# Residency Obligation



## Lpieris (Sep 6, 2015)

I' migrated to Canada and return within one year course my mother was sick back home and has to manage our family Business and in formed the Canadian high commission by writing that I will not be able to get back to Canada till my old aged mother is stable. But there was no reply from the Canadian High commission .But kept writing to the High Commission on and off,which i have copies of my correspondence.

Since All Business matters are now steady...and I wanted to get back to Canada..I do not have a Residency Card although I have renewed my SIN card,I will have to apply for a Travel Document but since i have stayed out of Canada for over passed 5 years, and had no reply for any of my letters sent to The Canadian high commission,I'm afraid that they will turn me down and i will officially lose the Permanent Residence , I would Like to get some advice from a professional Regarding My Travel Document,and get advice on which ground do i have to apply . Please reply..who is well a where of My situation.

LPieris


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

If you have been out of Canada 5 years you will have lost your PR STATUS. You will need to re-apply and start from the beginning.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

You will not get 'professional advice' here. You pay someone for that.

However, there is no real need to do so since as Auld Yin has said, you have lost your status. There is no question about that at all, the rules are quite clear. 
How long must I stay in Canada to keep my permanent resident status?

The only possible exception would be if you are married to a Canadian Citizen.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

Lpieris said:


> I' migrated to Canada and return within one year course my mother was sick back home and has to manage our family Business and in formed the Canadian high commission by writing that I will not be able to get back to Canada till my old aged mother is stable. But there was no reply from the Canadian High commission .But kept writing to the High Commission on and off,which i have copies of my correspondence.
> 
> Since All Business matters are now steady...and I wanted to get back to Canada..I do not have a Residency Card although I have renewed my SIN card,I will have to apply for a Travel Document but since i have stayed out of Canada for over passed 5 years, and had no reply for any of my letters sent to The Canadian high commission,I'm afraid that they will turn me down and i will officially lose the Permanent Residence , I would Like to get some advice from a professional Regarding My Travel Document,and get advice on which ground do i have to apply . Please reply..who is well a where of My situation.
> 
> LPieris



First of all, the people posting here are not professionals. Second, you have been out of Canada for too long and will need to start the process all over again.


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## manomegh (Aug 9, 2014)

I beg to differ. You have still not lost your PR status. It will be lost officially only when you approach CIC for a travel document. <snip>


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

manomegh said:


> I beg to differ. You have still not lost your PR status. It will be lost officially only when you approach CIC for a travel document. <snip>


How do you figure that OP _*hasn't*_ lost his PR status?

The _*Government of Canada*_ link that OldPro provided _clearly states_:



> To maintain your status as a permanent resident, there are few requirements you must fulfill. One requirement is the residency obligation. _*You must live in Canada for at least two years within a five-year period. During this time, you must be here physically.*_


By his own admission, OP stated that he didn't even last a year in Canada before he returned home to care for his ailing Mother. It has also been _more than *5* (five) years since_ he left Canada, so therefore he has lost his PR status.

The only way that he could have kept it was to have stayed in Canada for two years (or more, with documentable proof that he was in Canada for the time that he claims) before leaving and then come back to Canada _before_ three additional years had passed since he left (he also needs to have proof that he was away for less than 3 years).

Let's say that OP arrived in Canada on 10 January 2005 and went back to his Mother on 17 March of 2007. 

He would have until the 16 March 2010 to return to Canada before he is considered to have lost his PR status. He has fulfilled the residency requirement, as he was in Canada for more than the requisite 2 years (the 26 months between Jan '05 - Mar '07) and as long as he was back by the 16th of March '10, he'd be fine.

CIC looks at the 5 years immediately proceeding his return to Canada on March 16, 2010... i.e. they would be looking at 17 March '05 - 16 March '10... if he returns on 16 March 2010 his status is fine, as he has met the requirements of being _*physically present in Canada*_ for 2 years in the 5 year period preceding his return - ie he would have been in Canada from March 18, 2005 -> March 17, 2006 and from March 17, 2006 to March 16, 2007 (the CIC does not count the day of departure as being in Canada... no government does in this regard), and from March 17, 2007 - March 16, 2010, he will have been gone exactly 3 years, which would take him right to the cut off of being in Canada for at least 2 years in 5. 


If he returned on or after 17 March 2010, he would lose his status, as he would not have met the 2-year residency requirement, as he would have been away for longer than 3 years in the 5 year period directly leading up to his return... remember that he was in Canada for 26 months before he left, but in order for the period from 10 January 2005 to 16 March 2005 to count, OP would have had to return on or before 09 January 2010.

In this case, those 2 extra months were basically a cushion that allowed OP to be out of Canada longer before he had to return without jeopardising his status.


Ergo, OP lost his PR status four years and a day after his initial arrival in Canada.


ETA: Renewing a SIN card _does *not*_ grant the re-issue of Permanent Residency status, nor is it a guarantee that the non-citizen PR holder will return to Canada. I have an Aussie friend in Australia who lived in Canada for several years as a teenager in the 1980s before returning to Australia. He too has a SIN card, but hasn't been back since he left. In order for him to return on Permanent Residence, he'd have to re-apply to come back. The fact that he has a SIN number is meaningless to the CIC... anyone who works in Canada, as either a temporary worker or someone with PR status needs one... even Canadian citizens are issued a number... I've got one, my brothers have one and even their young children (under the age of 6) have one.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Manomegh is technically correct WCCG although it is certainly hair splitting. That's why the link also refers to voluntarily giving up PR status. You can give it up or you can wait till they take it away if you attempt to return on it.

But the result is the same irregardless and so there is no real point to splitting that particular hair.

Don't yah love it when someone joins, posts once and then never returns to even acknowledge having read the responses. Good manners are alive and well. Well maybe with some people but not with others.


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

OldPro said:


> Manomegh is technically correct WCCG although it is certainly hair splitting. That's why the link also refers to voluntarily giving up PR status. You can give it up or you can wait till they take it away if you attempt to return on it.
> 
> But the result is the same irregardless and so there is no real point to splitting that particular hair.
> 
> Don't yah love it when someone joins, posts once and then never returns to even acknowledge having read the responses. Good manners are alive and well. Well maybe with some people but not with others.


True enough, but why get OP's hopes up that he _might_ be able to get it back by dangling that "you haven't officially lost it yet" carrot in front of him. 

It seems almost disingenuous to suggest it, especially considering that Manomegh is supposedly a visa consultant and trying to drum up business... OP would be wasting his time and energy and money on something that is nothing more than a mirage if he were to have contacted Manomegh and subsequently be charged money for the information that he receives (and that is freely available on the Internet).


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

OldPro said:


> >snip<
> 
> Don't yah love it when someone joins, posts once and then never returns to even acknowledge having read the responses. Good manners are alive and well. Well maybe with some people but not with others.


Yes, it's rather rude... but then, that's par for the course with an anonymous message board... there's not much that can be done about it..


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> True enough, but why get OP's hopes up that he _might_ be able to get it back by dangling that "you haven't officially lost it yet" carrot in front of him.
> 
> It seems almost disingenuous to suggest it, especially considering that Manomegh is supposedly a visa consultant and trying to drum up business... OP would be wasting his time and energy and money on something that is nothing more than a mirage if he were to have contacted Manomegh and subsequently be charged money for the information that he receives (and that is freely available on the Internet).


LOL, oh I didn't realize manomegh was an ambulance chaser. Well I suppose that explains it. 

I guess it's much like lawyers who always say you have a case unless you offer to only pay them for a win. What do you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? Answer, a good start.


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