Maintaining Perm Residency and Article 28 of IRPA

[Dome567]

Hello,

I'm wondering about some of the wording in Article 28 of the IRPA,

Residency obligation

28. (1) A permanent resident must comply with a residency obligation with respect to every five-year period.

Application
(2) The following provisions govern the residency obligation under subsection (1):

(a) a permanent resident complies with the residency obligation with respect to a five-year period if, on each of a total of at least 730 days in that five-year period, they are

(i) physically present in Canada,

(ii) outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent,

(iii) outside Canada employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province,

(iv) outside Canada accompanying a permanent resident who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent and who is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province, or

(v) referred to in regulations providing for other means of compliance;

(b) it is sufficient for a permanent resident to demonstrate at examination

(i) if they have been a permanent resident for less than five years, that they will be able to meet the residency obligation in respect of the five-year period immediately after they became a permanent resident;

(ii) if they have been a permanent resident for five years or more, that they have met the residency obligation in respect of the five-year period immediately before the examination; and

(c) a determination by an officer that humanitarian and compassionate considerations relating to a permanent resident, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected by the determination, justify the retention of permanent resident status overcomes any breach of the residency obligation prior to the determination.

2001, c. 27, s. 28; 2003, c. 22, s. 172(E).

How exactly is accompanying defined here?

So let's say a Canadian citizen wife/spouse is unemployed and as a housewife is simply accompanying her Permanent resident husband/spouse abroad. Would this be a problem? The law seems to state that the PR spouse should be accompanying the Canadian citizen spouse not the other way around. I'm confused on how to interpret this.

Any ideas? Anyone had any experiences with this?

Is documentation needed to prove this at the airport upon arrival after spending 3 or more years outside with a citizen spouse? What type of documentation does one need?

 

[Leon]

It's a question who is accompanying who but I don't think they would give you any trouble over it. Generally you only have to list your absences from Canada when you apply for your PR card to be renewed or if your PR card expires or is lost while in another country and you apply for a PR travel document. If they were to question your absences and not believe you, your passport should show at least some of the dates you travelled, you may have kept ticket stubs or boarding cards or confirmation emails or something. You may have some bills from the time you are living in Canada or from the Canadian spouse living with you in foreign country. You may have bills, bank card use, credit card use etc. or be able to get a copy of those statements back in time that can show where you and your spouse were at the time.

Apart from the PR card renewal, the border guards can question your PR status when you enter Canada but they would give you a month to supply your evidence so you do not actually have to bring anything with you when you arrive.

 

[Dome567]

It's a question who is accompanying who but I don't think they would give you any trouble over it. Generally you only have to list your absences from Canada when you apply for your PR card to be renewed or if your PR card expires or is lost while in another country and you apply for a PR travel document. If they were to question your absences and not believe you, your passport should show at least some of the dates you travelled, you may have kept ticket stubs or boarding cards or confirmation emails or something. You may have some bills from the time you are living in Canada or from the Canadian spouse living with you in foreign country. You may have bills, bank card use, credit card use etc. or be able to get a copy of those statements back in time that can show where you and your spouse were at the time.

Apart from the PR card renewal, the border guards can question your PR status when you enter Canada but they would give you a month to supply your evidence so you do not actually have to bring anything with you when you arrive.

Ok makes sense. I'm just worried about them making an issue about me not accompanying my wife (who is a citizen) rather it's her accompanying me but I guess as you said, they probably won't cause a fuss over this.

We definitely have a lot of documentation to prove that we are both outside Canada.

Thanks!