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Was not in canada 3 / 5 years due to being in education in home country

dmurphy22

Newbie
Aug 7, 2016
9
0
Hello,

I got my permanent residency in 2012 but have never lived in Canada. Instead, I have been in my home country in education until now. Now that I am finished I would like to move to canada.

My father and 2 sisters currently live in canada. My father has been there since 2012 on permanent residency, one of my sisters has been there since 2013 on permanent residency and my other sister was born in my country but has a canadian mother whom my father is living with since 2012 in canada.

I am planning on going over next month.

I guess my question is. Will I be refused at the border? And if not, how likely will I be asked at a later date to leave the country? I want to start a career in Canada and be with my family. I understand that there is a human factor in all of this whereby extenuating circumstances are taken into account. How likely do you think my circumstances would allow me to stay?

Thank you for reading and I am looking forward to your responses.
 

foodie69

VIP Member
Dec 18, 2015
3,101
934
Since you chose to be educated in you home country extenuating circumstances do not apply. You could have studied in Canada.

As to immigration, they probably will report you for failing your residential obligation.
 

dmurphy22

Newbie
Aug 7, 2016
9
0
foodie69 said:
Since you chose to be educated in you home country extenuating circumstances do not apply. You could have studied in Canada.

As to immigration, they probably will report you for failing your residential obligation.
Totally understand where you are coming from. Though in my home country I had a unique opportunity to study for free while receiving a bursary to help with living expenses. I do not think I would have had the same prospects in Canada at the time.

I have another question. Do they only look at the reasons why you were out of the country when deciding an appeal or do they also look at your situation currently while you are in Canada awaiting appeal? Would having my father and 2 sisters one of whom is a canadian citizen in canada look good on my appeal or does that just not matter?
 

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
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dmurphy22 said:
Totally understand where you are coming from. Though in my home country I had a unique opportunity to study for free while receiving a bursary to help with living expenses. I do not think I would have had the same prospects in Canada at the time.

I have another question. Do they only look at the reasons why you were out of the country when deciding an appeal or do they also look at your situation currently while you are in Canada awaiting appeal? Would having my father and 2 sisters one of whom is a canadian citizen in canada look good on my appeal or does that just not matter?
having father and 2 sisters in Canada probably will not make any difference given as a previous answer you left Canada fully aware of the implications to residency which was your decision as an adult not theirs.

Chances are CBSA may never report you given you are still within 5 years and i assume you still have a valid PR card. As a PR you will still be entitled to enter the country anyway but it does mean that you will need to stay in country for 2 years and not leave at all to reset residency. If you did leave at any time then the chances of being reported are greater.

Ultimately just have to chance it that you do not get reported and really may just come down to the CBSA officer at the time.

Hopefully you still have your PR card given travel from Sept 29 th gets complicated with the ETA coming in for non residents only and if you need a PRTD that might well flag not meeting RO.
 

foodie69

VIP Member
Dec 18, 2015
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To maintain your status as a permanent resident, you must live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period. During this time you must be here physically.

The OP never lived here..s/he will get picked up.
 

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dmurphy22 said:
I have another question. Do they only look at the reasons why you were out of the country when deciding an appeal or do they also look at your situation currently while you are in Canada awaiting appeal? Would having my father and 2 sisters one of whom is a canadian citizen in canada look good on my appeal or does that just not matter?
They look at the reason why you were out of the country.

Provided you are able to re-enter Canada without being reported, you should remain in Canada for two straight years to meet the RO and only then apply to renew your PR card. Good luck.
 

dmurphy22

Newbie
Aug 7, 2016
9
0
Thanks for the advice guys. I really appreciate it.

It seems it comes down to a gamble then. One that I will be taking.


I have one more question. Say I get past the border without triggering a report, since I have never lived in Canada since I became a PR or worked. Would applying for my SIN number generate a red flag and cause me to be reported?

I 100% intend to stay longer than two year in order to get into good standing again if I am not reported, only leaving Canada to visit family and friends in my home country a couple of weeks a year as a vacation. I will of course not do this while I am in bad standing.

I know I might have really messed up my chances here but I am totally committed now to becoming canadian, including applying for citizenship when the time comes. I want to work, meet a partner and eventually start a family in Canada. Essentially... I want to be Canadian!

The knots in my stomach are really bad :-[
 

Rob_TO

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dmurphy22 said:
I have one more question. Say I get past the border without triggering a report, since I have never lived in Canada since I became a PR or worked. Would applying for my SIN number generate a red flag and cause me to be reported?
As long as you have a valid PR card, you should be ok to apply for SIN without it being reported back to CIC. Though really it's impossible to say how much the government departments share info with each other.


I 100% intend to stay longer than two year in order to get into good standing again if I am not reported, only leaving Canada to visit family and friends in my home country a couple of weeks a year as a vacation. I will of course not do this while I am in bad standing.
Make sure you understand that you should stay in Canada for 2 straight years without leaving for any time or reason. Any time you left Canada during these 2 years, you'd run the risk of being reported for not meeting RO and having process started to revoke your PR. If you aren't reported on initial entry and intend to become a PR in good standing again you need to abandon all travel plans outside Canada for 2 years.
 

dmurphy22

Newbie
Aug 7, 2016
9
0
Rob_TO said:
As long as you have a valid PR card, you should be ok to apply for SIN without it being reported back to CIC. Though really it's impossible to say how much the government departments share info with each other.


Make sure you understand that you should stay in Canada for 2 straight years without leaving for any time or reason. Any time you left Canada during these 2 years, you'd run the risk of being reported for not meeting RO and having process started to revoke your PR. If you aren't reported on initial entry and intend to become a PR in good standing again you need to abandon all travel plans outside Canada for 2 years.
Thanks for your input. I will absolutely be staying in the country for a straight 2 years if I manage to get in without a hitch.


Anyway, flight booked for 4 weeks time. Now to get my affairs in order and sell all my possessions :p

Fingers crossed!
 

dmurphy22

Newbie
Aug 7, 2016
9
0
Thanks guys! So, no eTA for me.


Just one more question (I know I know :p) If I am brought to a secondary interview, how long do you think I will be in there for? I am traveling with someone who is going on vacation and would like to know how long they will have to wait for me. Also, I will need to know because I will need to book further travel services to get to my final destination.

Also, if I am to land in Vancouver airport and somehow get through immigration fine, will I have to go through that if I get a domestic flight? Or should I avoid that and travel by ground / ferry?
 

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
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dmurphy22 said:
Thanks guys! So, no eTA for me.


Just one more question (I know I know :p) If I am brought to a secondary interview, how long do you think I will be in there for? I am traveling with someone who is going on vacation and would like to know how long they will have to wait for me. Also, I will need to know because I will need to book further travel services to get to my final destination.

Also, if I am to land in Vancouver airport and somehow get through immigration fine, will I have to go through that if I get a domestic flight? Or should I avoid that and travel by ground / ferry?
no way to tell how long a secondary many take depends what they want to ask you and also how busy the airport is at the time, could be minutes could be an hour or so although latter unlikely .Maybe for a connection assume worst case 2 hours between connections and once through immigration thats it no more immigration once in the country for anything domestic.