Requirements to Maintain Permanent Residency in Canada
You may have to travel outside Canada while you are the permanent resident of the country. In such a scenario, you need to fulfill certain requirements in order to maintain your permanent residence status.
The first and foremost of the obligations to maintain a Permanent Residency in Canada is physically be present in the nation for at least two years or 730 days every five years. IRCC (Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada) will check your time that is spent in Canada for every five years.
So, you can spend a total time of nearly three years outside of Canada in the 5-year period. Anyway, if you have been issued Permanent Residency in less than 5 years and are supposed to leave Canada for a longer span of time, you need to prove to the IRCC that you can meet the residency requirements.
Exceptional cases if you want to spend time in another country
There are some cases in which the day spent outside of Canada will also be considered as the day spent inside the country. They are:
1. If a person is accompanying a spouse or a partner who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
2. If a resident child is accompanying a parent who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
3. If a resident is employed by a Canadian employer or public service sector of Canada and had been sent to another country on work
4. If the resident is a spouse or a common-law partner or a child of a permanent resident who is employed by a Canadian company or public service sector of Canada and is residing outside the country working purposes.
What will happen if a resident could not fulfill The Residency requirements?
· If a resident of Canada cannot fulfill all the Residency requirements but is currently in Canada, then the immigration authorities may issue a departure order which will ask the resident to leave the country.
· If the resident is outside Canada and does not meet the residency requirements, then the immigration officers in the residing country may inform the residents that he/she has lost Permanent Residency status in Canada
What to do if I lose my Permanent Residency status in Canada?
If you lose the Permanent Residency status in Canada, you can appeal within 60 days of receiving the decision.
If you apply, the immigration officers may consider whether your reason can be considered under humanitarian and compassionate grounds before making the final decision regarding the PR.
The humanitarian and compassionate grounds include
· Needing to take care of a family member who is medically ill and who has no one to look after
· Situations which are unavoidable and need your presence in the country other than Canada
· Situations in which you have been held back from returning to Canada
The officers consider all the situations, and they will need proof if you appeal by taking any of the above-said reasons.
Hence if you know that you are going to stay in another country for a longer period of time, it is better to inform the IRCC about the need for you to stay outside of Canada and that you will be returning to Canada as soon as possible.
Residency requirements if you want to apply for the Canadian citizenship
If you are planning to apply for citizenship in Canada, then your time in another country cannot be considered under the citizenship residency requirements.
You must spend at least three years in Canada as a legal resident in the last five years if you want to apply for Canadian citizenship.
If you are interested in maintaining your Permanent Residency, you generally need to spend time in the nation for at least two years in five years and need to explain the time spent outside.