Renewing Permanent Resident Card

Steps on How to Renew Your Permanent Resident Card

You have been living in Canada as a permanent resident for several years and now it is time to renew your Permanent Resident Card (PR Card). The first step to make sure whether or not you need to renew is to check the expiry date on the PR card. Usually, PR cards are issued for 5 years but some are issued for 1 year instead. PR cards are valid until the expiry date listed on the card itself and you must apply to renew the card up to 9 months before the expiry date. When applying to renew your PR card, you must ensure that you are still eligible for permanent residency.

PR Card Renewal Eligibility

To be eligible for a PR card, you must:

• Be a permanent resident of Canada,
• Be physically present in Canada,
• Meet the residency requirement – if you have been a permanent resident for 5 years or more, you must be physically present in Canada for a minimum of 2 years within those years,
• Not be under an effective removal order,
• Not be a Canadian citizen, and,
• Not be convicted of an offense related to the misuse of a PR card

With regards to the residency requirement, it is very important that you provide supporting documentation that will demonstrate that you have been residing in Canada for at least 2 years out of the 5 years of permanent residency. For instance, you can provide a lease agreement, bill payments, banking statements, etc.

In order to renew your PR card, there are very detailed instructions for the application on the Government of Canada website, which include an instruction guide, a document checklist, the application, and photograph specifications. In this case, if you choose to hire Akrami & Associates to help you with this process, you will also include the forms for the use of a representative and the authority to release personal information to a designated individual. The process for a PR card renewal is similar to the process for getting permanent residency. Therefore, since you’ve already done the process before, you should feel at ease with knowing that this process is also relatively straight forward.

Renewing Permanent Resident Card Outside of Canada

If you so happened to travel outside of Canada for whatever reason and noticed that your PR card has expired or will expire, you must get a Permanent Resident Travel Document from a Visa Application Centre or a Canadian visa office. Please note that you cannot apply for a PR card at any office outside Canada; therefore you must mail the application to the nearest visa application center. Furthermore, if you intend on travelling outside of Canada and your PR card will expire while you are travelling, it would be very beneficial for you to offer a travel itinerary. You can then provide the itinerary to the immigration officer to prove that you will be outside of Canada for a specific time period and need urgent processing of your PR Card Renewal.

PR Card Renewal for Urgent Processing

If you have an urgent matter that you need to travel for, you must qualify first. For your PR card to be processed urgently, you must be travelling within the next 3 months due to:

• A job opportunity
• Your own serious illness
• The death of a family member
• Work related to your current job
• The serious illness of a family member

The processing times for urgent PR Card renewals are less than normal times; however, if the immigration officer decides that the matter is not urgent and refuses the urgent application, the processing time will be the same as a normal application for PR Card renewal.

It is imperative that you always have your PR card with you wherever you are travelling, especially if it is about to expire. If you, unfortunately, did not carry your PR card while travelling outside of the country, then there is a possibility you may not be able to re-enter Canada. It is ultimately your responsibility to have a valid PR card; however, if it does expire, you must reapply for a new one. The decision on whether or not you will receive a new PR card is determined by the immigration officer when entering Canada and is completely out of our control.

Contact Akrami & Associates

If you are still unsure about how to proceed with renewing your PR card or your certain circumstance is more complicated than the above scenarios, feel free to contact Akrami & Associates for further information or if you want to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advice. Be assured that if you decide to choose Akrami & Associates to help you with this process, we will make a strong application for you, in order for you to have a higher chance of success and acceptance. We have experience in dealing with a variety of different immigration matter which gives us a unique perspective on handling your case.

With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!