Is the Canadian maple leaf card expired? Don't panic, here are the answers!

Due to various factors such as the epidemic, the maple leaf cards of many people may be facing failure. Many people asked me how to deal with it next? Today, I will explain to you the actual function of maple leaf card in simple and clear language!

Maple Leaf Card is a document processed at Customs when you successfully obtain Canadian permanent resident qualification and enter Canadian territory for the first time. The primary purpose of this entry is to activate your permanent resident status and to officially receive a maple leaf card. Given that your immigration login visa is only available for one-time use, you must bring your passport and maple leaf card for future entry. Therefore, the maple leaf card can be regarded as a pass in and out of Canada, and it is valid for five years.

When it comes to maple leaf card, we have to talk about Canadian immigration residence requirements. This requirement stipulates that you need to live in Canada for two years every five years. In these two years, you can accumulate scatteredly and accumulate. Both husband and wife will independently satisfy each other and cannot replace each other. Many customers tend to visit Canada briefly first and then return to their homeland for life. In this case, we usually recommend that customers not go to Canada for the first three years, but must go in the next two years. The reasons are:

If you enter Canada, you may refuse to release the maple leaf card if the stay period is less than two years. Although I have not encountered such situations personally, for some clients who have joined in the last year, I suggest that they conceive reasons for entry in advance, such as domestic litigation, elders who need care or unfinished studies. In summary, we can give reasonable explanations when customs inquiries are prepared in advance. As of now, no customers have been repatriated by Canadian Customs for this reason.

If your maple leaf card is about to expire, will you still be able to enter Canada successfully? Take one of my clients this year, her maple leaf card was supposed to expire in April, but she arrived in Vancouver in February. Before entering the country, I suggested that she prepare some possible explanations in case of customs inquiries. The entry process was quite smooth for her and the customs did not cause any trouble to her. However, the reality she has to face is that her maple leaf card has expired after entering the country, which means her visa to Canada has also expired. She only needs to live in Canada for two years and then apply for a replacement of the maple leaf card. The basis is that when the Canadian Immigration Bureau reviews the residence qualification, it traces back two years from the date the applicant receives the card replacement document.

People often ask me if the client’s permanent resident status will disappear because of this? Of course not, unless you give up on your own initiative, your permanent residence will always be retained. However, it’s just that the maple leaf card has expired, which won’t have any impact on your life in Canada. However, the inconvenience of not having a maple leaf card is that you have to live in Canada for two consecutive years and during these two years you will not be free to travel between China and Canada.

Therefore, we suggest to our clients that it is best to meet the immigration prison requirements as much as possible during the validity period of the maple leaf card, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble.