jis.fdk said:
Experts
I got my PR in Dec 2012 and landed in Canada from US with my family in Dec 2012.
Currently I live in US and work here and has not gone back to Canada after that. I applied for PR card but had some picture problems so didnot receive PR card.
Now i am again planning to go to Canada and live and work there.
Questions:
What are my best options?
Do i still have PR as i have not full filled living in Canada for 2 years in 5 year time frame.
I will appreciate help if you can guide me what should i do next.
jis.fdk said:
What are my best options are? Can you please tell me in detail. Thanks
There are no "best options."
As I understand your posts, you have no PR card and are clearly well in breach of the PR Residency Obligation.
You could travel to Canada and see how it goes at the border. If they identify you as a PR who has been outside Canada for three years, the probability is you will be reported, issued a Departure Order, and lose your PR status. You would be allowed to enter Canada, and you could appeal, but the odds of succeeding are not good.
If you are allowed to enter Canada without being reported, all you have to do is stay in Canada two years without applying for a new PR card, and without leaving Canada (which is really about avoiding an examination at the border when next returning to Canada), and that will cure the breach of the PR RO. Meaning your PR status would be good and you could then apply for a PR card and so on.
If you have a U.S. passport, it is relatively easy to travel to Canada from the U.S. and with a U.S. passport you probably have better odds of getting into Canada without being asked questions regarding your PR status and time in Canada. Hard to guess what the odds are.
If you do not have a U.S. passport, things at the border can vary widely depending on what country's passport you present.
If you do not have a visa-exempt passport, that's a big problem. You would have to assert your PR status. That will most likely lead to questions about PR RO compliance, being reported, issued a Departure Order, and losing PR status. (Same things could happen no matter which passport you present, if in screening your passport the border officer identifies you as a Canadian PR.)
One catch-22, among a few, is that if you arrive at the border looking like you are moving to Canada, the odds are far greater you will be examined more thoroughly, increasing the risk that your PR status will come up (do not lie when responding to questions) and you will have the option of surrendering your PR status or being Reported and issued a Departure Order.
Otherwise, just coming to Canada and staying for two years is not all that easy for most people, although it is easier as long as you have a Canadian SIN number, and preferably still have your SIN card. Without this you would not be able to be employed.
Without a valid PR card you will not be able to obtain a SIN card, and without that you cannot be employed. I suppose you could be self-employed (you are a PR, and thus it is not illegal for you to work, but to be employed your employer needs your SIN number), but you are going to run into problems with CRA eventually if you do that.
Those are just a few of the complications and difficulties. As I noted, there are not really any "best options."
foodie69 said:
I wonder why so many people go through the PR process and then not bother actually living in Canada. I simply do not understand..
Now the sh*t hit the fan in the US and everyone wants to come.
When life is relatively simple it is still complicated, and life for those attempting to emigrate/immigrate can be very complicated indeed. And
stuff happens. And for many it just is not all that easy to make the move.
It took me two decades to emigrate after I initially decided that was what I really wanted to do (was looking mostly to go somewhere a long, long way from Canada). And, actually I had given up. Then, as things are wont to go,
stuff happens, and then there is this woman to blame (to thank really), and Canada became the place to go. Surprised the
beat-beatles-so-it-goes-stuffing right out of me.
Who'd a thunk it? Turned out Canada was a great place to emigrate to. Not sure why I did not figure that out sooner (I had been regularly coming to Canada since the 50s, frequently during some periods of time), but yeah I tend to be a bit slow and, in any event, got here and here I am to stay, as happy an expat as just about any expat can expect to be.
And my journey was perhaps on the far, far easier end of the scale than it is for many.
This forum is rife with tales reflecting some rather difficult journeys, many who encountered all sorts of unexpected pitfalls and obstacles along the way. My guess is this tends to strengthen the resolve and character of many who make it here and settle here, who become real Canadians.
One might actually wonder more about how so many are able to make the move when finally the Canadian government grants a person status to bring herself or himself, and often her or his family, to this country, which as great a place to live as it is, can nonetheless be a difficult place to make a go of things for a stranger in a strange land.
