Valid PR card , but expired PR status

[Niette]

Hello

Experts , please shed the light on following situation.

I have landed as PR resident in 2013 and got my PR card valid for 5 years (expired in 2018). I have stayed in Canada 3.5 years till 2016 and then had to go back home to take care for elderly parents who got sick on and off recently (unfortunately due to C-24 I could not apply for citizenship after 3 years ). When my PR card will expire in 2018 I can apply for it's renewal.

Assuming that it will be renewed for another 5 years , I'll have new PR card valid up until 2023.
Let's say I'd like to reenter Canada as a PR resident on 2021. From one hand I'll still have a valid PR card , but from another hand looking back to 5 years from this date (2021) I'll not have 2 years of physical presence in Canada , so technically I'll loose my eligibility for PR resident status.

I'm from visa exempt country.

The question is what will happen on Canadian border while entering given the fact that I have a valid PR card? Will they be able or will they bother to check whether I comply with PR residence requirements and report me? How high are the chances for it?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Buletruck]

That will depend on the CBSA agent you encounter at the time you return and the political climate 3 or 4 years from now. You may want to check out this thread that has some similarities and an unfortunate set of circumstances for a PR out of the county....

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/lost-pr-card-and-prtd-denied-t459522.0.html

 

[dpenabill]

Hello

Experts , please shed the light on following situation.

I have landed as PR resident in 2013 and got my PR card valid for 5 years (expired in 2018). I have stayed in Canada 3.5 years till 2016 and then had to go back home to take care for elderly parents who got sick on and off recently (unfortunately due to C-24 I could not apply for citizenship after 3 years ). When my PR card will expire in 2018 I can apply for it's renewal.

Assuming that it will be renewed for another 5 years , I'll have new PR card valid up until 2023.
Let's say I'd like to reenter Canada as a PR resident on 2021. From one hand I'll still have a valid PR card , but from another hand looking back to 5 years from this date (2021) I'll not have 2 years of physical presence in Canada , so technically I'll loose my eligibility for PR resident status.

I'm from visa exempt country.

The question is what will happen on Canadian border while entering given the fact that I have a valid PR card? Will they be able or will they bother to check whether I comply with PR residence requirements and report me? How high are the chances for it?

Thank you in advance.

Caveat: I am no expert.

To be clear, PR status does not expire.

The issue involved is compliance with the PR Residency Obligation, which requires PRs to be present in Canada for at least 730 days within the preceding five years (or within the first five years after landing).

Since you have already been in Canada more than 730 days in your first five years, you will be in compliance unless you are absent from Canada for 1095 or more days within the preceding five years. This is a continuing obligation, day to day, but typically only calculated on the occasion of certain events, such as:
-- while being examined at a PoE upon arrival (returning to Canada), based on that particular date
-- when applying for a new PR card or for a PR Travel Document, based on the date of the application, but subject to being examined at some subsequent date as well (such as when a PR is abroad while the PR card application is pending, the PR must still be in ongoing compliance with the PR RO to be eligible for a new PR card even if the PR met the PR RO at the time of applying)
-- when being assessed in a collateral transaction, such as when a PR applies to sponsor a family member


Eligibility for new PR card:

Currently the PR must be in Canada when making an application for a new PR card, and generally IRCC delays or does not issue new cards to PRs living abroad.

Reminder: the fact that the PR card expires does not, in itself, affect the status of the PR. However, if abroad, there is a presumption that a PR who does not have a valid PR card does not have valid PR status. This is easily overcome by legitimate PRs who are in compliance with the PR RO.

But that leads to another issue: Your visa-exempt passport will no longer get you boarding on a flight to Canada. You will need either a valid PR card or a PR Travel Document to board a flight to Canada. Few exceptions (U.S. citizens for example). So if you are abroad when the PR card expires, you will need a PR TD to board a flight to Canada.

A PR TD application inherently involves a Residency Determination, which is to say the PR must submit proof of compliance with the PR RO to obtain a PR TD.

So long as your PR card is valid, you can fly to Canada. Obviously, best if you return to Canada before current card expires and stay long enough to apply for and obtain a new card. If you do this successfully and then go abroad again, if at any point you exceed being abroad 1095 or more days within the preceding five years, you will be in breach of the PR RO. Upon returning to Canada, the longer you have been abroad, the more risk there is you will be examined about compliance with the PR RO. If you are in breach of the PR RO, you will still be allowed to enter Canada but may be issued a Report and Departure Order (your explanation of reasons for being abroad may persuade the PoE officer to not report you, but there is no guarantee of that, and it appears things are more strict now than in the past). You can appeal the Departure Order, stay in Canada while the appeal is pending, and depending on your reasons, particularly if you do in fact stay in Canada pending the appeal, there is a fair chance of winning the appeal and keeping PR status.

But any breach of the PR RO risks losing PR status. There is no guarantee that H&C reasons will suffice to keep status.

There is no way to quantify the various risks involved, other than to observe the common sense correlations:
-- more time in Canada, better odds
-- more ongoing ties in Canada, better odds
-- more frequent trips to Canada, indicates more ongoing ties in Canada
-- longer outside Canada, the poorer the odds
-- more compelling the circumstances influencing the PR to spend time abroad, the better the odds, but in recent years it appears that generally ailing, aging parents only buys a slightly positive factor in the assessment of H&C reasons

Among others.

 

[Niette]

Thank you dpenabill for a very detailed answer.

The question is : Given I'll succeed to renew my pr card which will be valid till 2023 , but will enter Canada in 2021 while no longer complying with permanent residency obligations , how CBSA will know that I do not fulfill my PR obligations if they do not have records when I have left Canada?

The second question : why should I stay in Canada while applying for renewed PR card and till it will be delivered? Is it because I'll need to pick it up in person?

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you dpenabill for a very detailed answer.

The question is : Given I'll succeed to renew my pr card which will be valid till 2023 , but will enter Canada in 2021 while no longer complying with permanent residency obligations , how CBSA will know that I do not fulfill my PR obligations if they do not have records when I have left Canada?

They may simply ask you how long you've been outside Canada, in which case you must answer truthfully and then they will know you don't meet RO. If you go to secondary inspection, they can figure out your exact dates in and out of Canada if they want to.

The second question : why should I stay in Canada while applying for renewed PR card and till it will be delivered? Is it because I'll need to pick it up in person?

You are supposed to be physically in Canada to submit a PR renewal application. If you leave afterwards, there's a good chance CIC will not mail it out to a Canadian address and instead request you come pick it up in person.

 

[Niette]

Ok , so if lets say I'll visit Canada for 2-3 weeks every year since now , so when being asked at the border by CBSA about how long I've been outside Canada , I can simply reply 10-11 months , and then it will make my chances higher that they will not suspect me as somebody not complying with residency obligations , am I right?

How can CIC know that I'm no longer in Canada regarding sending PR card? Why should they ask me to come and pick it up physically and not just send it to the Canadian address I'll provide them? Is it so often they ask PR's to come and pick the card up in person?

 

[dpenabill]

How can CIC know that I'm no longer in Canada regarding sending PR card? Why should they ask me to come and pick it up physically and not just send it to the Canadian address I'll provide them? Is it so often they ask PR's to come and pick the card up in person?

Reminder: follow the instructions, including all those which are a part of the application itself, such as the attestation in the signature box. And be complete and be truthful. Any other approach elevates risks of problems, ranging from inconvenient problems to potentially serious consequences.

The PR must disclose a great deal of information which will amply draw the attention of IRCC if and when a PR is spending extended periods of time living abroad, from work and address history, to travel history. Fudge this information at one's peril.

Note, for example, that the applicant must declare the address where he or she is living. This is not merely some address an individual can use, but must be where the applicant is actually living. And, the applicant's signature affirms that the applicant will notify IRCC of any changes in the information provided. Sure, many fail to notify IRCC the address where they are actually living has changed, such as for a PR who moves abroad while the application is pending. And sure, many probably get away with this. BUT many do not. And there are now both more stringent efforts to interdict fraud and more severe consequences.

Peruse topics here about those PR card applicants who have been referred to Secondary Review. Just the fact of living abroad for an extended period of time just before returning to Canada and applying for a new card will likely increase the risk of a referral to Secondary Review.

It really is NOT about HOW IRCC knows this or that. The PR is required to disclose the relevant information. And these days misrepresentations, including by omission, including by giving misleading information, are being targeted for strict enforcement. This appears to be particularly true for PRs who are perceived, by IRCC, to not be fully settled and living permanently in Canada.

Yes, in the past many, many PRs have managed to skirt the rules and maintain PR status. And going forward many are likely to successfully do so as well. But BEWARE, at least for now, there is every indication that CBSA and IRCC have elevated their efforts to crack down on PRs who do not comply with the PR RO and in particular on any who make misrepresentations (some recent cases have, for example, involved prosecuting PRs who gave false or misleading information to a PoE officer upon arrival when returning to Canada).

Moreover, CBSA and IRCC have more and more tools to help identify false, misleading, or omitted information. It really is not about how they know. Being complete and truthful really is the only sensible approach, the only practically reliable approach.

For someone who wants to keep Canadian PR status, the best course to follow is to be sure to play by the rules and, in particular, meet the PR Residency Obligation. Again, fudge the information one gives to CBSA or IRCC at one's peril.