PRTD vs Residency Obligation. No PR card

[vvca]

hello all,

I got my PR status on Dec 25, 2017 and spent a week and left Canada.
1. My family (wife/ kid) got their PR cards with expiry of Feb 10, 2023.
2. My PR card was not issued due to Photo issue.

I am still outside Canada and dont think I can travel anytime before Dec 2021 due to other personal/ job commitments.

Would like your opinion on how best can I travel to Canada starting Jan 2022?

1. Can I travel via US-Canada land border with my passport and CoPR documents instead of applying for PRTD. The reason is, if I apply for PRTD now, i should plan to travel within next 10 to 12 months, which is not possible. If I apply for PRTD after Sep 2021 or in 2022, it may not be issued as I would have less than 2 years time.
2. Can I travel now on PRTD and apply for PR card, say sometime in 2020. If I do that, will my PR card be issued for 5 years from the date of application (2020 to 2025) or from the date of my PR status in 2017? If its issued from 2017, then its of no use to me.
3. Any other options do I have?

Appreciate your time/ response!

 

[k.h.p.]

You can try to enter via the US land border but if you haven't been in Canada since 2017 and won't return until 2021 or 2022 you will be in serious breach of your residency obligation and may be reported at the border and lose your PR.

If you haven't met your residency obligations, you will not get a new PR card. Applying for one, even if you're in Canada, while in breach of the RO will also likely lose you your PR status.

 

[vvca]

You can try to enter via the US land border but if you haven't been in Canada since 2017 and won't return until 2021 or 2022 you will be in serious breach of your residency obligation and may be reported at the border and lose your PR.

If you haven't met your residency obligations, you will not get a new PR card. Applying for one, even if you're in Canada, while in breach of the RO will also likely lose you your PR status.

W.r.t. my second question, I can apply for PRTD now and travel to Canada, say in May 2020, which is still good. The question is, if I apply for PR card after entering on PRTD in May 2020, will I get my PR card for next 5 years (from May 2020 to May 2025)?

 

[k.h.p.]

There's no guarantee they will issue it for five years. People close on their RO often get a card for one year.

Plus, even if you were to get a card for 5 years, if you left soon after and didn't return until 2021, you'd still be in breach of your RO. The residency obligation doesn't reset with a card; it's a five year rolling period.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

W.r.t. my second question, I can apply for PRTD now and travel to Canada, say in May 2020, which is still good. The question is, if I apply for PR card after entering on PRTD in May 2020, will I get my PR card for next 5 years (from May 2020 to May 2025)?

As said above, it doesn't matter if you get a new card. PR card validity has nothing to do with meeting the Residency Obligation.

 

[canuck78]

You need to meet the 730 days out if 5 years based on your landing date so unless you can get back to Canada and apply for a PR card before the beginning of January 2021.

 

[gta88]

As said above, it doesn't matter if you get a new card. PR card validity has nothing to do with meeting the Residency Obligation.

Hi, is there any thread regarding this matter?

A friend of mine got his PRTD app approved and is in India. But due to passport stamping services closed in India, he is losing time on Residency Obligation. (The travel authorization letter was only issued to people planning travel within 30 days of approval and my friend was unable to find a seat on limited flights available back then so only option left for him is passport stamping) The wait is turning out to be stressful as he has a job in Canada. Are there any discussions happening regarding this topic as I am sure many people might be in similar situation. Will the Canadian government allow people to come if the RO is not met due to Covid-19? Thank you.

 

[Copingwithlife]

Hi, is there any thread regarding this matter?

A friend of mine got his PRTD app approved and is in India. But due to passport stamping services closed in India, he is losing time on Residency Obligation. (The travel authorization letter was only issued to people planning travel within 30 days of approval and my friend was unable to find a seat on limited flights available back then so only option left for him is passport stamping) The wait is turning out to be stressful as he has a job in Canada. Are there any discussions happening regarding this topic as I am sure many people might be in similar situation. Will the Canadian government allow people to come if the RO is not met due to Covid-19? Thank you.

No official decision was been made . Highly doubt it , since it’s an extremely/lenient obligation in place already
If we look at in a time frame , Covid only really started causing a border issue March 20. Five months . So individuals still had 2.5 years to set up shop

 

[gta88]

No official decision was been made . Highly doubt it , since it’s an extremely/lenient obligation in place already

Thanks for the reply. Looking to see how people in similar boat might be dealing with.

 

[canuck78]

Thanks for the reply. Looking to see how people in similar boat might be dealing with.

when waiting to move until the last year people run into issues. Not sure how much more lenient Canada can be. 2 out of 5 years is extremely lenient. People are always able to submit H&C reasons for not moving earlier but they should move as early as possible to increase their chances.

 

[armoured]

Hi, is there any thread regarding this matter?

A friend of mine got his PRTD app approved and is in India. But due to passport stamping services closed in India, he is losing time on Residency Obligation. (The travel authorization letter was only issued to people planning travel within 30 days of approval and my friend was unable to find a seat on limited flights available back then so only option left for him is passport stamping) The wait is turning out to be stressful as he has a job in Canada. Are there any discussions happening regarding this topic as I am sure many people might be in similar situation. Will the Canadian government allow people to come if the RO is not met due to Covid-19? Thank you.

As far as we know there is no general "extension" or exemption from meeting the RO. And you haven't given much detail here except for "losing time on his RO." And note the first post in this thread is someone who was talking about returning to Canada more than a year from how.

But: at the border on arrival, every person who arrives (both on initial examination and later through the process for example through appeal) must be given consideration for H&C. Covid-related travel issues included. So it is likely that someone who is a little bit out of compliance with RO and also truly could not travel and can document it will have a reasonable chance of having that particular H&C issue (physically could not travel, assuming that's true) will be allowed in and ultimately not have the PR status challenged.

That does not mean they will just say "ok you're in compliance", or add a bunch of days to the number of days in Canada.

Returning to your friend's case: we do not know why he was given a PRTD (document lost or some other reason?). You imply he wasn't out of compliance (but time is running out to be in compliance).

Impossible to say much of use except that he was granted the PRTD, and assuming the reasons for granting that haven't changed, he may be able to get that extended and/or reissued. But either way, as the advice repeated here frequently, he should try to return to Canada as soon as possible and plan on staying until he is in compliance. Given covid travel restrictions, there would seem to be a decent case for granting some leniency (like re-issuing the PRTD or similar).

But to repeat: based on what we know now, this is likely to mean ability to return to Canada (would be let into the country) - soon - and stay until in compliance.

This may not apply to others in situations even a little bit different (and some of the questions here are about situations that are a lot different). So not advice.

[A huge number of caveats apply here - mainly related to not knowing anything about the exact situation of your friend. But if his RO is close or just a bit out of compliance and the reasons a PRTD was issued still are true and the travel delay really was covid-related, it has to be taken into consideration. But no-one can say wehther that 'consideration' will be enough to carry the day, too many other factors. One of the biggest factors will be, does your friend actually travel back to Canada soon, i.e. the sooner the better.]

And don't count on a general rule change about RO because of covid. Right now it seems unliekly they'll just grant some blanket exemption. Case by case (as law provides for already) consideration of genuine H&C issues, and covid is a factual situation they will consider.

Side note, since the travel issues / lockdowns vary by country, what works for someone coming from eg. Australia/India will be different from someone near to the border in USA. And since there's a lot of variance by country, specific experience of what works for one returning PR may not apply to others.