Permanent Residency (PR) Card Renewal Humanitarian & Compassionate Considerations
Are you a PR Card Holder who has not met your residency obligation?
Our Immigratrion lawyers can help you renew your PR Card and continue your life in Canada. You can renew your PR card with Humanitarian and Compassionate Considerations (H&C).
What are Humanitarian and Compassionate Considerations (H&C)?
If an applicant for a Permanent Resident Card renewal cannot meet the mandatory residency obligation of 730 days of being physically present in Canada within the last five years , they have an opportunity to have the requirements waived so you can retain your PR status on humanitarian and compassionate grounds (H & C).
It is important to note that H & C grounds are an exceptional remedy that is not often granted. Immigration officers look very closely at all the facts of a case before deciding to permit the residency requirement to be waived.
They do not accept minor factors such as inconvenience of applying from outside a country, or financial losses. There must be circumstances that, taken together, argue in favour of keeping your PR status
Preparing a Strong Case for Humanitarian & Compassionate Considerations
The circumstances in the five years that led up to your reach of the Canadian residency obligation will be closely examined by the officer, so it is very important that your evidence show that:
Permanent Residency (PR) Card Renewal
- Reason for Leaving Canada
- Hardships
- Ties to Canada (family, employment, ID documents) It is important to provide evidence of your efforts to establish yourself permanently during your time in Canada. This includes driver's license, health card, application to enroll in school, efforts to obtain employment, etc.
You had no choice but to leave Canada, due to circumstances outside your control
You now face hardship great enough for an exception to be made in your case and deserve the retention of your PR status.
These are just some of the issues an officer might raise. An application that shows clear, consistent, and strong evidence of unusual and undeserved hardship you will face should you lose your PR status will have more chance of success .
The hardship (of losing your permanent resident status) should be, in most cases, unusual , not something routine or ordinary that any immigrant may face, and it should in most cases be the result of circumstances beyond your control .
H&C grounds may exist in cases that would not meet the criteria of unusual and undeserved , but would be met where the hardship would have a disproportionate impact on the permanent resident due to personal circumstances.
H&C factors are reviewed on a case by case basis. It is important to not spare any detail, no matter how minor, in describing your immigration history.
There is no single formula by which all of these factors are weighed, thus you must prepare for many possible responses to your arguments. For example, if your family member overseas has a medical condition, and you had to leave Canada to care for them, an officer might ask why you did not make an alternative arrangement?
If you had an opportunity to return to Canada long enough to meet your residency obligations , why did you not take it?
Did you leave Canada on your own accord, or were you pressured into it by family, or by some outside event?
Were you a minor at the tim e, and had no choice?
Frequently Asked Questions about Permanent Residency (PR) Card Renewal Humanitarian & Compassionate Considerations
Who is eligible to apply for permanent residency under humanitarian and compassionate grounds?
If you are planning to apply for permanent residency under humanitarian and compassionate grounds, it is important to understand who qualifies under this category. Humanitarian and compassionate application usually filed within Canada. This application is mostly for individual who do not have a legal status in Canada but have managed to make Canada their home.
Individual who have managed to establish themselves in Canada include:
- Family ties to Canadian permanent resident or Canadian Citizen
- Working in Canada without a work permit
- Studying in Canada without a study permit
- You are doing extensive volunteer work inside of Canada
- Language ability and proficiency in English or French
- Obtaining property and income establishments inside Canada
- Have social ties and responsibilities of a community within Canada
- Best interest of the child
- A major component in qualifying for humanitarian and compassionate grounds is experiencing hardship and extreme suffering in your home country.
Can I apply for refugee and PR with H&C at the same time?
The answer is no. If you have filed a refugee claim, you are not able to apply for permanent residency under humanitarian and compassionate grounds at the same time you are waiting for a decision for your refugee claim.
How long does it take to get a decision?
These applications could take time to get a decision. You are looking at 18 to 24 months to get a decision; it may be longer depending on your situation. These applications are a case by case basis, so it is important to understand that this may take some time.
While your application is in processing you are permitted to stay in Canada until you receive a decision. It is not recommended to leave Canada while you are waiting for a decision as this could negatively affect your application.
