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Maintaining RO whilst abroad and unable to return to Canada due to Covid-19

steaky

VIP Member
Nov 11, 2008
14,298
1,628
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
I'm caring for a sick parent so was wondering if there was a way.
Hope things improve soon. Thank you for the replies !
In some cases, taking care for sick parent could be considered grounds for H & C in connection to PR obligations.
 

dpenabill

VIP Member
Apr 2, 2010
6,252
3,018
I have a question regarding PR Residency Requirements.

I was living in Canada from Oct 2018 - April 2019. I had to come back to my home country because of a family emergency. I am unable to go back for the time being because of family reasons.

However, I do have an opportunity to work for a Canadian business in my home country.
So, my question is: What are the requirements to complete the Residency Obligations while employed by a Canadian Employer abroad? How can my days be counted toward PR RO?
Any help or guidance would be highly appreciated.
You have been posing queries in multiple topics which largely involve the same circumstances and issues, resulting in piecemeal responses, to a large extent repeating the same questions in multiple topics, even going back to questions you posed more than a year ago.

For example, you asked about going and staying abroad to care for elderly and ill parents more than a year ago, and while the responses did not fully explain all the possibilities, they did illuminate key considerations. The key part of that exchange is here:
a question about the "compassionate grounds" condition. I landed in 2018 & I have been working in Canada for 4 months now. My parents are old and very sick so I have to move back to my home country to take care of them. Can I make a case to CIC that I wasn't in Canada because I had to take care of my parents and I couldn't bring them to Canada?

I can provide proof of their illness. Please do let me know. Thanks!
Others can comment and only take this as a personal view but I have doubts of success given if you only landed in 2018 then IRCC might view that when you applied and landed that your parents were already old and sick. With immigration unfortunately it sounds hard but is a scenario nearly everyone has to deal with at some point being away from loved ones.

Ultimately the most you could stay outside of Canada would be near 32 months given you have 4 months credit already after that whether you could claim H&C for not meeting the RO either on a future entry or applying for a PRTD or PR card might be a matter of luck.
Not sure why you think the answer to that question would have changed in the last year.

In any event, allowing credit toward complying with the PR Residency Obligation for a time period employed abroad by a Canadian employer tends to be rather narrowly applied. There are numerous topics here addressing this in some detail. Depending on the precise details, it is not necessarily so cut-and-dry as some have stated, but it is close enough to that those observations mostly tell the tale. Such as the statement that the PR needs to be employed in Canada, first, then essentially transferred to a temporary position abroad by the Canadian business. Some exception to this is POSSIBLE, but what is *POSSIBLE* can be way, way shy of what may be reasonably likely let alone what will be most likely.

At this juncture it appears you still have around or nearly two more years of leeway in the amount of time the RO allows any PR to be outside Canada and still comply. Without credit for time abroad and without relying on H&C reasons to excuse a breach of the RO.

The difference between how things go for the PR who is complying with the RO, even if just by a few days margin (which means being outside Canada fewer than 1095 days in the period between the date of landing and the fifth year anniversary of landing), and the PR relying on EXCEPTIONS, is HUGE. And especially so for the PR relying on H&C relief from the RO.

You can peruse the other topics here where these two issues are discussed in depth and get a better idea of the landscape you will be navigating if you are on a path which will mean that you exceed 1095 days abroad in your first five years. There are actual cases which have been officially published which are linked and discussed in many of those discussions. Look for longer and more in-depth discussions regarding:

-- exception allowing credit toward RO compliance while employed abroad by a Canadian business (again, this tends to be a narrowly applied exception and as others have observed, odds are very much against getting credit unless the PR is hired IN Canada and then TEMPORARILY assigned/transferred to a position abroad)​
-- exceptions allowing PRs to keep PR status despite the breach of the RO​

But the SAFE path is to avoid both, to avoid relying on credit for time abroad in the employ of a Canadian business AND to get to Canada to stay in time to avoid being abroad more than 1095 days during your first five years as a PR.

Here is a clue: if that is very difficult for you to accomplish, the odds are Canadian officials will apprehend you were not in a position to actually make the move to immigrate to Canada PERMANENTLY, with the outcome of an H&C assessment leaning in a rather predictable, not favourable direction.
 

Birju_1984

Full Member
Jan 2, 2017
32
1
Hello All,
Looking for suggestion / recommendations.

Me & wife did soft landing in Jan 2018. Upon returning from Canada to India, my company sent me to the US on work assignment (May 2018 to Nov 2019). I used to frequent to India from US and wife also had come to US on short term stay for couple of months. My wife delivered a baby in India in April 2019 and I returned from US work assignment in Nov 2019. Upon my return, I got passport and Visitor visa (TRV) for my daughter in India since we were serious and planned to move to Canada in April/May 2020 time frame which was very safe to meet 730 days requirement. Also, I had mentioned the same (moving in April/May 2020 time frame) in letter of explanation to IRCC during my daughter's visa application (TRV). However, due to this pandemic situation, we are not sure when we would be able to fly?

In short, our timeline for PR status in Canada is Jan 2018 to Jan 2023, so we have to be in Canada by max Jan 2021. I am planning to write to IRCC explaining everything in detail. If we happen to travel after Jan 2021, will IRCC accept this situation ?

Thanks in advance. Regards,
 

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
13,190
2,419
Hello All,
Looking for suggestion / recommendations.

Me & wife did soft landing in Jan 2018. Upon returning from Canada to India, my company sent me to the US on work assignment (May 2018 to Nov 2019). I used to frequent to India from US and wife also had come to US on short term stay for couple of months. My wife delivered a baby in India in April 2019 and I returned from US work assignment in Nov 2019. Upon my return, I got passport and Visitor visa (TRV) for my daughter in India since we were serious and planned to move to Canada in April/May 2020 time frame which was very safe to meet 730 days requirement. Also, I had mentioned the same (moving in April/May 2020 time frame) in letter of explanation to IRCC during my daughter's visa application (TRV). However, due to this pandemic situation, we are not sure when we would be able to fly?

In short, our timeline for PR status in Canada is Jan 2018 to Jan 2023, so we have to be in Canada by max Jan 2021. I am planning to write to IRCC explaining everything in detail. If we happen to travel after Jan 2021, will IRCC accept this situation ?

Thanks in advance. Regards,
Others can comment but doubt IRCC will be interested at all given it was a personal choice to not stay in Canada for last 2 or so years and the residency obligation is a pretty generous thing to meet and you still have 6 months or so to return. If airlines are not flying by end of this year then would suspect many will have gone bankrupt along with many countries economies.

Assuming you have valid PR cards then at least you can still board a plane. If you travel after January 2021 having by then failed the residency obligation then it will be CBSA at the POE that you have to convince and hope you do not get reported.

As PRs you would still be entitled to enter the country reported or not. If the latter then you would need to stay put for 2 plus years before renewing your PR cards.

Also keep in mind that , and I can be corrected, to sponsor your daughter you need to be meeting the residency obligation at the time and apply from within Canada.

So far there has been no sign of IRCC or CBSA showing any leniency for anyone failing the residency obligation using COVID as an excuse. The obligation is considered generous so regardless of COVID then someone was likely to be failing the RO anyway.

By all means decision is yours if makes you more comfortable to write to IRCC but to be honest personal view it would be a waste of time.
 

rajkamalmohanram

VIP Member
Apr 29, 2015
15,803
5,769
Hello All,
Looking for suggestion / recommendations.

Me & wife did soft landing in Jan 2018. Upon returning from Canada to India, my company sent me to the US on work assignment (May 2018 to Nov 2019). I used to frequent to India from US and wife also had come to US on short term stay for couple of months. My wife delivered a baby in India in April 2019 and I returned from US work assignment in Nov 2019. Upon my return, I got passport and Visitor visa (TRV) for my daughter in India since we were serious and planned to move to Canada in April/May 2020 time frame which was very safe to meet 730 days requirement. Also, I had mentioned the same (moving in April/May 2020 time frame) in letter of explanation to IRCC during my daughter's visa application (TRV). However, due to this pandemic situation, we are not sure when we would be able to fly?

In short, our timeline for PR status in Canada is Jan 2018 to Jan 2023, so we have to be in Canada by max Jan 2021. I am planning to write to IRCC explaining everything in detail. If we happen to travel after Jan 2021, will IRCC accept this situation ?

Thanks in advance. Regards,
I don't think so. There was no compelling reason (illness or other humanitarian reasons) as to why you stayed outside Canada. In this case, staying outside was purely a personal and conscious choice.

Having said that, there are instances where people returned to Canada without meeting RO (that is, they don't get reported when entering) and were able to stay in Canada continuously for the next 2 years and as a result, meet the RO. If you want to come after Jan 2021, you can try entering Canada and if you do not get reported, you can stay for 2 years continuously (never leaving Canada even for a single day) and you'll meet the RO.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,959
12,759
I don't think so. There was no compelling reason (illness or other humanitarian reasons) as to why you stayed outside Canada. In this case, staying outside was purely a personal and conscious choice.

Having said that, there are instances where people returned to Canada without meeting RO (that is, they don't get reported when entering) and were able to stay in Canada continuously for the next 2 years and as a result, meet the RO. If you want to come after Jan 2021, you can try entering Canada and if you do not get reported, you can stay for 2 years continuously (never leaving Canada even for a single day) and you'll meet the RO.
The issue with that plan is that they won’t be able to sponsor their child.
 
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rajkamalmohanram

VIP Member
Apr 29, 2015
15,803
5,769
The issue with that plan is that they won’t be able to sponsor their child.
Yup. That is true. I am not a big fan of this plan either - I have seen some of these cases on this forum, just letting them know this might be possible. But yeah, in that case, they can't sponsor their child.