Canadian Residency Obligations

There are some Canadian Residency Obligations that one needs to follow i.e. Permanent residents should be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days out of every five years so as to renew their status. Visa officer has no desecration to overlook this residency obligation so you may lose your Permanent Resident status if you did not meet your residency obligation.

Your days will be considered if you were Outside Canada but accompanying a spouse/common-law partner or you are a child accompanying a parent who is a Canadian Citizen or a Canadian permanent employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian enterprise or the Public Service of Canada anywhere outside Canada.

The calculation of residency days for a person who has been a Canadian permanent resident for more than five years will be limited to the five years immediately preceding the examination. Persons who have been Canadian permanent residents for less than five years must demonstrate that they will be able to meet the residency requirement during the five-year period immediately following their becoming a Canadian permanent resident.

You can still make a residency obligation appeal against the decision of the Visa officer to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) to explain your point of view that why you should be allowed permanent resident status.

Appeal is mostly based upon Humanitarian and compassionate grounds and the adjudicator looks into the fact that how strongly you have been established in Canada both economically and emotionally. If during the past five years, you have made some investment or has put some visible efforts to establish yourself in Canada or your other close family member are very well merged with the Canadian system and have a valid permanent status in Canada, your status can be renewed only if you have some valid physical or emotional reasons for not meeting your residency obligation and you have all intention not to repeat this in future.

You have 60 days after the refusal to appeal to the IAD. All you need to submit is

• A completed Notice of Appeal form for each person in your family affected by the decision
• Two copies of the decision from the overseas visa office

Usually all Immigration appeals are open to the public. Information used in your appeal is treated as public information and the decision may also be published. Unless confidentiality orders is obtained a copy of your case can be given to public and media on request.

If your appeal is allowed:

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will resume processing the permanent resident visa application.
• You can contact IRCC to check the status of your sponsorship application.

If your appeal is dismissed:

• The decision by IRCC to refuse the permanent resident visa application remains the same. Your appeal is closed at the IAD. You may wish to seek legal advice.
• Appealing to the Federal Court.
• Either you or Minister’s Counsel may apply to the Federal Court of Canada for leave, or permission, for judicial review of any IAD decision. The Federal Court of Canada will either dismiss the application or return the case to the IAD for re-hearing.