PR card expires in Nov 2014 not meeting 730 Days and need to Sponsor my Child

[PR_FORUM]

Hi All,

Thank you all for your contribution on this forum and Leon you have been so wonderful in answering the queries and it provides a lot of insight. Here is my situation.

I got my PR cards in 2009 OCT and i did my landing in Oct 2009 through land along with my family. I stayed in CANADA for a month or so with my family and then we came back to US after that i have been visiting(in total stayed one month on my lasts visits) CANADA through land but I have never lived there. Now my situation is that i want to go back to CANADA and live there and there is no way i can meet the 730 day mark before Oct 2014. Please help to answer the following questions

1) My reason of staying in US was not related to Health/Compassionate grounds and I guess there is no way i will be able defend myself in case they send me for an appeal

2) Also it seems like if they allow me to get in without reporting then we will have to stay in CANADA for next two years without moving out and then renew our PR cards. In addition to this our son was born in 2010 in US and he does not have a CANADA PR, my question is if i apply for his PR then they will come to know that i have not met my residency status and may ask us to leave. My son carries a US passport and I am not sure for how long he can stay in CANADA(may be six months without visa) or if he will have to get a visa for CANADA considering he will have to stay for two years.

3) I still have my Landing papers which has the list of things to follow, my question is, if that list is still valid and will i be able to import my stuff along with my cars which are on the list

I appreciate your time in getting through this and will be thankful for your responses. My situation gets a little bit complicated because i am on H1B visa in US and also have a house in US, I want to understand the risk involved in this considering my son does not have a CANADA PR and we will have to apply for his PR once we land.

 

[Leon]

Your problem is that you can not sponsor your son after you land because as soon as you try, immigration will know that you did not meet the residency requirements and they could revoke your PR.

There is a woman on this forum who left a husband and child in Pakistan in order to come to Canada alone and sponsor. She was called for an interview for the very reason that she tried to sponsor without meeting the residency requirements herself. However, she had mitigating circumstances for not meeting the residency requirements which was taking care of her sick mother in law as well as her small baby of course. She also spent a year in Canada before she applied to sponsor so she was well established in Canada at the time of her interview with a steady job, house and car. They decided to let her keep her PR. If you have no mitigating circumstances, you may not be so lucky.

You have 2 options as far as I can see. One is to split up your family so that either you or your spouse goes to Canada in order to meet the residency requirements and the other stays with your child in the US. The one who stays in the US will lose their PR. The other can sponsor them again once they have their 2 years. The other option would be to take your son to Canada on a visitor status and let him get out of status and hope you wont get caught for the 2 years you need in order to meet your residency requirements again. It is not like your son is going to be working at his age and there are no exit checks so they may not even know that your son is still in Canada or if he has left again. However, you would have a problem getting health care for him so you should definitely have insurance for him.

 

[PR_FORUM]

Hi Leon,

Thank you for your reply, greatly appreciated.

Second option seems to be more better where i can take my son as a visitor and buy the insurance. I am planning to go by land and i am hopeful that i will have a job offer by the time we go in April . so i guess my question is if i consider to go in April with 16 months left on my PR what do you think the chances are to get through by land without being reported and questioned on the birder. I know it is hard to tell since it depends on the officer but in general based on your experience on this forum.

Apart from that if you could help to clarify regarding the goods to follow list and confirm if that list is still valid since it has my two cars and other house old stuff in it. Thanks.

Regards
Raman

 

[Leon]

I don't know what your odds are to get in without being reported but I'd think pretty good. It doesn't seem like people are reported at the border very often.

 

[PR_FORUM]

Thank you Leon for your reply. Any idea if the goods to follow list is still valid or it has some time limit on it. Since i am planning to go by land so i can take a uhaul and bring in all my stuff using that List

 

[Msafiri]

Hi Leon,

....Apart from that if you could help to clarify regarding the goods to follow list and confirm if that list is still valid since it has my two cars and other house old stuff in it. Thanks.

Regards
Raman

IMHO turning up at the border with a list of goods to follow 3+ years after landing is a red flag...CBSA agent may follow up why this this wasn't done previously so in your shoes I'd let it slide. How many days of physical presence do you get when you add up the 'In Canada' days you have and those you can potentially have if you moved to Canada today up to the 5 year mark post landing date (Oct 2014).

 

[PR_FORUM]

Thank you Msafiri,

1 would have stayed 50 days in CANADA as of today and we can add another 635 days if i move today so in total 685 which is still less then 730. Apart from that the last time i came back from INDIA was in Jun 2010 and they have never stamped my passport while going into CANADA or coming back to USA because i have been using visa re-validation on all my trips after jun 2010. infact they do not even check my passport while going into CANADA because i am a PR holder.

I am not sure if this condition helps or worsen my situation.

 

[SenoritaBella]

If your son is granted visitor status to enter Canada, why not apply for extension instead of letting it run out? You never know, something like a speeding ticket could lead to a check in status and if it's uncovered that your son has overstayed his welcome, imagine what your stress levels will be? One of you may have to leave with the child and if you haven't meet residency obligations at the time, you risk losing PR status too.

 

[PR_FORUM]

Thanks Senoritabella for your response.

Seems like you are suggesting that it is very much possible to extend the stay for a US citizen in CANADA and since that will be done through US embassy so i guess my question is how many times we can extend the stay of a US citizen in CANADA. Not sure if there is a limit on it.

 

[SenoritaBella]

The application for extension will be done through a Canadian visa office or the border(visa-exempt applicants). You can apply to extend your son's stay(I would seek legal advice to be on the safe side) and will have to satisfy the officer that the child won't overstay his visit, so no guarantees.

Thanks Senoritabella for your response.

Seems like you are suggesting that it is very much possible to extend the stay for a US citizen in CANADA and since that will be done through US embassy so i guess my question is how many times we can extend the stay of a US citizen in CANADA. Not sure if there is a limit on it.

 

[PR_FORUM]

Thanks Senoritabella, Appreciate your response.

It will be great if you or someone else may recommend an Attorney who can be helpful in this case.

 

[Msafiri]

Thank you Msafiri,

1 would have stayed 50 days in CANADA as of today and we can add another 635 days if i move today so in total 685 which is still less then 730. Apart from that the last time i came back from INDIA was in Jun 2010 and they have never stamped my passport while going into CANADA or coming back to USA because i have been using visa re-validation on all my trips after jun 2010. infact they do not even check my passport while going into CANADA because i am a PR holder.

I am not sure if this condition helps or worsen my situation.

If the CBSA agent is doing their job properly then he/she scans your PR card on entry so they know when you returned even if there are no physical stamps. IMHO the lack of stamps likely works in your favour and the CBSA agent will likely just let you in but there is no guarantee that the agent you find will not ask questions. The general feedback on this forum is that PRs crossing land borders particularly if they have an unexpired PR card with say a year buffer to expiry usually get waved in without much questioning. Key thing is to answer those questions asked and not to volunteer additional information i.e the 'do you know what time it is' approach.

You can extend your son's visitor status inland just fill out the relevant form (check the CIC site it has current versions) and mail it approx 2 weeks before his 6 month admission into Canada expires. You don't need a lawyer for your situation unless you are reported at entry.

Good luck

 

[PR_FORUM]

Hello Msafiri,

Thank you for your response and clarifying regarding my Son's situation. I am trying to find a job before i move there and hopefully that will work in my favor once i go to the border. Thanks