PRC RENEWAL, USE OF CONSULTANT/LAWYER, RESIDENCY OBLIGATIONS CALCULATOR & OTHERS

[MIRACLES]

Hi Folks,

To renew our (parents and children) PRC, I was wondering if I could tap experts advise and assistance;

1) When will it be the perfect time to renew our PRC. Is it after we have met the residency obligations of staying 730 days in Canada within the last 5 years period?

2) Do we need to add buffer to the 730 days stay in Canada? if yes what number of days is appropriate as buffer?

3) How many days will it take Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC) to renew our PRC?

4) Is there a residency calculator for permanent residence on CIC website at www.cic.gc.ca to know when we have met the residency obligations requirement of 730 days stay in Canada within the last 5 years period? If yes can the link be posted on your response?

5) Is it advisable to use a representative (Consultant, Lawyer, etc) to renew our PRC? If yes what are the benefits and gains?

Thanks

MIRACLES

 

[Msafiri]

1. Wait till you have a minimum of 730 days.

2. Its sensible to add a buffer since a significant number of PRs mess up their day count and when CIC review the application it turns out they are below 730 days. There is no set 'appropriate' buffer since the more days the buffer the less the risk is of messing up. Note its better to have a provable 750 days than a non provable/ problematic 800 days. In my time on these forums a 10 percent buffer seems to work ok so circa 810 days.

3. Check processing times for PR Card renewals on CIC website - currently as at Aug 24, 2015 given as 131 calendar days. This is for routine applications where CIC does not need to conduct further checks on your claimed residency days. Check the thread on Secondary Review to see what happens with processing times if CIC want more info.

4. No but you should be able to figure out fairly quickly by reviewing your travels and time in Canada if you easily comply, utterly fail or are on the margins of the RO.

5. Legal representation can't make up for a shortfall in the RO since this is an absolute number. They can assist clarify for you/ present H&C grounds for a shortfall. Usually though its fairly obvious if you have a solid H&C reason since the forum and case law already tells you what flies - e.g got badly injured from a serious traffic accident and have been recuperating for 6 months and what doesn't - e.g lifestyle reasons such as a better job in country A than in Canada.