PR Status

Hello everyone! I landed Canada thru Family Sponsorship Program last Feb. 15, 2008. I got my Permanent Residence Card Number after a week. I worked in Canada for almost 1 year. For some reasons, I left Canada last April 3, 2009 and right I'm here in Philippines until now. I have plans of going back to Canada. My question is, Can I go back to Canada since the expiration of my PR card is until 2013? Do I have a chance to live in Canada? Hoping anybody can share their opinions regarding my situation. Thank you guys!

Thanks Zhi...I really appreciate it! Have a great day!

If in case I want to go back to Canada...Do I need to stay in my sponsor or can I live on my own?

Most of what you need to know can be found at the CIC website:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp

No, a landed PR of Canada does not need the sponsor's permission to live in Canada.

No, a sponsor has no right or power to void the status of any PR, including no power or right to void the status of anyone the sponsor sponsored.

However, the sponsor can(and if appropriate, should) report suspicions of immigration fraud to CIC. For example, CIC (or CBSA) has recently pursued a few cases in which a sponsored partner clearly had no intent to continue the relationship once landing in Canada, that is, cases in which it is clear the PR obtained PR status by falsing claiming to be in a genuine relationship when the relationship was for the purpose of obtaining status in Canada. In a very few cases (it appears) they have relied on evidence based on the landed PR's conduct after landing to show there was no intent to genuinely engage in the relationship prior to landing (and thus fraud committed in the PR application process).

Foremost: If your relationship was genuine up to the date you actually landed as a PR, and a breakdown in the relationship (which is the case I assume, based on extrapolating from your obvious intent to not resume a marital like relationship with the sponsor) occurred sometime after landing, you landed Feb 08, and you have a currently PR card valid until 2013, you should be able to return to Canada without question anytime prior to Feb 2011, and if you can show the one year of being in Canada so far, actually up to Feb 2012 (as PMM suggested); again, you can return to Canada virtually without question (subject to standard admissibility issues . . . which can be raised through criminal charges outside Canada as well as in Canada). No need to notify the sponsor you have returned to Canada. No need to have contact with the sponsor in Canada.

If you are concerned that the sponsor may report you to CIC as having obtained PR by fraud, what you need to know is:

1. Again, that is focused only on the state of the relationship up to the date you landed (that would be Feb. 08), though evidence from after that date might be used to make inferences about the relationship up to that date. (If you lived with the sponsor for that year, there really should be no issue here whatsoever). For example, where a PR landed and immediately after landing, or soon thereafter, had no marital contact with the sponsor, it might be inferred (depending on all the circumstances) that the relationship was a sham to obtain entry into Canada.

2. CIC / CBSA rarely pursues these cases even if there is some evidence to support the case.

3. If you did engage in fraud, as in really did not intend to be in a genuine relationship up to and including the date of landing, that was a misrepresentation making you inadmissible and for which there is no statute of limitations. You could become a citizen of Canada and live in Canada for twenty years and if proof of the fraud surfaces, your status in Canada could be terminated and you could be deported. I am not suggesting at all that this is applicable to you, I am just outlining the possible scenarios based on the minimal information you have provided. And even if the latter did apply, actually the odds of being prosecuted for this are probably quite remote unless the fraud is blatantly apparent and the evidence easily obtained.

Edited by dpenabill - 09 Aug 2010 at 12:32pm