Friday, April 08, 2005

Protecting Permanent Resident Status

Congratulations! You have completed the complicated and lengthy process of obtaining permanent resident status in Canada. You suffered through application forms and lengthy processing times. You enduredmedical examinations, photographing and fingerprinting. You paid application and landing fees and have been issued a shiny wallet-sized permanent

resident card. You transplanted your life and your family’s life, perhaps started a new job and moved into a new home. Your effort has been enormous, but is your status in Canada secure?

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, you must comply with residency obligations to maintain your permanent resident status. You can lose your status if you fail to meet these obligations — a scary proposition considering how hard you worked to achieve your status in the first place.

For every five-year period, you are obligated to accumulate at least 730 days of being one of the following:
• Physically present in Canada.

• Outside of Canada but accompanying a Canadian citizen who is your spouse or common-law partner (or parent, in the case of a child).

• Outside of Canada but employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or a province.

• Outside of Canada but accompanying a permanent resident who is your spouse or common-law partner (or parent, in the case of a child) and who is employed on a fulltime basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or a province.

However, a plain reading of these obligations can lead you astray. Aside from the option of being physically present in Canada, compliance is complicated. For example, what constitutes a “Canadian business” for the last two options? A Canadian business can be incorporated outside of Canada, so long as a majority of shareholders are Canadian and the business is capable of and anticipates profitability. Also, the 730 days do not need to be consecutive, but they must be accumulated

within every five-year period. This means that from any given moment in time, looking backward, you should have 730 days under your belt. If you haven’t been a permanent resident for five years yet, you need to ensure that you will reach 730 days within the first five years.
Permanent resident status in Canada is a privilege, not a right. Here are some tips to help you secure your status.
• If you plan to reside in Canada, you should apply for citizenship as soon as you qualify. As a citizen, residency obligations do not apply to you and you will be free to leave Canada knowing that you will always be welcome back.
• Keep a record each time you leave Canada, including the dates, reason for leaving, your itinerary and boarding passes, and the names of whom you resided with outside of Canada. Careful recordkeeping will go a long way to secure your status in Canada and Canadian citizenship.

• If you plan to travel or reside outside of Canada extensively, do not leave until you have devised a residency protection

strategy. It is far less expensive to seek advice and implement a residency protection strategy than it is to leave Canada and lose your status or be forced to litigate.
• If you are already living outside of Canada and believe that you have not met the residency requirements, do not return without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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