents were sometimes granted for people in their early or mid 20's who had been studying but the current government is clamping down and nothing is certain.

However, if you are in the US, you do not need a travel document to enter. You simply enter. If you have a visa exempt passport, no problem. If you don't, you'd have to cross the land border using a private or rented car or on foot.

When you enter, if you have a visa exempt passport, especially if you are a US citizen, they might just wave you through. If they do, you can stay for 2 years straight and your PR status would be reinstated. You would still be a PR but would for obvious reasons try to stay under the radar of immigration. You would still be allowed to work but you might have trouble because you don't have a valid PR card. You may lose out on job opportunities, you may find it hard to get a drivers license, health care etc.

However, if they give you trouble as you arrive and the find that you are a PR who doesn't meet the RO, they can report you for it. You would have 30 days to appeal their decision based on your reasons for not being able to meet the RO. It is possible that you get called to a more superior person a few days after your entry and that they will decide not to report you after all. If they do report you and you appeal, you remain a PR during your appeal processing. You can even renew your PR card for a year at a time. The processing may take 1-2 years and if you then lose the appeal and lose your PR and get asked to leave, you may have one or the other, a partner who can sponsor you for PR again or an employer who can try to get you a work permit / help you immigrate.

 

[daniel12321]

My current passport allows me to pass through the border without a visa. Would it be unwise of me to ask for a travel document and have myself risk the loss of my permanent residence? I mean, would I have a better chance (being taken out of canada as a minor and asserting that I am returning at my first chance) trying to plead my case through asking for a travel document or would I have a better chance going through the US-Canada border with my visa-free passport with my family/friends in Canada? I feel wrong trying to "slip through the border" and would feel much better entering with valid and legitimate documents(traveling documents after pleading for review), but I'm uncertain as to whether trying to do what I feel is right would be the "smarter" way... Any opinions?

 

[Leon]

My current passport allows me to pass through the border without a visa. Would it be unwise of me to ask for a travel document and have myself risk the loss of my permanent residence? I mean, would I have a better chance (being taken out of canada as a minor and asserting that I am returning at my first chance) trying to plead my case through asking for a travel document or would I have a better chance going through the US-Canada border with my visa-free passport with my family/friends in Canada? I feel wrong trying to "slip through the border" and would feel much better entering with valid and legitimate documents(traveling documents after pleading for review), but I'm uncertain as to whether trying to do what I feel is right would be the "smarter" way... Any opinions?

It would be the smarter way to attempt to enter at the border without applying for a travel document first. In case you get in without getting reported, you would have the option of reinstating your PR by staying for 2 years. You don't have to lie about anything. You can even say that you are a PR and the reasons you were outside Canada. They might still decide not to report you. Even if you do get reported, if you stay in Canada and work during the 1-2 years that your appeal processing takes, you have in my opinion a better chance than if you apply for a travel document.

If you apply for a travel document, they will make the decision once and for all about your PR status before you even enter Canada and if they decide that you did not have to study outside Canada but could have returned earlier and therefore you should not keep your PR, that's it. You would no longer have the option of trying to enter and staying for 2 years because your PR would be gone.

 

[daniel12321]

hmmmm thanks for your input Leon!

does the "special consideration for people who left Canada while they were minors" cause hold for both applying for traveling documents and appealing the case after entering Canada?

 

[Leon]

hmmmm thanks for your input Leon!

does the "special consideration for people who left Canada while they were minors" cause hold for both applying for traveling documents and appealing the case after entering Canada?

The proper wording is "removed from Canada as minor" because otherwise you make it sound like you had a choice. You do not want it to sound like you had a choice.

The same rules apply that immigration should consider your circumstances for a travel document too but IMO it is easier for immigration to deny a travel document based on that you never lived in Canada and that you are an adult who chose to study outside Canada and it will not affect your life if you continue living outside Canada than if you come back, even if you get reported and have spent 1-2 years.

Having spent 1-2 years working on an appeal, even if you lose your PR, you would also increase your odds of having an employer who wants to keep you and is ready to apply for your work permit or try to help you immigrate. If you lose your PR now after applying for a travel document and must look for such an employer as a non-PR with no work experience, it is hard because employers are not granted work permits for foreigners unless they can show that they can not find qualified Canadians and it costs them too so they are not ready to do that unless they are really sure they need you. However, if you built a relationship with the employer while working here, they would be more ready to do that and even if they don't, your 1-2 years Canadian work experience would go a long way convincing another employer to take you.

 

[daniel12321]

"and it will not affect your life if you continue living outside Canada than if you come back, even if you get reported and have spent 1-2 years."

by this, do you mean that if I demonstrate that living outside Canada will significantly affect my life than if I come back, then I will have a better chance of retaining my permanent resident card?

 

[Leon]

"and it will not affect your life if you continue living outside Canada than if you come back, even if you get reported and have spent 1-2 years."

by this, do you mean that if I demonstrate that living outside Canada will significantly affect my life than if I come back, then I will have a better chance of retaining my permanent resident card?

I mean that if you have returned to Canada and gotten reported and spent 1-2 years in Canada during your appeal processing, you have already shown that you are ready to settle in Canada and this may count for something.

If you apply for a travel document, you can write anything you want about your intentions but immigration might still not believe you are ready to settle in Canada or that it will significantly affect your life if you don't move to a country you've never really lived in.

 

[neutral]

"and it will not affect your life if you continue living outside Canada than if you come back, even if you get reported and have spent 1-2 years."

by this, do you mean that if I demonstrate that living outside Canada will significantly affect my life than if I come back, then I will have a better chance of retaining my permanent resident card?

It's like living and studying in USA (the reality happening now) doesn't affect your life, that's why you are where you are.