PR Obligations. Leon or any one else please answer.

[KKumar]

Leon or anyone,

Here is my situation. I applied for Canada PR and I got the PR in 2011. I did my landing on June 20,2011. I received my PR card with an expiry date of September 12, 2016. After that including the one trip I did for landing I have done a total 5 trips to Canada from June 2011 to April 2014 ( Mostly for Job search). All this trips totaled for about 50 days.

Every time I traveled from USA because I am living in USA. During each of my travel I filled Canada custom form with my USA address and I also filled the number of days of my trip. Now I am planning to move to Canada for good around June 15-16 for good and permanently. Now based on the above information can any one or Leon please answer following questions.

1. If I will move to Canada on June 15-16 will there be any issue from immigration officer asking me or quizzing me ?

2. will this 50 days will be counted in my 730 days requirement when I will renew the PR card.

3. While counting the days of this trip is the partial day like if I reached Canada in night is also counted as full day?

4. Suppose instead of moving to Canada on June 15-16 if I move to Canada in July 20. Am I still OK because I have been in Canada for 50 days.?

5. What will happen if I move to Canada on June 15 for good and after living there I start taking future small 15-20 days trip outside Canada once every six to eight months. Will the immigration officer going to ask me for days requirement every time I enter Canada or will I will have chance to get reported every time? should i worry about these future trips.

6. When renewing the PR in 2016 will the number of days will be counted from June 2016 when I landed or when My PR card expires that is Sept 2016 ?

I will highly appreciate if Leon or any one else can answer these questions.


Thanks.

 

[Msafiri]

I will summarize the RO position which will help answer your queries given that they have some clear overlap.

1. Your residence obligation is based on a rolling 5 year period. If you are a PR for less than 5 years then the RO is based on the number of days you have or can potentially have between landing date and the 5th year anniversary of your landing. In your case your RO period is June 20, 2011 to June 20, 2016.

2. As soon as you reach the 5 year mark as a PR then your RO is based on you having the required days in the 5 years prior to any examination date. So if you applied for a PR Card on Dec 20, 2016 then CIC would review the 5 year period from Dec 20, 2011 to Dec 20, 2016 and you would as per current legislation need 730 days of physical presence to meet the RO. Any days that you accumulate prior (outside) of the 5 year window in this case your 50 days no longer count. Your Card expiry date is not a reference point for the RO being reviewed on the rationale that there could have been a delay in its issuance in which case you would have a wrong 5 year review period incorrectly disregarding absences between landing date and PR Card issuance date!

3. For meeting the RO any day or part of a day in which you are in Canada is considered one (1) full day in Canada. The reference point is entry into Canada before midnight at whatever border crossing point it is.

4. CBSA can and do ask at each inspection about your absences and from this they can see if you have failed or could fail the RO. In the latter scenario you would normally have front loaded your absences significantly as you have done. CBSA can report you.

5. Its always a risky strategy to travel when you are in breach of the RO. Many PRs pass by ok as CBSA may not always report but you may be unlucky one day and meet an agent that really is doing their job. There are also those PRs who lose or damage their PR Cards when outside Canada and they apply for a PRTD which gets bounced as they fail the RO...the visa posts are not as forgiving as the border agents. Visa post has plenty of time to review your application whereas the border agent needs to clear the inspections lines within minutes.

6. If you intend to naturalize be aware of impending changes to the Citizenship Act mandating minimal presence on an annual basis (refer to the citizenship forum Bill C-24).

7. Keep a detailed record of your US/ Canada exits/ entries. PRs in your situation often get requested for such proof at PR Card renewal and/ or citizenship application. A spreadsheet will easily keep track of this for you and you can input equations to determine what point in time you can apply for PR Card renewal/ citizenship vis a vis a physical presence day count.

 

[KKumar]

MSafiri......thanks for your reply. Leon...... I would also like to get you perspective on my questions.

Thanks