Renewal of nearly expired PR cards without meeting residency obligations

[dabas]

I fully agree and I have no intention to do that but I get annoyed knowing that many people in the past took citizenship sharply on the lapse of four years of their landing date even though they never lived in Canada for more than the very first time they landed and got their PR card.
As I said previously, I resigned to come back and make up the days I missed.

 

[kateg]

I get annoyed knowing that many people in the past took citizenship sharply on the lapse of four years of their landing date even though they never lived in Canada for more than the very first time they landed and got their PR card.

That's why Harper brokered the information sharing agreement with the United States. Before, they wouldn't get exit records, so they had no way of knowing exactly when someone left (short of the occasional official request).

Now, they have a better idea when someone leaves, and they have been shifting the burden of proof back to the individual to proove they meet the requirement, rather than the state to prove they don't.

 

[keesio]

In Ontario, you can drive with a foreign license for 2 months before you have to do an exchange. Ontario as far as I know does not require you to be a PR in order to get a license there so you should be able to exchange your license regardless.

I exchanged my New York State driver's license to an Ontario one recently. As the Service Ontario centre, they asked me for my passport or PR card. It seemed like they want to check to see if I was a resident of Ontario (meaning i had more than just temporary visitor status). Maybe CoPR will be enough to prove that? But it might cause problems.

 

[Leon]

I exchanged my New York State driver's license to an Ontario one recently. As the Service Ontario centre, they asked me for my passport or PR card. It seemed like they want to check to see if I was a resident of Ontario (meaning i had more than just temporary visitor status). Maybe CoPR will be enough to prove that? But it might cause problems.

Did they specify Canadian passport or just any passport? They do require ID for a license. I know in other provinces, you would have to proof residency and legal status and they will not give you a license at all if you are on visitor status but I have always been under the impression that Ontario does. Ontario is the one province that has the shortest time to exchange your license or 60 days. Others have 3-6 months.

 

[keesio]

Did they specify Canadian passport or just any passport? They do require ID for a license. I know in other provinces, you would have to proof residency and legal status and they will not give you a license at all if you are on visitor status but I have always been under the impression that Ontario does. Ontario is the one province that has the shortest time to exchange your license or 60 days. Others have 3-6 months.

I believe they said just "passport" and not "Canadian passport". But why would they explicitly ask for a passport instead of "official ID"? Also, there was this old couple next to me with one of them trying to exchange their license. Sounds like they just returned to Canada from a long time abroad and they had let their Canadian passport expire a long time ago and the person at the booth was telling them sorry and that she can't help them until they renew it. I assumed that they needed a Canadian passport to prove that they are still residents of Canada...? I wasn't really paying attention so I could be mistaken but I think they also had their other passport (they had dual citizenships) but it wasn't good enough, they needed a valid Canadian one.

 

[Leon]

This is Ontario: http://www.drivetest.ca/EN/licencing/Pages/How-to-Apply.aspx

It has a long list of ID documents that are accepted, including foreign passport. I can not make out from this page that there is a requirement to be a resident in Ontario in order to get a drivers license. Maybe there is although it does not say.

On the other hand, Alberta: http://www.servicealberta.com/1305.cfm says In order to obtain an Alberta driver’s licence or identification card, you must provide proof that you are lawfully entitled to reside in Canada (i.e. Canadian birth certificate, Permanent Resident Card, Citizenship Card, Canadian Passport) and proof that you are an Alberta resident (i.e. utility bills or other statements mailed to your Alberta address).

In BC:

Foundation documents
If you're born in Canada - Your legal name is the full name that appears on your birth certificate issued by a Canadian Vital Statistics agency.
If you're born outside of Canada - Your legal name is the full name that appears on your most recent immigration document issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Your most recent work, student or visitor permit,
Permanent Resident card or
Certificate of Canadian Citizenship (Note: We will only use the name that appears below the coat of arms).

in SK:

Entitled to be in Canada

To prove you are legally entitled to be in Canada, you must provide 1 of the following documents:

Canadian Birth certificate
Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Canada documentation
If you're only temporarily authorized to be in Canada, your Saskatchewan driver's licence will expire when your Citizenship and Immigration Canada documentation expires. A Saskatchewan driver's licence is no longer issued to someone holding a visitor visa.

Manitoba however, according to this table: https://www.mpi.mb.ca/en/DL/DL/Identity/Pages/acceptable-documents.aspx will accept a foreign passport with evidence showing that you are entitled to be in Canada which could be interpreted as such that they will allow a DL for a visitor who has a stamp in his passport although they may have more detailed rules about this and only accept a work or study permit.

 

[keesio]

yeah I couldn't find any such requirement either. I guess i was mistaken.