If PR renewal is delayed or additonal info- BEST SOLUTION PLEASE??

[canadianhabib]

Hi,
would appreciate your advice, my PR is due for renewal and csba report is missing a couple of entries in travel history. worst case if they require additional info or denied the renewal what are my options and has anyone experienced that and what is the best solution.
Shall I hire a lawyer right now and file via him or wait/see what they have to say.
thanks

 

[dpenabill]

Hi,
would appreciate your advice, my PR is due for renewal and csba report is missing a couple of entries in travel history. worst case if they require additional info or denied the renewal what are my options and has anyone experienced that and what is the best solution.
Shall I hire a lawyer right now and file via him or wait/see what they have to say.
thanks

Very few PRs need the assistance of a lawyer to apply for a replacement PR card. Indeed, if there are complicating circumstances suggesting a potential problem, it is probably better to wait, to just stay in Canada longer before making the application, long enough that there should be no room for a stranger bureaucrat to have doubts about the PR's compliance with the PR Residency Obligation.

To be clear, PR status does NOT require renewal. Once a PR you remain a PR unless it is taken away for inadmissibility (such as for failure to meet PR Residency Obligation or for serious criminality), you formally surrender it, you become a citizen, or if status in Canada is pursuant to refugee status there are cessation proceedings to terminate refugee status. You are asking about applying for a replacement PR card, not renewal of PR, although many do refer to this as a renewal.

The reason I so emphatically clarify this is that it is not necessary to obtain a renewed PR card except for the purpose of traveling abroad.

Which is to say, if issues are anticipated, except for a PR who needs to travel there is no problem waiting longer to apply for a new PR card.


Regarding CBSA report missing a couple entries:

Remember, it is your obligation to accurately report all time abroad regardless what any particular records show, be those government records like the CBSA travel history or any other records. And if you do indeed accurately report all travel, the odds of problems are low. Note that the copy of CBSA travel history which is available to clients does not necessarily show all the information CBSA or IRCC can access regarding an individual's history. Which is to say, generally IRCC has the capacity to verify much if not most, if not nearly all the information the PR submits, and this is a big part of why accurately reporting all time abroad minimizes the risks of problems.

This is more true each year than it was before.


The more significant issue, affecting how the PR card replacement process goes, is the extent to which the PR has in fact settled in Canada and has been living in Canada.

Queries in forums like this suggest more than a few PRs have the impression that meeting the minimum PR Residency Obligation should result in easily obtaining a replacement for their expiring PR card. Not sure why this misconception is so widespread, given that PR status is specifically about status to be a Permanent Resident in Canada, and obviously anyone spending nearly half or more of the time abroad is barely even a resident let alone settled permanently in Canada.

The remarkably lenient and flexible minimum requirements for preserving PR status are intended to accommodate real life contingencies which immigrants might encounter, and are not intended to accommodate life style choices.

In any event, for the PR who has been settled in Canada for three plus years, and mostly present in Canada the last three years, that is a PR who is well settled in Canada and has well over 900 days presence in Canada in the five years that count, the PR card replacement application should be routine. No problem. Of course the PR still needs to appropriately submit all the information requested in the application, including completely and accurately reporting all time abroad. But for such a PR, the odds of a problem in the replacement card application process are very low.


Insurance for missing entry records:

There are, occasionally, some cases in which the government does indeed question or outright doubt a PR's reported date of entry into Canada if, somehow, the CBSA travel history does not show that date. And yes this can be problematic, particularly if there is a broad span in time for which there is no clear documentation as to presence in Canada between that date of entry and next date of exit.

This is unusual (for anyone who has completely and accurately reported ALL travel), but it sometimes happens.

It should be easy to save some insurance for such contingencies: keep boarding pass and tickets for all international trips and/or keep a record of engaging in a specific activity in Canada on a date soon after the day of return. Easy for someone returning to regular employment in Canada: any documentation showing return to work at a location in Canada shows presence, shows the PR is back in Canada as of that time. But basically any objective documentation showing the individual is back in Canada should provide ample insurance for any doubts about being back in Canada.

 

[canadianhabib]

Dear Dpenabill
thanks so much for your reply and I completely get your point.
My concern is that legally I have done 730 but I didn't stay those 730 In last 3 years out of 5 and also those 730 were done in breaks. How much of a concern it is or how would it impact that I am missing a few entries or the fact that I completed those 730 in breaks.
As long as a person fulfills the RO(the legal requirement) and doesn't "settle" in Canada, what can or are chances of not being re-issued a SECOND pr card.
Also for the CSBA report, I personally think its not that accurate so as to record every movement etc.

 

[dpenabill]

Dear Dpenabill
thanks so much for your reply and I completely get your point.
My concern is that legally I have done 730 but I didn't stay those 730 In last 3 years out of 5 and also those 730 were done in breaks. How much of a concern it is or how would it impact that I am missing a few entries or the fact that I completed those 730 in breaks.
As long as a person fulfills the RO(the legal requirement) and doesn't "settle" in Canada, what can or are chances of not being re-issued a SECOND pr card.
Also for the CSBA report, I personally think its not that accurate so as to record every movement etc.

I should be clear: I am NO expert.

And each individual's situation is personal; the specific details matter.

The burden of proof is on the PR. Cutting it close is cutting it close, with more or less obvious implications.

Again, there is no compelling need to obtain a new card unless travel abroad is planned. But for a PR whose compliance with the PR RO might be questioned, even if a new PR card is obtained, traveling abroad could be risking a residency examination at the PoE the next time the PR returns to Canada. In the course of some recent research of IAD cases I was actually quite surprised by the number of cases in which PRs with valid PR cards had been reported and issued Removal Orders following a residency examination at a PoE.

Overall, when you choose to apply for a new PR card is a judgment call you personally need to make. If you are confident you can document the dates you have been present in Canada, there is no risk in making the application. It may take awhile, particularly if referred to secondary review, but eventually you should be issued a new card. And even if for some reason the application fails, that does not result in losing PR status so long as there is not a formal Residency Examination the outcome of which determines you had not been in Canada at least 730 days within the five years preceding that date (thus, if you do not travel outside Canada in the meantime, there is almost no chance of this happening).

But again, cutting it close is cutting it close.

I saw someone posting recently about having a ten day "margin" over the 730 day obligation before applying for a new card. I can only shake my head. That is no margin. That is cutting it incredibly close. This is different than the citizenship application, where reaching the minimum threshold for that means the individual must have been mostly settled in Canada. In contrast, even 800 days presence in the last five years, that is 800 out of 1825 days, does not reflect someone settling permanently in Canada, so that situation is obviously prone to inviting questions if not doubts.

Sure, as some may be quick to retort, meeting the requirements meets the requirements, and thus should suffice. And indeed, 731 days presence in Canada is as good as 931 days, but that is true IF, and only IF that is the actual conclusion reached, only if a stranger bureaucrat agrees with that conclusion. If there is no room to doubt the days, yes, 731 days suffice. But for a PR who declares having been in Canada 749 days, or even 800 days, there is always the prospect the stranger bureaucrat who is examining the PR will question if not doubt some of those days.


"Also for the CSBA report, I personally think its not that accurate so as to record every movement etc."

While I am not sure why you are stating this, at the least, yes, of course, the CBSA travel history does not necessarily capture every cross-border event. But again, the PR is required to report every trip. And if the PR does this, the odds of problems are low.