PR Renewal Questions.

[pred8er]

Hi All,

I have a couple of questions in regards to renewing my PR Card, I will provide some background information also. I would happily contact CIC but I am in the US at the moment for work.

I received my PR card in January 2011 and everything went very well with no issues. BUT my wife and I moved out of Canada the same month since we had a child and she wanted to be a stay at home mother. We moved into Chicago, USA where my family resides and my job pays a lot more allowing her to be a stay at home mom.

I know I can renew my PR card since she is staying with me even though we have been out of the country (she is a Canadian Citizen, I am a US Citizen)

Here are my questions if anyone can please help:

1. What proof is needed for me to show we have been living together? She has been a stay at home mom and not been working (she start work in January 2014 however to continue her career)

2. When should I renew my PR card - I thought it was 2 years before it expires but i might be wrong about this. I am not sure if I ought to start the process now or wait until next year perhaps.

3. Does this time also count towards my Canadian Citizenship? The PR time certainly counts as long as your spouse is with you outside of the country. - I ask since our goal is to come back to Canada within a few more years once we finish up our contracts with our job and have more money in our pockets.

Thank you.

 

[scylla]

1. Joint leases, joint property ownership, joint bills.
2. Six months before expiry is about right. If you sent it in much sooner, they'll either hold the application until you're closer to expiry or return it to you and tell you to submit it later.
3. No - this time does not count towards citizenship. For citizenship you need actual physical presence in Canada.

 

[pred8er]

thanks for the information, but the problem is we have no joint bills.

i just paid all of the bills and they were just always under my name....

the only thing we have now is a join property in our name on a house we bought in February 2013. The bills STILL just come under my name - it just doesnt bother either of us this way...

if she needs to buy anything she just uses my credit cards etc...

however we did file taxes jointly (she is just listed as a homemaker) - would this count? I am not sure if that would be proof that she was staying in the US with me....

 

[pred8er]

we have car insurance renewal forms since she has been here. the car is under my name but she is listed as primary driver.

she also has her US green card that we applied for as soon as we got here and she has had this since i think Nov 2011...

would this help as proof?