Q's About Applying For PR Whilst On IEC Visa...

[Skeeter87]

Hi,

So I have a few basic questions that would be great to get clarification on before I decide whether to proceed with an application for perminent residency.

I'm on a 2 year IEC visa & my partner of 6 years is Canadian. We plan on living mostly in Australia but would like to have the option to visit Canada (potentially for long periods of time) throughout our lives to see family etc.

1. If I'm one year through a 2 year IEC working holiday visa can I apply now & leave the country next year ehen my IEC visa runs out without it affecting my application for PR?

2. If I did get my PR could I live elsewhere for most of the time but come back to canada when I felt like it or would I have to spend most of my life in Canada in order to maintain the visa?

3. If I were to not bother with applying for PR & just use tourist visas each time we visited, is there a limit to how many tourists visa's one can get?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer

 

[primaprime]

1. Yes.
2. You need to be in Canada for at least 730 days (2 years) in any 5 year period to maintain your PR status. You can count days when you are travelling with your Canadian citizen spouse abroad.
3. No.

 

[Skeeter87]

1. Yes.
2. You need to be in Canada for at least 730 days (2 years) in any 5 year period to maintain your PR status. You can count days when you are travelling with your Canadian citizen spouse abroad.
3. No.

Thanks for the prompt and straight forward answers! Much appreciated

 

[Bs65]

If once you are a PR you intend to spend more time out of Canada than in you need to make sure you keep good records of your travel and the fact you are with your Canadian citizen spouse. There are plenty of posts in this section concerning challenges with whom is accompanying whom so is not necessarily always straightforward so good record keeping is important although easier with a citizen Plus of course looking ahead none of the time abroad counts towards citizenship

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1466&top=10

 

[primaprime]

Yes, I should caution that anyone expecting the regulations to apply in a way that allows them to maintain PR status despite spending almost no time in Canada may encounter difficulties. They are to make the lives of genuine PRs a little easier, not to facilitate a choice to permanently reside abroad.

 

[canuck78]

Would add that in order to get approved for PR you and your spouse need to show you’ll be living in Canada. You may be able to get away without proving that you relocated to Canada because you applied when you were in Canada on IEC. The bigger issue is that if you land to activate your PR and return to Australia the time you spent together in Australia may not count. If you lived together in Canada for a decent amount of time while in Canada as a citizen and PR then moved to Australia then counting the days with your spouse would likely count. Allowing you to count the days abroad with your Canadian spouse is allowed so a Canadian isn’t forced to turn down opportunities abroad. It is not meant for people to primarily count time abroad with their spouse for their RO.