How Long one can stay Outside Canada after getting P.R

[Balie]

My sister reached Canada during April 2011 and due to personnel reasons she came back after two months . Her P.R Card is valid upto June 2016. Kindly intimate how long she can stay outside Canada continuously

Regards
Balie

 

[Baloo]

From the CIC Website

Your permanent resident status allows you to live in Canada, but there is also a time limit on how long you can live outside the country. To keep your status as a permanent resident, you must live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/about-pr.asp

 

[steaky]

As long as she is accompanying her Canadian citizen spouse, she can continuously living outside Canada.

 

[casual]

As long as she is accompanying her Canadian citizen spouse, she can continuously living outside Canada.

Even if the PR card has expired?? If this is the case, she can then return to Canada after 10 or 15 years, show proof that she has met the residency obligation by being with her Canadian citizen spouse in another country and renew her card no problem?

 

[Leon]

Even if the PR card has expired?? If this is the case, she can then return to Canada after 10 or 15 years, show proof that she has met the residency obligation by being with her Canadian citizen spouse in another country and renew her card no problem?

Yes, she could. If she is not visa exempt to Canada, she would have to apply for a travel document. They will only ask about the last 5 years and if she has been accompanying her Canadian spouse outside Canada for at least 2 years out of those last 5, she meets the residency requirements, gets her travel document and can return to Canada and renew her PR card.

 

[toby]

As long as she is accompanying her Canadian citizen spouse, she can continuously living outside Canada.

True, Steaky, but the devil is in the details, as they say.

First, how to prove the time was spent with a Canadian spouse? There have been many posts on this topic, without any one identifying conclusive proofs (bank statements etc, can all be questioned by a CIC official who wants to be sceptical). I keep coming back to taking a photo of the two periodically, with the day's newspaper in the frame showing the day's date. That would surely be the best proof.

I have two problems providing such proof:

1) Living in China, I don't have ready access to English newspapers, and paying to translate the entire front page of a Chinese newspaper (once per month) just to get the date entered as evidence seems expensive. (Some people might suggest that the newspaper need not be translated, since the date will be in Roman letters, but I assume that Canada enforces to the last letter its requirement that any document be translated into English or French, without exception.)

2) I have tried to print English newspapers off the Internet, but the dates are extremely small, and are almost invisible in a photograph large enough to show our two faces (my wife's and mine).


Anyone have new solutions to these two problems? Actually, solving problem 2 makes problem 1 go away.


And finally, renewing a PR card requires the PR to be in Canada. While it is true that a PR can perpetually renew his/her status while living abroad with a Canadian spouse, applying for a new PR can be done only in Canada, and the PR must personally go to a local CIC office to pick up the card. Since it can take a quite a long time between application and PR card retrieval, the PR must either spend a few months in Canada, or fly back and forth, getting a travel document (allowing entry into Canada without the PR card) each time. This is expensive.

I'm not trying to be negative; just preparing those abroad for difficulties at renewal time.

 

[Leon]

Toby, I have never heard of a person who was not believed when they said they had been accompanying their Canadian spouse overseas. I think you are being a bit overly worried here. Besides, a photo of the two of you together does not prove that you were living together. It only proves that you were in the same location on that day. A joint lease, joint utilities, joint insurances, insurances listing each other as beneficiary etc. I think is better evidence that you are still living together as a couple.

As for renewing the PR card, the application must be made from inside Canada but the applicant doesn't necessarily have to be, see:

R56(2) states clearly that a PR card application must be made in Canada. Furthermore, the card must be delivered in person to each applicant, pursuant to R58(3), and be picked up within 180 days of the person receiving notification that it is ready for collection. This enhances the integrity of the application process, allowing the local office to contact the client to review documentation and assess residency issues in person. However, it is recognized that the Regulations do not specify physical presence in Canada for purposes of filing a PR card application. Applications cannot be refused solely on the basis of evidence that the applicant was not in Canada when the application was filed. However, applicants are expected to provide an address in Canada where they may be contacted to provide additional information or to present themselves in person for the purposes of reviewing either identification or eligibility for the PR card.

 

[AllisonVSC]

I don't see why a person living exclusively outside of Canada with a citizen spouse would need to renew a PR card anyway. Until such time as they settle in Canada and/or the PR plans to travel in and out of Canada, maintaining the card while out of the country for extended periods is useless, right?

 

[toby]

Toby, I have never heard of a person who was not believed when they said they had been accompanying their Canadian spouse overseas. I think you are being a bit overly worried here.

Perhaps, but have you been denied a temporary visa on the basis of reasons that would not pass a high school course in logic? I acquired my skepticism through bitter experience. :-(


Besides, a photo of the two of you together does not prove that you were living together. It only proves that you were in the same location on that day.

You're right, of course. In effect there is no documentation that absolutely and unequivocally proves a couple is living together in a marriage. Not photos (although one each month for 5 years would indicate a certain physical closeness, at least) not a joint lease (which could be arranged solely to "prove" cohabitation, even though the two did not live together), not joint utility bills (see the logic against leases). Arranging this documentation would admittedly be a rather lengthy charade to maintain, but not impossible.

A joint insurance policy would be more convincing, because it would cost money, but if one of the spouses were un-insurable, this would not be available as a proof.

A joint lease, joint utilities, joint insurances, insurances listing each other as beneficiary etc. I think is better evidence that you are still living together as a couple.

As for renewing the PR card, the application must be made from inside Canada but the applicant doesn't necessarily have to be, see:

Ah, well that's a help. So, apply from abroad, and be ready to hop a plane to Canada to pick up the card. However, if the photo is rejected (as happens to some), be ready to hop two planes to Canada. Still, all this is a bit more difficult than is implied by the simple statement that a PR can renew as long as he/she is with a Canadian spouse while abroad.

Again, my purpose is not to be defeatist, but rather to prepare people for the complexity of the renewal process.

 

[toby]

I don't see why a person living exclusively outside of Canada with a citizen spouse would need to renew a PR card anyway. Until such time as they settle in Canada and/or the PR plans to travel in and out of Canada, maintaining the card while out of the country for extended periods is useless, right?

Not so. The Pr might well want to visit Canada, and a PR card is mighty handy for that. While ease of travel is not the primary purpose of the PR card, having one makes travelling to other countries much easier for a person with a Chinese or Colombian passport.

 

[AllisonVSC]

Not so. The Pr might well want to visit Canada, and a PR card is mighty handy for that. While ease of travel is not the primary purpose of the PR card, having one makes travelling to other countries much easier for a person with a Chinese or Colombian passport.

precisely the reason for the "and/or" in my post...

 

[steaky]

I have two problems providing such proof:

1) Living in China, I don't have ready access to English newspapers, and paying to translate the entire front page of a Chinese newspaper (once per month) just to get the date entered as evidence seems expensive. (Some people might suggest that the newspaper need not be translated, since the date will be in Roman letters, but I assume that Canada enforces to the last letter its requirement that any document be translated into English or French, without exception.)

I used to live in Shanghai, China, but I can find English newspaper such as China Daily in my neighbourhood newstand and major bookstores. I think you can order it through your local post office

2) I have tried to print English newspapers off the Internet, but the dates are extremely small, and are almost invisible in a photograph large enough to show our two faces (my wife's and mine).

Do you use ATM bank machines? You can print out receipts for free daily


Anyone have new solutions to these two problems? Actually, solving problem 2 makes problem 1 go away.


And finally, renewing a PR card requires the PR to be in Canada. While it is true that a PR can perpetually renew his/her status while living abroad with a Canadian spouse, applying for a new PR can be done only in Canada, and the PR must personally go to a local CIC office to pick up the card. Since it can take a quite a long time between application and PR card retrieval, the PR must either spend a few months in Canada, or fly back and forth, getting a travel document (allowing entry into Canada without the PR card) each time. This is expensive.

Not quite. If you can manage to turn your credit card pts to asia miles, you can save some money in redeeming a round trip plane ticket between YVR and PEK/HKG or hotel package.

I'm not trying to be negative; just preparing those abroad for difficulties at renewal time.