C24 and residency Obligation

[quasar81]

Hello,

I am sure this have been discussed earlier but I cannot find any old thread. We know that C24 is changing the RO to 4 years in preceding 6 years for CITIZENSHIP application.

But, how does it impact the residency obligation(without regard to citizenship). Previously it was to live in Canada for 2 years in 5 years. Was it changed and to what?

Me and my family recently moved to Canada after living in USA 3 years(after we had initially got PR 3 years ago). Basically we know we have to now live 2 years continuous to maintain papers, but that was previous rule. What is new.

Thanks!!

 

[david1697]

C24 has not affected RO in any way. So, for now rules remain the same.
But it would be reasonable to expect the changes sometime in near future , and in accord with recent trends.
It's possible that at some point stricter requirements will be imposed (may be similar to US, with 6 months out of 1 year presense required to maintain the status).
However, no such changes were made as of yet.
Hope this helps.

 

[dpenabill]

Ditto the response already given.

For emphasis: the observation about potential future changes warrants emphasis, particularly (my sense) if the Conservatives continue to form the government following the 2015 election.

It is always prudent for PRs living, working, or otherwise spending a lot of time abroad, to pay attention to any prospective changes to the Immigration laws.

The PR Residency Obligation has remained stable for a long while now, and I have seen no hints of impending changes to it (more strict enforcement of the existing law, but not implementing a more strict law). But it is something that can be amended by Parliament any year. For now my impression is that this government is satisfied that with just getting more strict in enforcing the residency obligation while otherwise leaving it as is despite how rather lenient it is (especially compared to some other nations, like the U.S.).

 

[Leon]

The PR residency obligation used to be 6 out of 12 months but it was changed in 2002 to the current 2/5 years. I haven't heard of any plans to change it back but who knows.