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am i still a pr

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6326farag View Drop Down
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Joined: 27 Jun 2012
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    Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 6:18pm
I emigrated to Canada in 2003 with my mother father and 2 younger brothers and was given permanent residence status.
 i returned to the united kingdom in 2006 to join the British army. My family stayed in Canada and are now citizens.
 i got married and now have a child of my own, i leave the British army at the end of this year and want to return to Canada but im confused as to whether i can do so with my family or if i have to reapply and start from scratch any help greatly appreciated.

Jonathon faragher
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dpenabill View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dpenabill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 6:46pm
You are probably still a PR of Canada. However, you are also, probably, inadmissible due to a breach of the Residency Obligation.

The most likely recourse available is to (1) get your PR status terminated (apply for a TD, for example, which should be rejected due to the residency obligation breach, and that terminates your PR status . . . there are other avenues to do this however), and then start the application for PR all over again.

There are other possible approaches to take. It may be worth your while to consult with a reliable Canadian immigration lawyer (not consultant, but lawyer).

As UK citizens you should be able to travel to Canada fairly easily, but you may have to deal with the residency obligation at the POE, where you will have a couple options. Best to talk to a lawyer about those.
Bureaucracy is what bureaucracy does, or When in doubt, follow the instructions. Otherwise, follow the instructions.



BTW: Not an expert, not a Can. lawyer, never worked in immigration
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6326farag View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 6326farag Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 6:56pm
Cheers for the information I have been back to Canada on holiday a couple times since leaving and have never been questioned by an immigration officer about my residency but its probably because i was allowed in on a travel visa witch allows me 6 months i believe. being a UK citizen u don't need to apply for such a visa its just a case of booking the flights and going. sorry for being such a newb but what is a td?  thanks again

jonathon faragher
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dpenabill View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dpenabill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 7:35pm

A TD is a "Travel Document" and what I meant was a PR TD in particular.

A PR abroad who does not have a valid PR card in possession is, in most circumstances, required to apply for a PR Travel Document authorizing one-time travel to return Canada. This is required for boarding commercial transportation destined for Canada.

However, PRs whose original nationality is a visa-exempt country can often travel to Canada fairly easily without a valid PR card and without obtaining a PR TD . . . though technically this is not supposed to happen.

That is, even though you have a UK passport, technically you should be required to present a valid PR card for boarding commercial transportation to Canada, since you are a PR and that is technically required. You have undoubtedly simply presented your UK passport and, as you say, came as a "visitor." But technically that is not allowed. A PR cannot come to Canada as a visitor because a PR is not a Foreign National. But, yes, people from visa-exempt countries often have no problems in this regard. The airlines and the POE officers do not catch that the individual is actually a Canadian PR, for whom visitor status is not available.

In this sense, if it was just you, not you and a family, you could travel to Canada on your UK passport and if at the POE they once again do not take notice that you are a PR, and thus simply give you a pass into the country, you could simply stay. You are a PR and can simply stay in Canada. Then, in two years, when you have been staying in Canada for at least 730 days, you could apply for a new PR card. And all would as if you were never gone. Many have done something like this over the years. (Less so because they are catching more and more returning PRs at the POE, given continuous improvements and enhancements to their technology.)

If you apply for a new PR card sooner than reaching the 730 day mark, technically it should be rejected and it could result in a residency examination in turn resulting in Removal (have seen some reports that people who were close and who were well over the 730 mark by the time they were interviewed, were OK, but usually not).

But if you came with your family, they would not have status to stay beyond the visitor's time period. If you applied to sponsor them before you got yourself back into compliance with the residency obligation, that would likely result in a residency examination with fairly predictable results (removal for inadmissibility due to a breach of the residency obligation).

The problem with all that I have just posted is that it is more complicated than that. I've hit the highlights. The details matter. It is also possible that you could be deemed to have made material misrepresentations at the POE if you do not disclose that you are a PR upon seeking entry. So, it would be better to consult a lawyer than to act I anything I just posted.

I posted this to give you a sense of some possibilities. Two years ago, many people might have shrugged. These things were not subject to nearly the same degree of strict enforcement they are now. Or at least that is how it appears to me. But, again, you probably want to talk to a lawyer before you make a commitment one way or another. Plus, there are other factors . . . if for example you had H&C grounds (with your parents and sibling here you obviously have some but that does seem like anywhere near enough . . . but this is stuff for a lawyer to look at and consider, not just some guy on the Internet).

Bureaucracy is what bureaucracy does, or When in doubt, follow the instructions. Otherwise, follow the instructions.



BTW: Not an expert, not a Can. lawyer, never worked in immigration
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