Hello,
I need your expert assistance. So, here is my situation
1. My PR is expiring on Sunday, Jan 19th, 2020. I am planning to land in Canada on the same day. Could this be an issue at the landing airport? What would be the best response to the immigration agents? The truth is I have been taking care of dad and brother, who unfortunately all passed in September 2019 and dad passed in 2018.
2. I have been living in Canada on/off for the last 5 yrs. However, when I count my physical days within Canada; I am afraid they are less than the required minimum of 730. I believe I have almost 600 days.
3. Should the immigration officials let me in, what will be the best course to get a new card? Should I wait for several more months to reach the 730 and renew my PR card? Could taking care of the family members esp parents be considered to renew my card?
4. Your assistance will be appreciated.
"My PR is expiring on Sunday, Jan 19th, 2020."
PR does NOT expire. Only the PR card expires. Like a passport expires. While other parts of your query suggest you may understand this, it is important to be clear about it.
Among the key reasons why this distinction is important relates to the observations offered by
@shettyhemant. In particular, the expiration date of your PR card has NO bearing on whether you will be allowed to enter Canada or, even, whether you might be issued a 44(1) Report for inadmissibility. As
@shettyhemant noted, what is at stake is whether or not you are referred to Secondary and there examined for compliance with the PR Residency Obligation. And for this, there would be virtually NO difference if you arrived at the PoE a month before the PR card expires or a month after the PR card expires.
Thus, as
@shettyhemant also noted, if referred to Secondary and a RO compliance examination, the outstanding question is whether or not you are Reported for the breach of the RO or you are given a pass based on sufficient H&C reasons justifying your retaining PR status.
There is, nonetheless, an important contingency for which the expiration date of your PR card matters: boarding a flight destined for Canada. A PR needs a valid PR card to board a flight headed to Canada. (Or obtain and present a PR Travel Document; there are also some exceptions, such as for PRs who are also U.S. citizens.) I do not know if a PR card is "valid" the exact date it expires, or as of that date is no longer valid. What I do know is that if your flight is delayed until just the next day, at least technically it will not be valid and will not meet the necessary boarding clearance requirements Canada imposes on airlines.
I tend to cut things too close way too often. This is NOT something I would have done, if at all possible to avoid it.
If, for example, you are not allowed to board the flight, that means you will need to apply for a PR Travel Document (unless you can arrange to travel via the U.S. and there travel to a land crossing PoE into Canada). And you will need to make a compelling H&C case in that application since a Residency Obligation compliance examination and calculation is a necessary part of the decision to be made by the Visa Office. As far as we can discern, Visa Offices tend to be significantly more strict, less lenient, than PoE officers.
Some Further Observations Assuming You Actually Travel and Arrive at a PoE soon:
Again, the expiration date of your PR card is largely irrelevant, and its particular expiration date is indeed NOT at all relevant, even if the expiration date is something which catches the PIL officer's attention and thus contributes to that first officer's decision to refer you to Secondary (and regarding this, again, arriving at the PoE ten days before the card expires, the day the card expires, or ten days after the card expires,
makes NO difference).
You may be "lucky" (as some will say, though "luck" has little to do with it), and as
@shettyhemant further noted, be waived into Canada without a referral to Secondary, without being questioned about your compliance with the PR Residency Obligation. If that happens, avoid any further transactions with either IRCC or CBSA, meaning do not make an application for a new PR card or travel abroad,
UNTIL you are for sure in compliance with the PR RO. It appears that will take at least, at the very least, until sometime in June. Thus, wait to apply for a new PR card ONLY when you are, for sure, in compliance with the RO; for example, if as of July 3, 2020 you for sure have been IN Canada at least 730 days between July 3, 2015 and July 3, 2020, you can make the PR card application any time AFTER that.
A PR does NOT need a valid PR card EXCEPT to present to airlines (or other commercial transporters) when the PR is traveling back to Canada.
REMEMBER: any days you were in Canada in early 2015 are now falling outside the relevant five years, so those days will NO longer count. Only days you have been IN Canada within the
previous five years count toward RO compliance.
Odds of Being Referred to Secondary on Arrival at PoE: It is very, very difficult to predict how the PoE examination will go. While many say you may be "lucky" and be waived into Canada without a referral to Secondary, without being questioned about RO compliance, how this goes does not depend on "luck" so much as it depends on a wide range of factors and circumstances in the individual PR's situation. Among key factors is how long it has been since the PR was last IN Canada. If you were last in Canada somewhat recently, within the last six or eight months, there is a good chance the PoE examination this next time will be very similar to your experience that time. If it has been longer than that, and especially if it has been well over a year, the odds of a referral to Secondary increase a lot. There are, nonetheless, many other factors which can influence how this goes.
Since you are in breach of the PR RO by a lot, not even close (having spent less than one-in-three days in Canada in the previous five years), it will be prudent to be well prepared for a Secondary examination as to RO compliance . . . leading to . . .
"2. I have been living in Canada on/off for the last 5 yrs. However, when I count my physical days within Canada; I am afraid they are less than the required minimum of 730. I believe I have almost 600 days."
Be prepared to detail all your dates IN Canada. If you were significantly closer to being in compliance, a rough estimate might be OK. But you are not anywhere near close, so it will be far more important for you to make a very positive impression you personally DESERVE the opportunity to keep PR status. Rough estimates are likely to come across as evasive. Precise details will, in contrast, help give the impression you are very serious about keeping your PR status so that you can settle and live in Canada PERMANENTLY.
Be prepared to present evidence of your H&C reasons for remaining abroad so long. Including some documentation, such as medical records, death certificates or at least obituaries or such, that will support the explanation you needed to stay with your family members. Carry this evidence on your person (not in checked baggage).
Be prepared to explain your plans to settle and live in Canada PERMANENTLY, including what you have done toward doing this and what you plan to do in this regard.
BE HONEST. Be forthright, forthcoming, and as accurate as possible. Any impression you are being evasive, let alone possibly hiding something or being deceitful, will make it a lot more difficult to persuade the officers you deserve the chance to keep PR status.
"3. Should the immigration officials let me in, what will be the best course to get a new card? "
As
@shettyhemant noted, you will be allowed to enter Canada. Question is whether or not you will be issued a 44(1) Report and a Departure Order. If the latter happens you can still enter Canada. If you really want to keep PR status, you can appeal. While you are well short of being in compliance with the RO, if you stay in Canada pending the appeal, along with your H&C reasons you should have a good chance of the appeal allowing you to keep PR status.
"Should I wait for several more months to reach the 730 and renew my PR card? "
At the least.
"Could taking care of the family members esp parents be considered to renew my card?"
Yes. But that is very risky. If you are waived into Canada or otherwise allowed to enter Canada without being issued a 44(1) Report, BEST to lay low and, as already noted, avoid applying for a new card until you are, at the very least, in compliance with the RO.