Proof of time abroad with Canadian Citizen Spouse

[Tuesdayc]

Hi All,

just wanted to check if anyone has experience with regards to using this as part of their 730 days? Reason being, I have been in Canada for more than 730 days in the last 5 years, however, within this 5 years, I have also relocated with my spouse and kids out of Canada. As such, I am not sure if I have sufficient documentation to proof the 730 days within Canada and wanted to supplement it with documents to utilize the “travel time” abroad with spouse as part of the residency requirement.

Thanks a lot.

 

[dpenabill]

just wanted to check if anyone has experience with regards to using this as part of their 730 days? Reason being, I have been in Canada for more than 730 days in the last 5 years, however, within this 5 years, I have also relocated with my spouse and kids out of Canada. As such, I am not sure if I have sufficient documentation to proof the 730 days within Canada and wanted to supplement it with documents to utilize the “travel time” abroad with spouse as part of the residency requirement.

Instructions describing what supporting documents to include with a PR card application are set out in the guide, Appendix A, which is here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5445-applying-permanent-resident-card-card-first-application-replacement-renewal-change-gender-identifier.html#appendixA

The particular supporting documents for the exception allowed PRs who are accompanying their Canadian citizen spouse abroad, for those who were "outside Canada for more than 1095 days," are described under the heading "Situation B. Accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada"


REMINDERS:

-- The PR must be physically present IN Canada when making the PR card application.​

​

-- Instructions describe the supporting documents necessary to make a complete PR card application. This is not the equivalent of responding to a Residency Questionnaire, or what proof would need to be submitted attendant a Residency Determination hearing, in the event IRCC has Residency Obligation compliance concerns. The latter requires the PR to present sufficient evidence ("proof") to prove by a balance of probability enough presence credit to meet the RO. The former, what needs to be submitted with a PR card application, does not need to meet that burden of proof; it needs to be consistent with the instructions and otherwise is largely about providing IRCC with enough information and corroborating documentation for IRCC to decide if more proof is needed, either some additional supporting documentation, or in some cases up to proof beyond a balance of probabilities. ​

 

[canuck78]

Hi All,

just wanted to check if anyone has experience with regards to using this as part of their 730 days? Reason being, I have been in Canada for more than 730 days in the last 5 years, however, within this 5 years, I have also relocated with my spouse and kids out of Canada. As such, I am not sure if I have sufficient documentation to proof the 730 days within Canada and wanted to supplement it with documents to utilize the “travel time” abroad with spouse as part of the residency requirement.

Thanks a lot.

Partially dependent on whether you did establish your life with your family in Canada after receiving PR. How much time did you family live in Canada before leaving and had you a been living (esp working/studying) in Canada before you received PR? How much time have you been living with your spouse outside of Canada?

 

[Besram]

Hi All,

just wanted to check if anyone has experience with regards to using this as part of their 730 days? Reason being, I have been in Canada for more than 730 days in the last 5 years, however, within this 5 years, I have also relocated with my spouse and kids out of Canada. As such, I am not sure if I have sufficient documentation to proof the 730 days within Canada and wanted to supplement it with documents to utilize the “travel time” abroad with spouse as part of the residency requirement.

Thanks a lot.

What do you mean you don't have sufficient evidence for the 730+ days you spent in Canada? They are only asking for two documents as evidence, and if you've lived in Canada it shouldn't be too difficult to produce them? Bank statements, tax returns, payslips, rental agreements, etc.

If you can avoid it and you have sufficient days in the country, consider not relying on the "accompanying spouse" RO credit, because that will make it much more likely for your application to take longer to process, as this is something that tends to attract more scrutiny.

 

[Tuesdayc]

What do you mean you don't have sufficient evidence for the 730+ days you spent in Canada? They are only asking for two documents as evidence, and if you've lived in Canada it shouldn't be too difficult to produce them? Bank statements, tax returns, payslips, rental agreements, etc.

If you can avoid it and you have sufficient days in the country, consider not relying on the "accompanying spouse" RO credit, because that will make it much more likely for your application to take longer to process, as this is something that tends to attract more scrutiny.

Yes, I believe I do have sufficient days including visits to Canada after moving overseas. The problem is we did not keep the bank statements and hydro bills (not every month at least) and as such, may have some difficulty furnishing those. We had our cell phone bills under hubby’s name so those aren’t useful. I do have grants received into our business though, so hopefully that will work.

 

[Tuesdayc]

Partially dependent on whether you did establish your life with your family in Canada after receiving PR. How much time did you family live in Canada before leaving and had you a been living (esp working/studying) in Canada before you received PR? How much time have you been living with your spouse outside of Canada?

Yes, I did my undergrad and worked two years in Canada before moving back to my home country for 4 years. After that, hubby and I got married and we moved back to Canada and applied for my PR then. It got approved in 2014 and I lived in Canada up till end 2021, before we decided to move to my home country with the kids. The hubby does fly back and forth (between here and Canada) as his parents and our dog are still there. So we are coming up to 2.5 years out of Canada currently. We will be visiting Canada together in May this year, and since my PR card expires in a Nov, I am debating if I should renew it despite having insufficient documents to prove the 730 days there (we did not keep all the paperwork unfortunately). Or should I let it expire and apply for a PRTD when we are ready to move back in a year or two.

 

[Tuesdayc]

T

Instructions describing what supporting documents to include with a PR card application are set out in the guide, Appendix A, which is here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5445-applying-permanent-resident-card-card-first-application-replacement-renewal-change-gender-identifier.html#appendixA

The particular supporting documents for the exception allowed PRs who are accompanying their Canadian citizen spouse abroad, for those who were "outside Canada for more than 1095 days," are described under the heading "Situation B. Accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada"


REMINDERS:

-- The PR must be physically present IN Canada when making the PR card application.​

​

-- Instructions describe the supporting documents necessary to make a complete PR card application. This is not the equivalent of responding to a Residency Questionnaire, or what proof would need to be submitted attendant a Residency Determination hearing, in the event IRCC has Residency Obligation compliance concerns. The latter requires the PR to present sufficient evidence ("proof") to prove by a balance of probability enough presence credit to meet the RO. The former, what needs to be submitted with a PR card application, does not need to meet that burden of proof; it needs to be consistent with the instructions and otherwise is largely about providing IRCC with enough information and corroborating documentation for IRCC to decide if more proof is needed, either some additional supporting documentation, or in some cases up to proof beyond a balance of probabilities. ​

Thanks a lot. The 1095 days rule does help a lot since we are definitely under the 1095 days still.

 

[armoured]

Yes, I believe I do have sufficient days including visits to Canada after moving overseas. The problem is we did not keep the bank statements and hydro bills (not every month at least) and as such, may have some difficulty furnishing those. We had our cell phone bills under hubby’s name so those aren’t useful. I do have grants received into our business though, so hopefully that will work.

you do not need to provide ALL the documents requested. They ask you to provide two documents. In other words, you are providing EVIDENCE of some time residing in Canada, not PROOF covering all of the dates you claim to be living in Canada. If they want more, they'll ask for it.

I'd warn, I'm not sure how they'll treat a case of someone factually (and evidently) not residing in Canada at time of applying, but don't see any issue proceeding to apply.

Given that you are residing abroad, I think there is some logic in putting the 'time residing with citizen spouse' information. I say this as much so that in future, if examined, you'll have good documentation on it.

That said, I also understand @Besram 's point that it may result in extended processing. My intuition is that it's possible you will end up in extended processing anyway -a nd again, advantageous to have it on record in future that you qualify for this exemption. But I'm not dictating, only intuiting.

 

[canuck78]

Yes, I did my undergrad and worked two years in Canada before moving back to my home country for 4 years. After that, hubby and I got married and we moved back to Canada and applied for my PR then. It got approved in 2014 and I lived in Canada up till end 2021, before we decided to move to my home country with the kids. The hubby does fly back and forth (between here and Canada) as his parents and our dog are still there. So we are coming up to 2.5 years out of Canada currently. We will be visiting Canada together in May this year, and since my PR card expires in a Nov, I am debating if I should renew it despite having insufficient documents to prove the 730 days there (we did not keep all the paperwork unfortunately). Or should I let it expire and apply for a PRTD when we are ready to move back in a year or two.

Unless you plan on returning to Canada to pick up your card in person, which is often required, when living abroad I would consider applying for a multiple entry PRTD instead of renewing your PR card. It appears as though you are only looking to visit Canada so a PRTD would work well. I would make sure to specify that you would like a multiple entry PRTD in your application.