@newcommer2018:
PR cards are valid for either five years or one year from the date they are issued.
There is NO indication at all that a new PR card might be issued to expire the same date as a previously issued PR card.
The conventional wisdom, which is supported by sound reasoning, is to NOT make a PR card application if you are not in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation. The risk, what should be the obvious risk, is that the PR card application triggers the preparation of a 44(1) Inadmissibility Report, the first step in the procedure for terminating an inadmissible PR's status.
If you are in compliance with the RO, and you have lost your PR card, AND in the meantime you will be staying IN Canada, there is no reason to delay making the application for a new PR card. Without getting sidetracked with the risks of non-routine processing for a PR who is cutting-it-close (relative to the RO), and is applying to replace a lost card (both factors tending to elevate risk of increased scrutiny and non-routine processing), assuming the application is routinely processed, approved, and a new card issued, the new card will have an expiration date five years from the date it is issued.
If IRCC perceives that you are not in compliance with the RO, or has concerns about the reported loss of the card, or perceives the PR has gone outside Canada after applying, the PR card application can get entangled in non-routine processing, and depending on how that goes, what particular procedures take place along the way, IRCC might issue a PR card valid for one-year.
But as many are cautioning, a new PR card does NOT change anything in regards to RO compliance.
And neither did the first PR card. There is no such thing as "the RO for the duration of first card." I'm guessing you meant the RO for the duration of the first five years following the day you became a PR. The RO has nothing to do with the PR card.
There is nothing about calculating RO compliance that should be confusing. It is very simple: for the duration of the first five years, as long as the PR has not been outside Canada for more than 1095 days, the PR is in RO compliance. As of the fifth year anniversary of landing, to be in RO compliance the PR needs to have been IN Canada at least 730 days within the previous five years, as of any day, as of every day.
The date a PR card is issued, or the date it expires, is NOT relevant, whether it is the first card, a replacement card, or the fourth PR card.
First, foremost, if you are not in RO compliance, or even just cutting-it-close, the prospect of getting urgent processing for a PR card application is remote. IRCC policies and practices currently weigh heavily in the direction of requiring PRs to rely on obtaining a PR Travel Document rather than urgently processing a PR card application.
Indeed, the more salient risk is the opposite, non-routine processing resulting in a significant delay getting a new PR card. Again, cutting-it-close and applying to replace a lost card are both factors tending to elevate the risk of increased scrutiny and non-routine processing.
But either way, and what many others have tried to explain, it will make no difference what date the new card expires.
The main thing to understand about this is that even if you are issued a new PR card, good to early 2028 (not much chance of getting one issued before the end of this year; but if that happened, OK, then a new PR card valid until later 2027), if you leave Canada for any significant period of time and you are in breach of the RO when you return here, the risk of RO enforcement remains. A new PR card gets you on a plane to come to Canada. A new PR card gives you better odds that border officials waive you through without RO compliance questions in Secondary. But your history otherwise indicates a substantial risk of an alert (or as you referenced it, a "flag") that triggers a Secondary referral, and if that happens how it goes will first depend on how many days you have been in Canada within the five years prior to that day at the PoE, with less than 730 constituting a breach, and if in breach, it's all about the H&C factors.
PR cards are valid for either five years or one year from the date they are issued.
There is NO indication at all that a new PR card might be issued to expire the same date as a previously issued PR card.
The conventional wisdom, which is supported by sound reasoning, is to NOT make a PR card application if you are not in compliance with the PR Residency Obligation. The risk, what should be the obvious risk, is that the PR card application triggers the preparation of a 44(1) Inadmissibility Report, the first step in the procedure for terminating an inadmissible PR's status.
If you are in compliance with the RO, and you have lost your PR card, AND in the meantime you will be staying IN Canada, there is no reason to delay making the application for a new PR card. Without getting sidetracked with the risks of non-routine processing for a PR who is cutting-it-close (relative to the RO), and is applying to replace a lost card (both factors tending to elevate risk of increased scrutiny and non-routine processing), assuming the application is routinely processed, approved, and a new card issued, the new card will have an expiration date five years from the date it is issued.
If IRCC perceives that you are not in compliance with the RO, or has concerns about the reported loss of the card, or perceives the PR has gone outside Canada after applying, the PR card application can get entangled in non-routine processing, and depending on how that goes, what particular procedures take place along the way, IRCC might issue a PR card valid for one-year.
But as many are cautioning, a new PR card does NOT change anything in regards to RO compliance.
A new PR card does not affect calculating compliance with the PR RO. It does NOT "become the baseline." The expiration date of a PR card is NOT RELEVANT for determining if a PR is in breach of the RO.
And neither did the first PR card. There is no such thing as "the RO for the duration of first card." I'm guessing you meant the RO for the duration of the first five years following the day you became a PR. The RO has nothing to do with the PR card.
There is nothing about calculating RO compliance that should be confusing. It is very simple: for the duration of the first five years, as long as the PR has not been outside Canada for more than 1095 days, the PR is in RO compliance. As of the fifth year anniversary of landing, to be in RO compliance the PR needs to have been IN Canada at least 730 days within the previous five years, as of any day, as of every day.
The date a PR card is issued, or the date it expires, is NOT relevant, whether it is the first card, a replacement card, or the fourth PR card.
The intent focus on the prospective expiration date of a new PR card seems misplaced.
First, foremost, if you are not in RO compliance, or even just cutting-it-close, the prospect of getting urgent processing for a PR card application is remote. IRCC policies and practices currently weigh heavily in the direction of requiring PRs to rely on obtaining a PR Travel Document rather than urgently processing a PR card application.
Indeed, the more salient risk is the opposite, non-routine processing resulting in a significant delay getting a new PR card. Again, cutting-it-close and applying to replace a lost card are both factors tending to elevate the risk of increased scrutiny and non-routine processing.
But either way, and what many others have tried to explain, it will make no difference what date the new card expires.
The main thing to understand about this is that even if you are issued a new PR card, good to early 2028 (not much chance of getting one issued before the end of this year; but if that happened, OK, then a new PR card valid until later 2027), if you leave Canada for any significant period of time and you are in breach of the RO when you return here, the risk of RO enforcement remains. A new PR card gets you on a plane to come to Canada. A new PR card gives you better odds that border officials waive you through without RO compliance questions in Secondary. But your history otherwise indicates a substantial risk of an alert (or as you referenced it, a "flag") that triggers a Secondary referral, and if that happens how it goes will first depend on how many days you have been in Canada within the five years prior to that day at the PoE, with less than 730 constituting a breach, and if in breach, it's all about the H&C factors.
