730 days explanation

First of all: A valid PR card has absolutely no influence on your PR status!!!

To maintain PR status you need to comply with the following rule:
On each and every day, you need to have been present in Canada on at least 730 days within the previous 5 years. Within the first 5 years a special rule applies: besides the days of physical presence since getting PR status the remaining days (that you theoretically can be present in Canada) do also count as if you were present.

In you case being a PR since Mar 2009 you have accumulated 35 days of presence. From today until Mar 2014 there are approx 17 months (~30 days) or 530 days left.

If you add 35 days and 530 days you do only get 565 days within the initial 5 years.

In fact you are already in breach of your PR obligations!!!

Technically, when you attempt to enter Canada. CBSA officer will likely question you and might find out, that you are in breach of your obligations and you will be denied entry as you are inadmissible to Canada.

You can ask the CBSA officer to let you enter based on Humanitarian & Compassionate grounds. But that very much depends on your situation, wheather there is a chance of success.

There is a chance, that the officer might not question it, but that is a gambling game. You cannt rely on this.

If you manage to enter, without receiving a removal order, you will have to stay within Canada until you have accumulated 730 days, but again, if you leave immediately after getting over 730 days, on the next day, you will be again below 730 days and next reentry might cause the same problems.

All in all it is not likely that you can achieve you plan to travel back and forth every 3 month. Even though your odds to sneak through after a 3 month absence are a bit better, because usually the CBSA officers will ask you, when you left Canada.

To give you a more precise information, I would need exact dates to do a precise calculations.

But the bottom line is, you are in breach of the PR residency requirements and therefor there is a high risk of loosing PR status and being denied entry to Canada.

Consulting an immigration lawyer would be a good idea in your situation.

Unfortunately a lot of PRs do not realize that a valid PR card does not mean they have PR status. The more important part is to meet residency requirements. You should have sked this question a year ago, when you were still safe.


Edited by jogruni - 30 Oct 2012 at 4:51pm

ajshaikh: Do I need to be in Canada for straight 730 days without leaving to be eligible for PR renewal?

Largely agree with jogruni.

A slight, semantic clarification: the PR card is indeed evidence of PR status.

One does not really have "valid" PR status or not -- the distinction is whether a PR is admissible or inadmissible to Canada. The PR card does not indicate whether a PR is admissible or inadmissible.

The important thing that jogruni pointed out is that you are already in breach of the residency obligation. You are already inadmissible. If you leave Canada again, any time before you have been in Canada for a total of at least 730 days within the previous five years, you are at risk of being issued a removal order upon returning to Canada.

Similarly, if you apply for a new PR card or apply to sponsor a family member or such, that could trigger a residency assessment.

So, basically, given the extent to which you have already been outside Canada, in a practical sense yes, you need to remain in Canada pretty close to 730 days continuously in order to avoid losing PR status.

If you are currently outside Canada, the sooner you return to Canada the better your odds of avoiding an inquiry at the POE regarding residency. POE officers seem less strict in screening PRs who have been to Canada within the previous year or so, and who have a valid PR card in possession valid for at least another year. However, again, you are already in breach of the obligation, so technically you are inadmissible, and you could be issued a 44 report upon arrival, immediately followed by the issuance of a Removal Order.

Obviously, attempts to mislead POE officers about how much time you have been in Canada constitutes misrepresentation which alone can result in the loss of PR status. Primary evidence they will examine is your passport and the stamps in it.

It is very hard to say just how lenient they are these days since it appears (1) this government has generally elevated the scrutiny of PRs relative to the residency obligation, and (2) they have better and more extensive information and screening technology.

ajshaikh: I am clear now on the separation of PR card and PR status.

ajshaikh (posted after above post): Is it possible for me to renew my PR card now so that the new PR card is valid from lets say Mar 2013 to Mar 2018 (so that in the next 5 years I can regularly travel in/out of Canada and still meet the PR obligation).

These are not consistent; that is, the second post above (in topic you started titled "PR renewal before expiry") is inconsistent with the earlier post in this topic.

The dates for which a PR card is valid are NOT relevant to the PR residency obligation.

As jogruni stated:

A valid PR card has absolutely no influence on your PR status!!!

As akella stated:

Residency assessment window is a rolling one and is not tied to PR card expiration dates

Bottom-line: a PR who is not present in Canada after becoming a PR, that is after landing, for more than 1095 days in any five year time frame, is thereby in breach of the PR residency obligation.

All a PR card does is evidence PR status. There is no time frame for PR status: once a PR you remain a PR until that status is revoked (lost), surrendered, or until one becomes a citizen. One does not renew PR status.

Again: to avoid being in breach of the residency obligation, you need to avoid being outside Canada for 1095 days in any five year time frame (beginning with the date you landed in Mar 2011). And almost all signs point to CIC and CBSA being more strict about this now, and going forward, than they have been in the past.

ajshaikh wrote: I have a PR issued to me in Mar 2011.

This again is a bit unclear.