PR renewal options for spouse

My wife has a Canadian PR that’s valid up to 2021, she received her PR in June 2016. I’m applying for my PR and hopefully if everything goes well I will have it by early next year. We both live in US and planning to move to Canada in 2020. As her PR expires a year after that and she would not have lived in Canada for 3 years to maintain the PR, what are our options to renew her PR without having her to leave Canada?

PR doesn’t have a validity period, PR card does. If you live in Canada for 2 out of 5
(not 3 out of 5) years cumulative you still remain a PR. If you remain in Canada forever you will remain PR forever even if your PR card expires.
Give us the approximate years/months she has lived in Canada and we can tell you.

@avj thanks for replying. She’s been to Canada only twice. On total I think she lived there for only 10 days. By the time we move there, I think she will only have a year or less to stay in Canada on her current PR card. What are out options if she stays for less than 2 years on her current PR?

If she has lived outside Canada for almost 2.5-3 years continuously, and tries to enter, there’s a risk she may get pulled into secondary questioning (based on anecdotal evidence). If she’s been outside for more than 3 years, there’s no way she can fulfill the 2 out of 5 requirement. There’s a chance they may start PR revoking procedure, or atleast give her trouble when she applies for any immigration benefit such as a PR card etc.

Again, it’s not about the PR card it’s about the PR status, don’t confuse the two. Your PR card can expire and you will still be a PR if you’ve fulfilled the residency obligation.

I would say, atleast for her PR status and residency obligation, you should talk to an immigration attorney for options (maybe there are some I just don’t know much about them).

thank you @avj. From what I understood, there is a possibility that they might start the revoking process if they figure out that she cannot complete 2 years obligation. Is that possible even if she is short by few months? If we tell the officer that we are not planning to leave for next 2 years, can they give us the benefit of doubt? Another thing to mention is that she has made couple of trips to Canada in last 2 years, so technically is not continuously out for 3 years.

Also, is there a difference if she choses to enter Canada by land and air? I heard there are less chances of secondary questioning if one enters via land? Do you know about it?

Is the rule to stay in Canada for :
2 out of 5 years AFTER PR was issued
OR
2 out of 5 years before you apply for citizenship ?

There is a subtle difference here, but need the experts to comment.

When does the 3 year clock start?

If she has lived outside Canada for less than 3 years (doesn’t matter whether continuous or intermittent) in the last 5 years, then she still can satisfy RO and enter Canada. Technically they cannot stop her if she can fulfill the 2 year requirement.

I’m not sure how they determine whether one has lived in Canada for 2 out of 5 or if they can fulfill RO. My guess is a database of entry/exit records that they may match and red flag anyone not fulfilling RO, but I don’t know if such a system is in place currently.

Even if she does successfully enter, she cannot leave for 2+ years and neither can she risk applying for any immigration benefit including sponsoring anyone else or her own PR card renewal.

Hence I would suggest talking to a lawyer to get this resolved.

The day you land and confirm your PR.

2 out of 5 years is a rolling period. From any given date IRCC should be able to look back 5 years and out of those, 2 cumulative years should be spent in Canada physically. Exception is first 5 years right after you become PR, where you can stay outside for close to 3 years. This is just to maintain your PR status.

Technically you should be able to apply for citizenship right after living in Canada for 3 years in a row as a PR. In practice, if you’ve stayed outside for almost 3 years, then live in Canada for next 3, or apply for immigration benefit such as PR card renewal, sponsoring a family member etc, in those 3 years, your application can get secondary scrutiny as the impression it creates for the adjudicating officer is, “this person is barely fulfilling/not yet fulfilled his RO and is applying for so-and-so benefit, let me check this application a bit more.” Again this is anecdotal evidence and will vary from case to case.

Thanks for explaining this @avj.
Another question, if someone has lived in Canada on a work permit (without PR) for 6 months, and the PR comes after that.

When does the clock (for citizenship 3 years) start ticking, from the time person enters Canada on work permit, or from the time PR is granted?

Each day as non-PR counts as half a day: https://eservices.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/resCalcStartNew.do

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Thanks @avj, you should start working on a book for Canada PR :slight_smile:

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haha, yes I’ve been told :smile:

@avj I have created another thread with sorted options. It will be great if you can check if my understanding is correct. Thanks