Permanent residence
PR card renewal
Usually routine. Occasionally not — and the difference is almost always the residency obligation rather than the paperwork.
The obligation behind the card
A permanent resident must be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days in every rolling five-year period. The card is only evidence of status; the obligation is what the status actually rests on. Certain time spent outside Canada can still count — accompanying a Canadian spouse, or employment abroad with a Canadian business — but those are specific exceptions with conditions, not general excuses.
If you are short of the days
Do not simply file and hope. A renewal that triggers a residency review can end in a determination that you have lost status, which is a far worse position than the one you started in. If the count is tight, or if there are humanitarian reasons for the absence, that is worth getting advice on before an application is submitted.
If you are already outside Canada with an expired card
A PR card cannot be issued to you abroad and cannot be used to board a flight once expired. The route back is a permanent resident travel document, applied for from outside Canada — and that application is assessed against the same residency obligation. People discover this at an airport far more often than they should.
What we do
- Count the days properly, from your actual travel history rather than memory
- Identify whether any absences fall within the exceptions
- Advise on timing — sometimes waiting is the right answer
- Prepare travel document applications where you are already outside Canada
- Represent you if a residency determination goes against you