"Proving" the time spent with PR status

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Hello guys, I hope you are all doing great. Although my question is long, please bear with me.

I landed in Canada in September of 2008, and I hold a PR car. I've been here for approximately a year and a half I'm staying at my brother's house (who has a citizenship) and I've been applying for jobs online but to no avail. Although I was depressed, I always thought that hey, at least I'm spending time here and getting closer to acquiring a citizenship (which I am in dire need of). Now, the problem:

When I first entered Canada, I had the Canadian visa pasted on my passport as well as the date of entry stamped on it. My passport expired in April of 2009, and I never used it except for entering Canada (I never left here). Lately, a friend told me that I cannot prove my stay in Canada since I have no job, and when I told her that my passport was expired and that it had no visas, dates of entry/exit stamped on it which meant that I couldn't have left the country--she still thought that this was not proof as I could have gotten a new passport and travelled with it all over the world and when the time came, I could show the old passport to the authorities in order to trick them into thinking that I never left in the first place.

This was very shocking of course, because the idea of me wasting a year and a half and gaining nothing is depressing, to say the least.

Now, I am applying for a new passport, which I will use to travel to see my family (I will spend 2 months out of Canada) which means that the duration of time spent outside will show in the new passport.

My question is this: When the time comes that the authorities will calculate the duration of my physical presence in Canada, will the old passport (which shows no travelling whatsoever), combined with the new passport (which shows only 2 months spent outside Canada) prove that I spent this whole time in Canada, or can they say "no, this is not enough proof"?

Keep in mind that I have all the e-mails I sent to companies in Canada, and I went a few times to the doctor's office where I got my OHIP health card swiped... Please help me...

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blacknucci Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Junior Member Joined: 08 Apr 2010 Location: Toronto Status: Offline Points: 23	Post Options Post Reply Quote blacknucci Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: "Proving" the time spent with PR status Posted: 08 Apr 2010 at 1:49pm
	Hello guys, I hope you are all doing great. Although my question is long, please bear with me. I landed in Canada in September of 2008, and I hold a PR car. I've been here for approximately a year and a half I'm staying at my brother's house (who has a citizenship) and I've been applying for jobs online but to no avail. Although I was depressed, I always thought that hey, at least I'm spending time here and getting closer to acquiring a citizenship (which I am in dire need of). Now, the problem: When I first entered Canada, I had the Canadian visa pasted on my passport as well as the date of entry stamped on it. My passport expired in April of 2009, and I never used it except for entering Canada (I never left here). Lately, a friend told me that I cannot prove my stay in Canada since I have no job, and when I told her that my passport was expired and that it had no visas, dates of entry/exit stamped on it which meant that I couldn't have left the country--she still thought that this was not proof as I could have gotten a new passport and travelled with it all over the world and when the time came, I could show the old passport to the authorities in order to trick them into thinking that I never left in the first place. This was very shocking of course, because the idea of me wasting a year and a half and gaining nothing is depressing, to say the least. Now, I am applying for a new passport, which I will use to travel to see my family (I will spend 2 months out of Canada) which means that the duration of time spent outside will show in the new passport. My question is this: When the time comes that the authorities will calculate the duration of my physical presence in Canada, will the old passport (which shows no travelling whatsoever), combined with the new passport (which shows only 2 months spent outside Canada) prove that I spent this whole time in Canada, or can they say "no, this is not enough proof"? Keep in mind that I have all the e-mails I sent to companies in Canada, and I went a few times to the doctor's office where I got my OHIP health card swiped... Please help me...

Beaver Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Status: Offline Points: 406	Post Options Post Reply Quote Beaver Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 09 Apr 2010 at 10:36am
	Hi blaclnucci - you may also want to post this same question at the Citizenship forum, because looks like you are considering your citizenship application process early on, and it does qualify as a Citizenship process question. It is good that your are planning ahead for your Citizenship - it does prove in a sense that you are really serious on becoming Canadian. I would say the gap between the expiration and renewal of your passport would obviously suggest you never had a chance to travel anywhere during that timeframe. If CIC will not be satisfied with the information you initially enclosed with your application, they will ask for more in the form of a Residence Questionnaire, which will significantly increase your wait time for approval of Citizenship, so you might want to save all of these early on to help prove your case if they do ask (only the ones that apply to you): 1. Notice of Assessments from Canada Revenue Agency 2. Rent Agreement/Mortgage 3. Go to your bank and ask for all transactions since you opened your account. 4. Credit cards transactions. 5. Telephone bills (Cellphone, landline). 6. Utility bills, Cable, Internet. 7. Car insurance, tickets, driver license, car registration, lease/finance agreements with car vendor 8. Copy of all pages of your passport 9. All immigration documents 10. School time table for you/ your kids 11. Sales reciepts. 12. Work Payslips/business registration papers if you're self employed 13. just about anything you can think that will help prove you lived in Canada. This is just in case they ask. Naturally most Citizenship applicants won't expect that these documents might become important in their future and they throw them away, and face problems looking for proof of physical residency in Canada. Again, I suggest posting the same question in the Citizenship forum - we have lots of knowledgeable members there. Edited by Beaver - 09 Apr 2010 at 10:37am