As we all know, the maple leaf card, also known as the "permanent resident card", is an identity authentication document for permanent residents in Canada. This card has a specific validity period, which is usually valid for 5 years.

When can I update the maple leaf card? This usually happens when your permanent resident card is about to expire and the remaining validity period is less than 9 months; or your permanent resident card is unfortunately lost; or when your gender changes occur. When preparing materials, prepare two PR card photos that meet the requirements, a translation and notarization of the passport, a form, and a payment receipt (the application fee is USD 50). If the following special circumstances occur, additional relevant materials are required.

Under 18 years old

Departure time in the past 5 years exceeded 1095 days

Change name or gender

How to calculate the residence time?

A misunderstanding is that it will be calculated for 5 years from the time you get the maple leaf card.

However, the basis for calculating the time of leaving Canada is to trace back five years from the day the applicant submits the application and signs it to determine his or her residence.

During any 24-hour period, as long as you are in the situation, it should not be considered a time to leave the country. For example, if someone goes to the United States and returns within the same day, this situation is not counted as departure.

Finally, if the number of days of residence in the next five years is less than 730 days according to the aforementioned regulations, if legal supporting documents are not provided, it will be deemed that the conditions for residence have not been met.

The core of the Maple Leaf Card Update Application is to provide detailed records of life in Canada over the past five years and entry and exit. The preparations for this link are quite complicated. If handled improperly, immigration officials may have suspicion and then request additional review. In addition, they usually ask for supplemental materials and arrange interviews, which can lead to a significant extension of the application cycle. Experienced immigration consultants know how to avoid these potential troubles and can assist applicants in the first time to properly resolve these issues.

Trial time

Compared with a few years ago, the speed of re-issueing Maple Leaf Cards has been greatly improved. According to the latest data released by the official website of cic, the current application approval cycle only takes 14 days.

Will Maple Leaf Card receive a notification to pick it up?

Once the application is approved, the Immigration Bureau will use two ways to issue maple leaf cards to the applicant: one is to mail it, and the other is to notify the applicant to go to the interview site to collect it.

Reasons for receiving interview notifications include:

When the Immigration Bureau conducts a random spot check, if it feels that the applicant is not in my country, it will think it is necessary to conduct an in-depth investigation into the authenticity of the applicant's information. So, in this case, can the applicant submit an application abroad?

If the maple leaf card has expired and the cardholder is abroad, he or she must apply to the overseas consulate to obtain permanent residents' travel documents before he or she can enter my country effectively. However, the applicant must have a total residence of 730 days in the past 5 years, otherwise his application will be rejected.