PR renewal - Options

A question from experiences members. 

Edited by smashwani74 - 03 Sep 2014 at 6:56pm

smashwani74 wrote: We got PR in Feb 2009 and left Canada (myself, wife and two kids). I came back March 2010 and am in Canada since then. My wife was working for Govt abroad (not Canadian government) under contract and took three years to get relieved to move with me. Kids were with mom and joined me last year Aug 2013. Our PR expired this Feb 2014. I have already applied for citizenship along with kids. Wife have to wait three more years to be eligible. Now question is I can apply to renew my PR but wife cannot as shes been away from Canada for more than 1095 days in 5 years. We made a quick vacation to Cuba this January before PR expired. Now we cannot take a vacation for next three years even to US by road as wife and kids PR is expired. Do we have any option?... I and kids have applied citizenship under the new Urgent Processing scheme and is been approved as Urgent Processing so even if we have passports in near future wife wont be able to travel. Is there any option that she can leave and re-enter specially by road to US (short trips).

Note that your spouse will be eligible for a new PR card as soon as she reaches 730 days presence in Canada within the previous five years. As of that time, as well, she could travel to the U.S. and if returning to Canada by land, should not encounter anything more difficult than some questions about residency upon arriving (by land) at the Canadian POE, even if she does not yet have a new PR card in possession. So, basically, the longest she will have to wait before she can travel to the U.S. is two years from the date she finally came to Canada to live. Not three years.

Note: she will not be eligible for citizenship until she has been physically present in Canada for FOUR years within six; obviously she will not qualify for citizenship before mid-2015, and thus she will have to meet the physical presence requirements in the Citizenship Act as amended by Bill C-24.

When you become a citizen, any time your wife spends abroad accompanying you will count as time in Canada for purposes of the PR residency obligation. So, once you are a citizen and she has been in Canada for at least 730 days (two years) within the previous five, she can travel abroad with you as often and for however long you like with no risk for her PR status.

Of course, to become a citizen she will have to be physically present in Canada for at least four full years within the previous six in order to become a citizen; time abroad with you will not count for that.



valque: See my response in the other topic you raised similar question with more detail.