Spouse PR card expired

abhi3d wrote: I am a Canadian citizen living in India with 2 kids. Both my kids were born here and both have received their citizenship certificate. My wife's PR expired in April 2013 and we wish to travel to Canada this year (around September 2014). She has only stayed in Canada for a period of 4 months since 2007. So should my wife apply for a travel document or a visitor visa? Can she travel to Canada on her expired PR card ? Thanks for your time.

When a PR card expires that does not mean that person is no longer a PR. So, the proper approach to obtaining a travel document which will allow the PR to board a flight destined for Canada is, yes, applying for an obtaining a PR Travel Document.

Your spouse will probably need to submit evidence to show accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse abroad, to show compliance with the PR residency obligation (time a PR is living together with a Canadian citizen spouse abroad counts as time in Canada for purposes of complying with the PR residency obligation).

While I can generally outline what that involves, it is best to look at the CIC web site page where you can find the guide for applying to renew the PR card. Roughly the same requirements for proving compliance with the PR residency requirement are listed there.

Try this url, which should take you the guide for applying for a PR card, and look at the appendix titled "Appendix A - Residency Obligation"
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5445ETOC.asp
(I am not suggesting applying for the PR card. I am suggesting using the information in the guide to help you gather the evidence to show compliance with the PR residency obligation when applying for the PR Travel Document.)

Generally the PR accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse needs to show:
-- marriage to the Canadian citizen (certificate of marriage for example)
-- citizenship of Canadian citizen spouse (copy of spouse's passport)
-- documentation to show cohabitation during period claimed to be accompanying the Canadian citizen abroad

But, again, see the CIC web site for more detail. Moreover, follow all instructions CIC gives for applying for the PR Travel Document (I am not familiar with these in detail).

Note I: Only the past five years are in issue. Only the five years immediately preceding the date the PR applies for the PR travel document are considered in determining whether the PR has complied with the PR residency obligation. Thus, for example, if a PR applies on June 1, 2014, what matters is how many days the PR spent in Canada between June 1, 2009 and June 1, 2014. For a PR who has not been physically in Canada since prior to 2009, who is relying on counting time accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse abroad, the PR would then have to show in fact cohabitation in the same household for at least two years out of that June 1, 2009 to June 1, 2014 time period.


Note II: Someone who has been a Canadian PR is not eligible for Visitor's Visa even if the PR has been in breach of the PR residency obligation for a long time. Such a PR would have to apply for the PR TD and have it refused (for inadmissibility due to a breach of the residency obligation), thereby in effect revoking the individual's PR status. That would return this person to the status of a Foreign National, who could then apply for a Visitor's Visa.