Filling Residency Obligation after PR Card Expiry

[moosa_27]

The CIC website clearly says "When your PR card expires, you still have your PR status and can stay in Canada". This makes me conclude that there is no rush to renew your card once it expires. But doesn't do much more explaining beyond that.
My Questions:

1. If by the time my PR card expires (and I am inside Canada) I have not met the residency obligation (say, I am 3 months short of the required 2 years), can I just stay inside another 3 months and *then* apply for PR card renewal? Will the officers be cool with the fact that I originally didn't meet RO when the card expired, but just stayed longer after the fact and now it's okay?
2. Will they check RO compliance when entering Canada from another country? Or is it that you can always enter with an un-enxipred PR card, and if you didn't meet RO, that is only going to affect you when renewing your card?

If the answer to both questions is desirable, that would mean I can travel out of Canada, even beyond my RO, then come back to Canada before the PR card expires, and just stay beyond my PR card expiry until I meet the RO again, and then apply for PR card renewal.

Sorry guys but these questions are vital for me as I have been working in the U.S for 3 years and I am now on the edge of not meeting RO, so I need to make decisions based on what exactly about RO affects me if I don't return to Canada immediately.

 

[scylla]

The CIC website clearly says "When your PR card expires, you still have your PR status and can stay in Canada". This makes me conclude that there is no rush to renew your card once it expires. But doesn't do much more explaining beyond that.
My Questions:

1. If by the time my PR card expires (and I am inside Canada) I have not met the residency obligation (say, I am 3 months short of the required 2 years), can I just stay inside another 3 months and *then* apply for PR card renewal? Will the officers be cool with the fact that I originally didn't meet RO when the card expired, but just stayed longer after the fact and now it's okay?
2. Will they check RO compliance when entering Canada from another country? Or is it that you can always enter with an un-enxipred PR card, and if you didn't meet RO, that is only going to affect you when renewing your card?

If the answer to both questions is desirable, that would mean I can travel out of Canada, even beyond my RO, then come back to Canada before the PR card expires, and just stay beyond my PR card expiry until I meet the RO again, and then apply for PR card renewal.

Sorry guys but these questions are vital for me as I have been working in the U.S for 3 years and I am now on the edge of not meeting RO, so I need to make decisions based on what exactly about RO affects me if I don't return to Canada immediately.

1. Yes - you can remain in Canada until you meet RO and then apply to renew your PR card.
2. Yes - they may check. It's always a bit risky to travel out of the country if you don't meet RO. If a CBSA officer suspects you may not meet RO when you are re-entering Canada, they can report you. This will trigger a review of your residency obligation and if you don't meet RO, will start the process to revoke your PR status (which you can try to argue if you have strong H&C reasons or appeal if refused).

 

[moosa_27]

Thank you. I was able to call CIC today and they confirmed both your points.

 

[vensak]

The CIC website clearly says "When your PR card expires, you still have your PR status and can stay in Canada". This makes me conclude that there is no rush to renew your card once it expires. But doesn't do much more explaining beyond that.
My Questions:

1. If by the time my PR card expires (and I am inside Canada) I have not met the residency obligation (say, I am 3 months short of the required 2 years), can I just stay inside another 3 months and *then* apply for PR card renewal? Will the officers be cool with the fact that I originally didn't meet RO when the card expired, but just stayed longer after the fact and now it's okay?
2. Will they check RO compliance when entering Canada from another country? Or is it that you can always enter with an un-enxipred PR card, and if you didn't meet RO, that is only going to affect you when renewing your card?

If the answer to both questions is desirable, that would mean I can travel out of Canada, even beyond my RO, then come back to Canada before the PR card expires, and just stay beyond my PR card expiry until I meet the RO again, and then apply for PR card renewal.

Sorry guys but these questions are vital for me as I have been working in the U.S for 3 years and I am now on the edge of not meeting RO, so I need to make decisions based on what exactly about RO affects me if I don't return to Canada immediately.

1. Minimum 3 months maximum 2 years - it all depends how does your previous stay in Canada look like (if for example you were absent last over 3 years and now are just missing 3 months, you still need to wait 2 years, because those 1.7 year that you had before will slowly "expire" - be more than 5 years ago; and you need to have more recent stay).
2. If they suspect that you might not meet RO (for example being outside for long period of time), they can send you to a secondary and there they can check your history of border crossing to Canada (or how you answered your questions upon arriving in the past).