Six said:
The belief that a PR who manages to enter Canada while in breach of RO can apply for a new card after sitting tight in Canada for two years making up for the breach may be flawed.
Consider this scenario
1 Became PR and got PR card in 2010
2. Somehow Returned to Canada in blatant breach RO in 2015 and remained till 2017
3. Applied for PR renewal in 2017(730+ days after date of rentry in 2015)
4. The PR renewal package asks for a copy of the existing card( which is not valid anymore)
5. A quick examination of the PR card and the application will clearly show that this man had lived in Canada in breach of RO for two years..
What could be the result of this finding
I fully concur in the brief, to the point observation made by
zardoz:
zardoz said:
It doesn't matter if you WERE in breach of the RO. What matters is if you ARE in breach on the date that CIC received an application from you and/or examines your compliance. They are not permitted to be retrospective in the examination of compliance.
And, indeed, the observation made by
zardoz warrants emphasis. Bottom-line: once a PR is no longer in breach of the PR Residency Obligation, it is as if the PR never was in breach.
That said: There are, potentially, collateral consequences.
As noted otherwise, the PR who has had extensive absences in the relatively recent past is more likely to face elevated scrutiny when applying for a new PR card. What matters is whether the PR is currently in compliance with the PR RO but CIC appears to be inclined to take a longer, closer look into such a PR's residency.
Additionally, similarly, when such a PR subsequently applies for citizenship, there may be an elevated degree of scrutiny of residency.
Additionally, depending on circumstances and overall history, such a PR may face elevated scrutiny at a POE when seeking to re-enter Canada in the future (depending in particular on the extent of recent absence or absences).
All this is predictable using common-sense.