Problem With renewing long expired Residency card.

[NewYorkYankee89]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this site and this will be my first post. Sorry if This has been asked before.


I am a US Citizen but lived in Vancouver from 2004 to 2008. In Early 2007 I received my Permanent residency card and obtained a SIN number.I left Canada the following year with my girlfriend and moved to the US. In 2010 We got married and have been living together ever since arriving in New jersey. Due to adjusting to life over here again, I lost track of my PR card status and it expired in 2012. We are now considering moving to Toronto but we have been wondering about my PR card status. I am aware that if you do not reside within Canada for two out of five years that you will lose your residency status.I had read that if you are living with your Canadian spouse outside of the country, it can count as time towards meeting your obligations. I had spent one year physically in Canada, and was married to my wife who is a Canadian citizen for 2 years before my card expired.

In summary, my questions are:
1oes my situation allow me to meet the Obligations for being a Permanent Resident?
2:Because of the time since my card has expired, would renewing it be impossible?
3:Would it be better to apply from within Canada or outside?

 

[PMM]

Hi

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to this site and this will be my first post. Sorry if This has been asked before.


I am a US Citizen but lived in Vancouver from 2004 to 2008. In Early 2007 I received my Permanent residency card and obtained a SIN number.I left Canada the following year with my girlfriend and moved to the US. In 2010 We got married and have been living together ever since arriving in New jersey. Due to adjusting to life over here again, I lost track of my PR card status and it expired in 2012. We are now considering moving to Toronto but we have been wondering about my PR card status. I am aware that if you do not reside within Canada for two out of five years that you will lose your residency status.I had read that if you are living with your Canadian spouse outside of the country, it can count as time towards meeting your obligations. I had spent one year physically in Canada, and was married to my wife who is a Canadian citizen for 2 years before my card expired.

In summary, my questions are:
1oes my situation allow me to meet the Obligations for being a Permanent Resident?
2:Because of the time since my card has expired, would renewing it be impossible?
3:Would it be better to apply from within Canada or outside?

1. Yes.
2. No, but you are going to have to demonstrate that you were living with a CC spouse abroad. CIC won't take your word for it.
3. Since you can't apply for a PR card outside Canada, you don't have a choice.

 

[NewYorkYankee89]

Providing proof would be easy since we just got my wife a US Green card and had to provide proof of relationship here. ;D

So in order to renew my PR card, I need to be living in Canada?

 

[Leon]

The PR card renewal application must originate in Canada but it does say somewhere that it can not be refused solely based on that you are not in Canada when you apply. If you want to try this out, mail your application from inside Canada using a mailing address of your wife's relatives. Write a letter with your application fully admitting that you do not live in Canada and haven't for the past years but that you are planning on moving soon and that you are providing a safe mailing address in Canada for them to contact you. CIC will not send PR cards outside the country.

It is possible that they will request that you come in person to pick up your card but as a US citizen, being visa exempt, that shouldn't be a problem for you.