I wanted to ask if I could apply for the PR card Renewal in advance?
I will be meeting the residency obligations (730 days) in the month of January 2018. If I apply now, the future 2 months(i.e December 2017 and January 2018) will be counted towards my residency days OR they WILL NOT be? The processing of the PR renewal takes around 2 months and my existing PR is expiring in the month of April 2018, so I would like to apply for the PR Renewal as soon as possible, without wasting any time.
- - - - - - - - - - -
I still did not get the thread where I could get the answer to my question related to the days between the PR Renewal application date( if I apply now) and the future date(Jan 2018) on which I meet the residency obligations. Will they be counted towards the residency?
I am a Permanent Resident since Feb 2013( although I received the PR card on April 2013). The PR Card is due to expire on April 2018(having completed 5 years).
After receiving Permanent Residency in Feb 2013, I stayed in Canada for around 1 year and 2 months and then left for home country due to some personal reasons. I stayed there for around 2 years and 11.5 months and returned back this year in the month of march(i.e March 2017)
It appears you are in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, as of now. But it also appears, very much so, that you are
cutting-it-close and as such have some fairly serious risks going forward. I elaborate below.
No - of course dates in the future will not be counted towards the residency obligation. This is common sense. Only days before you apply will be counted. If you apply now when you don't have sufficient days, renewal will be refused. You can only apply AFTER you have accumulated at least 730 days.
This is correct for any PR who has been a PR for five years.
However, in a separate topic the OP has reported being within the first five years of landing and becoming a PR. In particular, the OP reports landing in February 2013.
Thus, in any Residency Determination (including one attendant an application for a new/renewed PR card) as of a date prior to February 2018, IRCC will in fact
give credit for future days up to the fifth year anniversary of the date of landing.
Thus, for example, if the OP landed February 1, 2013, and the OP applies for a new PR card on November 22, 2017, compliance with the PR Residency Obligation will be based on days in Canada between February 1, 2013 and November 21, 2017, PLUS 69 days credit for the days between November 22, 2017 and February 1, 2018.
There are, however, some important caveats:
As
scylla,
canuck78, and
mats have all observed, the scenario described by the OP appears to be one in which it is very likely IRCC will pursue elevated scrutiny, including the prospect of a referral to Secondary Review, which could result in the PRC application taking many months, perhaps more than a year.
As
mats has further observed, there are factors suggesting elevated scrutiny in addition to or even apart from cutting-it-close relative to PR RO compliance.
Moreover, while the primary Residency Determination made in the course of processing the PRC application will be based on the date the application is made, thus
giving the OP credit for days in Canada since landing plus credit for future days up to the 5th year anniversary of landing, the OP is nonetheless subject to a separate Residency Determination any day going forward. Any such Residency Determination would be based on the respective examination date. Thus, even if as of the date the application is made the OP is in compliance, based on credit for future days up to the date of the 5th year anniversary,
any days of absence in the meantime will, of course, NOT COUNT in a subsequent Residency Determination.
The OP also reports that some of the days counted as in Canada go back to days (months) following the date of landing.
Those days will fall out of the calculation when they pass the five year mark. Thus, given how much the OP is clearly
cutting-it-close, the OP will need to be especially careful about absences in the coming year . . . remembering that even if the OP is promptly issued a new PR card, for example, if the OP leaves Canada in the coming year, the OP could face a Residency Examination upon arrival at a PoE when returning to Canada, and compliance will be based on actual days in Canada during the five years previous to that specific day.
Having a new PR card valid for nearly five years does NOT matter.
Given the OP's other posts, it appears that the OP spent most (perhaps nearly all) of the period between February 2013 and March 2014 in Canada. Thus, the OP will be losing credit (toward PR RO compliance) for those days during the coming year. Meaning it appears the OP will have a minimal margin for any further absences from Canada until March or April 2019.
And, ultimately, this also means it appears the OP has been in Canada for less than one year out of the last three years . . . suggesting there will likely be some question about the extent to which the OP is permanently settled in Canada. This alone tends to be a big factor in how skeptical IRCC will be in conducting a Residency Determination. This, in turn, means the OP could be challenged to more thoroughly prove actual presence during the days the OP claims to have been in Canada.
The latter is important. If challenged, and this scenario definitely suggests there is a risk of being challenged, the burden of actually proving presence in Canada can be more difficult to meet than many anticipate. The PR cannot just rely on getting credit for days in-between a date of entry into Canada and next date of exit. The PR may have to prove actual activity or presence for many of those days in-between date of entry and next exit.
Rather than carry on multiple conversations, in multiple threads, I will respond to the following here:
3) I was self Incorporated in 2013(in my first visit to Canada). When I went to my home country in March 2014, I worked remotely for some months from there and during this time, I continued to receive the paycheck in Canada. So, two questions related to this -
3. a) Could individual corporation be considered as the "Canada business" in regards to claiming the residency days of those few months (when I was working remotely) for the PR Renewal process?
3. b) Which documents do I need to submit to prove my remote work/Canada Income? I know the bank statements will be required which is NOT a problem. But will the corporation documents be also required? If yes, which all documents should be submitted?
Very little, if any chance, you would qualify for the credit given employees TEMPORARILY assigned abroad. So proof of remote work and Canadian income will not be relevant. This credit is typically very narrowly interpreted.
Overall, for the OP: forecasting individual cases is mostly about guessing. But no guessing necessary to recognize there is
a big RISK you will face elevated and potentially severe, perhaps even skeptical scrutiny. To significantly reduce your risks of more intensive, potentially severely negative scrutiny, you will probably need to remain IN CANADA, settled and working in Canada, for two plus some years (if you have been in Canada nearly all of the last ten months or so, those would count toward those two years). This observation is not about the rules, as such, but about the PRACTICAL way in which the rules might be applied in a scenario like the one you describe.
Edit to add:
One of the risks is that the OP could be called in for an interview any time after applying for the new PR card.
In particular, if the OP is otherwise called in for an interview attendant processing the application for a PRC, the focus of that interview is likely to be the PR's compliance with the PR RO as of that day. Absences in the meantime would spell serious problems for someone who is cutting-it-so-close. Such an interview could happen within a month or two after applying, or many months after applying.
Indeed, even if IRCC issues a new PR card, it is likely the OP will be required to personally appear to pick-up the PRC subject to a counter-interview. IRCC is quite likely to assess the OP's compliance with the PR RO as of that day, the day of the counter-interview. So even though IRCC has issued a new PRC, any absences in the meantime could spell serious problems for someone who is cutting-it-so-close.